Lanikel orthography

Lanikel is a dialect of Iskel which is primarily distinct from the others in its phonology. Therefore, its orthography differs from other dialects for both romanization and native script.

Romanization

Basic Phonemes

Some consonants can be written with either digraphs or a non-ASCII monograph. Syllabic consonants are always written as digraphs, however.

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Dorsal	Glottal
Nasal		ɱ m		n n		ɲ ny, ñ	ŋ ng, ŋ
Stop	Voiceless	p p		t t	t͡ʃ ch, č		k k	ʔ q
	Voiced	b b		d͡z dz, ẑ	d͡ʒ j		ɡ g
Fricative	Voiceless	f f	θ th, þ	s s	ʃ sh, š	ʎ̝̊ lh, ç	x x	h h
	Voiced	v v	ð d	z z	ʒ zh, ž
Approximant	Oral	w w		l l		j y		h̞ ḥ
	Nasal	w̃ wǹ, ṽ		l̃ lǹ, ł		j̃ yǹ, ỹ
Vibrant				ɾ r			ʀ rr, ř
Click	Nasal		ŋ͡ʇ cn	ŋ͡ǃ¡ cǹ		ŋ͡ǂ cñ
	Tenuis		k͡ʇ ct	k͡ǃ¡ cl		k͡ǂ cy

Vowels with the circumflex diacritics change diacritics based on suprasegmentals, specified later in this article.

	Front	Near-Front	Near-Back	Back
Close	i i	ɪ î	ʊ û	u u
Mid	e e	ə ê	ʌ ô	o o
Open	a a			ɑ â

Syllabic Consonants

Toneless syllabic consonants are written with an overdot. On digraphs, the underdot is written only on the first letter (e.g. /ŋ̩ ʀ̩/ get written ⟨ṇg ṛr⟩). The toneless syllabic consonant /j̍/ is instead written ⟨ẏ⟩.

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Dorsal
Nasal		ɱ̩ ṃ		n̩ ṇ	ɲ̩ ṇy	ŋ̩ ṇg
Fricative		v̩ ṿ	ð̩ ḍ	z̩ ẓ	ʒ̍ ẓh
Approximant	Oral	w̩ ẉ		l̩ ḷ	j̍ ẏ
	Nasal	w̩̃ ẉǹ		l̩̃ ḷǹ	j̩̃ ẏǹ
Vibrant				ɾ̩ ṛ		ʀ̩ ṛr

Tones

High tone on vowels is marked with an acute accent on vowels without a diacritic. On vowels with a circumflex, the circumflex is replaced with a grave accent (e.g. /í ɪ́/ are ⟨í ì⟩).

Mid tone on vowels is marked with a breve on vowels without a diacritic. On vowels with a circumflex, the circumflex is replaced with a tilde (e.g. /ī ɪ̄/ are ⟨ĭ ĩ⟩).

Low tone is marked with an apostrophe before the nucleus.

Because word-initial high tone words are most common, Iskel romanizes them differently to avoid extensive diacritic use: a high tone on a multisyllabic word is not written if there is only one high tone and it's word initial. Multisyllabic words with no tones are written as if they have a word-initial high tone.

For polypthongs, tone (not including low tone because it has unusual romanization) is always written on the first vowel grapheme, so every vowel with a tone diacritic begins its syllable's nucleus. It is therefore unnecessary to use a diaerisis on such vowels.

	Front			Near-Front			Near-Back			Back
	High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low
Close	í í	ī ĭ	ì 'i	ɪ́ ì	ɪ̄ ĩ	ɪ̀ 'î	ʊ́ ù	ʊ̄ ũ	ʊ̀ 'û	ú ú	ū ŭ	ù 'u
Mid	é é	ē ĕ	è 'e	ə́ è	ə̄ ẽ	ə̀ 'ê	ʌ́ ò	ʌ̄ õ	ʌ̀ 'ô	ó ó	ō ŏ	ò 'o
Open	á á	ā ă	à 'a							ɑ́ à	ɑ̄ ã	ɑ̀ 'â

High tone syllabic consonants /ɱ̩́ ń̩ ɲ̩́ ŋ̩́ ź̩ ʒ̩́ ẃ̩ ĺ̩ j̩́ ɾ̩́ ʀ̩́/ have their underdots replaced with the acute accent ⟨ḿ ń ńy ńg ź źh ẃ ĺ ý ŕ ŕr⟩. High tone /ð̩/ is written with ⟨ð⟩ instead of ⟨d́⟩, and high tone /v̩/ is written with a ⟨ŵ⟩.

