Appendix:Gandal orthography: Difference between revisions

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{{LangBar|Gandal||Shul}}
{{LangBar|Gandal|Arena of Valor Dialogue|Shul}}


'''Shul''' is an {{wl|alphabet}} by [[David J. Peterson]] used to write the [[Gandal language]] from [[Tencent Games]]' ''[[Arena of Valor]]''.
'''Shul''' is an {{wl|alphabet}} by [[David J. Peterson]] used to write the [[Gandal language]] from [[Tencent Games]]' ''[[Arena of Valor]]''.


==Orthography==
==Orthography==
The Gandal alphabet, known as the Shul or "pure" script, directly evolves from [[Veda language|Veda]]'s script, the [[Appendix:Veda orthography|Welqor]] {{wl|abjad}}. Though the script is now an alphabet that indicates every vowel, sound changes resulted in different letters standing for the same sounds and some letters having several possible readings. For instance, every doubled consonant (i.e. geminate) is now pronounced as a single one.


The Gandal alphabet, known as the Shul or "pure" script, directly evolves from [[Veda language|Veda]]'s script, the [[Appendix:Veda orthography|Welqor]] {{wl|abjad}}. Though the script is now an alphabet that indicates every vowel, sound changes resulted in different letters standing for the same sounds and some letters having several possible readings. For instance, Veda's /q/ merged with /k/ in Gandal, so Shul has two ways to write /k/, but the letter formerly pronounced as /q/ indicates that the following vowel is pronounced as a back vowel. Additionally, every doubled consonant (i.e. geminate) is now pronounced as a single one.
An important rule of Gandal's orthography is that every vowel letter's pronunciation changes depending on stress, on whether the vowel used to be long and whether it followed one of Veda's vowel-retracting consonants (*[x], *[ɣ] and *[q]).
 
Vowels became long in stressed open syllables and before syllable-final velar fricatives when the latter disappeared. Both the short and the long vowels' qualities then changed but some of these changes were blocked by the retracting consonants, and short non-high vowels became [ə] when unstressed, the length contrast then disappeared. This resulted in the following possible readings:
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan=3 | Old
! colspan=4 | Modern
|-
! colspan=2 | Normal
! colspan=2 | Retracted
|-
! <small>Stressed</small>
! <small>Unstressed</small>
! <small>Stressed</small>
! <small>Unstressed</small>
|-
| a
| æ
| ǝ
| ɑ
| ǝ
|-
| aː
| colspan=2 | e
| colspan=2 | ɑ
|-
| e
| ɛ
| ǝ
| ɛ
| ǝ
|-
| eː
| colspan=2; rowspan=2 | i
| colspan=2 | ɛ
|-
| i
| colspan=2; rowspan=2 | e
|-
| iː
| colspan=2 | aj
|-
| o
| o
| ǝ
| o
| ǝ
|-
| oː
| colspan=2; rowspan=2 | u
| colspan=2; rowspan=3 | o
|-
| u
|-
| uː
| colspan=2 | aw
|}
 
There are, however, exceptions: most notably, Veda's *[ə], which does not have its own letter, surfaced as [o], [ɛ] or [ɑ] when stressed depending on the surrounding consonants and as [ǝ] or [ɛ] when unstressed, these vowels may therefore have unexpected spellings when they descend from *[ə].


===Letters===
===Letters===
 
The glyphs of Shul representing sounds or sequences thereof are shown with their Welqor sources in the following table. Keep in mind that in Gandal's romanization, '''a''' stands for [ɑ] when stressed and for [ǝ] when unstressed, and that all instances of [ǝ] are spelt '''a''', even the ones that do not descend from Veda's *[a].
The glyphs of Shul representing (sequences of) sounds are shown with their Welqor sources in the following table:


