Phyrean script

Phyrean script staeðau fwyrdunwyz
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	ca. 120 BNB – Present
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Phyrean and many other languages around the Orddonach, plus colonies.
Related scripts
Parent systems	Bhymian hieroglyphs Matari script Vedan script Old Phyrean scripts Phyrean script

The Phyrean script (Phyrean: staeðan fwyrdunwyz, staeddan ffwyrdunwyrh) is an alphabetic writing system employed in much of the Orddonach, originally meant to encode the Phyrean language. Today it is also used to write Ascon, Toamts, Hogharrhyan, and many other, mostly Namuno-Ethian languages. It is prolific as well in colonies founded by Namuno-Ethian-speaking peoples, such as those found in southern Gogg.

It is a bicameral script that uses two distinct cases: stele script and small script. Stele script is used in text that requires emphasis and demands attention such as titles and signs, while small script is used in everyday text.

Letters

Sound values given here are based on the original Phyrean pronunciations of these letters. Different languages may present significant differences, but the baseline remains mostly uniform across all languages that have adopted the script.

Letter	Name		Pronunciation		Notes
	Elder Phyrean	Modern Phyrean	Elder Phyrean	Modern Phyrean
B . b	barta, BARTA	ber, br	[b]
V . v	varna, VARNA	fer, vr	[v]
D . d	danta, DANTA	den, dn	[d]
Z . z	ꝛaχta, ZAXTA	rhech, zx	[r̥]
Ϙ . ϙ	qerna, ϘERNA	cwern, cwern	[kw]		Originally used in loanwords from ancient Voeonian, came to be used whenever [k] appears before [w]. Replaced by c in Phyrean modernist orthography.
Q . q	λytta, QITTA	lled, qd	[ɬ]
U . u	una, UNA	ugymned, ugymnd	[u]	[ɨ]	Modern name from Middle Phyrean u gymned "yoke-u" to distinguish it from hynu.
Ū . ū	u soλ, USOQ	uroll, uroq	[u:]	[ɨ:]
N . n	nima, NIMA	ni, ni	[n]
M . m	mawa, MAWA	mi, mi	[m]
L . l . ḷ	li, LI	li, li	[l]
E . e . ẹ	ena, ENA	ena, ena	[e]
Ē . ē	e soλ, ESOQ	eroll, eroq	[e:]
Ð . ð	ði, ÐI	ddan, ðan	[ð]
S . s	san, SAN	san, san	[s]
З . з	zan, ЗAN	zan, зan	[z]	[s]	Originally used in loanwords from ancient Voeonian. Replaced by s in Phyrean modernist orthography.
A . a	aneta, ANTA	aned, and	[a]
Ā . ā	a soλ, ASOQ	aroll, aroq	[a:]
T . t	ti, TI	ti, ti	[t]
C . c	ka, CA	ce, cẹ	[k]
R . r	ra, RA	re, rẹ	[r]
H . h	horu, HORU	hwyr, hwyr	[h]
I . i	ina, INA	ina, ina	[i]
Ī . ī	i mōnt, IMŌNT	ifód, ivōd	[i:]
J . j	-	jan, jan	-	[j]	Innovated in ca. 662 ANB for Middle Phyrean.
Þ . þ	ϑarta, ÞARTA	the, þẹ	[tʰ]	[θ]
G . g	gyia, GYIA	ge, gẹ	[g]
Y . y	ynu, YNU	hynu, hynu	[ʏ~y]	[ɨ]
Ȳ . ȳ	y mōnt, YMŌNT	hyfód, hyvōd	[ʏ:]	[ɨ:]
W . w	warna, WARNA	wyn, wyn	[w]	[w~ʊ]
Ẅ . ẅ	-	wyn mód, wyn mōd	-	[u:]	Innovated in the 180s BNB for Old High Phyrean.
X . x	χyta, XYTA	che, xẹ	[kʰ]	[x]
P . p	pykra, PYCRA	pe, pẹ	[p]
F . f	φista, FISTA	ffe, fẹ	[pʰ]	[f]
K . k	ỽyma, KYMA	ferbyr, vrbyr~krbyr	[ṽ]	[v~w~n]	In Phyrean it is only used in traditionalist orthography. In modernist orthography it is replaced by v, w and n.
O . o	on, ON	on, on	[o]
Ō . ō	on soλ, ONSOQ	ontoll, ontoq	[o:]

Additional letters

Some languages, such as Ascon and Toamts, make use of supplementary letters for sounds not covered by the base alphabet.

