Editing Shavian alphabet (section)

== Letters ==
The Shavian alphabet consists of three types of letters: tall (with an ascender), deep (with a descender) and short.<ref name="Kingsley Read cover">{{cite book| first= Kingsley |last= Read| title= Shaw-Script: the Journal in a New English Alphabet| chapter= Cover letter| year= 1963| page= 1| publisher= }}</ref> All [[vowel]]s but the consonant&ndash;vowel ligature ''yew'' are short. Among consonants, the short letters are liquids (r, l) and [[nasal stop|nasals]] (m, n); these, the semivowels (y, w) and the [[Heng (letter)|heng]] letters (h, ng) are derived from each other through rotation or reflection. Tall letters are voiceless [[consonant]]s, excepting Yea {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑘}} and Hung {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑙}}. A tall letter rotated 180°, with the tall part now extending below the baseline, becomes a deep letter, representing the corresponding [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] consonants (except Haha {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑣}}). These rotation pairs, with the exception of the ''heng'' consonants, are the same letters that are paired in [[Pitman shorthand]]. [[Affricate]]s, several [[diphthong]]s, and [[rhotic vowel]]s are ligatures. The alphabet is therefore to some extent [[featural]].

{| style="text-align: center"
!
! colspan="9" | Tall and deep letters:
|-
! Shavian letter
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Peep.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Bib.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Tot.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Dead.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Kick.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Gag.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Fee.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Vow.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Thigh.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian They.svg|24px]]
|- lang="en-Shaw"
! lang="en-Latn" | Unicode text
| 𐑐 𐑚
|
|𐑑 𐑛
|
| 𐑒 𐑜
|
| 𐑓 𐑝
|
| 𐑔 𐑞
|-
! [[Help:IPA/English|Pronunciation]]<br /><small>(may vary, see below)</small>
| {{IPAc-en|p}} {{IPAc-en|b}}
|
|{{IPAc-en|t}} {{IPAc-en|d}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|k}} {{IPAc-en|ɡ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|f}} {{IPAc-en|v}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|θ}} {{IPAc-en|ð}}
|-
! Name/example
| <small>'''p'''eep '''b'''ib</small>
|
|<small>'''t'''ot '''d'''ead</small>
|
| <small>'''k'''ick '''g'''ag</small>
|
| <small>'''f'''ee '''v'''ow</small>
|
| <small>'''th'''igh '''th'''ey</small>
|-
| &nbsp;
|-
! rowspan="19" | &nbsp;
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian So.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Zoo.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Sure.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Measure.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Church.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Judge.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Yea.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Woe.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Hung.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Ha-ha.svg|24px]]
|- lang="en-Shaw"
| 𐑕 𐑟
|
| 𐑖 𐑠
|
| 𐑗 𐑡
|
| 𐑘 𐑢
|
| 𐑙 𐑣
|-
| {{IPAc-en|s}} {{IPAc-en|z}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ʃ}} {{IPAc-en|ʒ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|tʃ}} {{IPAc-en|dʒ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|j}} {{IPAc-en|w}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ŋ}} {{IPAc-en|h}}
|-
| <small>'''s'''o '''z'''oo</small>
|
| <small>'''s'''ure mea'''s'''ure</small>
|
| <small>'''ch'''urch '''j'''udge</small>
|
| <small>'''y'''ea '''w'''oe</small>
|
| <small>hu'''ng h'''a-ha</small>
|-
! colspan="9" |
----Short letters:
|-
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Loll.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Roar.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Mime.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Nun.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian If.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Eat.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Egg.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Age.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Ash.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Ice.svg|24px]]
|- lang="en-Shaw"
| 𐑤 𐑮
|
| 𐑥 𐑯
|
| 𐑦 𐑰
|
| 𐑧 𐑱
|
| 𐑨 𐑲
|-
| {{IPAc-en|l}} {{IPAc-en|ɹ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|m}} {{IPAc-en|n}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ɪ}} {{IPAc-en|i:}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ɛ}} {{IPAc-en|eɪ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|æ}} {{IPAc-en|aɪ}}
|-
| <small>'''l'''oll '''r'''oar</small>
|
| <small>'''m'''ime '''n'''un</small>
|
| <small>'''i'''f '''ea'''t</small>
|
| <small>'''e'''gg '''a'''ge</small>
|
| <small>'''a'''sh '''i'''ce</small>
|-
| &nbsp;
|-
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Ado.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Up.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian On.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Oak.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Wool.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Ooze.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Out.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Oil.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Ah.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Awe.svg|24px]]
|- lang="en-Shaw"
| 𐑩 𐑳
|
| 𐑪 𐑴
|
| 𐑫 𐑵
|
| 𐑬 𐑶
|
| 𐑭 𐑷
|-
| {{IPAc-en|ə}} {{IPAc-en|ʌ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ɒ}} {{IPAc-en|oʊ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ʊ}} {{IPAc-en|uː}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|aʊ}} {{IPAc-en|ɔɪ}}
|
| {{IPAc-en|ɑ:}} {{IPAc-en|ɔ:}}
|-
| <small>'''a'''do '''u'''p</small>
|
| <small>'''o'''n '''oa'''k</small>
|
| <small>w'''oo'''l '''oo'''ze</small>
|
| <small>'''ou'''t '''oi'''l</small>
|
| <small>'''a'''h '''aw'''e</small>
|-
! colspan="9" |
----Ligatures:
|-
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Are.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Or.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Air.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Err.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Array.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Ear.svg|24px]]
|
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | [[File:Shavian Ian.svg|24px]] [[File:Shavian Yew.svg|24px]]
|- lang="en-Shaw"
|
|𐑸 𐑹
|
|𐑺 𐑻
|
|𐑼 𐑽
|
|𐑾 𐑿
|-
|
|{{IPAc-en|ɑːr}} {{IPAc-en|ɔːr}}
|
|{{IPAc-en|ɛər}} {{IPAc-en|ɜːr}}
|
|{{IPAc-en|ər}} {{IPAc-en|ɪər}}
|
|{{IPAc-en|i|ə}} {{IPAc-en|juː}}
|-
|
|<small>'''ar'''e '''or'''</small>
|
|<small>'''air err'''</small>
|
|<small>'''arr'''ay '''ear'''</small>
|
|<small>'''Ia'''n '''yew'''</small>
|}

