Vêspînˑlad

General information
Vêspînˑlad is a work-in-progress language to be sung. With a 30-letter alphabet, it has 10 true vowels and a voiced consonant r that may function as a vowel. While most of its lexicon consists of familiar characters from the roman alphabet (and 5 short vowels distinguished from the long equivalent by a diactritic) there is one letter called the sail that is unique. It represents silence, space, and separation (sail literally means silence) and is used to separate similar consonants, diphthongs, and the vowel r.

Gramatically, this is a language of self-construction and idea, where the dictionary contains solely roots and affixes. Much like music, a few simple pieces are strung together to make one idea that flows smoothly over its base concepts. While most sentences will be literal and easy to interpret as such, the language is naturally lyrical and poetic, and some statements may mean very different things to different people.

Alphabet
eiaou êîâôûbkdfghjlmnprstvz ʃ ç þ ˑ

e -

i -

a -

o -

u - u ˑ ûlf, "Wolf"

ê -  êmb, "Flame"

î -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">â -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">ô -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">û -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">b - brand, "Sword"

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">k -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">d -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">f -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">g -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">h -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">j -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">l - lad, "Song"

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">m - mort, "Death"

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">n -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">p -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">r -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">s - sal, "Life"

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">t - twail, "Twilight"

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">v - vesp, "Evening"

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">z -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">ʃ -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">ç -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:20.7999992370605px;">þ -

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'CharisSIL','GentiumPlus','SegoeUI','DoulosSIL','DejaVuSans','LucidaSansUnicode','LucidaGrande','ArialUnicodeMS',sans-serif;font-size:18px;line-height:normal;">ˑ - sail, "Silence"

Sail is special because it is not an ordinary phonetic sound. In singing, oftentimes one will elide a consonant to the next note to connect the two for phrasing and interpretive purposes. Sometimes, however, space must be made: a rest, a quick breath, or even just a vocal pause. Since this language is lyrical, designed to be sung, this silence has become part of the language itself.

Additionally, sail has the unique capability of changing the effect of the vowels around it. After a vowel, for example, it makes the vowel act as a consonant, like the "w" in English "woo". Before the letter r, it makes r act in its vowel form, like the "er" in English "farmer".

Syntax
examples of construction: mortînlad, "dirge" (song of death); uˑûlfînmortetˑr, "wolfslayer" (person who causes the death of the wolf)