Mid tone syllabic consonants are written similar to their toneless forms, but with overdots instead of underdots. The mid tone /v̩̄ j̩̄/, however, are written ⟨ẅ ÿ⟩.

		Labial			Dental			Alveolar			Palatal			Dorsal
		High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low	High	Mid	Low
Nasal		ɱ̩˥ ḿ	ɱ̩˧ ṁ	ɱ̩˩ 'ṃ				n̩˥ ń	n̩˧ ṅ	n̩˩ 'ṇ	ɲ̩˥ ńy	ɲ̩˧ ṅy	ɲ̩˩ 'ṇy	ŋ̩˥ ńg	ŋ̩˧ ṅg	ŋ̩˩ 'ṇg
Fricative		v̩˥ ŵ	v̩˧ ẅ	v̩˩ 'ṿ	ð̩́˥ ð	ð̩˧ ḋ	ð̩˩ 'ḍ	z̩˥ ź	z̩˧ ż	z̩˩ 'ẓ	ʒ̍˥ źh	ʒ̍˧ żh	ʒ̍˩ 'ẓh
Approximant	Oral	w̩˥ ẃ	w̩˧ ẇ	w̩˩ 'ẉ				l̩˥ ĺ	l̩˧ ŀ	l̩˩ 'ḷ	j̍˥ ý	j̍˧ ÿ	j̍˩ 'ẏ
	Nasal	w̩̃˥ ẃǹ	w̩̃˧ ẇǹ	w̩̃˩ 'ẉǹ				l̩̃˥ ĺǹ	l̩̃˧ ŀǹ	l̩̃˩ 'ḷǹ	j̩̃˥ ýǹ	j̩̃˧ ÿǹ	j̩̃˩ 'ẏǹ
Vibrant								ɾ̩ː˥ ŕ	ɾ̩ː˧ ṙ	ɾ̩ː˩ 'ṛ				ʀ̩˥ ŕr	ʀ̩˧ ṙr	ʀ̩˩ 'ṛr

Gemination

Geminated single-letter phonemes are written by doubling their letter. Geminated digraphs are written by doubling their first letter.

Geminated syllabic consonants are marked by doubling the letter with the syllabic or tone diacritic. The syllabic geminate consonant /ʀ̩ː/ is only written with two marked ⟨r⟩s instead of two marked ⟨r⟩s and an unmarked one.

