Appendix: Shishish
SiSiS
( sh-ISH-ish )
Shishish is the preeminent language in the Susiverse. It dates back to the beginning of the Susiverse and is referred to as the language of the Shish. The ancient race of Ato spoke Shishish and passed it onto their creations.
Writing System
Shishish is a phonetic language—each character represents a sound.
Vowel Sounds
Vowel characters always have a dot in them.
- a AH (car) /ɑ/ /ɔ/
- A AA (cat) /æ/
- u UH (cup) /ʌ/ /ə/
- E EE (keep) /i/ /j/
- i IH (kit) /ɪ/
- e EH (let) /ɛ/
- o OO (loot) /u/ /w/
- O OH (boat) /oʊ/
- U UU (book) /ʊ/
There is also a vowel for a soft R sound. The stronger R is considered a consonant.
- = ER (her) /ɝ/ /ɚ/
Diphthongs
Use of o as W and E as Y can be combined with other vowel sounds to make diphthongs. Diphthongs use either a curly tail for W or a slanty tail for Y. The tail faces left if the sound comes before the modified vowel, or faces right if the sound comes after.
- B WAH (walk) /wɑ/ /wɔ/
- x YAH (yawn) /jɑ/ /jɔ/
- I AHY (die) /aɪ/
- Q WAA (wax) /wæ/
- K YAA (yak) /jæ/
- R OW (cow) /aʊ/
- C WEH (when) /wɛ/
- V YEH (yet) /jɛ/
- H EHY (pay) /eɪ/
- W WEE (weep) /wi/
- L YEE (yeet) /ji/
- q EEW (spew) /ju/
- c WIH (win) /wɪ/
- M YIH (yip) /jɪ/
- w WUH (what) /wʌ/ /wə/
- y YUH (yum) /jʌ/ /jə/
- D WOO (woo) /wu/
- P WOH (woe) /woʊ/
- Y YOH (yo-yo) /joʊ/
- G OHY (toy) /ɔɪ/
- F WUU (wood) /wʊ/
- - WER (word) /wɝ/ /wɚ/
- + YER (yurt) /jɝ/ /jɚ/
Emphasis
Vowel sounds may be important to emphasize for the sake of pronunciation. To do this, a line is drawn across the top of the vowel. If the vowel pairs with another, only emphasize the first one. Emphasis is not required, but it can be helpful if the word has a non-obvious emphasis.
Examples
- Grabierfish (made up)
grubE^=fiS
( grub-EER-fish ) - Skupwilzner (also made up)
sku^pclzn=
( s-CUP-willz-ner )
Consonants
The following consonants use a similar symbol for two sounds, one with a line through it and the other without. The line indicates that the consonant is voiced.
- k K /k/
- g G /ɡ/
- t T /t/
- d D /d/
- p P /p/
- b B /b/
- J CH /tʃ/
- j J /dʒ/
- s S /s/
- z Z /z/
- S SH /ʃ/
- Z ZH (measure) /ʒ/
- T TH (thin) /θ/
- X THZ (the) /ð/
- f F /f/
- v V /v/
These consonants do not follow the same voiceless/voiced pattern.
- m M /m/
- n N /n/
- N NG (ring) /ŋ/
- r R (rat) /ɹ̠/ *
- l L /l/
- h H /h/
* Note that R is a hard R as opposed to the vowel sound ER.
Punctuation
- . Period or Glottal Stop /ʔ/ *
- , Comma
- ! Exclamation Pt.
- ? Question Mk.
- : Colon
- ; Semicolon
- ’ Single Quote
- ” Double Quote
* Placing a period in the middle of a word acts as a stop, as in the word uh-oh ( u.O).
Numbers
Shishish uses a decimal counting system.
- 0 Zero (0)
- 1 One (1)
- 2 Two (2)
- 3 Three (3)
- 4 Four (4)
- 5 Five (5)
- 6 Six (6)
- 7 Seven (7)
- 8 Eight (8)
- 9 Nine (9)