Amerysk Orthography

Amerysk Orthography

Vowels

Amerysk has five short vowels, five long vowels, and six vowel combinations.

Short vowels:

A = 'a' in father.

E = 'e' in bet.

I = 'i' in pit.

O = 'o' in cot.

U = 'oo' in book.

Long vowels:

Æ, AE = 'ay' in day.

Y = 'ee' in beet.

EI, EY = 'i' in island.

Œ, OE = 'o' in open.

UW = 'ue' in blue.

Vowel Combinations:

AA = 'a' in father, but a bit longer in duration than A.

ŒW, OEW = 'o' in flow.

IW = as the word 'yew'.

ÆW, AEW = A + U. (Sounds like eŭ in the Esperanto word 'Eŭropo'.)

OR = may sound as if written ŒR, OER.

Consonants:

B = 'b' in 'bad'.

D = 'd' in 'dog'.

F = 'f' in 'fan'.

G = beginning letter of word only. Hard 'g' as in 'goat'.

GG = in middle or end of word only. Hard 'g' as in 'goat'.

GH = 'ch' in Scottish 'loch' or German 'ach'. If this is difficult, 'k' in 'kit' can be substituted.

H = 'h' in 'hat'.

J = 'y' in 'yes'.

K = 'k' in 'kit'.

L = 'l' in 'leg'.

M = 'm' in 'mouse'.

N = 'n' in 'nut'.

NG = 'ng' in 'ring'.

P = 'p' in 'pan'.

R = 'r' in 'rat'. Some speakers may trill the r.

S = 's' in 'sun'.

SJ = 'sh' in 'share'.

T = 't' in 'tin'.

TH = 'th' in 'this' or 'th' in 'thin'. If this sound is difficult, substituting 'd' in 'dog' is permitted.

TJ, KJ 'ch' in 'chair'.

W = 'w' in 'went'.

X = 'x' in 'oxen'.

Special letters:

Æ and Œ are the preferred forms, but it is always permissible to substitute AE and OE. Using Þ for TH is highly unofficial but may be preferred by some users.

Alternate Alphabet:

An adapted alphabet based on Anglo-Saxon runes was developed for Amerysk and may have been used in the early years. Ordinary Anglo-Saxon runes may be used, but it must be remembered that some Amerysk speakers may not be able to read the runes very well, if at all.

This orthography has been reorganized from the 1979 booklet 'Snaekk and Skryf Amerysk', and a few minor changes made.