The Vayoti alphabet consists of 80 letters. They are all consonants except the final five which are the vowels o, a, i, e, u (pronounced the "Latin" way: oh, ah, ee, eh, oo).
All the Vayoti letters are a single, standard size. There is no such thing in Vayoti writing as upper-case and lower-case letters (similar to Hebrew).
All the Vayoti letters are a single, standard size. There is no such thing in Vayoti writing as upper-case and lower-case letters (similar to Hebrew).
There are no "exotic" sounds in Vayoti to pose major difficulties to an English-speaker. Indeed, apart from "kh", all the sounds of Vayoti are present in English. The only difficulty, which should be minor, is in the way the sounds are sometimes combined. The big difference between English and Vayoti pronunciation is that Vayoti is generally (but not always) less "aspirated", i.e., the consonants are not produced with quite the same "puff" of air as one finds with English.
The reason there are 80 letters is this: the Vayoti alphabet contains many letters that represent what English-speakers simply consider consonant combinations, written in English as two letters. Thus, the sound "ts" is a single letter in Vayoti, likewise the sound "zd", the sound "sk", the sound "vn", and even the sound "mnr"! Such simple sound-combinations as bw, sl, gr, as well as sounds that are, even in English, "single" sounds yet represented by two letters, like sh and ch, are represented in Vayoti by separate letters "all their own".
I am not yet technically capable of producing the Vayoti alphabet on this blog, but hope to post a photograph of it soon. In the meantime, using Latin letters (English pronunciation, so "j" is "j" as in "jar," and "w" is "w" as in "word", "y" is "y" as in "yet," "g" is "g" as in "go," and "ch" is "ch" as in "chair"), this is how the Vayoti alphabet goes:
b, bl, br, bw, k, kl, kr, kw, kn, ks, d, dl, dr, dw, f, fl, fr, fw, fn, fs, g, gl, gr, gw, gn, gd, p, pl, pr, pw, pn, ps, s, sl, sr, sw, sm, sn, sp, st, sf, sk, t, tl, tr, tw, v, vl, vr, vw, vn, vz, z, zl, zr, zw, zn, zd, h, j, l, m, n, r, w, y, kh, ch, zh, ts, sh, sht, shw, zhd, mnr, o, a, i, e, u
"kh" is a soft guttural sound similar to German "ich"--not as hard as the Scottish "och".
Each "combined" consonant is pronounced, as much as possible, as a single "sound", i.e., avoiding the creation of an extraneous syllable. This is not always completely possible (for intance, it is easier with "fl" than it is with "gd", and it's easer with "sht" than it is with "kn"), but the speaker should always aim for it.
Guidelines on writing and reading/pronouncing Vayoti words:
Guidelines on writing and reading/pronouncing Vayoti words:
1. When the same consonant is written twice in a row in Vayoti, e.g., "ff", this means there is a "jump" between them (a schwa) so that they effectively create two syllables. In Latin-alphabet transcription, this will be represented with an inserted apostrophe, thus: f'f. But keep in mind that this apostrophe is not there in genunine written Vayoti.
2. When a consonant is sustained (held, "doubled") in Vayoti, i.e., not creating two syllables but simply "held" for a moment, like in Italian mozzarella, then an accent grave ( ` ) is placed over the consonant, but the consonant is written just once in actual Vayoti. In transcription, however, this will be represented by writing the consonant twice, with no apostrophe in between, thus: ff.
3. When a single consonant-letter is immediately followed by a consonant-combination letter--for example, "f" followed by "fr"--a schwa is NOT inserted. That is, no quasi-vowel, and no extra syllable, are generated. So, for example, f+fr is pronounced as if it were, in Vayoti, simply the single letter "fr" with a sustained "f".
4. If, however, there is a consonant-combination letter and, either immediately before or after it, a single consonant-letter (like, for instance, "b-st" or "vz-l"), there is no absolute rule as to whether these three consonant-sounds will "merge," or whether there will be a quasi-vowel inserted to form separate syllables, or whether there will be a simple "stop" to mark the end of one syllable and the beginning of another. It varies from word to word.
