Epistle with lots of Addenda

http://sites.google.com/site/psalmofdreams/Home/introduction-to-babel-grammar/hiccoughing-dialects

Epistle VII: Why do we even have to have hiccoughing dialects?

My love, my one, oh font of my dreams,
I passed your letter to your Mother. Honored Khwofheîlya was definitely born among the Warrior Caste, for she did not react with fear at all to hear about the battle. I think I was the only to show such overt concern. I don’t think I could have lasted long if I had grown up among your people, for I don’t know how to hide my feelings about the one that I love. After your honored Mother read the note she passed it to Grandmother Tàltiin. We heard laughter outside. It is just the beginning of Summertide in Jaràqtu, and Siêthiyal and Karuláta were waist deep in a mud hole outside the bedroom windows. I don’t think that the location of that mud hole is entirely an accident, I think they grow and cultivate that mud near their bedrooms just for mischief. The two of them were quite content to fling the mud at each other, but then Ixhúja, who was crawling around in the trees at the time, got the idea of jumping down from a great height into the mud for a maximum of splatterification. It was all quite messy here. After the three of those were cleaned up, I let them touch your letter. Ixhúja started biting the flower you sent me, but I made her spit it out.
In terms of the glyphs I’ve been using with differing values, it is an old convention among the scholars of Khniîkha to represent sounds found in the khlùli dialects but not found in Khniîxhwa by using the letters of Khniîxhwa with a little jot on top of it. Here is the entire chart as it is traditionally writ:

P’ represents a voiceless labiodental fricative
M’ represents a voiced labiodental fricative
Fh’ represents a voided bilabial plosive
Jh’ represents a voiceless alveolar plosive followed by a voiceless postalveolar fricative. It’s usually just the voiceless version of Jh.
Xh’ represents a voiceless postalveolar fricative
Q’ represents a voiced velar plosive, a voiced K
N’ represents a voiced alveolar plosive
M’m represents a syllabic bilabial nasal
N’n represents a syllabic alveolar nasal
R’r represents a syllabic alveolar tap or flap
R’ represents an alveolar trill
L’l represents a syllabic alveolar lateral approximant
T’ represents a voiced retroflex plosive
Th’ represents a voiced dental fricative. It’s usually just the voiced version of Th.
L’ represents a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
Kh’ represents a voiceless glutteral glottal fricative
Ts’ represents a voiced alveolar fricative. It’s usually just the voiced version of S.
Khm’ is a voiceless bilabial nasal, sometimes followed by a glutteral glottal fricative
Khn’ is a voiceless alveolar nasal, sometimes followed by a glutteral glottal fricative
Khr’ is a voiceless alveolar trill or tap or flap, sometimes followed by a glutteral glottal fricative
Khl’ is a voiceless alveolar lateral approximant, sometimes followed by a glutteral glottal fricative
Khy’ is a voiceless palatal approximate, sometimes followed by a glutteral glottal fricative
Khw’ is a voiceless labiodental appoximate, sometimes followed by a glutteral glottal fricative, almost W+kh’
I’ is a central close vowel
A’ is a central close-midle or open middle vowel

Dialectal variation in pronunciation has not been very well documented, my love. I think that the amount of dialectal varation in Babel must be far more emence than we can guess, for we are all just so used to hearing different voices using Babel in different ways that we never really stop to think about it.

Puey, I shall endeaver to summarize the different variations of pronunciation which I have noticed before. I hope this may be of some use for you. You are already quite deft at imitating the voices of all beasts and birds and fishes, so you can probably already hear these differences.

Initial and Medial Consonants:

Fh, may be pronounced as p’, m’, m’kh’, W, fh’, M, kh’
J may be pronounced jh’, Y
Jh may be pronounced xh’
K may be pronounced K’kh’, q’, Kh, s, xh’
Kh may be pronounced Q, S
L maybe pronounced q’l, n’l, l’, l’l, khl’
M may be pronounced Mfh’, fh’, m’, m’m, khm’
N may be pronounced Ny, nn’, n’n, khn’, nq’w
Ng may be pronouced q’
P may be pronounced Pkh’, fh’, p’, Qw, Kw
Q may be pronounced Kkh’, Kh
Qh may be pronounced q’, r’, khr’
R may be pronounced r’r, r’, khr’
S may be pronounced Xh, xh’
T may be pronounced Tkh’, n’, nn’, t’, jh’, J, Th, th’, kh’
Th may be pronounced S, th’
Tlh may be pronounced l’, Ly
Ts may be pronounced Ps, Tts’, n’ts’, ts’n’, ts’
W may be pronounced Mw, q’w, m’
X may be pronounced in all varieties of clicks, tocks, tounge smacks, lip smacks, as well as ts’, Ks, q’ts, Ts
Xh may be pronounced xh’
Y may be pronounced J, ts’

Some of these variations in pronunciation can be illustrated in a single name, the name whichby all children address Grandfather Pátifhar. Consider these variations:

Pátifhar
Pkh’átifhar
Pán’tifher
Pájifhar
Pájh’ifhar
Pátim’kh’ar
Pátip’ar
Pátim’ar
Pátiwar

In other words, P can be aspirated or not, T can be voiced or unvoiced or even palatized as J or jh’, and Fh in some dialects can be prounced as p’, m’, m’kh’, or W.

