The MyLanguage Alphabet (old/image version)

This is an alphabet that I originally used for a language I started making up a while ago (eighth grade?). I no longer have the dictionary for that language (blame computer), but I still remember the alphabet (which should be usable for just about any language, at least if you add enough letters). It is an attempt to create an alphabet that makes sense, though I didn't know as much about how sounds are produced as I do now. I have made some changes since then; what's shown here is mostly the original.

The alphabet is phonetic; it is not based on the spelling in any other language. My intent was to have these spelling rules:

Each letter makes exactly one sound, and makes that same sound each time it occurs.
Each sound has exactly one letter for it.
There are no silent or double letters.
There are no sounds that are not written.

The first rule is not entirely correct since I was wrong about a few diphthongs.

The transliterations shown are what I used when I first thought up the alphabet. Some of them (specifically q, x, and most of the vowels) come from a phonetic way of spelling things that my grandpa thought up (which in some ways influenced this alphabet). Not all of the transliterations show the actual sound of the letter; be sure to look at the Pronunciation column when seeing what sound a letter makes.

The alphabet is divided into several types of letters that share characteristics. The names for these types were what I originally called them, before I learned their actual names.

The letters

Vowels

When I decided on these vowels, I was convinced that the main thing that determines what vowel is which was the shape of one's lips (it's actually where the back of the tongue is). I got this order for the vowels by attempting to put the vowel with one's mouth most open first. I may have made replacements for these at one point, but these are the ones I can remember (they're the original vowels). Note that the number of sides in each shape increases by one for each vowel except oo.

Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
a	Like the a in apple
e	Like the e in end
y	Like the ea in eat or the y in yank	Can also be written as .
i	Like the i in in
u	Like the u in jump or the a in about	Can also be written as .
o	Like the a in father and the o in top	Can also be written as (the first one's an octagon; the second one's a circle).
w	Like the o in who or the w in winter

See below for more vowels

Whispers

Unvoiced vowels.

Appearance	Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
	h	Like the h in he	This was originally .
	W	A voiceless w sound	Apparently some people use this for words like what. Also can be written as (except that the should have arrowheads – blame low resolution).

Vowel-like

These are the liquids. The symbols for the first two come from the fact that these symbols were easily available in the program I was using when I made up the alphabet (this is also where and come from).

Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
l	L
r	English R
R	Like a Spanish r, or like the tt/dd in latter/ladder in dialects where they're pronounced the same	Not in the original alphabet. A rolled r (Spanish rr) can be written .

Vowel-like (2)

Nasal consonants.

Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
m	M	Represents two lips that are closed.
N	The ng in singer and the n in finger and sink	Similar to , but with your mouth open.
n	N	The diagonal line represents the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.

Click-like

Voiceless plosive consonants

Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
p	P	The point represents when one's lips are closed; the other end represents when they're open.
k	K	The vertical line represents the movement of the tongue.
t	T	The vertical line represents the movement of the tongue.

Voiced click-like

Arrowheads are added to voiceless letters to make the letters for voiced consonants.

Appearance	Transliteration	Pronunciation
	b	B
	g	G
	d	D

Hisses

Voiceless fricatives.

Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
f	F	The top line represents one's teeth; the bottom one represents one's lower lip.
q	Voiceless TH, as in bath	Vertical line represents teeth; horizontal line represents roof of mouth; diagonal line represents tongue. I'm not sure if it should go here; it may be a plosive (click-like).
s	S
c	SH

Buzzes

Voiced fricatives.

Appearance	Transliteration	Pronunciation
	v	V
	x	Voiced TH, as in bathe
	z	Z
	j	Like the s in vision

Clicks

These are the clicks that were used in MyLanguage. The set of clicks isn't taken from some other language (i.e., there are probably not enough clicks for any other language that uses clicks). In MyLanguage, clicks may be used before a vowel in the same syllable; doing so results in an sound being said at the same time as the click.

Transliteration	Pronunciation	Comments
K	A click in which one's tongue starts touching the roof of one's mouth and then quickly moves down and slaps on the bottom of said mouth
Q	A click in which one's tongue touches the top of one's top teeth and then quickly moves away
'	A click in which one's tongue starts touching the roof of one's mouth and then quickly moves away but doesn't slap against the bottom of the mouth	This sound is used in contractions in MyLanguage.

Spelling rules

Mostly words are spelled phonetically. Each syllable in a word is separated by a dot , and each word is separated by a dash . The punctuation is also different.

Accents and main vowels

Each syllable has a main vowel (the most stressed sound in the syllable), indicated by an accent mark. Vowels that occur before the main vowel are generally pronounced as glides (like the y in yank or the w in watermelon); if there are vowels after the main vowel in the same syllable, the vowels become a falling diphthong. The accent marks, from most to least stress, are:

Stress level	Appearance	Comments
3		Goes around the letter
2		Goes through or behind the letter ("behind" means that it's not visible in enclosed portions of certain letters
1		Goes above the letter; can also be written
0		Goes above the letter.

The main vowel need not be a vowel; for example, in the second syllable in little, the main vowel is , which is generally not considered a vowel. (Note that there is an exception to the rule that each syllable has a main vowel for syllables that consist only of a click sound.)

Note that I sometimes omit these due either to laziness or due to it being more difficult to get them on a computer.

Sound combinations

Some sounds are not shown above because they're made using a combination of two or more letters.

Diphthongs (vowels)

These are all falling diphthongs, i.e., the main vowel is the first letter in the combination. The only sound in English that could be considered a rising diphthong is the u in university, which would be .

Combination	Pronunciation	Comments
	Like the ou in out
	Like the a in ape	The e sound is actually slightly different than an ordinary e sound.
	Like the i in ice cream	The first sound might be slightly different in this diphthong.
	Like the o in donut	I think this is actually a separate sound, rather than this diphthong. would probably be more accurate.
	Like the oi in oil	See previous comment
	Like the oo in book	This I think is also a separate sound.

Consonants

Combination	Pronunciation
	CH
	J

Miscellaneous modifiers

Not all of these are used in any language I know. All of these are placed above and to the left of the letter they modify.

Modifier	Description	Comments
	Stop sound	Use on nasal consonants to indicate that the person should put his/her mouth in the position to make the sound, but stop the sound.
	Make a vowel, vowel-like, or nasal voiceless	Need higher resolution. This one should have arrowheads; it's where the symbol for comes from.
	From here to the end of the syllable should be echoed	This is used in MyLanguage to mark plurals.
	Repeat a sound rapidly several times	Used for rolled R, see above.
	Make a sound with one's lips rounded, like OO.