Verse:Irta/English

This page describes the orthography for English used in Lõis, and some Lõisian accents and dialects of English.

Orthography

uon, tô, thrê, phuor, phîv, six, sevn, aiht, nyn, ten

O Captin! My Captin! ûr phiêrphul trip is dôn;
Ðe ship khas weđrd evrih rac, đe prise ue suht is wun;
Ðe port is niêr, đe bels ih khiêr, đe peopul al exsulting,
Qhîl pholo eihs đe stedih kêl, đe vessl grim and dâring;
But O khart! khart! khart!
O đe blêding drops of red,
Qher on đe dec my captin lihs,
Phalen cold and diêd.

pelth₂óm > PPTA pheldă > phêld "field"

L-Standard English

Californian + RP. Rhoticity in idiolectal or free variation.

Vowels

• KIT = ɪ~ɪ̈
• DRESS = ɛ̞
• TRAP = BATH = a
• PALM = ɑː
• FOOT = ɘ
• STRUT = ɜ̟~ɐ
• LOT = CLOTH = ɔ~ɒ
• THOUGHT = ɔː~ɒː
• FLEECE = iː~ɪj
• FACE = eɪ
• PRICE = aɪ~ɑɪ
• GOOSE = yː; uː before [ɫ]
• GOAT = əʊ~əʏ; oʊ before [ɫ]
• MOUTH = aʊ~æʊ~æʏ
• NEAR = ɪə(r)
• SQUARE = ɛə(r)
• NURSE = əː(r)~ɜː(r)
• START = ɑː(r)
• NORTH = FORCE = POOR = oə(r)
• CURE = joə(r)~jəː(r)~jɜː(r)
• lettER = commA = ə(r)
• happY = i
• orange = [ɒɹɪndʒ~ɔɹɪndʒ]
• Mary [mɛəɹi] ≈ merry [mɛɹi] ≠ marry [maɹi]
• Mirror-nearer distinction
• Hurry-furry distinction
• No mergers before /l/

Consonants

• L is light [l] before vowels and dark [ɫ] otherwise, as in RP.
  • wholly-holy split.
• No glottal reinforcement before stops.
• /p t k/ are unaspirated after stressed syllables as in AmE.
• /d t/ has a tapped [ɾ] allophone in similar environments as in American English.
• wine-whine merger optional.

Pseudo-Ashkenazi Hebrew accent

• KIT = ɪ
• DRESS = ɛ
• TRAP = BATH = a
• PALM = ɑː
• FOOT = STRUT = ʏ
• LOT = CLOTH = THOUGHT = o
• FLEECE = iː
• FACE = ɛɪ~æɪ
• PRICE = ɑɪ~ɒɪ
• GOOSE = uː
• GOAT = CHOICE = oɪ~øʏ
• MOUTH = aʏ~aʊ
• NEAR = FLEECE + ʀ
• SQUARE = FACE + ʀ
• NURSE = əʀ
• START = TRAP + ʀ
• NORTH = LOT + ʀ
• FORCE = GOAT + ʀ (the "or" in "Torah" is pronounced this way)
• POOR = GOOSE + ʀ
• CURE = juʀ
• lettER = əʀ
• commA = ə
• happY = i
• Mary [mɛɪʀi] ≠ merry [mɛʀi] ≠ marry [maʀi]
• mirror [mɪʀəʀ] ≠ nearer [niʀəʀ]
• hurry [hʏʀɪ] ≠ furry [fəʀɪ]
• /l/ is always light
• /r/ = [ʀ~ʁ]
• Irish style spirantized /t/

[ol hu:mən bijənz əʀ boʀən fʀi: ən i:kwəl ɪn dɪgnɪθ̱i ən ʀɑɪts. ðɛɪ əʀ ɪndaʏd wið ʀi:zən ən konʃəns ən ʃʏd akt toʀds won ənʏðəʀ ɪn ə spɪʀɪθ̱ əv bʀʏðəχʏd]

A rhotic accent

Rhotic with R-colored vowels using uvular r

• KIT = [ɪ],
• DRESS = [ɛ] (but it gets raised before fricatives),
• TRAP = [a] usually, /ɔ:/ before nasals
• LOT merges with TRAP
• THOUGHT = [uə] (and some words with silent -gh are pronounced with /f/ like thought = [θuft])
• GOAT = [oə]
• FOOT = STRUT = [ɨ]
• GOOSE = [y]
• PRICE = [ei] before fricatives, [ae] otherwise
• MOUTH = [ou] before fricatives, [ɑo] otherwise
• FLEECE = Viby-i
• FACE = [iɛ]
• PALM = [a]

A non-rhotic accent

Inspired by Qenian and the Korean accent

• KIT = [ɪ]
• FLEECE = [i]
• DRESS = [e]
• FACE = [ei]
• TRAP = BATH = [ɛ]
• PALM = LOT = THOUGHT = [a]
• FOOT = STRUT = [ɔ]
• GOAT = [o]
• GOOSE = [u]
• PRICE = [ai]
• MOUTH = [au]
• CHOICE = [ɔi]
• commA = [ɜ]
• happY = [i]
• lettER = [ɨ̞]
• START = [aɨ̞]
• NEAR = [iɨ̞]
• SQUARE = [ɛɨ̞]
• NURSE = [ɨ̞]
• NORTH = FORCE = [ɔɨ̞]
• POOR = [uɨ̞]