Sounds and writing
Phonology
Krestia uses a conservative set of sounds in its phonology. It has six vowels and twelve consonants. The sounds are as follows:
| Consonant | Example | Vowel | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| m | grema | a | grita |
| p | pona | e | prete |
| b | breka | i | lite |
| v | buvlit | ɒ | literasaa |
| n | kuna | o | nona |
| t | tote | u | lunata |
| d | duna | ||
| s | seskoma | ||
| l | gelume | ||
| r | kera | ||
| k | kuna | ||
| g | gedri |
Phonotactics
Krestia does not have phonemes, so the sounds remain the same regardless of where they appear. Thus, an “s” between vowels would still be pronounced as /s/, unlike the “s” in “realise”.
The syllable structure is (C)V(C), with the first syllable also possible being CCVC, with the following rules:
- The first two consonants in the initial syllable must be a plosive followed by a liquid (e.g. “pl”, “gr”, etc.).
- The initial consonant may not have the same manner of articulation as the previous syllable’s final consonant (e.g. “sv” and “kt” are invalid).
- The initial consonant may not be a nasal if the privous syllable’s final consonant is a nasal (e.g. “mn” is invalid). Furthermore, if the initial consonant is a plosive, it must share its place of articulation with the previous syllable’s final consonant (e.g. “st”, “nt”).
Using the Latin alphabet
When written in the Latin alphabet, Krestia uses only lowercase letters, and uppercase letters are used to denote names. In addition, punctuation marks are not used, but may be included as a reading aid. A typical sentence looks like the following:
- Livi liret lunata vel
(Livi is looking at the stars.)
Successive sentences look like the following:
- eki gilet Rinal het bodres Livi
(His name is Rinal. He is the father of Livi.)