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Rttirri: Difference between revisions
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The writing system in Rttirri is mostly phonetic, but as it reflects Classical Rttirri pronunciation, various mergers and phonemic splits have corrupted the one-to-one correspondence between sound and letter. In addition, several characters exist that are only used for transliteration of Sanskrit words into Rttirri, having historically represented sounds that do not exist in Rttirri. For example, the letter representing Sanskrit /ɖ/ is distinct from the letter representing /ʈ/, but both are pronounced as [ʈ] in modern Rttirri (or often as [ɖ] intervocalically), because most dialects of the language have no phonemic voicing distinctions. The diacritic representing /ʌ/ could be considered redundant, because few speakers today maintain the phonemic distinction between /ʌ/ and /ɑ/, but using the right diacritic anyway is essential for correct spelling. | The writing system in Rttirri is mostly phonetic, but as it reflects Classical Rttirri pronunciation, various mergers and phonemic splits have corrupted the one-to-one correspondence between sound and letter. In addition, several characters exist that are only used for transliteration of Sanskrit words into Rttirri, having historically represented sounds that do not exist in Rttirri. For example, the letter representing Sanskrit /ɖ/ is distinct from the letter representing /ʈ/, but both are pronounced as [ʈ] in modern Rttirri (or often as [ɖ] intervocalically), because most dialects of the language have no phonemic voicing distinctions. The diacritic representing /ʌ/ could be considered redundant, because few speakers today maintain the phonemic distinction between /ʌ/ and /ɑ/, but using the right diacritic anyway is essential for correct spelling. | ||
In the late 19th century, when Rttirria was a colony of Britain, | In the late 19th century, when Rttirria was a colony of Britain, linguists from England designed a Latin transcription system for Rttirri. There have been periodic movements to switch Rttirri to using the Latin alphabet, but none has ever been successful. However, the Latin system is often favored for textbooks and travel guides for learning Rttirri, since it is almost completely phonetic. | ||
==Vocabulary== | ==Vocabulary== | ||