Alternative to glyphs
In a world shaken by the recent events, it quickly becomes important to be able to communicate quickly, and efficiently. Thankfully, a wise man from Home and Knowledge found a solution for that (but also to the cost of parchment,) and created way more simple glyphs to use... as an alphabet!
Read his story here ~ (short story. Optional, but this page will slightly spoil it.)
It's heavily recommended to have read the page Language and Glyph before this one not to be lost. It includes, among other useful information, the pronounciation of the Yevat letters and sounds.
Read his story here ~ (short story. Optional, but this page will slightly spoil it.)
It's heavily recommended to have read the page Language and Glyph before this one not to be lost. It includes, among other useful information, the pronounciation of the Yevat letters and sounds.
Alphabet
Melystervadijvelilselain, or let's call him Selain, has created glyphs which corresponds to sounds, rather than to concepts. He separated them into three columns:
- Sounds made from the throat
- Sounds made with the mouth
- And the visual representation of a sentence.
- Sounds made from the throat
- Sounds made with the mouth
- And the visual representation of a sentence.
The concept is simple:
- Draw a small horizontal line to start the sentence.
- Draw then a vertical line: this will be your base to add letters.
> You'll quickly notice that every letter has a vertical line splitting it. This is the line of the sentence. Always use your sentence's line as base to place the letters, and you can't make any mistake!
- When you're done with your first word, add a dot as space between words.
- Repeat until you wrote a sentence, and close it with a new horizontal line.
Look at these sentences to get examples:
- Draw a small horizontal line to start the sentence.
- Draw then a vertical line: this will be your base to add letters.
> You'll quickly notice that every letter has a vertical line splitting it. This is the line of the sentence. Always use your sentence's line as base to place the letters, and you can't make any mistake!
- When you're done with your first word, add a dot as space between words.
- Repeat until you wrote a sentence, and close it with a new horizontal line.
Look at these sentences to get examples:
FAQ
Q: That's nice! So they mostly write from top to the bottom of a page. But then, are the sentences written from left to right, or the opposite? Just like for many questions about the Yevat's language, the answer will be the same: it depends on the region, but also on individuals. Left to right, right to left, in a circle... A Yevat just has to read the first sentences to know if he's at the beginning or in the middle of a text. Just like when you get a manga between your hands when you're not used to it, for example: it feels a bit odd but you just have to turn the book and start at the "end" of it, and you quickly get used to it. Q: They write on parchement. But what happens when they reach the bottom of a page? Do they have to finish their sentence before? Again, it greatly depends. But here are a few ideas: The first one is the one offered by Selain: when reaching the bottom, just go back to the top of your page and continue your sentence. Others also try to write in circles, or to twist the lines as they want, everything works!
Q: Can they only write? Of course not! They can also paint and craft, and add these letters into all their usual arts. Some have been seen using a thin cord, pieces of wood and old claws and bones to craft their own sentences and hang them in their home or caravans. See the picture on the right? It writes "A zem Yevat," "I am a Yevat." Pretty cool, right? It also scares birds so that's nice! They use beads of different colors to separate the words and for some letters. The richest ones might even add metal and jewlery to their hanging sentences. Want to send a love letter? Send a crafted one instead! Your loved one will receive it rolled on itself and will discover the sentence by unrolling it. You'll be a bit of a show-off, but that's a really nice gift to receive ~ |
Q: Why is the 'e' in "Yevat" written like if it was in the end of the word, and not in the middle of it?
Because "Yevat", just like many other words, is a composed word. It's composed by "Ye" (one) and "vat" (the same.) When a word is composed by two words, the pronounciation of them don't change. "Ye" ends with a 'e', so it'll be the acute form of the 'e'. It doesn't change when it becomes "Yevat", or "yevispir" ("the first"), for example.
Another example: "Ju", the past, is pronounced "djoo" because the "j" at the beginning of a word is pronounced "dj." When you write "A zemju" (I was), the 'j' doesn't turn into its middle word form (jjj...). It keeps being pronounced as usual, so you'll pronounce it "a zèmdjoo", and not "a zèmjoo."