Vowels and Diphthongs

A may be pronounced a’
Ae may be pronounced Ai
I may be pronounced i’ or Iw
Ii may be pronounced Iy
O may be pronounced Ow
Oe may be pronounced Oi
Eu may be pronounced Iw

Also vowels may exhibit extensive khanxhutseyàjhwen nasalization before tnònthang vowels. I don’t know of any convention way to represent that aside from just using N. By khànxhutse I mean, those who speak in a nasal fashion, through the nose, just as the Kurkuîlo folk do.
Another interesting feature about vowel variation is something that you mentioned in your last letter. Why do Jaràqtuns and Khniîkhans call a shore a fhùryeqhe and shores fhùrye, but some folk pronounce them as fhùreyeqhe and fhùreye? And no matter how they say it, why do they still spell it fhùryeqhe and fhùrye? And why didn’t the falling accent move, why was it fhùreyeqhe and not fhurèyeqhe? The reason for that, I believe, is that some speakers employ an epenthesetick E between Ry and Rw and realize them as Rey and Rew, and this E does not affect the rhythm of the word. Hence some folk will call Karuláta’s Mother Khmareyáta rather than Khmaryáta. I imagine such speakers would also call berries khmàreya and not khmàrya

These consonant combinations are often pronounced in different ways:

Initial and Medial Consonant Combinations

Sep may be pronounced Sp, on the model of the admissible consonant clusters St and Sq
Sq may be pronounced Sk
Jhekh may be pronounced Jhkh
Xheth may be pronounced Xhth
Qeth may be pronounced Qth
Xhth may be pronounced Xhfh, Sth, xh’th. Some dielacts would thus pronounce these two particples in the same way: Xhethènte, circlen, rings, and Xhthènte, xhthènteqhe, those who go.

Xhthènte’ ei.
Xhthènte’ ei.
They are circlen.
They go.
Ml may be pronounced Mw.
Khm may be pronounced Jhm, Jm, kh’m, khm’, M
Khn may be pronounced Jhn, Jn, kh’n, khn’, N
Khr may be pronounced Jhr, Jr, kh’r, khr’, R
Khl may be pronounced Jhl, Jl, kh’l, khl’, L
Khw may be pronounced Jhw, Jw, kh’w, khw’, W
Khy may be pronounced Jhy, Jy, kh’y, Jh, Y
Xhm may be pronounced Jhm, xh’m, sm, khm’
Xhn may be pronounced jhn, xh’n, sn, khn’
Xhl may be pronounced jhl, xh’l, sl, khl’
Xhr may be pronounced jhr, xh’r, sr, khr’
Xhy may be pronounced jhy, xh’y, Sy, Jh
Xhw may be pronounced jhw, xh’w, Sw, khw’
Nt may be pronounced n’, nn’, Nj
Ntr may be pronounced Njr
Nw may be pronounced nq’w
Pfh may be pronounced Ps
Kht may be pronounced xh’t, Xht

Final Consonants

In the Khniîkha variety of Babel the only final consonants permissible are L, R, M, N, Ng, T, S, and Kh. Here are some differences which you have probably heard:

-L may be pronounced -l’l, the vowel assimilating in the consonant
-R may be pronounced -r’r, the vowel assimilating in the consonant
-M may be pronounced –m’m, the vowel assimilating in the consonant, as well as -P, -fh’
-N may be pronounced –n’n, the vowel assimilating in the consonant, as well as -n’, nn’, -t’
-Ng I am not aware of any variation for final –Ng
-T may be pronounced –K
-S may be pronounced –xh’, -ts’
-Kh may be pronounced –Q or simply omitted.

It is actually extremely common to hear final –M as -P and final –Kh as –Q.

When dialects hiccough:

In some dialects final vowels are eaten. Puey, consider:

Í’ Akhlísa
Akhlísa goeth.

In some dialects Þis would be pronounced:
Í khlísa.

Í’ Éfhelìnye khnoipe’ Akhlísa.
Í Fhelìnye khnoipe Khlísa.
Éfhelìnye and Akhlísa go somewhere..

Some khlùli dialects allow for thyòqyi or hiccoughing. In the same way that we sometimes lose a syllable or a part of a word when we hick-hop hicket, hickock, hiccup again and again, so do some dialects gulp up vowels, especially vowels of a level musical town. For instances if one were to put my name in the construct case, it would be a simple matter of adding –ejikh to Éfhelìnye. In Khniîkhwa we simply add the affix and insert a Y between two vowels, and then shift the musical tone if need be, so we get the form Éfhelinyèyejikh. However, some dialects would pronounce it as:

Éfhelinyèyejikh
Éfhelinyèjikh
Éfhelìnyejikh

Khniîxhwa has a very crisp sound to it because its if glottal stops. Khniîxhwa uses the glottal stop, or the saltillo, between vowels at the linguistic marges between words, although not between separate sentences. Hence the example that I gave above is written with a little glottal stop marker after the í and the khnoipe. So we say:

Í ‘Éfhelìnye khnoipe ‘Akhlísa.
Éfhelìnye and Akhlísa go somewhere..

