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The present spelling system has been invented by Saaropean to provide a phonemic, regular way of writing the Rhine Franconian dialect shown in this case study.
Using double consonants to mark short vowels, it follows the spelling traditions of various Germanic languages.
| Letter |
IPA |
Approximate English Sound |
Example |
| A |
a |
cup |
Faddà (father) |
| A, AA |
a: |
father |
san (to say) |
| AI |
aɪ |
bye |
nai (new) |
| AU |
aʊ |
cow |
haus (house) |
| À |
[[IPA: �?|�?]] |
gangsta |
ivvà (over) |
| B, BB |
b |
ball |
Bach (creek) |
|
p |
pay (at the end of a syllable) |
Kabb (cap) |
| CH |
see SCH |
see SCH |
Leschà (holes) |
|
ɣ |
between ʀ and x |
lache (to laugh) |
|
x |
Scottish loch, Spanish hijo (after A, AU, O or U at the end of a syllable) |
Tach (Good Day) |
| D, DD |
d |
day |
oddà (or) |
|
t |
tea (at the end of a syllable) |
gudd (good) |
| E |
ə (unstressed, short) |
action |
holle (to take) |
| E |
ɛ (stressed, short) |
get (short) |
genn (to give/become) |
| E, EE |
ε: |
get (but longer) |
klen (small) |
| EH |
e: |
French été (long) |
gehn (to go) |
| F, FF |
f |
fair |
finne (to find) |
|
v |
love |
lafe (to run) |
| G, GG |
g |
go |
gugge (to look) |
|
k |
key (at the end of a syllable) |
Schnog (mosquito) |
| H |
h |
house |
hann (to have)</th>
|
<tr>
<td>I</td>
<td>ɪ (short)</td>
<td>hit (short)</td>
<td>midd (with)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>I, IE</td>
<td>ɪ: (long)</td>
<td>meet (long)</td>
<td>sin (to see)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>J</td>
<td>j</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>joo (yes)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>like CH</td>
<td>like CH (at the end of a syllable)</td>
<td>Vej (way)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>K</td>
<td>k</td>
<td>key (only written K at the beginning of a word)</td>
<td>Kabbes (cabbage/nonsense)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>L, LL</td>
<td>l</td>
<td>light</td>
<td>lang (long)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>M, MM</td>
<td>m</td>
<td>moon</td>
<td>Muddà (mother)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>N, NN</td>
<td>n</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>nur (only)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>NG</td>
<td>ŋ</td>
<td>sing</td>
<td>singe (to sing)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>O</td>
<td>ɔ (short)</td>
<td>hot (short)</td>
<td>ovve (above)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>O, OO</td>
<td>ɔ:</td>
<td>law (long)</td>
<td>doo (there)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>OH</td>
<td>o:</td>
<td>French eau (long)</td>
<td>grohs (big/huge/tall)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>P</td>
<td>p</td>
<td>pay (only written P at the beginning of a word)</td>
<td>Per (horse)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>R, RR</td>
<td>ʀ</td>
<td>rain (actually a uvular voiced fricative or approximant)</td>
<td>Ren (rain)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>[[IPA: �?|�?]] (forming a diphthong)</td>
<td>gangsta (behind a vowel and preceding a consonant)</td>
<td>Dorf (village)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>S, SS</td>
<td>z</td>
<td>zoo</td>
<td>san (to say)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>s</td>
<td>see (at the end of a syllable)</td>
<td>vass (what)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SCH</td>
<td>ʃ</td>
<td>shine</td>
<td>schen (beautiful)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>ʒ</td>
<td>measure (between two vowels)</td>
<td>Flasche (bottles)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>T</td>
<td>t</td>
<td>tea (only written T at the beginning of a word)</td>
<td>Tass (cup)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>U</td>
<td>ʊ</td>
<td>put (short)</td>
<td>Huddel (trouble)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>U, UU</td>
<td>ʊ:</td>
<td>fool (long)</td>
<td>Tud (bag)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>V, VV</td>
<td>ʋ</td>
<td>vet</td>
<td>visse (to know)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>p</td>
<td>pay (at the end of a syllable)</td>
<td>Buv (boy)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X, KX</td>
<td>ks</td>
<td>box</td>
<td>nikx (nothing)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Z, TZ</td>
<td>ʦ</td>
<td>nuts</td>
<td>zaie (to show)</td>
</tr>
</table>
A stressed vowel preceding exactly one consonant is long, if it precedes several consonants (including digraphs, trigraphs and double consonants) it is short.
At the end of a word (even in monosyllabic words), a single E is always pronounced ə.
Most speakers do not really differentiate A and À. In opposite to some northern German dialects, though, AR is pronounced as a diphthong rather than a long vowel.
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