{| class="wikitable orth" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable orth" style="text-align:center;"
Line 27: Line 86:
| {{gand-orth|thy}} || {{veda-orth|tsy}} || '''ch''' || tʃ || Used to stand for [tsj], now stands for [tʃ] before other vowels.
| {{gand-orth|thy}} || {{veda-orth|tsy}} || '''ch''' || tʃ || Used to stand for [tsj], now stands for [tʃ] before other vowels.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|thya}} || {{veda-orth|tsya}} || '''cha'''/'''chei''' || tʃɑ, tʃǝ, tʃe || See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|thya}} || {{veda-orth|tsya}} || '''cha'''/'''chæ'''/'''chei''' || tʃɑ, tʃǝ, tʃæ, tʃe ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|thyu}} || {{veda-orth|tsyu}} || '''chu'''/'''chaw''' || tʃu, tʃaw || See '''u''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|thyu}} || {{veda-orth|tsyu}} || '''chu'''/'''chaw''' || tʃu, tʃaw ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|dh}} || {{veda-orth|dz}} || '''dh''' || ð ||  
| {{gand-orth|dh}} || {{veda-orth|dz}} || '''dh''' || ð ||  
Line 35: Line 94:
| {{gand-orth|dhy}} || {{veda-orth|dzy}} || '''j''' || dʒ || Used to stand for [dzj], now stands for [dʒ] before other vowels.
| {{gand-orth|dhy}} || {{veda-orth|dzy}} || '''j''' || dʒ || Used to stand for [dzj], now stands for [dʒ] before other vowels.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|dhya}} || {{veda-orth|dzya}} || '''ja'''/'''jei''' || dʒɑ, dʒǝ, dʒe || See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|dhya}} || {{veda-orth|dzya}} || '''ja'''/'''jæ'''/'''jei''' || dʒɑ, dʒǝ, dʒæ, dʒe ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|dhyu}} || {{veda-orth|dzyu}} || '''ju'''/'''jaw''' || dʒu, dʒaw || See '''u''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|dhyu}} || {{veda-orth|dzyu}} || '''ju'''/'''jaw''' || dʒu, dʒaw ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|k}} || {{veda-orth|k}} || '''k''' || k ||  
| {{gand-orth|k}} || {{veda-orth|k}} || '''k''' || k ||  
Line 45: Line 104:
| {{gand-orth|q}} || {{veda-orth|q}} || '''k''' || k || Used to stand for [q], now stands for [k] but causes retraction of a following vowel.
| {{gand-orth|q}} || {{veda-orth|q}} || '''k''' || k || Used to stand for [q], now stands for [k] but causes retraction of a following vowel.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|a}} || {{veda-orth|a}} || '''a'''/'''æ'''/'''ei''' || ɑ, ǝ, æ, e || Stands for [ǝ] when unstressed, otherwise stands for [ɑ], [æ] or [e] depending on the environment.
| {{gand-orth|a}} || {{veda-orth|a}} || '''a'''/'''æ'''/'''ei''' || ɑ, ǝ, æ, e ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|e}} || {{veda-orth|e}} || '''e'''/'''a'''/'''i''' || ɛ, ǝ, i || Stands for [ǝ] when unstressed, otherwise stands for [ɛ] or [i] depending on the environment.
| {{gand-orth|e}} || {{veda-orth|e}} || '''e'''/'''a'''/'''i''' || ɛ, ǝ, i ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|o}} || {{veda-orth|o}} || '''o'''/'''a'''/'''u''' || o, ǝ, u || Stands for [ǝ] when unstressed, otherwise stands for [o] or [u] depending on the environment.
| {{gand-orth|o}} || {{veda-orth|o}} || '''o'''/'''a'''/'''u''' || o, ǝ, u ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|f}} || {{veda-orth|f}} || '''f''' || f ||  
| {{gand-orth|f}} || {{veda-orth|f}} || '''f''' || f ||  
Line 59: Line 118:
| {{gand-orth|sy}} || {{veda-orth|sy}} || '''sh''' || ʃ || Used to stand for [sj], now stands for [ʃ] before other vowels.
| {{gand-orth|sy}} || {{veda-orth|sy}} || '''sh''' || ʃ || Used to stand for [sj], now stands for [ʃ] before other vowels.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|sya}} || {{veda-orth|sya}} || '''sha'''/'''shei''' || ʃɑ, ʃǝ, ʃe || See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|sya}} || {{veda-orth|sya}} || '''sha'''/'''shæ'''/'''shei''' || ʃɑ, ʃǝ, ʃæ, ʃe ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|syu}} || {{veda-orth|syu}} || '''shu'''/'''shaw''' || ʃu, ʃaw || See '''u''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|syu}} || {{veda-orth|syu}} || '''shu'''/'''shaw''' || ʃu, ʃaw ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|z}} || {{veda-orth|z}} || '''z''' || z ||  
| {{gand-orth|z}} || {{veda-orth|z}} || '''z''' || z ||  
Line 67: Line 126:
| {{gand-orth|zh}} || {{veda-orth|zy}} || '''zh''' || ʒ || Used to stand for [zj], now stands for [ʒ] before other vowels.
