Łedu

Orthography (Chrhaunnjxäkoll/Çṙaunɲ̈äkol)

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Native Orthography

The native Łedu orthography is a cursive alphasyllabary, written from left to right and top to bottom, that consists of 51 letters (48 of them proper consonants), each with both uppercase and lowercase forms, as well as 24 vowel diacritics, roughly 12 punctuation marks, and 10 digits. I’ve taken care not to address it as an abugida on this site, considering that no letters in the writing system carry an inherent vowel. Rather, all vowels are represented by diacritic markings hovering over the latest consonant in their respective syllabic onsets, or over one of three “carrier” letters (depending on the vowel) if the syllable bears no onset.

Stylistically, this writing system is of a calligraphic nature, and each letter flows elegantly into the next – with the exception of majuscules, which stand unconnected to the rest of the word succeeding them, but may situationally connect with the letters preceding them if such an uppercase letter appears in the middle of a word. Punctuation marks are also incorporated orthographically into the words they follow or surround, but never those they precede (save for the apostrophe in certain circumstances). Oftentimes, vowel diacritics will conjoin one another if two successive letters are both syllabic onset consonants or carriers, although this practice is largely at the scribe’s discretion. Vowels must not appear in any specific area left or right of their associated letter, so long as it is clear which letter they are above.

Use of capital letters generally follows a similar pattern to that of English: they begin sentences and proper nouns (names, titles, months, weekdays, etc.), or comprise acronyms and initialisms. They will generally not appear elsewhere, although they adhere to a slightly different format in the titles of media – in the names of films/writings/artworks and so forth, certain prefixes (coordinative, fronting, and relative) and particles (relative and appositive) are never capitalized, while all other words are. This will occasionally breed scenarios where a fully lowercase prefix conjoins to the back of an uppercase letter at the beginning of a root morpheme or other prefix.

Use of digits to write out numbers works exactly as would be familiar to anyone who uses Arabic numerals in their everyday life, with a number system in base 10. Denoting a year with numerals will usually require a lone period before the number, although it does not conjoin to any of the characters. Slashes appear between numerals when denoting dates, which are written in MM/DD/YYYY format, as it best reflects Łedu syntax.

Carrier Letters

The vowels served by each “carrier letter” (vacuous letters that don’t otherwise carry a consonantal value) are determined in a systematic but flawed fashion; a rumored archaism retained from Proto-Łedu. Three such letters exist: “Ėx̂” carries the diacritics for syllables containing a front nuclear vowel [i], [y], [ɪ], [e], [ø], [ɛ], or [œ], as well as the central vowel [ə]. “Ox̂” carries the diacritics for syllables containing a back nuclear vowel [u], [ʊ], [o], [ʌ], [ɔ], [ɑ], or [ɒ], a front vowel [æ] or [æ̝], or a diphthong [ɑi], [ɑu], or [oi]. Lastly, “Ãx̂” serves the language’s four nasal vowels, [ɑ̃], [ɛ̃], [ɔ̃], and [ũ]. (The inherent flaw in this system is that it does not accurately reflect the slight degree of palatal, labial, or velar constriction that occurs phonologically between vowels that appear side by side across syllables, which occurs after a vowel nucleus on the basis of roundedness or nasality. The Latinate orthography discussed below does reflect this, but that is not how the native orthography developed.) Further information can be found in the Phonology section.

Punctuation/Quotative Particles

Łedu punctuation is not dissimilar from English either. The writing system has its own equivalent of periods/full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, colons and semicolons, ellipses/tildes, apostrophes, slashes, dashes/hyphens, parentheses, and quotation marks. All except the latter five strictly conjoin to the word before them, at its end, to mark the conclusion of a sentence or clause (or in the case of a colon, to link two elements).

The apostrophe may conjoin to the beginning or end of a word contingent on the situation, or appear word-medially at certain morpheme boundaries. The slash is generally only used between numerals, as in dates. The dash/hyphen hovers equidistantly between words or clauses as it would in the Latin alphabet. The parentheses conjoin to the beginning and end of the first and last word(s) they contain, respectively, and may also link to letters immediately surrounding them if they appear in the middle of a word to parenthesize a particular morpheme. Lastly, quotation marks hover at the beginning and end of the quote they surround. If the quoted material (which may consist of a single word to several sentences) is itself a sentential argument, and thereby corresponds to a referential nominal ending outside of the quote marks, then a single-vowel quotative particle will also appear after them. Orthographic convention holds that the diacritic for this particle does not use a carrier letter, but is instead physically linked to the outer end of the ending quotation mark. This varies from the Latinate orthographic convention, as described below. Further information about quotation and its associated morphemes can be found in the grammar section.