Several dialects alliance. For instance, a particle ending in –A, when a suffix beginning with an –E is added to it, may combine the two vowels and form Á, É, Ae, or Ai depending on timeline or nation. In our dialect the construct form for Akhlísa is Akhlísàyejikh, but I have heard these following forms for her name:

Akhlísàyejikh.
Akhlísájikh.
Akhlíséjikh.
Akhlísaêjikh.
Akhlísaîjikh.

Pitch accent and musical tone also very greatly depending upon khlunáli dialect, but I shall write about the music of language in a different letter.

Clefting the Boarders

Puey, at the risk of making the phonology of Language even more complicated for you, let me mention the glottal stop and the lengthening of final –M, -T, -S, -Kh, and –L in certain environments. Karuláta is running back to the mud hole now and I suspect she’s going to drag Siêthiyal or Ixhúja or both back down with her, and I truly am not in the humor to play in the mud right now. So I’m going to write toyou about khlumlìpla, clefts. When speaking of writing or even in writing an khlumlìplas consists of a combination or a putting together of sounds, it refers to phonological changes at linguistic shores. This is especially noticible in rapid speech. In Babel all khlumlìpla, all sandhi combinations, are represented in writhing. There are only three examples of them, and they are very easy to write. The first is the change of final –N to –Nt, the second is the addition of the glottal stop, or saltillo, to one vowel before a coming vowel, and the third is the lengthening of final –M, -T, -S, -Kh, and –L under certain environments.
A final –N before a preceding P-, Pw-, Py-, Pr-, Pl-, Pfh-, Pt-, Fh-, Fhw-, Fhy-, Fhr-, Fhl-, and Fht- is pronounced –Nt. It has its own written form distinct from the letter Ènti.
For instance we say:

Pón Éfhelìnye
She herself, Éfhelìnye

But we say instead:

Pónt Puîyus
He himself, Puîyus

A final tnònthang vowel before a preceeding

[splash of mud on the page]

Puey, I’m afraid that I’m making Karuláta copy out a very large and very boring chart for me. But it is important for us to respect scholarship, and there can be no greater scholarship than the study of language. Right now your Mother is chasing after either Siêthiyal or Ixhúja or possibly both. I’m not sure.
Anyway, a final vowel before a proeceeding vowel receives a glottal stop which is written as ‘. It is written as just a little coil beneath the vowel, and I find it rather cute. Consider these examples:

Í’ é.
Time goeth.
Jaê’ Akhlísa.
Akhlísa looks around.

You find a glyph cute? You’re one weird jhpaipalwòthyosing ballerina princess. Otter-monkeys and cakes are supposed to be cute. And Siêthiyal was the one that throwed the mud! Why do I always get the blame?

Khniîxhwa has one other khlumlìplas sandhi marker, the doubling sign. This only occurs with final –Kh, -T, -S, -L, and –M, and I transcribe it for you as –khh, -tt, -ss, -ll, and –mm. It merely indicates that the final consonant is prounced double because it is identical or at least similar to the following qwòthnis consonant. It occurs in the following circumstances:

-Kh becomes –khh before Kh-, Khw-, Khy-, Khr-, Khl-, Khm-, and Khn
-T becomes –tt before T-, Tw-, Ty-, Tr-, Tn-, and Tq-
-S becomes –ss before S-, Sw-, Sy-, St-, and Sq-
-L becomes –ll before Lr-, Lw-, Ly-
-M becomes –mm before T-, Tw-, Ty-, Tr-, Tn-, Tq
For instance:

Fhròkaott Táto.
Táto yzzz wise.
Qlenólakhh khelènatha.
Þe red thing yzzz Qlenólakh.

But remember, Puey, that the doubling sign is not used in the environments of:

-T before Ts-
-T before Tlh-
-M before Ts-
-M before Tlh-

The reason for this is because Ts and Tlh are considered phonemes separate to T. I mention this because some of the writing systems of Babel will write Ts and Tlh as some variation of their glyph for T.

The Great Clefting Chart

Your dearest little Sister Karuláta was kind enough to copy out in neat and legible hand this chart for you. On the top of the chart you can see the different ways that a word can end, either in a vowel or in one of the eight consonants of –L, -R, -M, -N, -Ng, -T, -S, and –Kh. When one pairs up the end of a word with the beginning of a different one, however, one can come up with some very interesting combinations, such as –L-Jhp- and –S-Py-. The combinations that undergo mutation in various dialects are written in large red ink below, and Karuláta has even written down the way that they change in Khniîxhwa. The chart is not as intimidating as it may seem, Puey, since it’s really just the simple application of two of the rules that I mentioned above.