| {{gand-orth|zh}} || {{veda-orth|zy}} || '''zh''' || ʒ || Used to stand for [zj], now stands for [ʒ] before other vowels.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|zya}} || {{veda-orth|zya}} || '''zha'''/'''zhei''' || ʒɑ, ʒǝ, ʒe || See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|zya}} || {{veda-orth|zya}} || '''zha'''/'''zhæ'''/'''zhei''' || ʒɑ, ʒǝ, ʒæ, ʒe ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|zyu}} || {{veda-orth|zyu}} || '''zhu'''/'''zhaw''' || ʒu, ʒaw || See '''u''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|zyu}} || {{veda-orth|zyu}} || '''zhu'''/'''zhaw''' || ʒu, ʒaw ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|h}} || {{veda-orth|kh}} || '''h'''/'''-''' || h, silent || Silent in some environments.
| {{gand-orth|h}} || {{veda-orth|kh}} || '''h'''/'''-''' || h, silent || Silent in some environments, most notably syllable-finally. Causes retraction of a following vowel.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|gh}} || {{veda-orth|gh}} || '''g'''/'''h'''/'''-''' || g, h, silent || Used to stand for [ɣ], now silent or stands for [g] or [h] or depending on the environment.
| {{gand-orth|gh}} || {{veda-orth|gh}} || '''g'''/'''h'''/'''y'''/'''-''' || g, h, j, silent || Used to stand for [ɣ], now silent (most notably syllable-finally) or stands for [g], [h] or [j] depending on the environment. Causes retraction of a following vowel.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|u}} || {{veda-orth|u}} || '''u'''/'''aw'''/'''o''' || u, aw, o || Stands for [u], [aw] or [o] depending on the environment.
| {{gand-orth|u}} || {{veda-orth|u}} || '''u'''/'''aw'''/'''o''' || u, aw, o ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|w}} || {{veda-orth|w}} || '''w''' || w ||  
| {{gand-orth|w}} || {{veda-orth|w}} || '''w''' || w ||  
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|wa}} || {{veda-orth|wa}} || '''wa'''/'''wei''' || wɑ, wǝ, we || Ligature. See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|wa}} || {{veda-orth|wa}} || '''wa'''/'''wæ'''/'''wei''' || wɑ, wǝ, wæ, we || Ligature.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|wi}} || {{veda-orth|wi}} || '''wi'''/'''way''' || wi, waj || Ligature. See '''i''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|wi}} || {{veda-orth|wi}} || '''wi'''/'''way''' || wi, waj || Ligature.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|i}} || {{veda-orth|i}} || '''i'''/'''ay'''/'''ei''' || i, aj, e || Stands for [i], [aj] or [e] depending on the environment.
| {{gand-orth|i}} || {{veda-orth|i}} || '''i'''/'''ay'''/'''ei''' || i, aj, e ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|y}} || {{veda-orth|y}} || '''y''' || j ||  
| {{gand-orth|y}} || {{veda-orth|y}} || '''y''' || j ||  
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|ya}} || {{veda-orth|ya}} || '''ya'''/'''yei''' || jɑ, jǝ, je || Ligature. See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|ya}} || {{veda-orth|ya}} || '''ya'''/'''yæ'''/'''yei''' || jɑ, jǝ, jæ, je || Ligature.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|yu}} || {{veda-orth|yu}} || '''yu'''/'''yaw'''/'''i''' || ju, jaw, i || Ligature. Realized as [i] word-initially when unstressed, see '''u''' for details about the other realizations.
| {{gand-orth|yu}} || {{veda-orth|yu}} || '''yu'''/'''yaw'''/'''i''' || ju, jaw, i || Ligature. Realized as [i] word-initially when unstressed.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|r}} || {{veda-orth|r}} || '''r''' || ɹ ||  
| {{gand-orth|r}} || {{veda-orth|r}} || '''r''' || ɹ ||  
Line 101: Line 160:
| {{gand-orth|ny}} || {{veda-orth|ny}} || '''ny''' || ɲ || Used to stand for [nj], now stands for [ɲ] before other vowels.
| {{gand-orth|ny}} || {{veda-orth|ny}} || '''ny''' || ɲ || Used to stand for [nj], now stands for [ɲ] before other vowels.
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|nya}} || {{veda-orth|nya}} || '''nya'''/'''nyei''' || ɲɑ, ɲǝ, ɲe || See '''a''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|nya}} || {{veda-orth|nya}} || '''nya'''/'''nyæ'''/'''nyei''' || ɲɑ, ɲǝ, ɲæ, ɲe ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|nyu}} || {{veda-orth|nyu}} || '''nyu'''/'''nyaw''' || ɲu, ɲaw || See '''u''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|nyu}} || {{veda-orth|nyu}} || '''nyu'''/'''nyaw''' || ɲu, ɲaw ||
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|ng}} || {{veda-orth|ng}} || '''ng''', '''n''' || ŋ, n || Now stands for [n] word-initially.
| {{gand-orth|ng}} || {{veda-orth|ng}} || '''ng''', '''n''' || ŋ, n || Now stands for [n] word-initially.
Line 109: Line 168:


====Ligatures====
====Ligatures====
In addition to some ligatures inherited from Welqor, Shul has a few more recent ligatures of Shul letters:
In addition to some ligatures inherited from Welqor, Shul has a few more recent ligatures of Shul letters:
{| class="wikitable orth" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable orth" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|-
! Glyph !! Source !! Romanization !! IPA !! Notes
! Glyph !! Source !! Romanization !! IPA
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|tho}} || {{gand-orth|th&zwnj;o}} || '''tho'''/'''tha'''/'''thu''' || θo, θǝ, θu || See '''o''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|tho}} || {{gand-orth|th&zwnj;o}} || '''tho'''/'''tha'''/'''thu''' || θo, θǝ, θu
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|thu}} || {{gand-orth|th&zwnj;u}} || '''thu'''/'''thaw''' || θu, θaw || See '''u''' for details about the realizations.
| {{gand-orth|thu}} || {{gand-orth|th&zwnj;u}} || '''thu'''/'''thaw''' || θu, θaw
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|yuyu}} || {{gand-orth|yu&zwnj;yu}} || '''yu''' || ju ||
| {{gand-orth|yuyu}} || {{gand-orth|yu&zwnj;yu}} || '''yu''' || ju
|}
|}


Line 143: Line 201:


===Spelling of paradigms===
===Spelling of paradigms===
 
When examining a noun declension table, it becomes apparent that Gandal's spelling conventions require learning how to spell in the Shul script separately from learning how to speak Gandal. This distinction is illustrated by the differences in spelling between vowel-initial accusative singular and plural forms, both pronounced the same due to their shared initial "u," as seen in the following table (in which C = consonant and V = vowel, and {{gand-orth|gh}} and {{gand-orth|yuyu}} are transliterated ⟨gh⟩ and ⟨yuyu⟩ respectively):
When examining a noun declension table, it becomes apparent that Gandal's spelling conventions require learning how to spell in the Shul script separately from learning how to speak Gandal. This distinction is illustrated by the differences in spelling between vowel-initial accusative singular and plural forms, both pronounced the same due to their shared initial "u," as seen in the following table (in which C = consonant and V = vowel):