Geminate Romanization
Consonant	Occlusive	Phoneme	ɱː	nː	ɲː	ŋː	pː	tː	t͡ʃː	kː	ʔː	bː	d͡zː	d͡ʒː	ɡː	ŋ͡ʇː	ŋ͡ǃ¡ː	ŋ͡ǂː	k͡ʇː	k͡ǃ¡ː	k͡ǂː
		Grapheme	mm	nn	nny	nng	pp	tt	cch	kk	qq	bb	ddz	jj	gg	ccn	ccǹ	ccñ	cct	ccl	ccy
			mm	nn	ññ	ŋŋ	pp	tt	čč	kk	qq	bb	ẑẑ	jj	gg	ccn	ccǹ	ccñ	cct	ccl	ccy
	Continuant	Phoneme	fː	θː	sː	ʃː	ʎ̝̊ː	xː	hː	vː	ðː	zː	ʒː	wː	lː	jː	w̃ː	l̃ː	j̃ː	ʀː
		Grapheme	ff	thh	ss	ssh	llh	xx	hh	vv	dd	zz	zzh	ww	ll	yy	wwǹ	llǹ	yyǹ	rrr
			ff	þþ	ss	šš	çç	xx	hh	vv	dd	zz	žž	ww	ll	yy	ṽṽ	łł	ỹỹ	řř
Syllabic Consonant	Toneless	Phoneme	ɱ̩ː	n̩ː	ɲ̩ː	ŋ̩ː	v̩ː	ð̩ː	z̩ː	ʒ̍ː	w̩ː	l̩ː	j̍ː	w̩̃ː	l̩̃ː	j̩̃ː	ʀ̩ː
		Grapheme	ṃṃ	ṇṇ	ṇṇy	ṇṇg	ṿṿ	ḍḍ	ẓẓ	ẓẓh	ẉẉ	ḷḷ	ẏẏ	ẉẉǹ	ḷḷǹ	ẏẏǹ	ṛṛ
	High Tone	Phoneme	ɱ̩ː˥	n̩ː˥	ɲ̩ː˥	ŋ̩ː˥	v̩ː˥	ð̩ː˥	z̩ː˥	ʒ̍ː˥	w̩ː˥	l̩ː˥	j̍ː˥	w̩̃ː˥	l̩̃ː˥	j̩̃ː˥	ʀ̩ː˥
		Grapheme	ḿḿ	ńń	ńńy	ńńg	ŵŵ	ðð	źź	źźh	ẃẃ	ĺĺ	ýý	ẃẃǹ	ĺĺǹ	ýýǹ	ŕŕ
	Mid Tone	Phoneme	ɱ̩ː˧	n̩ː˧	ɲ̩ː˧	ŋ̩ː˧	v̩ː˧	ð̩ː˧	z̩ː˧	ʒ̍ː˧	w̩ː˧	l̩ː˧	j̍ː˧	w̩̃ː˧	l̩̃ː˧	j̩̃ː˧	ʀ̩ː˧
		Grapheme	ṁṁ	ṅṅ	ṅṅy	ṅṅg	ẅẅ	ḋḋ	żż	żżh	ẇẇ	ŀŀ	ÿÿ	ẇẇǹ	ŀŀǹ	ÿÿǹ	ṙṙ
	Low Tone	Phoneme	ɱ̩ː˩	n̩ː˩	ɲ̩ː˩	ŋ̩ː˩	v̩ː˩	ð̩ː˩	z̩ː˩	ʒ̍ː˩	w̩ː˩	l̩ː˩	j̍ː˩	w̩̃ː˩	l̩̃ː˩	j̩̃ː˩	ʀ̩ː˩
		Grapheme	'ṃṃ	'ṇṇ	'ṇṇy	'ṇṇg	'ṿṿ	'ḍḍ	'ẓẓ	'ẓẓh	'ẉẉ	'ḷḷ	'ẏẏ	'ẉẉǹ	'ḷḷǹ	'ẏẏǹ	'ṛṛ
Vowel	Toneless	Phoneme	iː	ɪː	ʊː	uː	eː	əː	ʌː	oː	aː	ɑː
		Grapheme	ii	îî	ûû	uu	ee	êê	ôô	oo	aa	ââ
	High Tone	Phoneme	iː˥	ɪː˥	ʊː˥	uː˥	eː˥	əː˥	ʌː˥	oː˥	aː˥	ɑː˥
		Grapheme	íí	ìì	ùù	úú	éé	èè	òò	óó	áá	àà
	Mid Tone	Phoneme	iː˧	ɪː˧	ʊː˧	uː˧	eː˧	əː˧	ʌː˧	oː˧	aː˧	ɑː˧
		Grapheme	ĭĭ	ĩĩ	ũũ	ŭŭ	ĕĕ	ẽẽ	õõ	ŏŏ	ăă	ãã
	Low Tone	Phoneme	iː˩	ɪː˩	ʊː˩	uː˩	eː˩	əː˩	ʌː˩	oː˩	aː˩	ɑː˩
		Grapheme	'ii	'îî	'ûû	'uu	'ee	'êê	'ôô	'oo	'aa	'ââ

Disambiguation

Many consonant phonemes are expressed with multigraphs that have an equivalent cluster. They are differenciated orthographically with apostrophes placed between consonant graphemes in a cluster.

Polyphthongs are written by simply juxtaposing vowel letters together. Since all two- or three-vowel clusters contrast with a polypthong, a diaerisis is placed on the non-first grapheme(s) of such clusters to distinguish them.

