Romanization Challenge Thread v2.0

[Travis B.]

Consonants:

/m n ɲ ŋ/
/ɓ ɗ/
/b d ɟ g/
/p t c k ʔ/
/pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ/
/s h/
/ɾ l/
/w j/

Major syllable vowels:

Monophthongs:

These can all be either short or long:

/i ɨ u/
/e ɘ o/
/ɛ ɜ ɔ/
/æ ɑ/

Diphthongs:

All diphthongs are long:

/æi æɨ æu/
/ɑi ɑɨ ɑu/

Minor syllable vowels:

/ɪ ɨ ʊ/
/ɐ/

Tones:

There are five tones/registers, low, low/breathy, mid, high, and high/creaky. Breathiness and creakiness affect the vowel of the major syllable, while tone affects the entire word.

Syllable structure:

Major syllables are CV(C), minor syllables are CV. The last syllable in a word is a major syllable and receives stress and vowel phonation, all preceding syllables are unstressed minor syllables.

Note that the only consonants in syllable codas are /p t k m n ŋ/

Example passage:

/ɟū mɘ̤ cʰɑ̄ kǽ kɐkʰæ̰m wʊwóŋ kín ɟū ɟæ̀u sí. wóŋ ɗæ̰i ɟæ̀u ʔɛ̰ɛ hɐwóŋ tʰɑ̀ lɨ́ mḛ sí. ʔɐkɐse̤k cʰɑ̄ kamɪkín ɟɔ̤p ʔī ʔɐjɑ̄m ʔī wʊwóŋ sí./

[Nortaneous]

Somehow I prefer the aesthetic of this orthography over most of yours...

frequently i do bad things on purpose

[bradrn]

Travis’s language:

This was an interesting one! As it turns out, all of ⟨ɓ ɗ ŋ ʔ ɨ ə ɛ ɔ⟩ are already in use in natlang alphabets, so a straightforward romanization ends up looking pretty much the same as the phonemic transcription. So I started to wonder: how far could I get by only restricting myself to, say, letters from the US-International keyboard only? This is what I came up with under this restriction:

Consonants:

/m n ɲ ŋ/ ⟨m n ñ ng⟩
/ɓ ɗ/ ⟨bb dd⟩
/b d ɟ g/ ⟨b d j g⟩
/p t c k ʔ/ ⟨p t c k ∅⟩
/pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ/ ⟨ph th ch kh⟩
/s h/ ⟨s h⟩
/ɾ l/ ⟨r l⟩
/w j/ ⟨w y⟩

Notes:

• Some digraphs (e.g. ⟨ng⟩) could be ambiguous. To disambiguate them, use an apostrophe, so e.g. ⟨ng⟩ is /ŋ/ while ⟨n’g⟩ is /nɡ/.
• The glottal stop is only present syllable-initially, and all syllables start with a consonant, so the glottal stop can be represented by an empty grapheme without any ambiguity.

Vowels:

Monophthongs:
/i ɨ u/ ⟨i ĩ u⟩
/e ɘ o/ ⟨é õ ó⟩
/ɛ ɜ ɔ/ ⟨e ẽ o⟩
/æ ɑ/ ⟨a ã⟩

Diphthongs:
/æi æɨ æu/ ⟨ai aĩ au⟩
/ɑi ɑɨ ɑu/ ⟨ãi ãĩ ãu⟩

Minor vowels:
/ɪ ɨ ʊ ɐ/ ⟨i ĩ u a⟩

The syllables in which minor and ‘major’ vowels occur are predictable, so they can be represented with the same graphemes with no ambiguity.

