Walnerian orthography

The Walnerian orthography (Walnerian: Rausbérisse Ortografie) is a set of rules, that guide the written form of the Walnerian language.

Alphabet

Walnerian alphabet Rausbérisses Alfabét
Type	Alphabet
Languages	Walnerian language
Parent systems	Latin script Walnerian alphabet

A a /a ~ ɑ/	Á á /aː ~ ɑː/	B b /b/	C c /ts/	Cs cs /tʃ/	D d /d/	E e /ɛ ~ e/	É é /ɛː ~ eː/	Ë ë /ə/	F f /f/
G g /ɡ/	H h /ɦ ~ h/	Ch ch /x/	I i /i ~ ɪ/	Í í /iː ~ ɪː/	J j /j/	K k /k/	L l /l/	M m /m/	N n /n/
O o /ɔ ~ o/	Ó ó /ɔː ~ oː/	P p /p/	Q q /kv/	R r /r/	Ŕ ŕ /ʁ̩ ~ ə/	S s /s/	Ss ss /ʃ/	T t /t/	U u /u/
Ú ú /uː/	V v /v/	W w /w/	X x /ks/	Y y /y ~ yː/	Z z /z/

Historical development

From a historical digraph alphabet, the script developed from the Early New High German orthographies. The changes either follow the phonetic shifts (for example the phonetical shifts from /æ/ and /œ/ to /ɛː/, or shift from a͡u to ɔː).

Changes in orthography without the phonetical shift include:

• SS → S
• S → Z
• Z → C
• Ü → Y

Later in the mid 17th century, accute was introduced for the long vowels, replacing the digraphs:

• IE/IH/II → Í
• AH/AA → Á
• EH/EE → É
• OH/OO → Ó
• UH/UU → Ú

Current usage

R Accute

Ŕ ŕ
Ŕ ŕ

The letter R Accute (Ŕ) was introduced in early 19th century, replacing the digraph ER in cases, where the phonological shift /əˑʀ/ → /ʁ̩ ~ ə/ happened.

Digraphs

There are three digraphs in the Walnerian language (CS for /t͡ʃ/, CH for /x/, SS for /ʃ/). They are a remnant of the old digraph orthography and some people support their replacement with diacritic characters. The most popular of those proposal suggests replacing the digraphs with circumflexed letters C, H and S, possibly being inspired by Esperanto, which gained popularity in Walneria in mid 1950's.

• Cs cs → Ĉ ĉ
• Ch ch → Ĥ ĥ
• Ss ss → Ŝ ŝ

E Diaeresis

Ë ë
Ë ë

The letter E Diaeresis (Ë) was introduced around the same time as the Accuted R (Ŕ), replacing the letter E in endings and other syllables, where it either became silent and another sound became syllabic, or the /ɛ/ sound was reduced to /ə/. The most common example may be the -ën ending in the infinite forms of the verbs. Examples of the words including multiple syllabic letters may be:

• Lófën (English: "To run", IPA: /lɔːfn̩/)
• Ézël (English: "Donkey", IPA: /ɛːzl̩/)
• Róbë (English: "Seal", IPA: /rɔːbə/)

S vs. SS

Ss ss
Ss ss

In front of the letters P, T, if in the first syllable of a word, or a word compound, the letter SS, representing the /ʃ/ sound is written only as a S. Examples of the orthography may include:

First syllable of a word

• Sterbën (English: "To die", IPA: /ʃterbn̩/)
• Spílën (English: "To play", IPA: /ʃpiːln̩/)

Other syllables of a word

• Liste (English: "List", IPA: /liste/)
• Knospe (English: "Bud", IPA: /knɔspe/)

First syllables of a coumpound word

• Haupstád (English: "Capital city", IPA: /ɦaupʃtaːd/)
• Balspiel (English: "Ball game", IPA: /bɑlʃpiːl/)

J vs. I

J j
J j

For the sound /j/ behind a vowel, letter I is used instead of a J (That means that in -AJ- should be replaced with -AI-). This rule doesn't apply to the compound words.