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
Line 153: Line 210:
|-
|-
! C...V  
! C...V  
| {{gand-orth|jeghon}} <br>jiyan || {{gand-orth|yajeghon}} <br>yajiyan || {{gand-orth|jee}} <br>ji || {{gand-orth|yajee}} <br>yaji || {{gand-orth|yujee}} <br>iji || {{gand-orth|yuyajee}} <br>iyaji
| {{gand-orth|jeghon}} <br>jiyan <br> ⟨jeghon⟩ || {{gand-orth|yajeghon}} <br>yajiyan <br> ⟨yajeghon⟩ || {{gand-orth|jee}} <br>ji <br> ⟨jee⟩ || {{gand-orth|yajee}} <br>yaji <br> ⟨yajee⟩ || {{gand-orth|yujee}} <br>iji <br> ⟨yujee⟩ || {{gand-orth|yuyajee}} <br>iyaji <br> ⟨yuyajee⟩
|-
|-
! V...V  
! V...V  
| {{gand-orth|umbeghon}} <br>umbiyan || {{gand-orth|yumbeghon}} <br>yumbiyan || {{gand-orth|umbe}} <br>umba || {{gand-orth|yumbe}} <br>yumba || {{gand-orth|yumbe}} <br>yumba || {{gand-orth|yuyumbe}} <br>yumba
| {{gand-orth|umbeghon}} <br>umbiyan <br> ⟨umbeghon⟩ || {{gand-orth|yumbeghon}} <br>yumbiyan <br> ⟨yumbeghon⟩ || {{gand-orth|umbe}} <br>umba <br> ⟨umbe⟩ || {{gand-orth|yumbe}} <br>yumba <br> ⟨yumbe⟩ || {{gand-orth|yumbe}} <br>yumba <br> ⟨yumbe⟩ || {{gand-orth|yuyumbe}} <br>yumba <br> ⟨yuyumbe⟩
|-
|-
! C...C
! C...C
| {{gand-orth|chamon}} <br>chaman || {{gand-orth|yachamon}} <br>yachaman || {{gand-orth|cham}} <br>cham || {{gand-orth|yacham}} <br>yacham || {{gand-orth|yucham}} <br>icham || {{gand-orth|yuyacham}} <br>iyacham
| {{gand-orth|chamon}} <br>chaman <br> ⟨chamon⟩ || {{gand-orth|yachamon}} <br>yachaman <br> ⟨yachamon⟩ || {{gand-orth|cham}} <br>cham <br> ⟨cham⟩ || {{gand-orth|yacham}} <br>yacham <br> ⟨yacham⟩ || {{gand-orth|yucham}} <br>icham <br> ⟨yucham⟩ || {{gand-orth|yuyacham}} <br>iyacham <br> ⟨yuyacham⟩
|-
|-
! V...C
! V...C
| {{gand-orth|udhon}} <br>awdhan || {{gand-orth|yudhon}} <br>yudhan || {{gand-orth|udh}} <br>udh || {{gand-orth|yudh}} <br>yudh || {{gand-orth|yudh}} <br>yudh || {{gand-orth|yuyudh}} <br>yudh
| {{gand-orth|udhon}} <br>awdhan <br> ⟨udhon⟩ || {{gand-orth|yudhon}} <br>yudhan <br> ⟨yudhon⟩ || {{gand-orth|udh}} <br>udh <br> ⟨udh⟩ || {{gand-orth|yudh}} <br>yudh <br> ⟨yudh⟩ || {{gand-orth|yudh}} <br>yudh <br> ⟨yudh⟩ || {{gand-orth|yuyudh}} <br>yudh <br> ⟨yuyudh⟩
|}
|}


Line 172: Line 229:
{| class="wikitable orth" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable orth" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|-
! Glyph !! Source!! #
! Glyph !! Source !! # !! Romanization
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|0}} || {{veda-orth|0}} || '''0'''
| {{gand-orth|0}} || {{veda-orth|0}} || '''0''' || unknown
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|1}} || {{veda-orth|1}} || '''1'''
| {{gand-orth|1}} || {{veda-orth|1}} || '''1''' || {{m|gand|ing}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|2}} || {{veda-orth|2}} || '''2'''
| {{gand-orth|2}} || {{veda-orth|2}} || '''2''' || {{m|gand|kan}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|3}} || {{veda-orth|3}} || '''3'''
| {{gand-orth|3}} || {{veda-orth|3}} || '''3''' || {{m|gand|zaw}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|4}} || {{veda-orth|4}} || '''4'''
| {{gand-orth|4}} || {{veda-orth|4}} || '''4''' || {{m|gand|fin}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|5}} || {{veda-orth|5}} || '''5'''
| {{gand-orth|5}} || {{veda-orth|5}} || '''5''' || {{m|gand|ingrep}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|6}} || {{veda-orth|6}} || '''6'''
| {{gand-orth|6}} || {{veda-orth|6}} || '''6''' || {{m|gand|ping}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|7}} || {{veda-orth|7}} || '''7'''
| {{gand-orth|7}} || {{veda-orth|7}} || '''7''' || {{m|gand|zawyunen}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|8}} || {{veda-orth|8}} || '''8'''
| {{gand-orth|8}} || {{veda-orth|8}} || '''8''' || {{m|gand|kanyunen}}
|-
|-
| {{gand-orth|9}} || {{veda-orth|9}} || '''9'''
| {{gand-orth|9}} || {{veda-orth|9}} || '''9''' || {{m|gand|aynyunen}}
|-
| {{gand-orth|10}} || {{veda-orth|10}} || '''10''' || {{m|gand|nen}}
|}
|}
[[Category:Gandal language|Script]][[Category:Gandal appendices]][[Category:Shul script| ]][[Category:Script appendices]]
 
