Mablic script

From CWS Planet
Revision as of 20:16, 12 September 2019 by Litrobotix (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Mablic
9hplagled
Hmaephla Klet.png
Mablic script
TypeAlphabet
LanguagesMablic
CreatorPaephhmai (allegedly)
Time period
c. 1113 CE - Present

The Mablic script (Mablic: 9hplagled, Hmaephla klet [m̥āpʰlà klɛ̀t]) is an alphabetic writing system used to write Mablic and other Prra-Blen languages, as well as the Xemxi languages. According to legend, it was developed around 1113 CE by Paephhmai, the third king of Hneing (an early Mablic Kingdom). The system has 18 base letter forms and 6 diacritics, that combine into 43 distinct letters, though the official alphabet lists 28 letters. It is written left-to-right and requires no spaces between words, although modern writing usually contains spaces after each clause to enhance readability

The Mablic script has developed a set of extended symbols: 7 base letter forms and 6 diacritics (mostly the same ones used in Mablic proper), that combine into 15 distinct letters, though the official extended alphabet lists 13 letters. It is used to write other Prra-Blen languages and the Xemxi languages, which have sounds that do not exist in Mablic. Though the alphabet has been in use for hundreds of years, it is traditionally not considered part of the Mablic alphabet.

History and Development

Medieval Mablic sources claim the Mablic script was developed around 1113 CE by Paephhmai, the third king of Hneing (an early Mablic Kingdom). However, the original script was made to write Old Mablic, and there was no standardized spelling. Because of this, standardized tone marking was not achieved until the late 19th century, and historical spelling was rampant until the 20th century. From the 20th century onward, orthographers created spellers to reform Mablic spelling, because ambiguities arose over spelling sounds that had been merged. Some words still, however, retain some historical spelling. Some examples:

  • mfe "must": not /má.ɛ̀/ but /m̥á/
  • noegz "go": not /nɛ́.ɛ̀kt͡sə/ but /n̥ê/
  • dwad "juice": not /twàt/ but /twā/
  • bbfe "then": not /bəbá.ɛ̀/ but /bâ/

Alphabet

Alphabet

Letter Name Pronunciation (Mablic) Pronunciation (Deyab) Pronunciation (Aysaung) Pronunciation (North Xemxi) Pronunciation (South Xemxi) Pronunciation (Ghonggi) Romanization (Mablic; DLR)
b pwer /p ~ b/ /p ~ b/ /b/ /p/ /b/ /b/ p
p pwer hnoi /pʰ ~ p/ /pʰ ~ p/ /p/ - /p/ /p/ ph
d tloung /t ~ d/ /t ~ d/ /d/ /t/ /d/ /d/ t
t tloung hnoi /tʰ ~ t/ /tʰ ~ t/ /t/ - /t/ /t/ th
g kyeum /k ~ g/ /k ~ g/ /g/ /k/ /g/ /g/ k
k kyeum hnoi /kʰ ~ k/ /kʰ ~ k/ /k/ - /k/ /k/ kh
m mik /m/ /m/ /m/ /m/ /m/ /m/ m
9 mik ngienh /m̥/ - - - - - hm
n neiw /n/ /n/ /n/ /n/ /n/ /n/ n
( neiw ngienh /n̥/ - - - - - hn
q ngeu /ŋ/ /ŋ/ /ŋ/ /ŋ/ /ŋ/ - ng
& ngeu ngienh /ŋ̊/ - - - - - hng
x nhoen /ɴ/ /ɲ/ - - - /ɴ/ nh
8 nhoen ngienh /ɴ̥/ - - - - - hnh
j chouw /t͡ɕ/ /ɕ/ /d͡ʒ/ /ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/ /ɟ/ ch
c chouw hnoi /t͡ɕʰ/ /ɕʰ/ /t͡ʃ/ - /t͡ʃ/ /c/ chh
z tsiey /t͡s/ /s/ /d͡z/ /s/ /z/ /d͡z/ ts
s tsiey hnoi /t͡sʰ/ /sʰ/ /t͡s/ - /s/ /t͡s/ tsh
l loehm /l/ - /l/ /l/ /l/ /l/ l
w woik /w/ /w/ /w/ /w/ /w/ /w/ w
r renh /ɾ ~ ɹ/ /r/ /ɾ ~ ɹ/ /ʝ/ /ʁ/ /ɣ/ r
) rriiy /r/ - - - - - rr
y yeik /j/ /j/ /j/ /j/ /j ~ ʲ/ /j/ y
a anh /à ~ a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ a
u ut /ù ~ u/ /u/ /u/ /u/ /u/ /u/ u
e eng /ɛ̀ ~ ɛ ~ e/ /e/ /ɛ/ /ɛ/ /ɛ/ /ɛ ~ e/ e
i ing /ì ~ i ~ ɪ/ /i/ /i/ /i/ /i/ /i ~ ɪ/ i
v onh /ɯ̀ ~ ɯ/ /ɯ/ /ɯ/ /o/ /o/ /o ~ ɔ/ o
Extended letters
Letter Name Pronunciation (Mablic) Pronunciation (Deyab) Pronunciation (Aysaung) Pronunciation (North Xemxi) Pronunciation (South Xemxi) Pronunciation (Ghonggi) Romanization (Various)
c cau - /ʔ/ - /ʔ/ /ʔ/ /ʔ/ ', c
e ən - /ə/ /ɤ/ /ə/ /ə/ /ə/ ə, oo, é
h ha - /x/ - /h/ /h/ /h/ x, h
x xa - - - /x/ /x/ /x/ x
s sa - - /s/ - - /s/ s
z za - - /z/ - - - z
0 sha - - /ʃ/ - /ʃ/ - sh
1 zha - - /ʒ/ - - - zh
f fa - - /f/ /ɸ/ /f/ /f/ f
v va - - /v/ - - /v/ v
t tha - - /θ/ - - - th
d dha - - /ð/ - - /ð/ dh

