Sêrela Script
From Sedes Draconis
Sêrela Script is the a writing form developed during the Sêrela Renaissance to write the Classical Sêrela Language. It is the main writing system used for writing Classical Sêrela, most vernacular Sêrela dialects, and a few unrelated languages, such as Noçesh.
Contents |
Composition
- The compositional unit of Sêrela writing is the syllable.
- Sêrela writing is top to bottom, left to right. Syllables of a word are joined, with breaks indicating word breaks.
- Every syllable has the stem of the initial syllable. Syllabes with vowel initials take the blank stem.
- Every syllable is marked for tone in Classical Sêrela, but vernacular writings mark tone only when it is important for poetics, and in educational texts. This is partially because tone is the most variable part of the language. The value and distribution of each tone, and in some cases, even the number of tones vary between the various Sêrela dialects.
- Vowel is always marked, except for syllabic [n].
- Final consonant of a syllable (the coda) is marked when present. The majority of syllables in Classical Sêrela do not have codas, but a significant minority do have them. Codas are never complex; only one consonant can appear in the coda.
Glyphs
Consonants
| IPA | Transliteration | Normal Stem Form | Word-Final Stem | Coda Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| k | K/k |  |  | NA* |
| t | T/t |  |  | NA* |
| p | P/p |  |  | NA* |
| θ | Th/th |  |  | 
|
| ç | Ç/ç |  |  | 
|
| θʷ | Thw/thw |  |  | Image:Sêrela Thw Coda.png |
| s | S/s |  |  | Image:Sêrela S Coda.png |
| ʃ | Sh/sh |  |  | Image:Sêrela Sh Coda.png |
| ɬ | Lh/lh |  |  | Image:Sêrela Lh Coda.png |
| ɬʲ | Lj/lj |  |  | Image:Sêrela Lj Coda.png |
| ɬʷ | Lhw/lhw |  |  | Image:Sêrela Lhw Coda.png |
| ɹ | R/r |  |  | Image:Sêrela R Coda.png |
| j | J/j |  |  | Image:Sêrela J Coda.png |
| w | W/w |  |  | Image:Sêrela W Coda.png |
| l | L/l |  |  | Image:Sêrela L Coda.png |
| ʎ | Ll/ll |  |  | Image:Sêrela Ll Coda.png |
| lʷ | Lw/lw |  |  | Image:Sêrela Lw Coda.png |
| n | N/n |  |  | Image:Sêrela N Coda.png |
| ** |  |  | NA** |
- *The plosives do not have coda forms in the standard script. (Though coda forms do exist in some variants, such as the Noçesh variant of Sêrela Script.)
- **The final consonant stem has no sound, it is a place holder used in syllables that begin with a vowel. This has no coda form; syllables with no coda simply do not include a coda glyph.
Vowels
| IPA | Transliteration | Glyph |
|---|---|---|
| i | I/i | 
|
| y | Y/y | 
|
| u | U/u | 
|
| e | E/e | 
|
| o | O/o | 
|
| ɛ | Ê/ê | 
|
| ɔ | Ô/ô | 
|
| a | A/a | 
|
Tone
| Tone | Transliteration† (shown on a,ê) | Classical Value | Glyph |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a, ê | 33 Mid-level | 
|
| 2 | ã,ễ | 55 High-level | 
|
| 3 | à,ề | 53 High-Falling | 
|
| 4 | á,ế | 14 Low-Rising | 
|
- † Tone will be marked on transliterated words when the focus is on the word itself, but tone will not be marked when the word is used referentially. This both follows the vernacular usage and minimizes the use of exotic diacritics.
Examples
Transliteration:
Sakálw Érõsíãlề Ãilềlẽ
Érõsíôll Sakálwẽ Therãlề
Átelhĩnê Isllítềsẽ Érõsíãlề
Gloss:
Sakalw, Erosiôll-GEN, Ailel-GEN
Erosiôll, Sakalw-GEN, Theral-GEN
Atelhinê, Isllite-GEN, Erosiôll-GEN
Translation:
Sakalw, of Erosiôll, of Ailel
Erosiôll, of Sakalw, of Theral
Atelhinê, of Isllite, of Erosiôll
The Classical forms of the names of three Sêrela elves. It can be deduced from the names that these are a father, mother, and their married daughter (Sêrela Language#Naming).
