Appendix:Yulish pronunciation

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The Shiväisith language has 18 consonants, 8 vowels with two lengths and 1 glide.

Standard Romanization

Letter IPA English example Notes
a a father
b b bell
ch chime
d d ding
e e bell
f f food
g g good
h h ham
i i beet
j job This only appears in non-native words.
k k kkeep
kh x or χ - Like the ch of German Buch.
l l left
m m man
n n no Assimilates to a following velar consonant.
o o boat
ö ø Like e pronounced with rounded lips.
p p pan
r ʀ Trilled long and loud.
s s see
sh ʃ sheep
t t top
u u rude
ü y Like i pronounced with rounded lips.
v v voice
w w wise
y j yes
z z zoo

Phonetics

Yulish has a couple front rounded vowels, and a uvular trill that occurs frequently. Doubled vowels above are longer in duration than short vowels, but are otherwise identical in quality to short vowels. Stress is usually accompanied by lengthening of the vowel and followed by a sharp rise in intonation.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m [m] n [n] (n [ɲ]) (n [ŋ]) (n [ɴ])
Plosive voiceless p [p] t [t] ch [tʃ] k [k]
voiced b [b] d [d] (j [dʒ]) g [g]
Fricative voiceless f [f] s [s] sh [ʃ] kh [x~χ] h [h]
voiced v [v] z [z]
Lateral l [l]
Rhotic r [ʀ]

Notes:

  • [ɲ], [ŋ], and [ɴ] are in parentheses because they are not phonemes, but allophones of /n/. The phoneme /n/ assimilates to a following velar, uvular, or possibly even palatal consonant.
  • [dʒ] is in parentheses because it occurs only in words of foreign origin or names, e.g. Jojo [dʒoˈdʒo].
  • [x ~ χ] occurs in borrowings, or words that come directly from Ghiscari.

Vowels

Yulish has 8 phonetically distinct vowels, seven of which can be long or short:

Front Central Back
Close i [i], ii [iː], ü [y], üü [yː] u [u], uu [uː]
Mid e [e], ee [eː], ö [ø], öö [øː] a [ǝ] o [o], oo [oː]
Open a [a], aa [aː]

Diphthongs

Yulish has at least one diphthong: oi [oi]. It may have others, but they haven't been discovered yet.