Tones:
Ordinarily, I loathe tone letters; I believe I have discussed this several times in the past. However, this language has word tone rather than syllable tone, which makes tone letters much more convenient, since each word gets an extra letter at the end rather than each syllable getting an extra letter. The tone letters are:

Low tone — -x
Low/breathy tone — -q
Mid tone — -z
High tone — no tone letter
High/creaky tone — -j

Sample passage:
/ɟū mɘ̤ cʰɑ̄ kǽ kɐkʰæ̰m wʊwóŋ kín ɟū ɟæ̀u sí. wóŋ ɗæ̰i ɟæ̀u ʔɛ̰ɛ hɐwóŋ tʰɑ̀ lɨ́ mḛ sí. ʔɐkɐse̤k cʰɑ̄ kamɪkín ɟɔ̤p ʔī ʔɐjɑ̄m ʔī wʊwóŋ sí./
⟨Juz mõq chãz ka kakhamj wuwong kin juz jaux si. Wong ddaij jaux eej hawong thãx lĩ mej si. Akasekq chãz kamikin jopq iz wuwong si.⟩

[Nortaneous]

following Central Vengic precedent when possible

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ny ng>
/ɓ ɗ/ <b d>
/b d ɟ g/ <bb dd jj gg>
/p t c k ʔ/ <p t c k 0>
/pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ/ <ph th ch kh>
/s h/ <s h>
/ɾ l/ <r l>
/w j/ <w y>

Major syllable vowels:

Monophthongs:

These can all be either short or long:

/i ɨ u/ <i y u>
/e ɘ o/ <e v o>
/ɛ ɜ ɔ/ <c z q>
/æ ɑ/ <x a>
/æi æɨ æu/ <xi xv xo>
/ɑi ɑɨ ɑu/ <ai av ao>

/ɪ ɨ ʊ/ <e v o>
/ɐ/ <a>

low <p>
low/breathy <s>
mid <0>
high <t>
high/creaky <f>

Syllable structure:

Major syllables are CV(C), minor syllables are CV. The last syllable in a word is a major syllable and receives stress and vowel phonation, all preceding syllables are unstressed minor syllables.

Note that the only consonants in syllable codas are /p t k m n ŋ/ <b d g m n ng>

Example passage:

/ɟū mɘ̤ cʰɑ̄ kǽ kɐkʰæ̰m wʊwóŋ kín ɟū ɟæ̀u sí. wóŋ ɗæ̰i ɟæ̀u ʔɛ̰ɛ hɐwóŋ tʰɑ̀ lɨ́ mḛ sí. ʔɐkɐse̤k cʰɑ̄ kamɪkín ɟɔ̤p ʔī ʔɐjɑ̄m ʔī wʊwóŋ sí./
Jju mvs cha kxt kvkhxmf wowongt kint jju jjxop sit. Wongt dxif ccf hawongt thap lyt mef sit. Akasegh cha kamekint jjqph i ayam i wowongt sit.

alternatively, as What

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ñ ng>
/ɓ ɗ/ <bh dh>
/b d ɟ g/ <b d j g>
/p t c k ʔ/ <p t c k x>
/pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ/ <ph th ch kh>
/s h/ <s h>
/ɾ l/ <r l>
/w j/ <u i>

/i ɨ u/ <i w u>
/e ɘ o/ <ei y o>
/ɛ ɜ ɔ/ <e ay ao>
/æ ɑ/ <ae a>
/æi æɨ æu/ <ei ew eu>
/ɑi ɑɨ ɑu/ <ai aw au>

/ɪ ɨ ʊ/ <i w u>
/ɐ/ <y>

low <l>
low/breathy <h>
mid <0>
high <s>
high/creaky <x>

/ɟū mɘ̤ cʰɑ̄ kǽ kɐkʰæ̰m wʊwóŋ kín ɟū ɟæ̀u sí. wóŋ ɗæ̰i ɟæ̀u ʔɛ̰ɛ hɐwóŋ tʰɑ̀ lɨ́ mḛ sí. ʔɐkɐse̤k cʰɑ̄ kamɪkín ɟɔ̤p ʔī ʔɐjɑ̄m ʔī wʊwóŋ sí./
Ju myh cha kae kykhaemx uöngs kins ju jeul sis. Uongs deix jeul xâex hyuongs thal lws mex sis. Xykysehk cha kymikins jaohp xi xyiam xi uöngs sis.