Diacritcs

Diacritics play a major role in the Mablic script, from distinguishing letters to marking tone on vowels. All of the following diacritics exist in the Mablic alphabet except thoy, which is only used in the extended letters.

Diacritic on example letter Name Meaning IPA Notes
p hnoi "mouth" /◌ʰ/ Used to mark aspiration on the stops. It has two variant forms: In the case of "p", "t", and "k", the hnoi goes above the letter (hnoi plauhm). In the case of "ts" and "ch", the hnoi goes below the letter (hnoi loenh). In the extended letters, it is used to mark voicelessness on the alveolar and post-alveolar fricatives.
9 ngienh "eye" /◌̥/ Used to mark voicelessness on nasals. The ngienh goes above the letter, and is only used in the Mablic language. The resemblance between the ngienh and the IPA diacritic for voicelessness is coincidental.
) tlaik "bar" - Used to distinguish between letters. In Mablic, the tlaik is only used for one letter, ) /r/, to distinguish it from r /ɾ/. In the extended letters, it is used to distinguish between the letters ha and xa. The tlaik goes above the letter.
t thoy "breath" - Used in the extended letters to mark the voiceless fricative of a particular stop. For example, without thoy b /p/, but with thoy f /f/. The thoy goes above the letter.
h krrenh "dot" /˧/ Used to mark mid level tone on vowels. It goes below the letter. In Deyab and Aysaung the krrenh is used to mark the falling-then-rising tone. In the case of the letter onh, it is written to the side.
f hniup "pedestal" /˦/ Used to mark high level tone on vowels. It goes below the letter.
1 thyeiw "nose" /˦˨/ Used to mark falling tone on vowels. It goes above the letter. In the case of the letter onh, it is written to the side.
an hmaiy "staff" /◌̃/ Used to mark nasal vowels in Aysaung. It is not used in any other language. The hmaiy goes after the letter.

Digraphs

Digraphs are used in South Xemxi to mark palatalization and labialization, taking the shape C+y* or C+w. For example:

Digraph Pronunciation
ty /tʲ/
ny /nʲ/
lw /lʷ/

-*In Ghonggi ly makes the sound /ʎ/. Ghonggi also has one other digraph, gl, making the sound /ɡ͡ʟ/

Transliteration

Mablic has historically used three different transliteration systems. The most commonly used today is the DLR (Diacritic-less Romanization), due to its popularity thanks to the system having no diacritics, making it easier to write and type on electronic devices. The system was developed in response to the TRMS (Transliteration of the Royal Mablic Language Society).

b p d t g k m 9 n ( q & x 8 j c z s l w r
p ph t th k kh m hm n hn ng hng nh hnh ch chh ts tsh l w r
y a h f 1 u WIP > 5 e 0 o 2 i 7 6 3 v + < 4
y a ae ai au u ue ui uu e ee ei eu i ie ii iu o oe oi ou

The TRMS (Transliteration of the Royal Mablic Language Society) is the official transliteration system of the Mablic government. It has grown unpopular due to its plethora of diacritics and purported ugliness. All official government documents have a TRMS transcription, though the DLR is growing more and more prevalent.

b p d t g k m 9 n ( q & x 8 j c z s l w r
b p d t g k m n nh n̖h m̖̌ j c z s l w r
y a h f 1 u WIP > 5 e 0 o 2 i 7 6 3 v + < 4
y a ā á â u ū ú û e ē é ê i ī í î ū̖ ú̖ û̖

The YST (Young System of Transcription) was developed by Mablic linguist Pleethyaeng Young. It is popular among Prra-Blen linguists, but has not seen much recent use and is not popular among both the government and Mablic speakers.

b p d t g k m 9 n ( q & x 8 j c z s l w r
p ph t th k kh m hm n hn ng hng nh hnh ch chh ts tsh l u r
y a h f 1 u WIP > 5 e 0 o 2 i 7 6 3 v + < 4
i a1 a2 a3 a13 u1 u2 u3 u13 e1 e2 e3 e13 i1 i2 i3 i13 o1 oe2 oi3 ou13

Punctuation

Mablic's punctuation marks include:

Symbol Name Usage
, aet neew Used to separate clauses with different subjects.
. teth rre Used to mark the end a sentence.
phyeuhng Used to separate clauses.
? phip mei Optional, as Mablic can mark questions grammatically.
! au prrai Same as in English except for commands, where the exclamation point is optional, as Mablic can mark this grammatically.