Latinate Orthography

To enable electronic transcription in the modern age, using computer keyboards that invariably lack the means to type in the native orthography, Łedu has adapted the Latin alphabet – in two separate formats! This site will use the Latinate orthography to present vocabulary, glossed examples, and translated texts, although these will occasionally be accompanied by photographs of the text in its native writing system. The two systems are thus: C-Łedu (or Classic Łedu) was developed first, and includes numerous digraphs or even trigraphs. It is largely typable using a standard keyboard, requiring only a few additional vowel characters, but texts written in this form are quite lengthy compared to their counterparts in English or any other Łedu script because it requires so many characters. Conversely, N-Łedu (or New Łedu) was developed later, and truncates textual length significantly by doing away with all polygraphs except diphthongs and affricates, at the expense of ease of typing – it makes use of many special characters that do not appear on standard English keyboards, and have been pulled from modified forms of the Latin alphabet used by other languages around the globe. I have purposefully avoided incorporating characters from similar alphabets, like Greek or Cyrillic, so as not to mix systems too much.

Latinate Orthography: Vowels

In Latinate Łedu, vowel letters may not appear beside one another outside the context of diphthongs, unlike in the native orthography (where two vowel carriers can certainly appear successively in the right circumstances). If one vowel would follow another, a letter must separate them – this letter is determined by the first of the two vowels. If the first vowel in sequence is unrounded, they will be separated by a <j>, which does not correspond to [j] the palatal approximant, but instead to a slight palatal constriction [ʲ]. If the first vowel in the sequence is rounded, they will be separated by a <w>, which does not correspond to [w] the labiovelar approximant, but instead to a slight labial constriction [ʷ]. If the first vowel in the sequence is nasalized, they will be separated by a <x̂>, which does not correspond to [q/ɢ] the uvular stop, but instead to a slight velar constriction [ˠ]. One must be acquainted with the language to some degree to properly discern whether <j>, <w>, or <x̂> will indicate [j]/[w]/[q/ɢ] or [ʲ]/[ʷ]/[ˠ] in any given instance within the Latinate script, as the key to this determination is that the latter case will only occur at morpheme boundaries, whereas the former can occur there but will not occur because of it – vowels will only ever appear consecutively when a morpheme ending in a vowel and another morpheme beginning with one come in contact at that junction.

C-Łedu Digraphs

Another point of concern surfaces in certain instances whereupon a digraph is positioned next to another letter in C-Łedu, such that it can be interpreted as a different combination of digraph and single letter. For example, many fricatives are represented in C-Łedu by digraphs that end in <_h>. This can lead to some confusion, if for example a sequence “-dhh-” appears within a word. One could understandably parse this as a fricative digraph <dh> (representing a [ð] in coda position) followed by a single <h> (representing a [h] in onset position), but that will never be the correct interpretation. In fact, in all such instances, one shall parse it as a single <d> (representing a [d] in coda position), followed by a uvular trill digraph <hh> (representing a [ʀ] in onset position), because [h] will never follow another fricative in Łedu – the phonology does not permit it.

In other instances within C-Łedu, apostrophes will be used to denote the correct reading in cases of orthographic ambiguity – ambiguities that do not occur in the native orthography nor in N-Łedu. As a result, these apostrophes in particular do not correspond to those that appear in the other transcription standards. For example, if one encounters within a C-Łedu word the sequence “-n’x-”, this represents [n] in coda position followed by [ǀ] in onset position, and is meant to differentiate from <nx>, a digraph which represents [ǁ]. This distinction is not necessary in N-Łedu, which represents [ǁ] using the single letter <n̈>, so the sequence [_n.ǀ_] can be safely portrayed by “-nx-” in the new Latinate orthography. Similarly, it is not an issue in the native orthography, which uses different letters for each of [n], [ǀ], and [ǁ]. One will similarly treat “-m’x-” differently from <mx>, and “-nj’x-” differently from <njx>, in C-Łedu.