Letter	Names	Pronunciations	Notes
Æ . æ	Ascon: æn, æn, Toamts: än, æn	Ascon: [ɛ], Toamts: [a]	In Toamts, a is taken up by [ɑ].
Ǣ . ǣ	Toamts: ään, ææn	Toamts: [a:]	Pre-Toamts 1623 spelling reform.
Ö . ö	Ascon: œn, ön, Toamts: ön, ön	Ascon: [œ], Toamts: [ø]
Ȫ . ȫ	Toamts: öön, öön	Toamts: [d]	Pre-Toamts 1623 spelling reform.
Ь . ь	Hearnish: che iad, xẹ iad, Toamts: rapii, rapii, Darsavian: partanj, partanь	Darsavian: [ʲ]	"Soft sign" in Hearnish, "boulder" in Toamts, "narrower" in Darsavian. In Hearnish, this letter is used to indicate that a previous letter is lenited, e.g. dь /ɣ/, tь, /h/ (vs. d /d/, t, /t/). In Toamts, this letter is used with c /k/ and g /g/ to make cь /c/ and gь /ɟ/. In Darsavian, this letter is used to indicate narrow consonants, e.g. sь /sʲ/.
Ъ . ъ	Ascon: thergent, þergent, Toamts: ceäriitnac, þeæriitnaþ	-	"Strengthener" in all languages. Used in some digraphs to indicate variant pronunciations, e.g. in Toamts зъ /ʒ/, sъ /ʃ/ (vs. з /dz/, s /s/).
Ы . ы	Darsavian: harkanj, harcanь	Darsavian: [ˤ]	"Broadener" in Darsavian. Used to indicate broad consonants, e.g. sы /sˤ/.
Ć . ć	Darsavian: či, ći	Darsavian: [t͡ʃ]	One of the 5 letters attributed to Rachev of Prina for his 722 ANB spelling reform.
Ś . ś	Darsavian: šan, śan	Darsavian: [ʃ]	One of the 5 letters attributed to Rachev of Prina for his 722 ANB spelling reform.
Ğ . ğ	Darsavian: ekq, ecы	-	One of the 5 letters attributed to Rachev of Prina for his 722 ANB spelling reform. Origin of ы, originally represented a voiced velar fricative [ɣ].
Ź . ź	Darsavian: žan, źan	Darsavian: [ʒ]	One of the 5 letters attributed to Rachev of Prina for his 722 ANB spelling reform.
Ċ . ċ	Darsavian: ci, ċi	Darsavian: [t͡s]	One of the 5 letters attributed to Rachev of Prina for his 722 ANB spelling reform.

Letters with diacritics

Languages such as Ascon and Hogharrhyan make use of certain letters (especially vowels) adorned with diacritics to indicate differing pronunciations.

Letter	Names	Pronunciations	Notes
Ȧ . ȧ	Ascon: ąn, ȧn, Manth: ån, ȧn, Darsavian: ån, ȧn	Ascon: [ɑ], Manth: [ɔ]
È . è . ề	Ascon: thul en, þul en, Hogharrhyan: è tlan è tlan	Ascon, Hogharrhyan: [ɛ]	"Open e" and "open o." No longer used in Ascon since 1701 spelling reform.
Ò . ò	Ascon: thul on, þul on, Hogharrhyan: ò tlan ò tlan	Ascon, Hogharrhyan: [ɔ]

Punctuation

Basic punctuation

Phyrean makes use of a series of dots, dashes, commas and other small symbols for basic punctuation. These originate from early medieval manuscripts where shorthand and cursive were beginning to take shape.