5. When two separate consonant-letters, like "f" and "r", are written in sequence, and they are sounds that also happen to appear in a consonant-combination letter ("fr"), then these two consonants are separated syllabically, i.e., "f'r". For example, the first two letters of the Vayoti word for "leadership" are "p" and "r" (note, NOT "pr"), plus the "r" is doubled with (in Vayoti) the placement of an accent grave over it. Thus, in transcription it looks like this: p'rretriz (stress on "-iz"). So, it contains three syllables: p--rre--triz. Another example: mad'riz means "ferryboat". This word does NOT contain the letter "dr"; rather it contains "d" and "r" and is three syllables long. Similarly, s'mikzov (maggot), does not begin with the combination-letter "sm", so it is not "smik-zov" but "s-mik-zov".
This raises, possibly, the question in the reader, "Why isn't it s-mik-(schwa)-zov, i.e., four syllables?" This is because there is no such letter as "kz". So, no quasi-vocalic "jump" is inserted between "k" and "z". At least, not in this case. On the other hand, it is not (similar to rule #4 above) an absolute rule that such a "jump" cannot be placed between two consonant letters that, otherwise, never form a single combination letter. The pronunciation of each word must be learned individually, without absolute reliance on the rules offered here, which are meant to be "general".
Here are some Vayoti words, at random, by way of illustration. I will put only the stressed syllable in bold font:
sapfiriz = sapphire
dellu = mast (practically speaking, the stressed syllable, since "ll" cannot be a syllable, is "dell-"; however, I put only the "ll" in bold font to underline the fact that a doubled consonant attracts the stress.)
ennal = noun
kavva = reverence
ig'ho'j'riz = release (five syllables: ig-uh-ho-juh-riz)
gwessva = quotation
t'r'kem = to drown
s'mintur = swallow (the bird)
4. If, however, there is a consonant-combination letter and, either immediately before or after it, a single consonant-letter (like, for instance, "b-st" or "vz-l"), there is no absolute rule as to whether these three consonant-sounds will "merge," or whether there will be a quasi-vowel inserted to form separate syllables, or whether there will be a simple "stop" to mark the end of one syllable and the beginning of another. It varies from word to word.
5. When two separate consonant-letters, like "f" and "r", are written in sequence, and they are sounds that also happen to appear in a consonant-combination letter ("fr"), then these two consonants are separated syllabically, i.e., "f'r". For example, the first two letters of the Vayoti word for "leadership" are "p" and "r" (note, NOT "pr"), plus the "r" is doubled with (in Vayoti) the placement of an accent grave over it. Thus, in transcription it looks like this: p'rretriz (stress on "-iz"). So, it contains three syllables: p--rre--triz. Another example: mad'riz means "ferryboat". This word does NOT contain the letter "dr"; rather it contains "d" and "r" and is three syllables long. Similarly, s'mikzov (maggot), does not begin with the combination-letter "sm", so it is not "smik-zov" but "s-mik-zov".
This raises, possibly, the question in the reader, "Why isn't it s-mik-(schwa)-zov, i.e., four syllables?" This is because there is no such letter as "kz". So, no quasi-vocalic "jump" is inserted between "k" and "z". At least, not in this case. On the other hand, it is not (similar to rule #4 above) an absolute rule that such a "jump" cannot be placed between two consonant letters that, otherwise, never form a single combination letter. The pronunciation of each word must be learned individually, without absolute reliance on the rules offered here, which are meant to be "general".
Here are some Vayoti words, at random, by way of illustration. I will put only the stressed syllable in bold font:
sapfiriz = sapphire
dellu = mast (practically speaking, the stressed syllable, since "ll" cannot be a syllable, is "dell-"; however, I put only the "ll" in bold font to underline the fact that a doubled consonant attracts the stress.)
ennal = noun
kavva = reverence
ig'ho'j'riz = release (five syllables: ig-uh-ho-juh-riz)
gwessva = quotation
t'r'kem = to drown
s'mintur = swallow (the bird)
6. Generally, a three-consonant cluster at the beginning of a word will consist of a single-consonant then a combined-consonant letter. Inside a word the cluster will be combined-letter, then single. But this is not an absolute rule.