[Nortaneous]

speaking of which, What

/p b ƥ ɓ t d ɗ k g ʔ/
/f s h/
/m̥ m mˀ n̥ n nˀ ɲ̥ ɲ ɲˀ ŋ̥ ŋ ŋˀ/
/lˀ l ç j jˀ ʍ w wˀ/
/(ɹ)/

/a e i ɨ u/
/ã ẽ ĩ ɨ̃ ũ/
/a̤ e̤ i̤ ɨ̤ ṳ/
/ã̤ ẽ̤ ĩ̤ ɨ̤̃ ṳ̃/

Labial implosives are a recent development from labial-velars. The coronal implosive mostly appears in loans.
All vowels are pronounced as lax except before semivowels; however, /ej ij uw/ [e: i: u:]. /ɹ/ may also be dropped and lengthen preceding vowels.
Only stressed syllables can contain full vowels. In unstressed position, the semivowels /j w ɹ/ may occur; they are then pronounced [ɪ ʊ ɐ]. Epenthetic schwa is common; there is no particular rule for its insertion. Stressed vowels typically occur in word-final position, but there are some postclitics and compounds and so on. All stressed syllables are closed.
Nasals are preploded following a stressed non-nasal vowel or vowel+semivowel sequence.
There is one diphthong, /i̯a/.
Word-final /h/ tends not to be pronounced phrase-medially.
/ɨ/ varies substantially, and may be pronounced as low and back as [ʌ].

The maximal coda is semivowel + any consonant. It would not be terribly useful to discuss the maximal onset.

/khan nlrlir ŋleh smlaw ɲˀsʔsaʔn̥a̤w ʔah mnˀi̯ah || ŋwad=n jŋkij ghgi̯ah mnˀi̯ah smlaw ƥuwtŋwawn̥a̤w ʔah khah || ta̤ɲkɗawk psi̯ah ʔwih n̥ãrɲ=j kɨh nla̤w ʔeʔ dɨh ŋŋˀi̯ah/
[khadn nəlɐliː ŋlɛ səmlaw ɲˀəsʔəsɐʔn̥a̤w ʔɐ mənˀi̯æh || ŋwɐdən jɪŋkiː gəhgi̯æ mənˀi̯æ səmlaw ƥuːtəŋwawn̥a̤w ʔɐ khɐh || tɐ̤ɟɲəkɗawk pɕi̯æ ʔwɪ n̥ãːɟɲɪ kɨ nəla̤w ʔɛʔ dɨ̽ ŋəŋˀi̯æh]

[Travis B.]

Even though this language already has an orthography, I have decided to come up with a new one just because I can.

Consonants:

These are not very different from my existing orthography.

/m n ɲ ŋ/ ⟨m n ny ng⟩
/ɓ ɗ/ ⟨bb dd⟩
/b d ɟ g/ ⟨b d j g⟩
/p t c k ʔ/ ⟨p t c k 0⟩
/pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ/ ⟨ph th ch kh⟩
/s h/ ⟨s h⟩
/ɾ l/ ⟨r l⟩
/w j/ ⟨w y⟩

Major syllable vowels:

Monophthongs:

These can all be either short or long:

Short:

/i ɨ u/ ⟨i ü u⟩
/e ɘ o/ ⟨é ö ó⟩
/ɛ ɜ ɔ/ ⟨e ë o⟩
/æ ɑ/ ⟨ä a⟩

Long:

/iː ɨː uː/ ⟨ii üü uu⟩
/eː ɘː oː/ ⟨éé öö óó⟩
/ɛː ɜː ɔː/ ⟨ee ëë oo⟩
/æː ɑː/ ⟨ää aa⟩

Diphthongs:

All diphthongs are long:

/æi æɨ æu/ ⟨äi äü äu⟩
/ɑi ɑɨ ɑu/ ⟨ai aü au⟩

Minor syllable vowels:

/ɪ ɨ ʊ/ ⟨a ü u⟩
/ɐ/ ⟨a⟩

Tones:

I normally do not use tone letters, but since I am already using diacritics for vowel quality, I figured I would use them:

low ⟨-w-⟩
low/breathy ⟨-h-⟩
mid ⟨0⟩
high ⟨-s⟩
high/creaky ⟨-k⟩

Syllable structure:

Major syllables are CV(C), minor syllables are CV. The last syllable in a word is a major syllable and receives stress and vowel phonation, all preceding syllables are unstressed minor syllables.