[[Category:Gandal language|Script]]
[[Category:Gandal appendices|Script]]
[[Category:Shul script| ]]
[[Category:Script appendices]]

Latest revision as of 13:03, 24 August 2024

Gandal Language Navigation: Home, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Orthography, Dialogue

Shul is an alphabet by David J. Peterson used to write the Gandal language from Tencent Games' Arena of Valor.

Orthography

The Gandal alphabet, known as the Shul or "pure" script, directly evolves from Veda's script, the Welqor abjad. Though the script is now an alphabet that indicates every vowel, sound changes resulted in different letters standing for the same sounds and some letters having several possible readings. For instance, every doubled consonant (i.e. geminate) is now pronounced as a single one.

An important rule of Gandal's orthography is that every vowel letter's pronunciation changes depending on stress, on whether the vowel used to be long and whether it followed one of Veda's vowel-retracting consonants (*[x], *[ɣ] and *[q]).

Vowels became long in stressed open syllables and before syllable-final velar fricatives when the latter disappeared. Both the short and the long vowels' qualities then changed but some of these changes were blocked by the retracting consonants, and short non-high vowels became [ə] when unstressed, the length contrast then disappeared. This resulted in the following possible readings:

Old Modern
Normal Retracted
Stressed Unstressed Stressed Unstressed
a æ ǝ ɑ ǝ
aː e ɑ
e ɛ ǝ ɛ ǝ
eː i ɛ
i e
iː aj
o o ǝ o ǝ
oː u o
u
uː aw

There are, however, exceptions: most notably, Veda's *[ə], which does not have its own letter, surfaced as [o], [ɛ] or [ɑ] when stressed depending on the surrounding consonants and as [ǝ] or [ɛ] when unstressed, these vowels may therefore have unexpected spellings when they descend from *[ə].

Letters

The glyphs of Shul representing sounds or sequences thereof are shown with their Welqor sources in the following table. Keep in mind that in Gandal's romanization, a stands for [ɑ] when stressed and for [ǝ] when unstressed, and that all instances of [ǝ] are spelt a, even the ones that do not descend from Veda's *[a].

