Not Romanized, באותיות עברית.

So I gave up (for the time being) on creating the ultimate theological language ("Trinitarian") and decided to take on the challenge of creating a language without nouns: Perelandran.  I had stumbled upon Kēlen, created by Syvia Sotomayor, a language supposedly without verbs.

Actually, it has four verbs.  I hope to be even more rigorously anti-noun than she is anti-verb.

Anyway, I noticed how everyone "Romanizes" their languages and IPA is very Latin-based.  What if, just for variety's sake, my language had been discovered by Korean, Chinese or Hebrew speakers?  Since I am studying Hebrew is class this summer, I decided to go with Hebrew.  (Note, if you do not have Courier New font install on your computer, this will look nothing like what I intend.)

Vowels

• /a/ - אַ - called a 'páṯaḥ'
• /e/ - אֶ - called a 'sĕḡōl' - allophony with /ɛ/
• /i/ - אִ - called a 'ḥḯreq' - allophony with /ɪ/
• /o/ - אָ - called a 'qấmeṣ ḥāṭûf' - allophony with /ɤ/
• /u/ - אֻ - called a 'qibbûṣ' - allophony with /ɯ/

Some Perelandrans never round their vowels, many round 'o' and 'u'.  I decided to go with all the diphthongs from Hawai'an.  Writing vowels in this way is not standard Hebrew.

• /ae/ - אֶַ - not in English, "ah-eh" quickly
• /ai/ - אִַ – like the English "aye/I"
• /ao/ - אַָ – not in English, "ah-oh" quickly
• /au/ - אַֻ - very close to English "ow"
• /ei/ - אִֶ - like the English "A/mate"
• /eo/ - אֶָ - not in English, "eh-oh" quickly
• /eu/ - אֶֻ - not in English, "eh-oo" quickly
• /iu/ - אִֻ - very close to English "eww .. that's gross"
• /oi/ - אִָ - as in English "boil"
• /ou/ - אָֻ - We actually say our long 'o's in English as "oh-oo"
• /aː/ - אֲ - a glyph already used in Hebrew for something else
• /eː/ - אֱ - a glyph already used in Hebrew for something else
• /iː/ - אְִ - *could be tricky with fonts*
• /oː/ - אֳ - a glyph already used in Hebrew for something else
• /uː/ - אְֻ - *could be tricky with fonts*

You'll notice the aleph (א) is a placeholder for a syllable with no onset.

Consonants

The nasal-liquid consonants are affectionately called 'lemon-ring' consonants:

• /ɫ/ - ל - notice this is "darker" than a Hebrew 'lāmeḏ' or and English 'L'.
• /m/ - מ - Perelandran does not use the 'final mêm' (ם).
• /n/ - נ – never 'final nûn' (ן).
• /ɾ/ - ר - there is allophony with /r/ and even /ɻ/.
• /ŋ/ - כ - Perelandran does not use the 'final kaf' (ך).  Like many Earth-languages, syllable in Perelandran can start with an 'ng'.  This requires a lot of practice for English-speakers.

These letters behave similarly, so it will be convenient to remember them as 'lemon-ring' (לֶמָנרִכ).  Practice saying them as stand-alone sounds.

The next set is called 'the azure views':

• /ð/ - ת – as in the, not as in thin.
• /ʒ/ – ש – as in pleasure.  This sound doesn't occur in Hebrew, so 'šîn' has been recruited.
• /ɻ/ - ר – This letter does double/triple-duty, as the alveolar flap/tap or trill and as the retroflex approximate.  Circumstances dictate some pronunciation rules, but some of it is personal choice.  When it is considered a 'lemon-ring', it's alveolar.  When it's one of 'the azure views', it's /ɻ/.
• /v/ - פ – There are no voiceless consonants in Perelandran, so this /p/,/f/ letter has been recruited as a 'V'.  Never use 'final peh' (ף).
• /z/ - ז - buzz like a bee!

"The Azure Views" can also be stand-alone syllables.
The last set are the stops:

• /b/ - ב - in Ancient Hebrew one had to put a dāḡēš inside the letter to distinguish /v/ from /b/ (i.e. ב vs. בּ).  Not so now.
• /d/ - ד - never ð, as in the ancient pronunciation.
• /g/ - ג
• /ʔ/ - ע - the dash in English 'uh-oh'.  Very hard for English speakers to hear at the beginning and end of words.
• /ʤ/ - ח - standard English 'j'

There are two semi-vowels/approximants:

• /j/ - י – like the English 'y'
• /w/ - ו

There is one, last letter, and I'm having trouble finding in IPA:

• /x/ - ה - but I don't think the IPA is right.

I thought for sure the German phonology page would show me how I can say "Bach" or "loch" and hold out that last rasp forever.  I think I am making it voiced.  It's basically the 'hocking a loogie sound'!  Please comment if you know a better way to represent that.