Note that the only consonants in syllable codas are /p t k m n ŋ/ ⟨b d g m n ng⟩

Example passage:

/ɟū mɘ̤ cʰɑ̄ kǽ kɐkʰæ̰m wʊwóŋ kín ɟū ɟæ̀u sí. wóŋ ɗæ̰i ɟæ̀u ʔɛ̰ɛ hɐwóŋ tʰɑ̀ lɨ́ mḛ sí. ʔɐkɐse̤k cʰɑ̄ kamɪkín ɟɔ̤p ʔī ʔɐjɑ̄m ʔī wʊwóŋ sí./
⟨Ju möh cha käs kakhämk wuwóngs kins ju jäuw sis. Wongs ddäik jäuw eek hawóngs thaw lüs mék sis. Akasehg cha kamikins johb i ayam i wuwóngs sis.⟩



Wow, an orthography using tone letters that is not painful to the eye!

[bradrn]

What

Consonants:
/p b ƥ ɓ t d ɗ k g ʔ/ ⟨p b p̓ b̓ t d d̓ k g ʔ⟩
/f s h/ ⟨f s h⟩
/m̥ m mˀ n̥ n nˀ ɲ̥ ɲ ɲˀ ŋ̥ ŋ ŋˀ/ ⟨mh m m̓ nh n n̓ ṉh ṉ ṉ̓ ŋh ŋ ŋ̓⟩
/lˀ l ç j jˀ ʍ w wˀ/ ⟨l̦ l yh y y̓ wh w w̓⟩
/(ɹ)/ ⟨r⟩

Vowels:
/a e i ɨ u/ ⟨a e i ɨ u⟩
nasalisation is marked by ⁿ after vowel
breathy voice is marked by ¨ above vowel

Vocalic semivowels: /j w ɹ/ [ɪ ʊ ɐ] ⟨ĩ ũ ã⟩

Diphthong: /i̯a/ ⟨ia⟩

Allophony:
This orthography is phonenic rather than phonetic, so /ej ij uw etc./ are shown as ⟨ey iy uw etc.⟩. The epenthetic schwa and preploded nasals are not shown. /h/ is always written, even when elided phonetically. However, when the semivowels are realised as vowels, they are shown as ⟨ĩ ũ ã⟩ rather than ⟨y w r⟩.

Sample text:
⟨Khan nlãlir ŋleh smlaw ṉ̓sʔsaʔnhäw ʔah mn̓iah. Ŋwadn yĩnkiy ghgiah smlaw p̓uwtŋwawnhäw ʔah khah. Täṉkd̓awk psiah ʔwih nhaⁿrṉĩ kɨh nläw ʔeʔ dɨh ŋŋ̓iah.⟩

The maximal coda is semivowel + any consonant. It would not be terribly useful to discuss the maximal onset.

This reminds me a bit of Sakao:

…
- The syllable structure of the southern dialect is undefined. Words like /mhɛrtpr/, /rðjœɣ/, and /nmɣœ/ are all permissible.
…

It is truly a crazy language — I recommend reading the whole of the linked post!

[Nortaneous]

Sakao? Austronesian gets like that sometimes (there's also Dorig), but I was going for Aslian. Notice the reduplicative forms.

