Verse:Lõis/Vietnamese

Vietnamese in Lõis (⟨thî́ng Fî̀d⟩) 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 (⟨Djũ Gwyg Ngũ⟩)

Initials

• m n nj ng = m n nh ng
• b ƀ th 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), Ngwî̃n (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The letter v for /w/ is obsolete.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
  • Handwritten ⟨i⟩ and ⟨j⟩ are never dotted. (In our Vietnamese, handwritten ⟨i⟩ is always dotted.)
  • 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 the same diacritics as in our Vietnamese orthography. However, entering tones are written as ngang and huyền.

Sample from Truyện Kiều (⟨Drwị̂n Gî̀w⟩)

Dram nam drawng gõe ngû̀i tha,
Djũ thàe djũ mỵing céw là gged njaw.
Drảe gwa mồd gŵ̀g ƀể ddyw,
Njũng đî̀w drywng týi mà đaw đŷ́n làwng.
Lạ jì ƀỉ rhag thu ffawng,
Drŷ̀i saing gwen tóe má hỳwng đáing ggen.

Dialectology

• Some conservative North-Central dialects in Lõis have [r̥] for /ʂ/ (⟨s⟩ in our timeline's Quốc Ngữ); 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/).
• Some speakers pronounce /t̪/ as [θ], which is an older pronunciation.