The Letters <l>/<ll>

The orthographic and phonological expression of the alveolar lateral approximant varies between onset and coda position, including between orthographies. Łedu expresses [l] (“light l”) in onset position and [ɫ] (“dark l”) in coda position, and the three writing systems have different preferences when expressing this difference. In the native orthography, [ɫ] elicits the only occurrence of a digraph in the entire script, using what would be the equivalent of <ll> in coda position. In C-Łedu, <l> is used for [l] in onset position, whereas <ll> is used for [ɫ] in coda position. In N-Łedu, judging the orthographic difference negligible in the name of reducing digraphs because it is phonologically non-contrastive, <l> is used for both [l] and [ɫ], regardless of syllabic position.

Table of Letters

Native Orthography	C-Łedu	N-Łedu	IPA Correspondence	Letter Name & Pronunciation
	A a	A a	[ɑ]	Ak – [ɑk]
	Ai ai	Ai ai	[ɑi]	Aip – [ɑip]
	Au au	Au au	[ɑu]	Aud – [ɑud]
	Ä ä	Ä ä	[æ]	Äc – [æc]
	Å å	Å å	[ɒ]	Åg – [ɒg]
	Ã ã	Ã ã	[ɑ̃]	Ãdzh – [ɑ̃d͡ʒ]
	Æ æ	Æ æ	[æ̝]	Ætsh – [æ̝t͡ʃ]
	B b	B b	[b]	By – [by]
	Bb bb	Ƀ ƀ	[ʙ]	Bbø – [ʙø]
	C c	C c	[c]	Cä – [cæ]
	Ch ch	Ç ç	[ç]	Chė – [çɛ]
	D d	D d	[d]	Du – [du]
	Dh dh	Ð ð	[ð]	Dho – [ðo]
	Dz dz	Dz dz	[d͡z]	Dzü – [d͡zʊ]
	Dzh dzh	Dƶ dƶ	[d͡ʒ]	Dzhoi – [d͡ʒoi]
	E e	E e	[e]	Ep – [ep]
	Ė ė	Ė ė	[ɛ]	Ėc – [ɛc]
	Ę ę	Ę ę	[ə]	Ęx̂ – [əɢ]
	Ẽ ẽ	Ẽ ẽ	[ɛ̃]	Ẽdzh – [ɛ̃d͡ʒ]
	F f	F f	[f]	Fe – [fe]
	G g	G g	[g]	Gå – [gɒ]
	Gh gh	Ɣ ɣ	[ɣ]	Ghô – [ɣɔ]
	H h	H h	[h]	Hû – [hʌ]
	Hh hh	Ħ ħ	[ʀ̥/ʀ]	Hhô – [ʀɔ]
	İ i	İ i	[i]	İp – [ip]
	I ı	I ı	[ɪ]	Ipp – [ɪʙ̥]
	J j	J j	[j]	Jæ – [jæ̝]
	K k	K k	[k]	Ka – [kɑ]
	Kh kh	Ⱪ ⱪ	[x]	Khû – [xʌ]
	L l/ll	L l	[l/ɫ]	Lü/Lülü – [lʊ/ lʊlʊ]
	Ł ł	Ł ł	[ɬ]	Łau – [ɬɑu]
	Łh łh	Ⱡ ⱡ	[ɮ]	Łho – [ɮo]
	Łł łł	Ļ ļ	[ʎ]	Łłæ – [ʎæ̝]
	M m	M m	[m]	Mẽ – [mɛ̃]
	Mx mx	M̈ m̈	[ʘ]	Mxẽb – [ʘɛ̃b]
	N n	N n	[n]	Nũ – [nũ]
	Nx nx	N̈ n̈	[ǁ]	Nxũd – [ǁũd]
	Nj nj	Ɲ ɲ	[ɲ]	Njã – [ɲɑ̃]
	Njx njx	Ɲ̈ ɲ̈	[ǂ]	Njxãq – [ǂɑ̃ɟ]
	Nh nh	Ŋ ŋ	[ŋ]	Nhõ – [ŋõ]
	O o	O o	[o]	Od – [od]
	Oi oi	Oi oi	[oi]	Oip – [oip]
	Ô ô	Ô ô	[ɔ]	Ôg – [ɔg]
	Ö ö	Ö ö	[œ]	Öq – [œɟ]
	Ø ø	Ø ø	[ø]	Øb – [øb]
	Õ õ	Õ õ	[õ]	Õdzh – [õd͡ʒ]
	P p	P p	[p]	Pi – [pi]
	Pp pp	Ᵽ ᵽ	[ʙ̥]	Ppı – [ʙ̥ɪ]
	Q q	Q q	[ɟ]	Qæ – [ɟæ̝]
	Qh qh	Ƣ ƣ	[ʝ]	Qhö – [ʝœ]
	R r	R r	[r̥]	Rę – [r̥ə]
	Rh rh	Ṙ ṙ	[ɹ]	Rhü – [ɹʊ]
	Rr rr	R̈ r̈	[r]	Rrü – [rʊ]
	Rrh rrh	Ŗ ŗ	[χ/ʁ]	Rrhô – [ʁɔ]
	S s	S s	[s]	Sę – [sə]
	Sh sh	Ş ş	[ʃ]	Shė – [ʃɛ]
	T t	T t	[t]	Tę – [tə]
	Th th	Þ þ	[θ]	Thû – [θʌ]
	Ts ts	Ts ts	[t͡s]	Tsę – [t͡sə]
	Tsh tsh	Tş tş	[t͡ʃ]	Tshoi – [t͡ʃoi]
	U u	U u	[u]	Ud – [ud]
	Û û	Û û	[ʌ]	Ûk [ʌk]
	Ü ü	Ü ü	[ʊ]	Ürr – [ʊr]
	Ũ ũ	Ũ ũ	[ũ]	Ũdzh – [ũd͡ʒ]
	V v	V v	[v]	Vø – [vø]
	W w	W w	[w]	Wı – [wɪ]
	X x	X x	[ǀ]	Xęx̂ – [ǀəɢ]
	X̂ x̂	X̂ x̂	[q/ɢ]	X̂ô – [ɢɔ]
	Xh xh	Ẍ ẍ	[ǃ]	Xhõg – [ǃõg]
	Y y	Y y	[y]	Yb – [yb]
	Z z	Z z	[z]	Zo – [zo]
	Zh zh	Ƶ ƶ	[ʒ]	Zhö – [ʒœ]
	– –	– –	back* carrier	Ox̂ – [oɢ]
	– –	– –	front* carrier	Ėx̂ – [ɛɢ]
	– –	– –	nasal carrier	Ãx̂ – [ɑ̃ɢ]