/p b ƥ ɓ t d ɗ k g ʔ/ <p b pʼ bʼ t d dʼ k g ʔ>
/f s h/ <f s h/0>
/m̥ m mˀ n̥ n nˀ ɲ̥ ɲ ɲˀ ŋ̥ ŋ ŋˀ/ <ṃ m mʼ ṇ n nʼ ṇ̃ ñ ñʼ ŋ̇ ŋ ŋʼ>
/lˀ l ç j jˀ ʍ w wˀ/ <lʼ l ẏ y yʼ ẉ w wʼ>
/(ɹ)/ <r>

/a e i ɨ u/ <a e i o u>
/ã ẽ ĩ ɨ̃ ũ/ <ą ę į ǫ ų>
/a̤ e̤ i̤ ɨ̤ ṳ/ <ah eh ih oh uh>
/ã̤ ẽ̤ ĩ̤ ɨ̤̃ ṳ̃/ <ąh ęh įh ǫh ųh>
/ia/ <ä>

/khan nlrlir ŋleh smlaw ɲˀsʔsaʔn̥a̤w ʔah mnˀi̯ah || ŋwad=n jŋkij ghgi̯ah mnˀi̯ah smlaw ƥuwtŋwawn̥a̤w ʔah khah || ta̤ɲkɗawk psi̯ah ʔwih n̥ãrɲ=j kɨh nla̤w ʔeʔ dɨh ŋŋˀi̯ah/
[khadn nəlɐliː ŋlɛ səmlaw ɲˀəsʔəsɐʔn̥a̤w ʔɐ mənˀi̯æh || ŋwɐdən jɪŋkiː gəhgi̯æ mənˀi̯æ səmlaw ƥuːtəŋwawn̥a̤w ʔɐ khɐh || tɐ̤ɟɲəkɗawk pɕi̯æ ʔwɪ n̥ãːɟɲɪ kɨ nəla̤w ʔɛʔ dɨ̽ ŋəŋˀi̯æh]

Khan nlalī ŋle smlaw ñʼsʔsaʔṇawh a mnʼä. Ŋwad n inkī ghgä mnʼä smlaw pʼūtŋwawṇawh ʔa kha. Tahñkdʼawk psä ʔwi ṇą̄ñi ko nlawh ʔe do ŋŋʼä.

[Karch]

/p b ƥ ɓ t d ɗ k g ʔ/ <p b ph bh t d dh k g c>
/f s h/ <f s ʼ>
/m̥ m mˀ n̥ n nˀ ɲ̥ ɲ ɲˀ ŋ̥ ŋ ŋˀ/ <m̱ m mh ṉ n nh gṉ gn gnh ṉg ng ngh>
/lˀ l ç j jˀ ʍ w wˀ/ <lh l z y~i yh w̱ w~o wh>
/(ɹ)/ <r~a>

/a e i ɨ u/ <a e i u o>
/ã ẽ ĩ ɨ̃ ũ/ <à è ì ù ò>
/a̤ e̤ i̤ ɨ̤ ṳ/ <â ê î û ô>
/ã̤ ẽ̤ ĩ̤ ɨ̤̃ ṳ̃/ <ã ẽ ĩ ũ õ>

The unstressed vowels are written <i o a>. In non-final position, the plain stressed vowels are written <á é í ú ó>. The sole diphthong is written <ia>. Word-final /h/ is left unwritten.

/khan nlrlir ŋleh smlaw ɲˀsʔsaʔn̥a̤w ʔah mnˀi̯ah || ŋwad=n jŋkij ghgi̯ah mnˀi̯ah smlaw ƥuwtŋwawn̥a̤w ʔah khah || ta̤ɲkɗawk psi̯ah ʔwih n̥ãrɲ=j kɨh nla̤w ʔeʔ dɨh ŋŋˀi̯ah/
[khadn nəlɐliː ŋlɛ səmlaw ɲˀəsʔəsɐʔn̥a̤w ʔɐ mənˀi̯æh || ŋwɐdən jɪŋkiː gəhgi̯æ mənˀi̯æ səmlaw ƥuːtəŋwawn̥a̤w ʔɐ khɐh || tɐ̤ɟɲəkɗawk pɕi̯æ ʔwɪ n̥ãːɟɲɪ kɨ nəla̤w ʔɛʔ dɨ̽ ŋəŋˀi̯æh]
Kʼan nlalir ngle smlaw gnhscsacnhâw a mnhia. Ngwadn ingkiy gʼgia mnhia smlaw phowtngwawṉâw a kʼa. Tâgnkdhawk psia cwi ṉàrgni ku nlâw ec du ngnghia.

