Primal Phonology

(As written; unfortunately, I tended to go more by letters than sounds,
though I'm working on fixing that).

a- As a in ape, most of the time; as a in father at ends of words, and in the middle of words 
(such as conjugated verbs) that came from words where the a was final. For example: davan (they
accept, from davra, 'to accept,') has a short a because it had this sound at the end of the 
infinitive.

aa- As two separate sounds; the first as a in father, the second according to what letter follows
it.

ae- As a in mare- a as in ape with a very slight y sound after it.

ah- As a in father in the middle of words. At the end of words, two sounds (a as in father, h as
breathed; see below).

ai- As in air.

al- Single l softens the a to ah. 'All' retains the strong a sound and is pronounced like the 
word ale.

ao- Two separate sounds: strong a, strong o (see below).

au, aw- As in caught, law.

ay- As ae- strong a, very slight y sound. Before vowels, has strong y sound, so maya 'house' is
pronounced MAY-yah.

b- As in boat.

c- As in cat before a, o, u; as in cell before e, i, y.

ch- As in church, always (even at the end of words); never hard -ch of loch.

d- As in dog.

e- As in bed before most consonants. At the end of words it takes the sound in beta.

ea- Strong e (beta) sound; a takes its sound depending on the sound following it.

ee- As ee in peel- ee in green with a very slight y sound following it. Before vowels, y is 
strong: rheea, 'windy,' is RHEE-yah.

eh- As e in bed, even if at the end of a word.

ei- Strong i sound, as in German ein.

eo- Separate sounds- e as in beta, o as in bone.

eu- As u in hut.

eu- (at beginning of words only) As in Europe.

ew- As ew in pewter.

ey- Like ae or ay- strong a sound with very slight y sound afterwards.

f- As in find.

g- As in get; in a few words (such as gera, 'silence,' and its derivations) as in giant.

h- As in hat.

-h- After a consonant at the beginning of a word, h indicates a 'staggered' sound. The first 
consonant should be pronounced as nearly by itself as possible (or else as the sound with a 
little schwa sound following it) and then the h heads the beginning of the word. Thus: 
khammara 'murderess' k-haym-MAYR-ah or kuh-haym-MAYR-ah. 

-h: At the ends of words, following a consonant or the vowel a, is a very short, breathed sound.
It almost, but not quite, has a schwa sound after it. Thus: anh 'raid" is AYN-h or AYN-huh.

i- As in machine.

ia- Two separate sounds- i as in machine, a as whatever comes after it dictates.

ie- Two separate sounds- i as in machine, e as whatever comes after it dictates.

ih- As i in sick.

ii- Two separate sounds, ee-ee.

il, ill- Differentiated by their consonant sounds alone. I as in sick.

io- Two separate sounds: i as in machine, o as in bone.

iu- Two separate sounds: i as in machine, u as whatever the following letter dictates.

j- As in jump.

k- As in king.

l- As in love.

ll- "Trilled," like the Spanish rr; never pronounced simply as in pillar.

m- As in month.

n- As in night.

ng- In the middle of a word, as in finger; at the end, as in sing.

N- "Hard" n, almost but not quite like ng in sing, said with the tongue up against the teeth.

o- As in bone.

oa- Separate sounds: o as in bone, a as whatever comes after it dictates.

oe- Separate sounds: o as in bone, e as whatever comes after it dictates.

oi- As oy in boy.

oo- "Stretched" sound as in bone, held for a beat longer.

ou, ow- As ou in round, ow in flower.

oy- As oi in boil: oi sound followed by a very slight y sound. Oi + consonantal y before vowels.

p- As in paint.

ph- As in phonology.

pph- Strong p, followed by ph.

q- As qu in queen. Not usually written with a u following.

r- As in right.

rh- "Dragged" r sound, held for a moment like a vowel (_not_ trilled).

s- As in sight.

sh- As in shut.

t- As in tight. Before i near the ends of words, sometimes takes sh sound of t in action.

th- Always as in thin, never as in other.

u- As in dune, never as in put or human.

ua- Separate sounds: Oo-ah, or Oo + modified a sound.

ue- W + strong e sound, as the word way.

uh- As u in hut.

ui- As in French oui.

uo- Separate sounds: Oo-oh.

uu- Separate sounds: oo-oo.

uy- As in guy.

v- As in vine.

w- As in wine.

-w: At the ends of words after consonants, a breathed sound (see -h above). Said as either "wuh" 
or as close to a w-begun breath as possible.

x- Two proununciations: ks as in Mexico, gz as in exile. The ks is generally considered more 
"stylish."

y- As in you before vowels; as in try between consonants or at the end of words. After a 
consonant at the beginning of a word, combines the sounds, as in hyacinth. Ex: nya 'death' is
NIGH-yah.

yy- First y as in hyacinth, second as in try.

z- As in zoo.

zh- As z in azure.