Punct.	Name	Translation	Use
,	pwg gwytherddy, pwg gwyþrðy	low dot	Abbreviates text.
'	pwg holl, pwg hoq	high dot	Marks word-to-word hyphenation and compounding.
.	pwg, pwg	dot	Separates subordinate clauses and list items.
;	pwgwy noid, pwg noid	double dots	Separates coordinate clauses.
:	pwgwy moed, pwg moed	triple dots	Ends sentences.
^	pwgwy ny hwarm, pwgwy ny hwarm	dots and tail	Ends paragraphs.
~	hwarm, hwarm	tail	Marks ellipsis.
‘	chwys a ffént, xwys a fēnt	name mark	Marks proper nouns, e.g. ‘tyq "Tyll"
‘ ’	feirwy, veirwy	horns	Marks emphasis on a word or phrase. Not for exclamation.
“ ”	feirwy gwytherddy, veirwy gwyþerðy	low horns	Marks paraphrasis of a word or phrase.
( )	murfynwy, murvynwy	reports	Marks quotations.
[ ]	bytfurfynwy, bytvurvynwy	underreports	Quotations within quotations.
-	bytfynau, bytvynau	interruption	Introduces a new idea mid-sentence.
< >	minwy, minwy	binds	Introduces parentheticals.
*	chwys a ngmoju, xwys a ngmoju	mistake mark	Marks a mistake before following corrections.

Documentary and prosodic punctuation

Starting from the late medieval era, a series of marks began being used prolifically by novelists and playwrights as shorthand for coding emotion and prosody into their writing, as well as others for separating meaningfully distinct parts of a text.

Documentary punctuation

Punct.	Name	Translation	Use
=	lleng, qng	beginning	Marks the start of a document.
¡ \	thertr, þrtr	swirls	Marks the title of a chapter. Can also be used to give great emphasis to a part of a text.
¢	lleng a nopth, qng a nopþ	chapter start	Marks the start of the text in a chapter.
§	lleng a huwn, qng a huwn	part start	Marks the start of a distinct segment within a chapter.
|	cafft, caft	column	Separates verses.

Prosodic punctuation

Punct.	Name	Translation	Use
! a!	chwys wo, xwys wo	oh! mark	Marks a vocative or exclamation. It is placed above the stressed vowel of the central word in a phrase.
? a?	chwys a laid, xwys a laid	question mark	Marks a question. It is placed above the stressed vowel of the central word in a phrase.
{ }	chyfownwy, xyvownwy	shouts	Marks text meant to be shouted.
` `	barydr, barydr	whispers	Marks text meant to be whispered/murmured/mumbled.
° • ∙	chwy a mé (holl/ngochedur/ngwytherddy), xwy a mē <hoq-ngoxedur-ngwyþerðy>	(high/mid/low) pitch marks	Marks the general pitch of the text to be read. Used in some languages to mark phonetic high/mid/low tones.

Abbreviations

A series of abbreviations exist in the script, mostly reflecting Middle Phyrean conjunctions and prepositions.

Abbr.	Meaning	Translation
&	ny, ny	and
/	mwy, mwy	or
#	mur, mur	but
+	ddu, ðu	no, not
@	le, lẹ	with
%	hin, hin	without
$	awr, awr	by, at
£	anedd, anð	Anedd

Numerals

Numerals in the Phyrean script originate, ultimately, from those found in the archaic Nanai script. They are duodecimal and, like the rest of the script, also bicameral, having separate stele and small script versions. The system is a sign-value notation, with numerals representing powers of twelve which are combined with single digits to represent multiples of such.

Numeral	Α . α	Β . β	Γ . γ	Δ . δ	Ε . ε	Ζ . ζ	Η . η	Θ . θ	Ι . ι	Κ . κ	Λ . λ	Μ . μ	Ν . ν	Ξ . ξ	Ο . ο
Decimal	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	144	1728
Duodecimal											A	B	10	100	1000

Numbers such as 20₁₂, 21₁₂, 22₁₂ are notated with a digit, then the numeral 10₁₂, then another digit: γν, γνβ, γνγ. Longer numerals work in the same way, e.g. οδξινη = 1386₁₂ = ο (1000₁₂) + δξ (300₁₂) + ιν (80₁₂) + η (6).