Nauspayr

=Overview= Sylphic is a language its creator initially developed when he was about eleven, but since starting a degree in linguistics, decided he ought to go back to it and start formalising it a little. Among its (unintentional) sources are Spanish, English, Gaelic, Mandarin, Japanese, Polish and some Nordic elements. Its main notable aspects are its dependence upon interpersonal relationships, a four "gender" system and its lilting spoken tone. It is intended to be both spoken and written, both for artistic and more prosaic purposes. The language is still undergoing development as its creator tries to make it 'more realistic' and usable. Suggestions for vocabulary or 'how to get the currently embryonic case system to work properly (!)' are much obliged. A lingual cultural background is also in development.

=Alphabet= Sylphic uses a Roman alphabet, modified with various diacritics, along with a small group of other letters. Vowels come in three 'flavours' (for want of a better word): plain, first derivative coloured or second derivative coloured, or simply: undotted, single dotted, double dotted. Consonants may appear plain or coloured (some being just single dotted, others single and double). Finally there are held vowels and held nasal consonants. These are sounds of a lower pitch, and held for roughly twice the length of other vowels and consonants. The diacritics ´ `^ and ˇ mark "gender" and do not alter pronunciation. The pronunciation guide below is written (for clarity) in English, rather than IPA, and should be approached with a Northern British accent. However, these pronunciations are for guide purposes only! In fact, the sound is more rounded, having a "English singing pronunciation' or more Norwegian sound. Imagine you have a boiled sweet in your mouth as you say these. Furthermore, pronunciation also is altered by context, vowels ending syllables tend to be cut short and vowels before nasals tend to themselves be partly nasalised.

Plain Vowels
a	/ar/ as car e	/e/ as bet ı	/i/ as bit o	/o/ as cot u	/u/ as hut

First Derivative Coloured Vowels
ȧ	/ao/ ė	the relaxed final /a/ of banana i	/ee/ as tree ȯ	/ow/ as row

Second Derivative Coloured Vowels
ä	/ay/ as bay ë	/ur/ as cur ï	/ich/ as German ich ö	/or/ as sore ü	/oo/ as loot

Plain Consonants
b	/b/ as but c	/c/ as cat d	/d/ as duck f	/f/ as of g	/g/ as goat h	/h/ as hat j	rolled /j/ as Spanish jota k	/k/ as kit l	/l/ as light, not as pull m	/m/ as map n	/n/ as new p	/p/ as pot q	/c/ as cut r	/r/ as rat s	/s/ as sail t	/t/ as tent v	/v/ as van w	/w/ as water x	/x/ as Xanadu y	/y/ as yet z	/z/ as zoo

Coloured Consonants
ḃ	/bh/ ċ	/xsh/ ḋ	/dh/ ç	rolled /c/ ḟ	/f/ as flower ġ	a French /j/ as je suis ḣ	unpronounced; denotes a complete expulsion of air from the lungs ḧ	rolled /h/ ĺ	/l/ as pull, not as light ṗ	/ph/ as philanthropy ṙ	rolled /rr/ as Spanish perro ṡ	/sh/ as shut ṫ	/th/ as bath, not as there ẗ	/st/ as stop ų	/qu/ as queen ẇ	/wh/ as what ẅ 	/ewh/ ẋ	/ch/ as church ẍ	/sx/: a run on of six, or s-schwa-x ẏ	/dj/ or /j/ as jam ÿ	/I/ as I ż	/sjz/

Held Vowels and Held Consonants
Remember to drop pitch when moving to these sounds: there should be a certain sonority to them ā	long, sighed /a/ ē	long, sighed /e/ ī	long, sighed /i/ ō	long, sighed /o/ ū	long, sighed /u/ ṁ	long, hummed /m/ ṅ	long, hummed /n/ ŋ	long, hummed /ng/ as rigging

Other Letters
ð	/th/ as there, not as bath æ	/a/ as cat ll 	/ll/ as pull, not as light rolled /j/ as Spanish jota /y/ as yellow /dl/ as puddle œ	/oi/ as oil

=Basic Grammar=

Noun Types ("Genders")
Many societies see the world divided up into four elements. The four types of noun have nothing to do with this, but it may help to think along these lines. In fact there is no set reason why one is one thing and one another, but tends to be divided by age, gender, level of complexity of idea, abstract versus prosaic, etc. The definite and indefinite article mark gender, along with the written diacritic upon the FIRST UNACCENTED VOWEL OF THE WORD. These diacritics are also found on the article. As in Chinese, where tone differentiates between words such as "mother" and "question participle", a single Sylphic word may refer to four different nouns, four different verbs, four adjectives and four adverbs (although they tend to be related). This is clearly defined in writing, where the diacritics and article mark word type. (Gender extends to all word classes). However, in speech, where no article is present, confusion may arise. However, much of the time words across type are roughly synonymous (i.e. in speech there is no big need to differentiate "end" and "finish"). If there is a large difference in meaning across type, then definition is created through context. "The cat sat on the mat" is hardly going to be "the cunning rested on the carpet tile" Indefinite Article	Definite Article Qué	                       Yá Quèd                	Dà Quêl	               Lâ Jĕ                     	Jă

THIS IS AS FAR AS I HAVE GOT TODAY, MORE VERY SOON

=Dictionary= ...

=Example text= ...