Verse:Lõis/Vietnamese

Vietnamese in Lõis (dîngз Fîdч) is essentially the same as in our timeline, but uses a different Romanized orthography developed by a Welsh convert to Catholicism in the 17th century. (We stipulate that ph already spirantized by that time in Lõis.)

The sắc tone is called bén (our timeline's Central and Southern Vietnamese for 'sharp') in Lõis.

Orthography (Djuб Gwyg Nguб)

Initials

• m n nj ng = m n nh ng
• b ƀ d đ dr dj g = p b t đ tr ch c/k/qu
• ff t c = ph th kh
• s rh = x s
• f dd j gg = v d gi g
• l r = l r

-w- medial: Wîn (Uyên), Ngwînб (Nguyễn), Fîn (Viên), gwen (quen)

The letter v for /w/ is obsolete. k p q v x z are not part of the modern alphabet.

Rimes

• The nuclei are:
  • i u w ê ŷ y ô e â a o = i/y ư u ê ơ â ô e a ă o
  • In open syllables â ŷ are written without the circumflex.
  • î û ŵ = ia/iê, ưa/ươ, ua/uô
• -m -n -ng -b -d -g are used for the finals -m -n -ng -p -t -c
• Rimes with /j/ and /w/ finals:
  • îw, ûw, ûi, ŵi = iêu, ươu, ươi, uôi
  • iw, uw, ui, wi = iu, ưu, ưi, ui
  • êw, yw, yi, ŷi, ôe = êu, âu, ây, ơi, ôi
  • ew, ao, aw, ae, ai, oe = eo, ao, au, ai, ay, oi
• Rimes with -nh and -ch finals are written as follows: aing/g, ying/g, ing/g = anh/ch, ênh/ch, inh/ch
• awng/g, ywng/g = ong/c, ông/c

Tones

Tones are written with syllable-final tone letters: (none) ƨ з ч ƽ б = ngang, huyền, sắc, nặng, hỏi, ngã. Sắc syllables with a stop coda do not take a tone letter.

Sample (from Truyện Kiều)

Dram nam drong goeб ngûiƨ da,
Djuб daeƨ djuб myingч cewз laƨ gged njaw.
Draeƽ gwa môdч gŵgч ƀêƽ ddyw,
Njungб đîwƨ drywng tyiз maƨ đaw đŷnз lawngƨ.
Laч jiƨ ƀiƽ rhag du ffawng,
Drŷiƨ saing gwen toeз maз hywngƨ đaingз ggen.

Dialectology

Some conservative North-Central dialects in Lõis have [r̥] for /ʂ/ (and [r] for /ɹ/); this is a continuation of /Cr/ clusters which are the native sources of /ʂ/. Some Southern dialects merge /ʂ/ with /x/ into [x] (these dialects also merge /ɹ/ and /ɣ/).