There are no separate uppercase or lowercase letters as in the Latin script; instead of using capitalization to mark [[proper name|proper nouns]], a "[[interpunct|namer-dot]]" ('''·''') is placed before a name. Sentences are typically not started with a namer-dot, unless it is otherwise called for. All other punctuation and word spacing is similar to conventional orthography.<ref name="Kingsley Read cover"/>

Each character in the Shavian alphabet requires only a single stroke to be written on paper. The writing utensil needs to be lifted up only once when writing each character, thus enabling faster overall writing than Latin script.

Spelling in ''Androcles'' follows the phonemic distinctions of [[Received Pronunciation]] except for explicitly indicating [[R-colored vowel|vocalic]] "r" with the above ligatures. Most dialectal variations of English pronunciation can be regularly produced from this spelling, but those who do not make certain distinctions, particularly in the vowels, find it difficult to produce the canonical spellings spontaneously. For instance, most North American dialects merge {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑭}} {{IPA|/ɑː/}} and {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑪}} {{IPA|/ɒ/}} (the [[father–bother merger]]), though standard English orthography is a guide.

There is no ability to indicate [[word stress]], so ''billow'' {{IPA|/ˈbɪloʊ/}} and ''below'' {{IPA|/bɪˈloʊ/}} are both spelled {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑚𐑦𐑤𐑴}}, and ''diploid'' {{IPA|/ˈdɪplɔɪd/}} and ''deployed'' {{IPA|/dɪˈplɔɪd/}} are both spelled {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑛𐑦𐑐𐑤𐑶𐑛}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wakamatsu |first=Haruki |title=Dang It, Shavian! |url=https://shavian.neocities.org/dangit |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=shavian.neocities.org}}{{self-published source|date=March 2025}}</ref> However, in most cases the reduction of unstressed vowels is sufficient to distinguish word pairs that are distinguished only by stress in spoken discourse. For instance, the noun ''convict'' {{IPA|/ˈkɒnvɪkt/}} and the verb ''convict'' {{IPA|/kənˈvɪkt/}} can be spelled {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑒𐑪𐑯𐑝𐑦𐑒𐑑}} ''ˈkɒnvɪkt'' and {{lang|en-Shaw|𐑒𐑩𐑯𐑝𐑦𐑒𐑑}} ''kənvɪkt'', respectively.

Additionally, five common words are abbreviated as single letters. The words '''''th'''e'' ({{lang|en-Shaw|𐑞}}), ''o'''f''''' ({{lang|en-Shaw|𐑝}}), ''a'''n'''d'' ({{lang|en-Shaw|𐑯}}), '''''t'''o'' ({{lang|en-Shaw|𐑑}}), and often '''''f'''or'' ({{lang|en-Shaw|𐑓}}) are written with the single letters indicated.