Be careful though, because the plural, the adjective, or the verbal form of a word can change its pronounciations! The rule above only works for composed words. For example, the word: "Kraste" (the attack) ends with the 'e', so is pronounced "krasté." But once you talk about several attacks, it becomes "krastem", and so the 'e' becomes a middle word 'e'. The plural of "kraste" will become "krastèm."
Another example: "Vykaj" (freshness) is pronounced "vykash" (or "vykajsh.") But once it becomes "vykajaik" (to refresh), the 'j' now takes its middle word form and will be pronounced 'j' (not "dj.")
Most words in the lexicon aren't composed, unless stated otherwise in the details column. If you have a doubt about a word, feel free to ask Yoka!
Q: How to write numbers?
For now, Selain didn't create any glyph for the numbers. He either uses the old glyphs, either writes them as they're pronounced. For example, he'll write "ra": r + a.
Q: How to write non-Yevat words?
You may have noticed that some letters were missing from the Yevat language, such as C, Q, EE, or W for example. To write non-Yevat words, simply write not as they're usually written, but as they're pronounced.
For example, to write the nicknames of my friend Creepyan and Wevark, I wrote in truth: "Kripyan" and "Uèvark."
If you'd like to write the word "book", for example, you couldn't write it "book", as it would be then pronounced by a Yevat "bo--ok." Instead, you would write "buk."
Other examples:
- ee becomes i. "To seek" > "Tu sik."
- sh becomes j. "Sheer" > "Jir."
- i becomes ai or ay. "I am" > "Ay am."
- u (like in "must") becomes é or è. "You must" > "Yu mèst."
- "To master the Yevat writing, you must pronounce everything with their accent." > "Tu mastèr thi Yevat languaj, yu mèst pronuns èvèrithyng uith thèr aksènt."
- Etc.
Because "Yevat", just like many other words, is a composed word. It's composed by "Ye" (one) and "vat" (the same.) When a word is composed by two words, the pronounciation of them don't change. "Ye" ends with a 'e', so it'll be the acute form of the 'e'. It doesn't change when it becomes "Yevat", or "yevispir" ("the first"), for example.
Another example: "Ju", the past, is pronounced "djoo" because the "j" at the beginning of a word is pronounced "dj." When you write "A zemju" (I was), the 'j' doesn't turn into its middle word form (jjj...). It keeps being pronounced as usual, so you'll pronounce it "a zèmdjoo", and not "a zèmjoo."
Be careful though, because the plural, the adjective, or the verbal form of a word can change its pronounciations! The rule above only works for composed words. For example, the word: "Kraste" (the attack) ends with the 'e', so is pronounced "krasté." But once you talk about several attacks, it becomes "krastem", and so the 'e' becomes a middle word 'e'. The plural of "kraste" will become "krastèm."
Another example: "Vykaj" (freshness) is pronounced "vykash" (or "vykajsh.") But once it becomes "vykajaik" (to refresh), the 'j' now takes its middle word form and will be pronounced 'j' (not "dj.")
Most words in the lexicon aren't composed, unless stated otherwise in the details column. If you have a doubt about a word, feel free to ask Yoka!
Q: How to write numbers?
For now, Selain didn't create any glyph for the numbers. He either uses the old glyphs, either writes them as they're pronounced. For example, he'll write "ra": r + a.
Q: How to write non-Yevat words?
You may have noticed that some letters were missing from the Yevat language, such as C, Q, EE, or W for example. To write non-Yevat words, simply write not as they're usually written, but as they're pronounced.
For example, to write the nicknames of my friend Creepyan and Wevark, I wrote in truth: "Kripyan" and "Uèvark."
If you'd like to write the word "book", for example, you couldn't write it "book", as it would be then pronounced by a Yevat "bo--ok." Instead, you would write "buk."
Other examples:
- ee becomes i. "To seek" > "Tu sik."
- sh becomes j. "Sheer" > "Jir."
- i becomes ai or ay. "I am" > "Ay am."
- u (like in "must") becomes é or è. "You must" > "Yu mèst."
- "To master the Yevat writing, you must pronounce everything with their accent." > "Tu mastèr thi Yevat languaj, yu mèst pronuns èvèrithyng uith thèr aksènt."
- Etc.