[Travis B.]

Sakao? Austronesian gets like that sometimes (there's also Dorig), but I was going for Aslian. Notice the reduplicative forms.

/p b ƥ ɓ t d ɗ k g ʔ/ <p b pʼ bʼ t d dʼ k g ʔ>
/f s h/ <f s h/0>
/m̥ m mˀ n̥ n nˀ ɲ̥ ɲ ɲˀ ŋ̥ ŋ ŋˀ/ <ṃ m mʼ ṇ n nʼ ṇ̃ ñ ñʼ ŋ̇ ŋ ŋʼ>
/lˀ l ç j jˀ ʍ w wˀ/ <lʼ l ẏ y yʼ ẉ w wʼ>
/(ɹ)/ <r>

/a e i ɨ u/ <a e i o u>
/ã ẽ ĩ ɨ̃ ũ/ <ą ę į ǫ ų>
/a̤ e̤ i̤ ɨ̤ ṳ/ <ah eh ih oh uh>
/ã̤ ẽ̤ ĩ̤ ɨ̤̃ ṳ̃/ <ąh ęh įh ǫh ųh>
/ia/ <ä>

/khan nlrlir ŋleh smlaw ɲˀsʔsaʔn̥a̤w ʔah mnˀi̯ah || ŋwad=n jŋkij ghgi̯ah mnˀi̯ah smlaw ƥuwtŋwawn̥a̤w ʔah khah || ta̤ɲkɗawk psi̯ah ʔwih n̥ãrɲ=j kɨh nla̤w ʔeʔ dɨh ŋŋˀi̯ah/
[khadn nəlɐliː ŋlɛ səmlaw ɲˀəsʔəsɐʔn̥a̤w ʔɐ mənˀi̯æh || ŋwɐdən jɪŋkiː gəhgi̯æ mənˀi̯æ səmlaw ƥuːtəŋwawn̥a̤w ʔɐ khɐh || tɐ̤ɟɲəkɗawk pɕi̯æ ʔwɪ n̥ãːɟɲɪ kɨ nəla̤w ʔɛʔ dɨ̽ ŋəŋˀi̯æh]

Khan nlalī ŋle smlaw ñʼsʔsaʔṇawh a mnʼä. Ŋwad n inkī ghgä mnʼä smlaw pʼūtŋwawṇawh ʔa kha. Tahñkdʼawk psä ʔwi ṇą̄ñi ko nlawh ʔe do ŋŋʼä.

This is almost exactly the orthography I would have come up with, aside from that I would have used <ia> rather than <ä> for /ia/ so diacritics could be put on top.

[Nortaneous]

Kehann nelali ngelaih semlo ñqesqesaqnhö ah menʼeah. Nguadn ingki gehgeah menqeah semlo qoutnguonhö ah khah. Täñekdhok pseah qwih nhaanñi keih nelö eq deih ngengqeah.

Kehan nelerlir nglei semlo qnyeseqsaq-hnoh qa menqae. Ngod-en yingkiy gehgae menqae semlo ppuwtengow-hnoh qa keha. Tahnyekddok pesae qwi hnãrny-ì kue neloh qeiq due ngengqae.

(I think *o > wa after velars and aw otherwise)

[Birdlang]

Another one
Coastal Birdish
The current orthography is a mess and I want to change it.
Ok here’s the phonology.
/m n ɲ ŋ/
/p b t d c ɟ k g q ʔ/
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h/
/ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ cç ɟʝ kx gɣ/
/l ɭ~ɽ~ɖ~ɖʲ ʎ ɾ r j ɥ w ɰ/
/ɬʲ~ʎ̝̊ ɮʲ~ʎ̝/

/i iː y yː u uː ɪ ɪː ʊ ʊː e eː ø øː o oː ə əː ɛ ɛː œ œː ʌ ʌː ɔ ɔː a aː/

Current orthography
m n ny/ni/n ng/n’
p b t d ty/ti/t/ky/ki/k dy/di/d/gy/gi/g k g q/ck gh/ch
f v th dh s z sh zh sy/si/s zy/zi/z sj zj kh gg qh qq x xh h
ts dz ch jh c j cy/ci/c jy/ji/j kx gx
l dd ly/li/l r rr y yw w wy
sl zl

i ii ue eu u uu ie ei uo ou e ee oe eo o oo è èe eh ay io oi iu ui oh aw a aa

I’d like to change this to one letter per sound, so if you could put one letter per sound, that would be great!