Multigraph Disambiguation
Consonants (All)						Syllabic Consonants (All)			Vowels (Examples)
Digraph			Trigraph			Digraph			Short Vowel Multigraph			Long Vowel Multigraph
Grapheme		Phonemes	Grapheme		Phonemes	Grapheme		Phonemes	Grapheme		Phonemes	Grapheme		Phonemes
Base	Distinction		Base	Distinction		Base	Distinction		Base	Distinction		Base	Distinction
dz	dz	/d͡z/	ddz	ddz	/d͡zː/	ṇy	ṇy	/ɲ̩/	ie	ie	/i͡e/	iea	iea	/i͡e͡a/
	d'z	/ðz/		d'dz	/ðd͡z/		ṇ'y	/n̩j/		iē	/i.e/		iēa	/i.e͡a/
				dd'z	/ðːz/	ńy	ńy	/ɲ̩˥/					ieā	/i͡e.a/
lh	lh	/ʎ̝̊/	llh	llh	/ʎ̝̊ː/		ń'y	/n̩˥j/					iēā	/i.e.a/
	l'h	/lh/		l'lh	/lʎ̝̊/	ṅy	ṅy	/ɲ̩˧/	ui	ui	/u͡i/	uio	uio	/u͡i͡o/
				ll'h	/lːh/		ṅ'y	/n̩˧j/		uī	/u.i/		uīo	/u.i͡o/
ng	ng	/ŋ/	nng	nng	/ŋː/	'ṇy	'ṇy	/ɲ̩˩/					uiō	/u͡i.o/
	n'g	/nɡ/		n'ng	/nŋ/		'ṇ'y	/n̩˩j/					uīō	/u.i.o/
				nn'g	/nːɡ/	ṇg	ṇg	/ŋ̩/	oa	oa	/o͡a/	oae	oae	/o͡a͡e/
ny	ny	/ɲ/	nny	nny	/ɲː/		ṇ'g	/n̩ɡ/		oā	/o.a/		oāe	/o.a͡e/
	n'y	/nj/		n'ny	/nɲ/	ńg	ńg	/ŋ̩˥/					oaē	/o͡a.e/
				nn'y	/nːj/		ń'g	/n̩˥ɡ/					oāē	/o.a.e/
			rrr	rrr	/ʀː/	ṅg	ṅg	/ŋ̩˧/	iê	iê	/i͡ə/	iêa	iêa	/i͡ə͡a/
				rr'r	/ʀɾ/		ṅ'g	/n̩˧ɡ/		ië	/i.ə/		iëa	/i.ə͡a/
				r'rr	/ɾʀ/	'ṇg	'ṇg	/ŋ̩˩/					iêā	/i͡ə.a/
sh	sh	/ʃ/	ssh	ssh	/ʃː/		'ṇ'g	/n̩ɡ/					iëā	/i.ə.a/
	s'h	/sh/		s'sh	/sʃ/	ẓh	ẓh	/ʒ̍/	ûi	ûi	/ʊ͡i/	ûiô	ûiô	/ʊ͡i͡ʌ/
				ss'h	/sːh/		ẓ'h	/z̩h/		ûī	/ʊ.i/		ûīô	/ʊ.i͡ʌ/
th	th	/θ/	tth	tth	/θː/	źh	źh	/ʒ̍˥/					ûiö	/ʊ͡i.ʌ/
	t'h	/th/		t'th	/tθ/		ź'h	/z̩˥h/					ûīö	/ʊ.i.ʌ/
				tt'h	/tːh/	żh	żh	/ʒ̍˧/	ôâ	ôâ	/ʌ͡ɑ/	ôâê	ôâê	/ʌ͡ɑ͡ə/
zh	zh	/ʒ/	zzh	zzh	/ʒː/		ż'h	/z̩˧h/		ôä	/ʌ.ɑ/		ôäê	/ʌ.ɑ͡ə/
	z'h	/zh/		z'zh	/zʒ/	'ẓh	'ẓh	/ʒ̍˩/					ôâë	/ʌ͡ɑ.ə/
				zz'h	/zːh/		'ẓ'h	/z̩˩h/					ôäë	/ʌ.ɑ.ə/