Lesson #0: Pronunciation etc: view article

Tulwyn has a few pronunciation quirks not covered here. Overall, the sounds of Nolwynn are not difficult. However there are some things to be aware of.

This lesson also includes some cheat sheets and other reference materials.

[edit] [top]Vowels

Nolwynn letter	English approximation	IPA and notes
a	awesome	ɐ
e	meet	i
ey	pet	ɛ
i	fit	ɪ
o	open	ɵ
u	new	ʉ

There are also a few accented vowels:
á
é
éy
í
ó
ú

The accent represents a high tone.

Finally, vowels can be long or short. A long vowel is held twice its normal [or "short"] length. Long vowels are represented by doubling the letter:
aa
ee
eey
ii
oo
uu

[edit] [top]Consonants

Nolwynn letter	English approximation	IPA and notes
b	bird	b
bx	none	either /px/ or /b/
f	frog
g	go	g
k	kangaroo	k
kx	none	k' - ejective
l	lion	l
lx	none	ɬ
m	monkey	m
n	narwhal	n
p	polar bear	p
px	none	p'
r	none	r
s	snake	s
š	shellfish	ʃ
t	turtle	t
ts	cats	t͡s
tsx	none	t͡s'
tx	none	t'
tš	treasure	ʒ
w	whale	w
y	yak	j
yx	none	jˀ - see notes
z	zebra	z
zš	vulture	ⱱ - a sound in between /v/ and /b/

Notes
As you can see, most of the sounds are not too unusual for an English speaker. Take note of the following sounds:

yx represents the sound jˀ. This is a difficult sound to make because it is hard to hear.

zš represents the sound ⱱ. This is a sound that is in between /v/ and /b/. It sounds like flapping your bottom lip against your upper teeth.

tx, px, tsx, and kx all represent ejective sounds.

bx can be /px/ or /b/ depending on if the syllable is stressed or not.

Many of these sounds have some allophonic variation.

[edit] [top]Stress

Stress impacts how certain letters are pronounced. In Nolwynn, every third syllable is stressed, but there are things that reset that pattern. Stressed syllables are held a beat longer than the rest. Depending on the sentence type, they may also sound like syllables with tone, spoken in a higher pitch than nearby syllables, as well as being a tad louder than surrounding syllables.

This article explains in greater detail: https://conworkshop.com/view_article.php?ns=29f1f2cef6c52f32534ce948928b762f

[edit] [top]Language Summary

- Nolwynn is an a priori artlang. Although aspects were designed to be naturalistic, it was not intended to resemble any natural language. Aesthetic was more important than naturalism, even if it meant going against linguistic universals - especially with regards to the phonological inventory.

- Nolwynn is primarily Ergative-Absolutive or Fluid-S.

- OSV word order

- Nolwynn defaults to feminine language in all cases; masculine pronouns exist but are very rare

- Strongly head-initial

- Agglutinative

- The Avoidance Language is a register that is strongly influenced by linguistic taboo. It is a vital component of the Nolwynn language.

[edit] [top]Cheatsheets

This section presents some reference material that may be useful as you go through the lessons.

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