[Travis B.]

I’d like to change this to one letter per sound, so if you could put one letter per sound, that would be great!

You might as well write it in IPA.

[Nortaneous]

Actually, what about an etymological orthography? I've forgotten most of the etymologies and can't quite rederive some of the current forms, so the sample will be a little different.

/lkajn nlrlir ŋlɨh smlaw ɲˀsʔsaʔn̥a̤w ʔih mnˀi̯ah || kraŋ=n jŋkij ghgi̯ah mnˀi̯ah smlaw ƥuwtŋwejn̥a̤w ʔih lkaj/

N̆akâân nan̆irn̆iir ŋin̆ saman̆õ nyasaqosaqğatõ ii mwotanga. Korangon yingkaa gaxgax mwotanga saman̆õ pwootuŋuwaağatõ ii n̆akââ.
Lakån nalirlīr ŋil samalonn nyasaqosaqcatonn ī m̄otaŋa. Koraŋon yiŋkā gaxgax m̄otaŋa samalonn p̄ōtuŋuācato ī lakå.

representing ~Proto-Southern Whatic
/ɺækɑɑn naɺirɺiːr ŋiɺ sæmæɺõ ɲæsæʔosæʔ-ɣætõ iː mʷotæŋæ || koræŋon jiŋkæː gæxgæx mʷotæŋæ sæmæɺõ pʷoːtuŋuwæːɣatõ iː ɺækɑː/

[bradrn]

Coastal Birdish:

I’d like to change this to one letter per sound, so if you could put one letter per sound, that would be great!

I thought this wasn’t possible while still keeping the romanization sensible — but, amazingly enough, I think I managed to do it! This does come at the cost of not being able to type it with a regular keyboard (I used my own Conkey to do it), but that’s the price of using one letter per sound.


/m n ɲ ŋ/ ⟨m n ń ŋ⟩
/p b t d c ɟ k g q ʔ/ ⟨p b t d c j k g q ʔ⟩
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h/ ⟨f v θ ð s z š ž ṡ ż ś ź x ɣ x̌ ƣ ħ ǥ h⟩
/ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ cç ɟʝ kx gɣ/ ⟨c ʒ č ǯ ċ ʒ̇ ś ʒ́ ẋ ɣ̇⟩
/l ɭ~ɽ~ɖ~ɖʲ ʎ ɾ r j ɥ w ɰ/ ⟨l ḷ ľ ṙ r y ÿ w ẅ⟩
/ɬʲ~ʎ̝̊ ɮʲ~ʎ̝/ ⟨ł λ⟩

/i y u ɪ ʊ e ø o ə ɛ œ ʌ ɔ a/ ⟨i ü u ĩ ũ é ő ó ẽ e ö ä o a⟩
For long vowels, add a dot below: ⟨ị ụ̈ ụ ị̃ ụ̃ etc.⟩

[Darren]

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <Pn Tn Cn Kn>
/p b t d c ɟ k g q ʔ/ <P Pg T Tg C Cg K Kg R Q>
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h/ <F Fg Th Tv S Sg X Xg Z Zg Kh Kv Rh Rv H Hg Qh>
/ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ cç ɟʝ kx gɣ/ <Sc Sj Xc Xj Zc Zj Cc Cj Kc Kg>
/l ɭ~ɽ~ɖ~ɖʲ ʎ ɾ r j ɥ w ɰ/ <Ty L Cy D Dr Cy Cw Kw Ky>
/ɬʲ~ʎ̝̊ ɮʲ~ʎ̝/ <Tx Dx>

