Adelic Language Page

a æ b ch d ð e f g h i j k l m n o ø p r s t þ u v w y z

The Adelic language is written in native runes, which are called the Dythonic Runes. An example can be seen on the site's background. The list above shows the Dythonic runes transliterated into Latin characters. Their sounds are explained below.

All of the vowels except æ and ø have both short and long pronunciations:

a    as u in cut, fuss when short
or as a in far, father when long
æ    always short as a in cat, sack
e    as e in met, less when short
or as a in sane, cage when long
i    as i in hit, kiss when short
or as ee in keel, steer when long
o    as o in dog, loss when short
or as o in stole, code when long
ø    always long as er in British hers
u    as oo in foot, took when short
or as oo in cool, mood when long
y    as short i with lips rounded for u
or long i with lips rounded for u

There are three diphthongs in Adelic: au, ai,and ei. Ai and ei are rare however.

au    always long as ou in out, couch
ai    always long as i in sight, tie
ei    always long as ei in reign, sleigh

Most of the consonants in the list are pronounced as they are in English, but a few bear explaining:

R is usually untrilled. Double -rr- is lightly trilled and tends to sound much like an English -rd-.

S should always be unvoiced, unlike in English where it becomes voiced in such words as foxes and pads.

þ is said just like the th in think and bath, while its voiced counterpart ð is said like the th in this and bathe.

J is like a blend of two English sounds. It falls somewhere between the j in jam and the z in azure or the s in vision.

Ch is said as in loch.

The consonants l, m, n, and r function in some words as sonorants; that is, they make up a pronounced syllable by themselves, without an attached vowel-sound. As English examples, we find this in words like madden and muddle.

æððl, allm, aaln, andr

Adelic words are almost always stressed on the first syllable.

attlisk, giiraftr, giddrjweem, aanstrauff, borrspechung

One exception is the unstressed intensive prefix ga- which causes the second syllable of the word to become stressed.

galauf, gaðæll, gagændling, gavooþ, gawund

Top of Page
To Lesson II: General Rules of Spelling
Return to Table of Contents

Introduction | Grammar | Dictionary | Examples | Runes

What's New | Rate this Page | Author's Home Page | Email