The Alexa script

Geoff's homepage -> Artificial Languages -> Writing with Alexa

Last update: 22 March 2006

Introduction

The Alexa script was originally developed to write the now extinct language of that name. It was later adopted and extended by the Rachovians for their language, and was also used to write Mossian and Liotan. It remains, in various forms, in common use throughout western and south-western Sunovia.

Note: despite resemblances to certain personal names, "Alexa" is pronounced ["a.le.xa], not [{."lEk.s{]!

The letters and their original values

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The image above shows the sixty-four letterforms which comprise the script. Individual letters are referred to by their row and column, thus the backwards alpha is number 61. 75 76 77 78 were the original forms of 25 55 38 48, and 74 and its rotated counterpart (not shown) were the original forms of 17 67.

In its original incarnation, and disregarding the orthographical variations, the script consisted of the letters in rows 1 through 6. Those in rows 1 2 3 were used to write from left to right, and those in rows 6 5 4 from right to left; any given piece of Alexa writing was thus, except for letters 38 48, rotationally symmetrical. The original letterforms were all the same height, and all stood on the baseline with no descenders.

The phonemes represented by the letters when writing the Alexa language can be established with some confidence. Note that the principal distinction in the stops was one of aspiration, not of voicing.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Rows 1 and 6	i	1	u	o	e	a	a	t_h
Rows 2 and 5	p	t	c	c_h	t_h	p_h	k	k_h
Rows 3 and 4	x	C	s	f	m	n	r	l

It is sometimes suggested that 16 18 formerly represented independent phonemes now lost; they later came to be mere variants of 17 25. The same, of course, is true of 66 68 and 67 55.

Rachovian

The Rachovian scribes, more concerned with aesthetics than their Alexan forerunners, introduced two innovations which are visible in the table: some letters were made slightly smaller, and others were interpreted as having descenders and were lowered to sit on the baseline. The Rachovians were also responsible for standardising the script to be written from left to right; as on Earth, the majority of scribes were right-handed, and the left-to-right forms of the script were easier for them to write.

Consonants

Aspiration in Rachovian stops must have been more noticeable when voiceless, since the letters which represented the Alexan aspirated stops were used for the Rachovian voiceless stops, while the letters for the Alexan unaspirated stops were transferred to the voiced stops. Thus /p t b d g/ were represented by 18 26 21 22 27, and /k/ originally by 28 and later by 25. 23 24 were used for /tS dZ/, and the letters in row 3 retained the same values as in Alexa, except that 32 was used for /S/.

Six of the now unused letters in rows 4 to 6 were appropriated for specific Rachovian consonants. The voiced fricatives /v z Z G/ were represented by 42 41 44 43 respectively, where the inverting of the double loop was associated with voicing. /ts/ was represented by 47, probably because of its visual likeness to 18; and 65 was used for /dz/.

The letters in row 8 were created to represent clusters of /s z/ and a stop or affricate: 81 82 83 84 for /StS sts sk st/, and 85 86 87 88 for /ZdZ zdz zg zd/.

Vowels

16 fell out of use altogether in Rachovian times.

Oral /i 1 u e/, long or short, were straightforwardly represented by 11 12 13 15; 17 was used for long /a/ and 14 for short /a/ (later /o/). The nasal vowels /e~ a~/ were written with 15 17 with a semicircle (derived from 36 for /n/) above.

As well as for /i/, 11 indicated both consonantal /j/ and a preceding soft consonant before /a o u/. The combinations of 11 and 13 14 17 were later combined to give the new letters 72 71 73. 13 was originally similarly used to represent /v/ from older /w/, but became restricted to /u/ when 42 became available.

The vowel letters thus formed two groups, one (12 13 14 17 for /1 u o a/) which always followed hard consonants and one (11 15 71 72 73 for /i e jo ju ja/) for use after soft consonants. A combination like 18 + 13 thus represented /tu/, while 18 + 71 represented /t_ju/.

Sample

Liotan

Alexa was less suited to Liotan than to Rachovian, which is one reason why the Liotic script was developed.

Consonants

The stops and fricatives were represented by the same letters as their nearest equivalents in Rachovian; thus /p t k b d g/ were written with 26 18 25 21 22 27 and /f s x v z G/ with 34 33 31 42 41 43. Additionally, 83 84 represented /sk st/; slender /k g x G sk/ were often represented by 24 23 32 44 81.

The resonants were more problematic, since they had both lenited and unlenited variants. The most favoured solution was to represent the lenited resonants /v~ z~ l 4/ with simple 35 36 38 37, and to double the letter to represent the unlenited resonants. /N/, which was always unlented, was represented by 45.

Broad and slender consonants were distinguished by the following vowel letter, in a manner similar to Rachovian. There was no systematic way of indicating the consonantal mutations.

Vowels

As with Rachovian, length was not distinguished when writing Liotan.

Regardless of length, /i 1 u a/ and /jo ju/ were straightforwardly represented as in Rachovian by 11 12 13 17 and 71 72. Short /e o/ were written with 15 14, and /æ/ variously with 15 and 73 reflecting its origins in older /e/ and /ja/.

The transcription of /e: o:/ and /E: O:/ presented particular difficulties. Some scribes wrote /e: o:/ with 15 14 and used digraphs 15+17 and 14+17 (i.e. /ea oa/) for /E: O:/; others used 15 14 for /E: O:/ and wrote /e: o:/ with 15+11 and 14+13 (i.e. /ei ou/).

Sample

The text could have been written in several ways; this is one such. Note the use of final /i/ to indicate the slender quality of the final consonant of llain.

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Mossian

The simpler sound-system of Mossian meant that it was much easier to write.

Consonants

That the original Alexa language had aspirated and unaspirated stops, rather than voiced and voiceless, is apparent from the fact that Mossian used 26 25 28 were used for /p_h t_h k_h/, while 21 22 27 represented the unaspirated voiceless stops /p t k/. Note that /p_h t_h k_h/ were equivalent to the /ps ts ks/ in the form of the language described on the webpage.

The voiced stops /b d g/ were represented by 44 43 41, and /h s f m n r l/ were represented by row 3; /h/ could be represented by either 31 or 32.

Vowels

These were straightforward: 11 13 14 15 17 continued to represent /i u o e a/. 11 13 were also used for /j/ and /w/, with 13 after 27 and 43 indicating /k_w/ and /g_w/. /ai au/ were commonly spelled /ae ao/.