* These carrier letters do not carry exclusively the aforementioned class of vowel diacritic, as discussed in the “Carrier Letters” portion above.

Table of Punctuation and Numerals

Native Orthography	Latinate Orthography	Value	Character Name & Pronunciation
	.	period/full stop	Nyplötsh – [ˈnyp.lœt͡ʃ]
	,	comma	Dzhrrimlötsh – [ˈd͡ʒrim.lœt͡ʃ]
	?	question mark	Rhęrręfavızötsh – [ɹə.rə.ˈfɑ.vɪ.zœt͡ʃ]
	!	exclamation mark	Rhęrręhwaizötsh – [ɹə.rə.ˈhwɑi.zœt͡ʃ]
	:	colon	Rhęrręxwæzhötsh – [ɹə.rəǀ.ˈwæ̝.ʒœt͡ʃ]
	;	semicolon	Rhęrręłłäsõghötsh – [ɹə.rə.ˈʎæ.sɔ̃.ɣœt͡ʃ]
	…/~	ellipsis/tilde	Chwijänhlötsh – [ˈçwi.jæŋ.lœt͡ʃ]
	‘	apostrophe	Rykoimlötsh – [ˈr̥y.koim.lœt͡ʃ]
	/	slash	Xhuhıllhimlötsh – [ǃu.ˈhɪɫ.him.lœt͡ʃ]
	-/–	hyphen/dash	Hıllhimlötsh – [ˈhɪɫ.him.lœt͡ʃ]
	( )	parentheses	Łłåthæmlėtsh – [ˈʎɒ.θæ̝m.lɛt͡ʃ]
	“ ”	quotation marks	Rhęrręx̂äzgözėtsh – [ɹə.rə.ɢæz.ˈgœ.zɛt͡ʃ]
	0	zero	Ėthrim – [ˈɛθ.r̥im]
	1	one	Dau – [dɑu]
	2	two	Wirrhas – [ˈwi.ʁɑs]
	3	three	Mütshåll – [ˈmʊ.t͡ʃɒɫ]
	4	four	Łökund – [ˈɬœ.kund]
	5	five	Bıdhęn – [ˈbɪ.ðən]
	6	six	Xhästrhyt – [ˈǃæs.tɹyt]
	7	seven	Ãnhech – [ˈɑ̃.ŋeç]
	8	eight	Dzhûrrmxôg – [ˈd͡ʒʌr.ʘɔg]
	9	nine	Øłłėp – [ˈø.ʎɛp]
	10	ten	Vaihõ – [ˈvɑi.hɔ̃]