Rhinish
Julius, the mascot of most Rhinish learning resources, originally made for an alphabet poster.
Rhinish is my attempt at a pseudo-germlang (Germanic conlang) with influences from other languages (especially French) where appropriate. Aesthetically, I based it on Sambahsa, though unlike Sambahsa, this isn't an international auxiliary language, it's just a passion project.
Alphabet and Pronunciation
Alphabet
| Letter | Name | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| A a | a | Long [aː] 'aah' in an open syllable, short [a] 'ah' elsewhere. |
| B b | bee | [b] as in English. |
| C c | cee | [ts] before e, i or y, [k] elsewhere. |
| D d | dee | [d] as in English. |
| E e | ee | Weak [ə] 'uh' word-finally (or before one word-final consonant in a multisyllable word), long [eː] as in German Kaffee in an open syllable, short [ɛ] as in English bet elsewhere. |
| F f | ef | [f] as in English. |
| G g | gee | [ʑ] in word-final -ge or -gie (usually of French origin), [ɡ] elsewhere. |
| H h | ha | Following a vowel, it is silent, and forces it to be long. Elsewhere, [h] as in English. |
| I i | i | Long [iː] 'ee' in an open syllable, short [ɪ~i] as in English kit elsewhere. |
| J j | jot | [ʑ] a more palatalized version of the French j, somewhere between French j and English y. |
| K k | ka | [k] as in English. |
| L l | el | [l] as in English. |
| M m | em | [m] as in English. |
| N n | en | [n] as in English. |
| O o | o | Long [oː] 'oh' in an open syllable, short [ɔ] as in British English dog elsewhere. |
| P p | pee | [p] as in English. |
| Q q | ku | Used mainly in the digraph qu, where it sounds like [kw] as in English. |
| R r | er | Both the pronunciations of uvular [ʁ] (as in German) and alveolar [r] (as in Spanish) are standard. |
| S s | es | [z] between vowels, [s] elsewhere. |
| T t | tee | [ts] before i and another vowel (appears often in word final -tion, -tial, -tie), [t] as in English elsewhere. |
| U u | u | Long [uː] 'ooh' in an open syllable, short [ʊ~u] as in English book elsewhere. |
| V v | vau | [v] as in English. |
| W w | wyn | [w] as in English. |
| X x | ix | [ks] as in English. Acts as a double consonant. |
| Y y | y | Long [yː] in an open syllable, short [ʏ~y] elsewhere. These sounds both appear in the German word Frühstück. |
| Z z | zet | [dz] as in English pads. |
| Þ þ | þor | [θ] as in English three. |
Digraphs and Trigraphs
| Grapheme | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| aa | [aː] 'aah', always long. |
| ai | [ɛː] as in English bet, but always long. |
| au | [aw] as in English now. |
| ch | [χ] as in German Bach. |
| eau | [oː] 'oh', always long. |
| ee | [eː] as in German Kaffee, always long. |
| ei | [aj] as in English kite. |
| eu | Long [øː] as in German schön in an open syllable, short [œ] as in German öffnen elsewhere. |
| gn | [ɲ] as in French. |
| ie | [iː] 'ee', always long. |
| ng | [ŋ] as in English. |
| oi | [ɔj] as in English. |
| oo | [oː] 'oh', always long. |
| ou | [uː] 'ooh', always long. |
| ph | [f] as in English. |
| sc | [s] before e, i or y, [sk] elsewhere. |
| sch | [ʃ] as in German. |
| th | [θ] as in English. |
| tz | [ts] as in German. |
| ue | [yː] as in German früh, always long. |
Syllables
- If a consonant is between two vowels, the syllables are split before the consonant: kilo → ki / lo.
- If a consonant cluster is between two vowels, the syllables are split after the first consonant: silver → sil / ver.
- A digraph that isn't a double consonant CANNOT be split: xylophon → xy / lo / phon, NOT *xy / lop / hon.
- Stress tends to fall on the first syllable of a root word.
- A word initial be- or ge- syllable is NEVER stressed, and is pronounced with a schwa.
- In a multisyllable word, a word-final -est is an unstressed [əst].