Glyph Source Romanization IPA Notes
p p p p
b b b b
t t t t
d d d d
th ts th θ
thy tsy ch tʃ Used to stand for [tsj], now stands for [tʃ] before other vowels.
thya tsya cha/chæ/chei tʃɑ, tʃǝ, tʃæ, tʃe
thyu tsyu chu/chaw tʃu, tʃaw
dh dz dh ð
dhy dzy j dʒ Used to stand for [dzj], now stands for [dʒ] before other vowels.
dhya dzya ja/jæ/jei dʒɑ, dʒǝ, dʒæ, dʒe
dhyu dzyu ju/jaw dʒu, dʒaw
k k k k
g g g g
q q k k Used to stand for [q], now stands for [k] but causes retraction of a following vowel.
a a a/æ/ei ɑ, ǝ, æ, e
e e e/a/i ɛ, ǝ, i
o o o/a/u o, ǝ, u
f f f f
v v v v
s s s s
sy sy sh ʃ Used to stand for [sj], now stands for [ʃ] before other vowels.
sya sya sha/shæ/shei ʃɑ, ʃǝ, ʃæ, ʃe
syu syu shu/shaw ʃu, ʃaw
z z z z
zh zy zh ʒ Used to stand for [zj], now stands for [ʒ] before other vowels.
zya zya zha/zhæ/zhei ʒɑ, ʒǝ, ʒæ, ʒe
zyu zyu zhu/zhaw ʒu, ʒaw
h kh h/- h, silent Silent in some environments, most notably syllable-finally. Causes retraction of a following vowel.
gh gh g/h/y/- g, h, j, silent Used to stand for [ɣ], now silent (most notably syllable-finally) or stands for [g], [h] or [j] depending on the environment. Causes retraction of a following vowel.
u u u/aw/o u, aw, o
w w w w
wa wa wa/wæ/wei wɑ, wǝ, wæ, we Ligature.
wi wi wi/way wi, waj Ligature.
i i i/ay/ei i, aj, e
y y y j
ya ya ya/yæ/yei jɑ, jǝ, jæ, je Ligature.
yu yu yu/yaw/i ju, jaw, i Ligature. Realized as [i] word-initially when unstressed.
r r r ɹ
l l l l
m m m m
n n n n
ny ny ny ɲ Used to stand for [nj], now stands for [ɲ] before other vowels.
nya nya nya/nyæ/nyei ɲɑ, ɲǝ, ɲæ, ɲe
nyu nyu nyu/nyaw ɲu, ɲaw
ng ng ng, n ŋ, n Now stands for [n] word-initially.

Ligatures

In addition to some ligatures inherited from Welqor, Shul has a few more recent ligatures of Shul letters:

Glyph Source Romanization IPA
tho th‌o tho/tha/thu θo, θǝ, θu
thu th‌u thu/thaw θu, θaw
yuyu yu‌yu yu ju

Punctuation

The punctuation marks of the Shul script are shown with their Welqor sources (if any) in the table below:

Glyph Source Usage
. . Period
, , Comma
? ? Question mark
! none Exclamation mark
( ) ( ) Parentheses
- none Clitic or contraction marker

Spelling of paradigms

When examining a noun declension table, it becomes apparent that Gandal's spelling conventions require learning how to spell in the Shul script separately from learning how to speak Gandal. This distinction is illustrated by the differences in spelling between vowel-initial accusative singular and plural forms, both pronounced the same due to their shared initial "u," as seen in the following table (in which C = consonant and V = vowel, and gh and yuyu are transliterated ⟨gh⟩ and ⟨yuyu⟩ respectively):

Inanimate
(Chaos)		 Ergative Oblique Accusative
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
C...V jeghon
jiyan
⟨jeghon⟩		 yajeghon
yajiyan
⟨yajeghon⟩		 jee
ji
⟨jee⟩		 yajee
yaji
⟨yajee⟩		 yujee
iji
⟨yujee⟩		 yuyajee
iyaji
⟨yuyajee⟩
V...V umbeghon
umbiyan
⟨umbeghon⟩		 yumbeghon
yumbiyan
⟨yumbeghon⟩		 umbe
umba
⟨umbe⟩		 yumbe
yumba
⟨yumbe⟩		 yumbe
yumba
⟨yumbe⟩		 yuyumbe
yumba
⟨yuyumbe⟩
C...C chamon
chaman
⟨chamon⟩		 yachamon
yachaman
⟨yachamon⟩		 cham
cham
⟨cham⟩		 yacham
yacham
⟨yacham⟩		 yucham
icham
⟨yucham⟩		 yuyacham
iyacham
⟨yuyacham⟩
V...C udhon
awdhan
⟨udhon⟩		 yudhon
yudhan
⟨yudhon⟩		 udh
udh
⟨udh⟩		 yudh
yudh
⟨yudh⟩		 yudh
yudh
⟨yudh⟩		 yuyudh
yudh
⟨yuyudh⟩

The example words shown in the table above are jeghon jiyan "belly," umbeghon umbiyan "emptiness," chamon chaman "cloud," and udhon awdhan "whip."

Numerals

Gandal uses a base-10 number system, which is shown in the following table with its Welqor sources:

Glyph Source # Romanization
0 0 0 unknown
1 1 1 ing
2 2 2 kan
3 3 3 zaw
4 4 4 fin
5 5 5 ingrep
6 6 6 ping
7 7 7 zawyunen
8 8 8 kanyunen
9 9 9 aynyunen
10 10 10 nen
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