The language spoken in Deverry is a member of
the P-Celtic family. Although closely related to Welsh, Cornish,
and Breton, it is by no means identical to any of these actual
languages and should never be taken as such. Vowels are divided by Deverry scribes into two classes:
noble and common. Nobles have two pronunciations; commons, one.
A as in father when long; a shorter version of the same
sound, as in far, when short.
O as in bone when long; as in pot when
short.
W as the oo in spook when long; as in
roof when short.
Y as the i in machine when long; as the
e in butter when short.
E as in pen.
I as in pin.
U as in pun.
Vowels are generally long in stressed
syllables; short in unstressed. Y is the primary exception to this
rule. When it appears as the last letter of a word, it is always
long whether that syllable is stressed or not. Diphthongs generally have one consistent
pronunciation.
AE as the a in mane.
AI as in aisle.
AU as the ow in how.
EO as a combination of eh and oh.
EW as in Welsh, a combination of eh and
oo.
IE as in pier.
OE as the oy in boy.
UI as the North Welsh wy, a combination of oo
and ee. Note that OI is never a diphthong, but is two
distinct sounds, as in carnoic (KAR-noh-ik).
Consonants are mostly the same as in English, with
these exceptions:
C is always hard as in cat.
G is always hard as in get.
DD is the voiced th as in thin or
breathe, but the voicing is more pronounced than in
English. It is opposed to TH, the unvoiced sound as in th
or breath, (This is the sound that the Greeks called the
Celtic tau.)
R is heavily rolled.
RH is a voiceless R, approximately pronounced as if it were
spelled hr in Deverry proper. In Eldidd, the sound is fast
becoming indistinguishable from R.
DW, GW, and TW are single sounds, as in Gwendolen or
twit.
Y is never a consonant.
I before a vowel at the beginning of a word, is consonantal, as
it is in the plural ending -ion, pronounced
yawn. Doubled consonants are both sounded clearly, unlike in
English. Note, however, that DD is a single letter, not a
doubled consonant. Accent is generally on the penultimate syllable, but
compound words and place names are often an exception to this
rule.
I have used this system of transcription for the Bardekian and
Elvish alphabets as well as the Deverrian, which is, of course,
based, on the Greek rather than the Roman model. On the whole, it
works quite well for the Bardekian, at least. As for Elvish, in a
work of this sort it would be ridiculous to resort to the
elaborate apparatus by which scholars attempt to transcribe that
most subtle and nuanced of tongues. Since the human ear cannot even
distinguish between such sound pairings as B> and B<, I see
no reason to confuse the human eye with them. I do owe many thanks
to the various Elven native speakers who have suggested which
consonant to choose in confusing cases and who have labored, alas
often in vain, to refine my ear to the Elven vowel system.
A Note on Dating:
Year 1 of the Deverry calendar is the founding of the Holy City,
or, to be more accurate, the year that King Bran saw the omen of
the white sow that instructed him where to build his capital. It
corresponds roughly to 76 C.E.
The language spoken in Deverry is a member of
the P-Celtic family. Although closely related to Welsh, Cornish,
and Breton, it is by no means identical to any of these actual
languages and should never be taken as such. Vowels are divided by Deverry scribes into two classes:
noble and common. Nobles have two pronunciations; commons, one.
A as in father when long; a shorter version of the same
sound, as in far, when short.
O as in bone when long; as in pot when
short.
W as the oo in spook when long; as in
roof when short.
Y as the i in machine when long; as the
e in butter when short.
E as in pen.
I as in pin.
U as in pun.
Vowels are generally long in stressed
syllables; short in unstressed. Y is the primary exception to this
rule. When it appears as the last letter of a word, it is always
long whether that syllable is stressed or not. Diphthongs generally have one consistent
pronunciation.
AE as the a in mane.
AI as in aisle.
AU as the ow in how.
EO as a combination of eh and oh.
EW as in Welsh, a combination of eh and
oo.
IE as in pier.
OE as the oy in boy.
UI as the North Welsh wy, a combination of oo
and ee. Note that OI is never a diphthong, but is two
distinct sounds, as in carnoic (KAR-noh-ik). Consonants are mostly the same as in English, with
these exceptions:
C is always hard as in cat.
G is always hard as in get.
DD is the voiced th as in thin or
breathe, but the voicing is more pronounced than in
English. It is opposed to TH, the unvoiced sound as in th
or breath, (This is the sound that the Greeks called the
Celtic tau.)
R is heavily rolled.
RH is a voiceless R, approximately pronounced as if it were
spelled hr in Deverry proper. In Eldidd, the sound is fast
becoming indistinguishable from R.
DW, GW, and TW are single sounds, as in Gwendolen or
twit.
Y is never a consonant.
I before a vowel at the beginning of a word, is consonantal, as
it is in the plural ending -ion, pronounced
yawn. Doubled consonants are both sounded clearly, unlike in
English. Note, however, that DD is a single letter, not a
doubled consonant. Accent is generally on the penultimate syllable, but
compound words and place names are often an exception to this
rule.
I have used this system of transcription for the Bardekian and
Elvish alphabets as well as the Deverrian, which is, of course,
based, on the Greek rather than the Roman model. On the whole, it
works quite well for the Bardekian, at least. As for Elvish, in a
work of this sort it would be ridiculous to resort to the
elaborate apparatus by which scholars attempt to transcribe that
most subtle and nuanced of tongues. Since the human ear cannot even
distinguish between such sound pairings as B> and B<, I see
no reason to confuse the human eye with them. I do owe many thanks
to the various Elven native speakers who have suggested which
consonant to choose in confusing cases and who have labored, alas
often in vain, to refine my ear to the Elven vowel system.
A Note on Dating:
Year 1 of the Deverry calendar is the founding of the Holy City,
or, to be more accurate, the year that King Bran saw the omen of
the white sow that instructed him where to build his capital. It
corresponds roughly to 76 C.E.