·V
·l·
·r
·m
·n
·ng
·t
·s
·kh
V·wts
l·wts
r·wts
m·wts
n·wts
ng·wts
t·wts
s·wts
kh·wts
v·xhth
l·xhth
r·xhth
m·xhth
n·xhth
ng·xhth
t·xhth
s·xhth
kh·xhth
v·qth
l·qth
r·qth
m·qth
n·qth
ng·qth
t·qth
s·qth
kh·qth
v·wth
l·wth
r·wth
m·wth
n·wth
ng·wth
t·wth
s·wth
kh·wth
v·jhp
l·jhp
r·jhp
m·jhp
n·jhp
ng·jhp
t·jhp
s·jhp
kh·jhp
v·jhkh
l·jhkh
r·jhkh
m·jhkh
n·jhkh
ng·jhkh
t·jhkh
s·jhkh
kh·jhkh
v·tn
l·tn
r·tn
m·tn
n·tn
ng·tn
t·tn >
tt-tn
s·tn
kh·tn
v·p
l·p
r·p
m·p
n·p > nt·p
ng·p
t·p
s·p
kh·p
v·pw
l·pw
r·pw
m·pw
n·pw > nt-pw
ng·pw
t·pw
s·pw
kh·pw
v·py
l·py
r·py
m·py
n·py >
nt-py
ng·py
t·py
s·py
kh·py
v·pr
l·pr
r·pr
m·pr
n·pr >
nt-pr
ng·pr
t·pr
s·pr
kh·pr
v·pl
l·pl
r·pl
m·pl
n·pl >
nt-pl
ng·pl
t·pl
s·pl
kh·pl
v·t
l·t
r·t
m·t >
mm-t
n·t
ng·t
t·t >
tt-t
s·t
kh·t
v·tw
l·tw
r·tw
m·tw >
mm-tw
n·tw
ng·tw
t·tw >
tt-tw
s·tw
kh·tw
v·ty
l·ty
r·ty
m·ty >
mm-ty
n·ty
ng·ty
t·ty >
tt-ty
s·ty
kh·ty
v·tr
l·tr
r·tr
m·tr >
mm-tr
n·tr
ng·tr
t·tr >
tt-tr
s·tr
kh·tr
v·tlh
l·tlh
r·tlh
m·tlh
n·tlh
ng·tlh
t·tlh
s·tlh
kh·tlh
v·q
l·q
r·q
m·q
n·q
ng·q
t·q
s·q
kh·q
v·qw
l·qw
r·qw
m·qw
n·qw
ng·qw
t·qw
s·qw
kh·qw
v·qy
l·qy
r·qy
m·qy
n·qy
ng·qy
t·qy
s·qy
kh·qy
v·qr
l·qr
r·qr
m·qr
n·qr
ng·qr
t·qr
s·qr
kh·qr
v·ql
l·ql
r·ql
m·ql
n·ql
ng·ql
t·ql
s·ql
kh·ql
v·k
l·k
r·k
m·k
n·k
ng·k
t·k
s·k
kh·k
v·fh
l·fh
r·fh
m·fh
n·fh >
nt-fh
ng·fh
t·fh
s·fh
kh·fh
v·fhw
l·fhw
r·fhw
m·fhw
n·fhw >
nt-fhw
ng·fhw
t·fhw
s·fhw
kh·fhw
v·fhy
l·fhy
r·fhy
m·fhy
n·fhy >
nt-fhy
ng·fhy
t·fhy
s·fhy
kh·fhy
v·fhr
l·fhr
r·fhr
m·fhr
n·fhr >
nt-fhr
ng·fhr
t·fhr
s·fhr
kh·fhr
v·fhl
l·fhl
r·fhl
m·fhl
n·fhl >
nt-fhl
ng·fhl
t·fhl
s·fhl
kh·fhl
v·th
l·th
r·th
m·th
n·th
ng·th
t·th
s·th
kh·th
v·thw
l·thw
r·thw
m·thw
n·thw
ng·thw
t·thw
s·thw
kh·thw
v·thy
l·thy
r·thy
m·thy
n·thy
ng·thy
t·thy
s·thy
kh·thy
v·s
l·s
r·s
m·s
n·s
ng·s
t·s
s·s >
ss-s
kh·s
v·sw
l·sw
r·sw
m·sw
n·sw
ng·sw
t·sw
s·sw >
ss-sw
kh·sw
v·sy
l·sy
r·sy
m·sy
n·sy
ng·sy
t·sy
s·sy >
ss-sy
kh·sy
v·st
l·st
r·st
m·st
n·st
ng·st
t·st
s·st >
ss-st
kh·st
v·ts
l·ts
r·ts
m·ts
n·ts
ng·ts
t·ts
s·ts
kh·ts
v·sq
l·sq
r·sq
m·sq
n·sq
ng·sq
t·sq
s·sq >
ss-sq
kh·sq
v·jh
l·jh
r·jh
m·jh
n·jh
ng·jh
t·jh
s·jh
kh·jh
v·jhw
l·jhw
r·jhw
m·jhw
n·jhw
ng·jhw
t·jhw
s·jhw
kh·jhw
v·jhy
l·jhy
r·jhy
m·jhy
n·jhy
ng·jhy
t·jhy
s·jhy
kh·jhy
v·kh
l·kh
r·kh
m·kh
n·kh
ng·kh
t·kh
s·kh
kh·kh >
khh-kh
v·khw
l·khw
r·khw
m·khw
n·khw
ng·khw
t·khw
s·khw
kh·khw >
kkh-khw
v·khy
l·khy
r·khy
m·khy
n·khy
ng·khy
t·khy
s·khy
kh·khy
>
khh-khy
v·khr
l·khr
r·khr
m·khr
n·khr
ng·khr
t·khr
s·khr
kh·khr
>
khh-khr
v·khl
l·khl
r·khl
m·khl
n·khl
ng·khl
t·khl
s·khl
kh·khl
>
khh-khl
v·khm
l·khm
r·khm
m·khm
n·khm
ng·khm
t·khm
s·khm
kh·khm
>
khh-khm
v·khn
l·khn
r·khn
m·khn
n·khn
ng·khn
t·khn
s·khn
kh·khn >
khh-khn
v·xh
l·xh
r·xh
m·xh
n·xh
ng·xh
t·xh
s·xh
kh·xh
v·xhw
l·xhw
r·xhw
m·xhw
n·xhw
ng·xhw
t·xhw
s·xhw
kh·xhw
v·xhy
l·xhy
r·xhy
m·xhy
n·xhy
ng·xhy
t·xhy
s·xhy
kh·xhy
v·xhr
l·xhr
r·xhr
m·xhr
n·xhr
ng·xhr
t·xhr
s·xhr
kh·xhr
v·xhl
l·xhl
r·xhl
m·xhl
n·xhl
ng·xhl
t·xhl
s·xhl
kh·xhl
v·xhm
l·xhm
r·xhm
m·xhm
n·xhm
ng·xhm
t·xhm
s·xhm
kh·xhm
v·xhn
l·xhn
r·xhn
m·xhn
n·xhn
ng·xhn
t·xhn
s·xhn
kh·xhn
v·lr
l·lr >
ll-lr
r·lr
m·lr
n·lr
ng·lr
t·lr
s·lr
kh·lr
v·lw
l·lw >
ll-lw
r·lw
m·lw
n·lw
ng·lw
t·lw
s·lw
kh·lw
v·ly
l·ly>
ll-ly
r·ly
m·ly
n·ly
ng·ly
t·ly
s·ly
kh·ly
v·j
l·j
r·j
m·j
n·j
ng·j
t·j
s·j
kh·j
v·qh
l·qh
r·qh
m·qh
n·qh
ng·qh
t·qh
s·qh
kh·qh
v·pfh
l·pfh
r·pfh
m·pfh
n·pfh >
nt-pfh
ng·pfh
t·pfh
s·pfh
kh·pfh
v·fht
l·fht
r·fht
m·fht
n·fht >
nt-fht
ng·fht
t·fht
s·fht
kh·kht
v·pt
l·pt
r·pt
m·pt
n·pt >
nt-pt
ng·pt
t·pt
s·pt
kh·pt
v·tq
l·tq
r·tq
m·tq
n·tq
ng·tq
t·tq
s·tq
kh·tq
v·qt
l·qt
r·qt
m·qt
n·qt
ng·qt
t·qt
s·qt
kh·qt
v·x
l·x
r·x
m·x
n·x
ng·x
t·x
s·x
kh·x
v·v
l·v
r·v
m·v
n·v
ng·v
t·v
s·v
kh·v

