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  Conlangs >> Romaşa >> Spelling
R o m a ş a S p e l l i n g
Romaşa spelling is pretty phonetic, with little ambiguity on the spelling of words. The alphabet consists of 23 letters (traditionally), two of which are not found in the English one. The Alphabet
The letters J, K, Q, W, and X are only used for foreign words that have not been assimilated into the vocabulary or for proper nouns without a Romaşa translation. Vowels
The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. When stressed, they are all pronounced as their IPA counterparts. Unstressed /e/ is reduced to a schwa. The two diphthongs [ou] and [ei] are represented as /ou/ and /ei/, respectively. Stress normally lies on the penultimate syllable, except for words that end in /r/. If stress lies elsewhere, an acute accent (`) is placed over the stressed vowel. If a diphthong is stressed, the acute accent is placed over the first vowel of the diphthong: iucòu (he/she played). Consonants The consonants roughly correspond to their IPA counterparts, with exceptions explained here. /c/ represents [k] before written back vowels (/a/, /o/, /u/) and as [s] before written front vowels (/e/ and /i/). Similarly, /g/ is [g] before written back vowels and [ʒ] before written front vowels. sange ['sã.ʒə] (blood) sentu ['sẽ.tu] (hundred) /ç/ represents [k] (often palatized to [kj] or [c]) before written front vowels and [s] before written back vowels. /gh/ represents [g] (again, often palatized to [gj] or [ɟ]) before written front vowels. /gi/ (with an unaccented i) represents [ʒ] before written front vowels. çiâr [kja'aɾ] / [ca'aɾ] (to call) ghiouria ['gjou.rja] / ['ɟou.rja] (glory) /ş/ represents [ʃ] always. /tş/ represents [tʃ] always as well. /dg/ before written front vowels represents [dʒ], and /dgi/ (again, unaccented i) represents [dʒ] before back vowels. cuêtşar [kwə.ə'tʃaɾ] (to start) dges [dʒes] (ten) studgiu ['stu.dʒu] (I study) [ʎ] and [ɲ] are represented by /ly/ and /ny/, respectively. /y/ itself represents [j], but is rather rare. /i/, before another vowel, for the most part represents [j] or occasionally will palatize the preceding consonant (especially in the case of [k], [g], [l], and [n]). /i/ represents [i] only if it is accented or the only vowel of the syllable. '^' marks a doubled vowel, an oddity of Romaşa that makes it rather unique. /â/ represents [a.a] - two distinct syllables with no consonant between them. In rapid speech they are often coalesced into a single long vowel [a:], however in proper speech this is avoided: catê [ka'te.e] (chains) lâ ['la.a] (wool) cuiçî ['kwi.kji] / ['kwi.ci] (rabbits) Notice that in the last example, the doubled [i] works as [ji], palatizing the previous consonant. This is common for /î/ and is often found in masculine plurals, like cuiçî. |