Explanation:
The underlying consonant letters are /p f t s ʃ ɭ~ɽ~ɖ~ɖʲ ɕ c k ħ q ʔ ɾ/ which are <P F T S X L Z C K H R Q D>.
Voicing on these is shown with -g.
Nasalisty -n
Frication -h
Affrication -c
Voiced affrication -j
Voiced frication -v
Liquidness -y
Rounded liquid -w
Fricated lateral -x
Trilling -r

The underlying vowel letters are /i e ɛ a/ <Y I E A>
Backing is shown with -u
Front rounding -e
Centralisation -o
Length -i
Laxness -a

/i iː y yː u uː ɪ ɪː ʊ ʊː e eː ø øː o oː ə əː ɛ ɛː œ œː ʌ ʌː ɔ ɔː a aː/ <Y Yi Ye Yei Yu Yui Ya Yai Yua Yuai I Ii Ie Iei Iu Iui Io Ioi E Ei Ee Eei Eo Eoi Eu Eui A Ai>

I’d like to change this to one letter per sound, so if you could put one letter per sound, that would be great!

It's a featural system so it's close... one letter per feature.

[Nortaneous]

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ñ ŋ>
/p b t d c ɟ k g q ʔ/ <p b t d c j k g q ʔ>
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h/ <f v ŧ đ s z š ž ś ź x́ ɣ́ x ɣ x̌ ɣ̌ ẖ ḥ h>
/ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ cç ɟʝ kx gɣ/ <c ʒ č ǯ ć ʒ́ ʞ ꝿ>
/l ɭ~ɽ~ɖ~ɖʲ ʎ ɾ r j ɥ w ɰ/ <l d̠ ĺ ř r j ẃ w ǰ>
/ɬʲ~ʎ̝̊ ɮʲ~ʎ̝/ <s̠ z̠>

/i iː y yː u uː ɪ ɪː ʊ ʊː e eː ø øː o oː ə əː ɛ ɛː œ œː ʌ ʌː ɔ ɔː a aː/
<i ī y ȳ u ū ị ị̄ ụ ụ̄ e ē ø ø̄ o ō ə ə̄ ẹ ẹ̄ ø̣ ø̣̄ ạ ạ̄ ọ ọ̄ a ā>

[Karch]

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ñ ŋ>
/p b t d c ɟ k g q ʔ/ <p b t d c j k g q '>
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h/ <f v θ ð s z š ž ś ź x́ ɣ́ x ɣ ẋ ɣ̇ ḥ ˤ h>
/ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ cç ɟʝ kx gɣ/ <ȼ ʒ č ǯ ć ʒ́ ḱ ǵ ḳ ġ>
/l ɭ~ɽ~ɖ~ɖʲ ʎ ɾ r j ɥ w ɰ/ <l ṛ ɫ ṙ r y ẃ w ẏ>
/ɬʲ~ʎ̝̊ ɮʲ~ʎ̝/ <ł ḻ>

/i iː y yː u uː ɪ ɪː ʊ ʊː e eː ø øː o oː ə əː ɛ ɛː œ œː ʌ ʌː ɔ ɔː a aː/
<i î ü ù u û i̱ î̱ u̱ û̱ e ê ö ò o ô ə ə̂ æ æ̂ œ œ̂ ä à o̱ ô̱ a â>

[Knit Tie]

m n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ
p b pʰ t̪ d̪ t̪ʰ t d tʰ ʈ ɖ ʈʰ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ t͡ɕʰ k g kʰ
f v s z ʂ ʐ ɣ x
ɾ ɽ l ɭ ɻ
w j

a i u + length

[Nortaneous]

m n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ <m n̠ n ṇ ń ŋ>
p b pʰ t̪ d̪ t̪ʰ t d tʰ ʈ ɖ ʈʰ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ t͡ɕʰ k g kʰ <p b ph t̠ d̠ t̠h t d th ṭ ḍ ṭh c j ch k g kh>
f v s z ʂ ʐ ɣ x <f v s z ṣ ẓ h x>
ɾ ɽ l ɭ ɻ <ř ṛ l ḷ r>
w j <w y>

a i u + length <a i u ā ī ū>