Since we shall be concentrating upon the way that Khniîxhwa is written, for such is the dialect appropriate for the Emperor of Tomorrow. Khniîxhwa is quite remarkable for reflecting actual Babel pronunciation. However, the one could say that the glottal stop between sandhi vowels could logically be prefixed to the next word or even spaced between the two, and one could transcripe –nt p- and –nt fh- as -n t-p- and –n t-fh, not to mention as –nn’ p- and –nn’ fh- as some speakers actually say it.

Eiyejet á’á’ á.
Because life, life, life ‘tis.

So why isn’t it:
Eiyejet á ‘á ‘á?

Pónt Puîyus.
Himself, Puiyus

And why isn’t it:
Pón t-Puîyus?

I don’t know. I just like the other spelling better. And I made Language, so I get to set the rules. Now, if there must be dialects of Babel than there also must logically be variations for khlumplìplas sandhi. For instance, consider this combination:

Pón Puîyus
Puiyus himself

Some dialects would pronounce Þis as

Póm Puîyus
Pón’ Puîyus
Pót’ Puîyus

While we who speak Khniîxhwa would say it as:

Pónt Puîyus

In Póm Puîyus, one can hear that N and P have been assimilated and nasalized into M. In Pón’ Puîyus the final –N has become a voiced T. In Pót’ Puîyus the final –N has become a retroflex voiced plosive.

I’ve noticed that several non-Khniîxhwan dialects dislike the sandhi combination of –M T-. Some prounounce it as:

-Mp T-
-Mfh T-
-Ml T-

So compare these variations:

Wtsàtimm Táto.
Wtsàtimp Táto.
Wtsàtimfh Táto.
Wtsàtiml Táto.
Wtsàtim Táto.
Táto is green.

The Suns are beginning to set now, and I want to give Karuláta plenty of time to copy out the rest of this letter. I certainly hope this letter finds you safe. I am not at all sure how much help this description of the intricacies of the sounds of Babel may be to you, but I at least find it fascinating and writing this keeps me from thinking too much of the danger wherein you must toil for the sake of us all. I’m going to go and see whether Siêthiyal needs any help feeding the fainting goats. I’m not sure whether the goats like me, they just keep falling down whenever I approach.
Éfhelìnye

A Note slipped into the Epistle

Puey, your darling and beloved youngest Sibling Karuláta volunteered to help me copy out a chart which I want to include in the next letter I’m sending to you. She was quite eager to show you the improvement she’s making in her calligraphy, so I’ve included her copy of the chart which I have composed to explain some of the intricacies of fhraîxhu, of sound symbolism.
Yours
Qwasáta

I copied this myself: I’m the best!

A, Á
Life (buffer)
Aja
Light


Ai, Ae
Save
Ao
Fire
Au
Éfhelìnye
E, É
Siêthiyal
Eja
Wørd
Eje
Touch
Ei
Me
Ejo
Karuláta
Eu
Burnt
I, Í
Is
Ija
Pie
Ie
Taste
Ii
From
Ijo
Khniêma
Iju
Breakfast
O, Ó
Ugly
Oa
Mudpie


Oi, Oe
Éfhelìnye!
Ojo
Akhlísa
Oju
Again!
U, Ú
Uuugly!
Uja
Is
Uje
Puey
Ui
Even
Ujo
Reading
Uju
This?

Another Note slipped into the Epistle

Beloved Brother,
My sweetest and precious Brother, would you mind giving this message to our Peiratical Uncles Fhèrkifher and Xhnófho? Our uncles promised to help me find some new dancing shoes, for at the festival of Qanistókhikhu, the tides of metemptosis proemptosis, I wish to dance with the other Virgins in some nice new shoon. I’ve been e'er so busy taking care of your beautiful and vivacious future Bride, that I hardly have any time for myself, plus I am spent with weeping praying for your safety.
All my love,
Siêthiyal

[on the back of this sheet]

FHÈRKIFHER AND XHNÓFHO! YOU MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR PIRATES!
WHERE’S MY MERCHANDISE! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND THE OPPORTUNITY THAT I’VE CREATED FOR US! MY BROTHER, THE FUTURE EMPEROR, IS FAR TOO CHIVALROUS TO READ A LETTER INTENDED FOR YOUR EYEN, AND I’M KEEPING ÉFHELÌNYE THE FUTURE EMPRESS QUITE BUSY WITH HER CREATION OF LANGUAGE! I’M KEEPING YOU UNWATCHED! NOW GET ME MY MERCHANDISE!
Perhaps I’m not making myself clear. As soon as the war is concluded, my Brother and his artist Wife are going to impose peace upon all the worlds. YOU need to be doing my bidding NOW to preserve that there will always be a frontier for all the pillaging and smuggling that I will need in the shadow Empire I’m stablishing! Otherwise you’re going to be stuck here copying out grammatical tables for the Empress and helping her take care of the fifty children she’s probably going to have. Do you want that? Or do you want to be free to sail at the edge of the Fractal Seas!
Or do you want me to make Captain Euqliîna my vassel! I’m sure he can remain unhyper long enough to bring me the materials I need. In fact, perhaps I’ll ask Puey to hand this letter to Euqliîna …
YOU WRETCHED HALFWITS!
Never forget that all I have to do is scrape my knee and whimper a little in Puey’s general direction, and he’ll do ANYTHING I say. If I ask him to banish you to the edge of the Void for ever … you’ll NEVER see the light of day E'ER AGAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND! OR DO I NEED TO TELL PUEY AND WHAT’SHERNAME THAT YOU’RE STILL SMUGGLING PEPPERMINTS AND CANDYCANES EVEN WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING THEM IN THE WAR! OBEY ME!
These love letters that Puey and the Princess are exchanging one to another are the only consistent method of communication we in the Empire have with you. Just remember that. Capisce?
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to splatter my little Sister with some fresh mud.
S

The Last Note Slipped into the Epistle

Puey,
Since it seems that the rest of your Sisters are cramming their own letters into the package that Éfhelìnye is trying to seal up, and wherein she is stuffing petals and candies, and trust me, she has kissed each and every sheet of papyrus and several times, I’m sure this whole passel will smell of her, I shall also add a sheet to the letter. However, since I don’t know too much about language, nor can I create it as the Princess does, I’ll just paint out all of the glyphs of the Khniîxhwa Alphabet just as Grandfather Pátifhar taught me:

Khniîxhwa Alphabet

Tlhànta Tlhànta, Þe 1st letter of Khniîxhwa, Tlh
Kór Kór, Þe 2nd letter of Khniîxhwa, K
Tsál Tsál, Þe 3rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Ts
Wtsíl Wtsíl, Þe 4th letter of Khniîxhwa, Wts
Xhthíl Xhthíl, Þe 5th letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhth
Qthít Qthít, Þe 6th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qth
Wthíl Wthíl, Þe 7th letter of Khniîxhwa, Wth
Jhpòrtha Jhpòrtha, Þe 8th letter of Khniîxhwa, Jhp
Jhkhíl Jhkhíl, Þe 9th letter of Khniîxhwa, Jhkh
Tníl Tníl, Þe 10th letter of Khniîxhwa, Tn
Jìmathe Jìmathe, Þe 11th letter of Khniîxhwa, J
Qhìlqa Qhìlqa, Þe 12th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qh
Pfhíl Pfhíl, Þe 13th letter of Khniîxhwa, Pfh
Fhtàfha Fhtàfha, Þe 14th letter of Khniîxhwa, Fht
Ptókh Ptókh, Þe 15th letter of Khniîxhwa, Pt
Tqàtal Tqàtal, Þe 16th letter of Khniîxhwa, Tq
Qtíl Qtíl, Þe 17th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qt
Xàyikh Xàyikh, Þe 18th letter of Khniîxhwa, X
Èmpi Èmpi, Þe 19th letter of Khniîxhwa, Mp
Èlpi Èlpi, Þe 20th letter of Khniîxhwa, Lp
Èkhpi Èkhpi, Þe 21st letter of Khniîxhwa, Khp
Ènti Ènti, Þe 22nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Nt
Èlti Èlti, Þe 23rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Lt
Èkhti Èkhti, Þe 24th letter of Khniîxhwa, Kht
Èntri Èntri, Þe 25th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ntr
Èqna Èqna, Þe 26th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qn
Èlqa Èlqa, Þe 27th letter of Khniîxhwa, Lq
Èkhqa Èkhqa, Þe 28th letter of Khniîxhwa, Khq
Èmfha Èmfha, Þe 29th letter of Khniîxhwa, Mfh
Èntha Èntha, Þe 30th letter of Khniîxhwa, Nth
Èthna Èthna, Þe 31st letter of Khniîxhwa, Thn
Èsqra Èsqra, Þe 32nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Sqr
Ènkha Ènkha, Þe 33rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Nkh
Ènxhi Ènxhi, Þe 34th letter of Khniîxhwa, Nxh
Ènwi Ènwi, Þe 35th letter of Khniîxhwa, Nw
Ènyi Ènyi, Þe 36th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ny
Èlkhir Èlkhir, Þe 37th letter of Khniîxhwa, Lkh
Èmlir Èmlir, Þe 38th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ml
Èngpir Èngpir, Þe 39th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ngp
Èngtir Èngtir, Þe 40th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ngt
Èngqir Èngqir, Þe 41st letter of Khniîxhwa, Ngq
Ém Ém, Þe 42nd letter of Khniîxhwa, M
Él Él, Þe 43rd letter of Khniîxhwa, L
Èngat Èngat, Þe 44th letter of Khniîxhwa Ng
Pàqa Pàqa, Þe 45th letter of Khniîxhwa, P
Pwaûs Pwaûs, Þe 46th letter of Khniîxhwa, Pw
Pyaûs Pyaûs, Þe 47th letter of Khniîxhwa, Py
Praûs Praûs, Þe 48th letter of Khniîxhwa, Pr
Plaûs Plaûs, Þe 49th letter of Khniîxhwa, Pl
Tìkal Tìkal, Þe 50th letter of Khniîxhwa, T
Twaûs Twaûs, Þe 51st letter of Khniîxhwa, Tw
Tyaûs Tyaûs, Þe 52nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Ty
Traûs Traûs, Þe 53rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Tr
Qìkal Qìkal, Þe 54th letter of Khniîxhwa, Q
Qwaûs Qwaûs, Þe 55th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qw
Qyaûs Qyaûs, Þe 56th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qy
Qraûs Qraûs, Þe 57th letter of Khniîxhwa, Qr
Qlaûs Qlaûs, Þe 58th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ql
Fhàtin Fhàtin, Þe 59th letter of Khniîxhwa, Fh
Fhwaûs Fhwaûs, Þe 60th letter of Khniîxhwa, Fhw
Fhyaûs Fhyaûs, Þe 61st letter of Khniîxhwa, Fhy
Fhraûs Fhraûs, Þe 62nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Fhr
Fhlaûs Fhlaûs, Þe 63rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Fhl
Thàkal Thàkal, Þe 64th letter of Khniîxhwa, Th
Thwaûs Thwaûs, Þe 65th letter of Khniîxhwa, Thw
Thyaûs Thyaûs, Þe 66th letter of Khniîxhwa, Thy
Sóng Sóng, Þe 67th letter of Khniîxhwa, S
Swó Swó, Þe 68th letter of Khniîxhwa, Sw
Syát Syát, Þe 69th letter of Khniîxhwa, Sy
Stó Stó, Þe 70th letter of Khniîxhwa, St
Sqó Sqó, Þe 71st letter of Khniîxhwa, Sq
Lrón Lrón, Þe 72nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Lr
Lwón Lwón, Þe 73rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Lw
Lyón Lyón, Þe 74th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ly
Éyo Éyo, Þe 75th letter of Khniîkhwa, Y
Éwo Éwo, Þe 76th letter of Khniîxhwa, W
Jhín Jhín, Þe 77th letter of Khniîxhwa, Jh
Jhwó Jhwó, Þe 78th letter of Khniîxhwa, Jhw
Jhyó Jhyó, Þe 79th letter of Khniîxhwa, Jhy
Kháng Kháng, Þe 80th letter of Khniîxhwa, Kh
Khwú Khwú, Þe 81st letter of Khniîxhwa, Khw
Khyàkal Khyàkal, Þe 82nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Khy
Khròyin Khròyin, Þe 83rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Khr
Khlúng Khlúng, Þe 84th letter of Khniîxhwa, Khl
Khmúm Khmúm, Þe 85th letter of Khniîxhwa, Khm
Khnuî Khnuî, Þe 86th letter of Khniîxhwa, Khn
Xhín Xhín, Þe 87th letter of Khniîxhwa, Xh­
Xhwúng Xhwúng, Þe 88th letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhw
Xhyuî Xhyuî, Þe 89th letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhy
Xhruî Xhruî, Þe 90th letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhr
Xhluî Xhluî, Þe 91st letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhl
Xhmuî Xhmuî, Þe 92nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhm
Xhnuî Xhnuî, Þe 93rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Xhn
Aûn Aûn, Þe 94th letter of Khniîxhwa, Au
Eûn Eûn, Þe 95th letter of Khniîxhwa, Eu
Aîkhi Aîkhi, Þe 96th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ai
Iîn Iîn, Þe 97th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ii
Aêkh Aêkh, Þe 98th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ae
Aôn Aôn, Þe 99th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ao
Oân Oân, Þe 100th letter of Khniîxhwa, Oa
Iên Iên, Þe 101st letter of Khniîxhwa, Ie
Oêkh Oêkh, Þe 102nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Oe
Eîn Eîn, Þe 103rd letter of Khniîxhwa, Ei
Oîkhi Oîkhi, Þe 104th letter of Khniîxhwa, Oi
Uîn Uîn, Þe 105th letter of Khniîkhwa, Ui
Ít Ít, Þe 106th letter of Khniîxhwa, I
Ét Ét, Þe 107th letter of Khniîxhwa, E
Át Át, Þe 108th letter of Khniîxhwa, A
Ót Ót, Þe 109th letter of Khniîxhwa, O
Út Út, Þe 110th letter of Khniîxhwa, U
Ín Ín, Þe 111th letter of Khniîxhwa, N
Ír Ír, Þe 112th letter of Khniîxhwa, R
Íxi Íxi, Þe 113th letter of Khniîxhwa, Í
Éxe Éxe, Þe 114th letter of Khniîxhwa, É
Áxa Áxa, Þe 115th letter of Khniîxhwa, Á
Óxo Óxo, Þe 116th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ó
Úxu Úxu, Þe 117th letter of Khniîxhwa, Ú
Jíng Jíng, Þe 118th letter of Khniîxhwa, Þe honorifick stroke
Jéng Jéng, Þe 119th letter of Khniîxhwa, Þe wørd separator
Jáng Jáng, Þe 120th letter of Khniîxhwa, Þe exclamacioun point
Jóng Jóng, Þe 121st letter of Khniîxhwa, Þe question mark
Júng Júng, Þe 122nd letter of Khniîxhwa, Þe period, dash, comma, parenthesis

Now Puey, when a consonant is writ all by itself, without any vowels on top or within or beneath it, it is read as the name of the consonant. Therefore when one writes Tlh one reads it as Tlhànta. Many consonants that may occur initially, such as Tlhànta and Kór and Tsál are used as variables in mathmatics. I think the beads of our abacata actually have Tlhànta and Kór and Tsál carven upon them. To write the name of a vowel, one writes a small circle above the vowel markers. This is because there are already a lot of words which are only vowels, so there has to be a way to write the name without saying how it sounds. For instances, Áxa the letter is written as (circle) Áxa while the word á, that is life, is written out using the letter Áxa.. To spell the word iê, taste, one writes the glyph Iên, but to say the name of the glyph one writes the circle and then the letter Iên.
The Jíng is the honorific stroke, and it resembles a star or a tree. It precedes names for the Father of Paradise as well as personal pronouns and relative pronouns that refer unto Him. Here’s an example of the use of Jíng before one of His names, a personal pronoun, and a relative pronoun:

†Xhákh †Ker qí †Kú.
He is the Father of Paradise Who is here.

My cherished Brother, I’m afraid that this may be the only contribution that I have to language, my ability to remember my letters. I’ll pray for you and the rest of the warriors this night, and I promise I’ll look after Éfhelìnye and keep Siêthiyal and Karuláta out of trouble and try to find something for Ixhúja to do. Fhermáta