Orthography
There is no strict standard spelling, and three slightly different orthographies (and often mixes of them) are in use.
The three spelling systems used for the language:
The Mission Spelling (established at first by Loyalty Islands missionaries in 1870s, then modified by Polynesian missionaries in the 1880s) : a, b, d, e, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ö, p, r, s, t, u, z, sometimes also th, dh, dth, tr, dr, oe, ë, w, y, j, and sometimes double vowels to show length. This spelling system was strongly inspired by the one used for the Drehu (Lifu) language in the very early period, though later with the change of non-European Mission personnel from Lifu to Polynesian, as well as the growing number of indigenous Torres Strait missionaries, the spelling system lost the overtly Drehu forms tr, dr and ë, which had no phonological basis in Kalaw Lagaw Ya. The mission system is the orthography used in the Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to the Torres Strait (Haddon et al., 1898 and on, University of Cambridge) and in "Myths and Legends of Torres Strait" (Lawrie, University of Queensland, 1971). Ray, the linguist of the Cambridge Expedition, also used various diacrtitics to represent vowel length and quality.
Klokheid and Bani (established 1970s) : a, aa, b, d (alveolar), dh (dental), e, ee, g, i, ii, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oo,oe (/ə/), ooe (/əː/), p, r, s, t (alveolar), th (dental), u, uu, w, y, z
Saibai, Boigu, Dauan students (established late 1970s) : a, b, d (alveolar), dh (dental), e, g, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oe (/ə/), p, r, s, t (alveolar), th (dental), u, w, y, z (vowel length is not represented).
People not only use these three slightly differing spelling systems, but they also write words more or less as they pronounce them. Because of this words are often spelt in various ways, for example sena/sina that, there, kothai/kothay/kothei/kothey/kothe back of head, occiput. Variation like this depends on age, family, island, and other factors such as poetic speech. It can be difficult at times to decide which is most correct - different people have different opinions (and sometimes have very strong opinions).
Though in general the pronunciation of older people has priority, some people can actually get quite offended if they think the language is written the ‘wrong’ way. Some insist that the mission spelling should be used, others the Bani spelling, and still others the KKY (Saibai etc.) spelling, and still again others use mixes of two or three, or adaptations thereof. Some writers of the Mabuiag-Badhu dialect (Kalaw Lagaw Ya), for example, write mainly in the Mission system, sometimes use the diagraphs oe, th, dh (variant dth) and sometimes use capital letters at the ends of words to show devoiced vowels, such as ngukI fresh water/drinking water, fruit juice /ŋʊːki̥/. In the Bani/Klokheid orthograophy nguki is written nguuki, and in the other dialects the final vowel is either fully voiced, nguki /ŋʊki/), or elided, nguk /ŋʊk/).
The biggest bone of contention between the advocates of the 'modern' orthographies and the 'traditionalist' orthographies is the use of w and y to show the semi-vowels (or semi-consonants if you prefer). In general native speakers in literacy classes seem to find y and w very difficult to learn, and that u and i are the 'logical' letters to use. Getting untrained speakers to break up words by sound or syllable suggests that u and i are really the underlying sounds. Thus, a word like dhaudhai mainland, continent syllabifies as dha-u-dha-i, not dhau-dhai. In songs, the glide-u/i can also be given full syllable status. 'Historical' considerations also point to the semi-vowels often being vocalic rather than consonantal. Thus, lagau, the genitive of laag place is in underlying form laaga+ngu; the full form of the genitive ending -ngu is only retained where the nominal has a monosyllabic stem (see the section on Nominal Morphology). Similarly, verbal nouns end in -i, e.g. lumai, stem luuma- search, look for, seek, hunt. The earliest records of the language of the mid-19th century show that the verbal noun ending was previously -ri (thus lumari), where the -r- was presumably the rhotic glide rather than the rhotic tap/trill.
A dictionary now in preparation (Mitchell/Ober) uses an orthography based on detailed study of the surface and underlying phonology of the language, as well as on observation of how people write in real life situations. It is a mix of the Mission and Kalau Kawau Ya orthographies with the addition of diacritics (the letters in brackets) to aid correct pronunciation, since many of the people who will use this dictionary will not be speakers of the language:
a (á), b, d, dh, e (é), g, i (í), k, l, m, n, ng, o (ó, ò, ò'), œ (œ'), r, s, t, th, u (ú, ù), w, y, z
Within this orthography, w and y are treated as consonants - this is their phonogical status in the language - while u and i are used as the glides where phonological considerations show that the 'diphthong' combination has vocalic status.
Pronunciation of the letters
The English pronunciations given in the list below are those of Australian English, and are only meant as a guide. The letters in square brackets are the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
a (short) : ‘u’ as in hut - gath shallow, shallows, mathaman hit, kill
a, á (long) (aa in the Bani orth.) ‘a’ as in father - áth bottom turtle shell (plastron), ma spider, lág place
b as in English - Báb Dad, bœbu current, stream, bibir power, authority
d as in English - da chest, idi grease, fat, dead-calm sea
dh similar to d, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth- dha ladder, stairs, adhal outside, Bádhu Badu
e (short) ‘e’ as in bed - bero rib, nge then, tete animal/bird leg
e, é (long) (ee in the Bani orth.) ‘are’ as in bared - gér sea snake, dhe slime, sei there
g as in English get, never as in general - gigi thunder, gág mangrove swamp
i (short) short ‘ee’ as in feet - midh how, sisi gecko, ipi wife
i, í (long) (ii in the Bani orth.) ‘ee’ as in feed - síb liver, gi knife, ígil life
k as in English - kikiman hurry up, kakayam bird-of-paradise
l similar to English ‘l’ in lean, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth; never as in English kneel - lág place, home, li basket, gúl double-outrigger sailing canoe
m as in English - mám love, affection, Ama Mum, Aunty, ma spider
n similar to English ‘n’ in nun, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth - na song, nan her, nanu her(s)
ng as in English sing; never as in English finger - ngai I, me, ngœrang armpit
o (short) more or less ‘o’ as is in got, though more rounded - sob slowness, mogo blank skink
o (long) (oo in the Bani orth.) more or less ‘o’ as in god, though more rounded - gor tie-hole, so show
ò (short) short version of ‘oa’ in broad - mòdhabil costs, prices, gòyal bald
ò (long) (oo in the Bani orth.) ‘oa’ in broad - mòs lung, spittle, gòy baldness
œ (short) ‘a’ as in about - bœtœm lean (animals), bœga mallard
œ (long) (ooe in the Bani orth.) more or less like ‘er’ in herd - wœr water, Wœy Venus, bœi coming
p as in English - papi noose, trap, áp garden, Pòpu Grandad
r similar to ‘tt’ in better when said fast (that is to say, when better is pronounced ‘bedder’). Before another consonant and at the end of a word, it is often trilled (like in ‘stage’ Scottish English or 'rr' in Spanish). In singing, however, it is normally pronounced much like the American English ‘r’ - ári rain, louse, rùg rag, piece of cloth, ár dawn
s most commonly like English ‘s’ in sister; sometimes like English ‘ch’ in chew when at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word; never like ‘s’ in ‘as’ (which is a ‘z’ sound) - sas style, showing off, sisi gecko, sagul game, fun, dance
t as in English - tádu sand-crab, tídan return, understand, ít rock oyster
th similar to t, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth - tha crocodile tail, thathi father, geth hand
u (short) short ‘u’ as in lute - buthu sand, gulai sailing canoes
u, ú (long) (uu in the Bani orth.) ‘oo’ in woo - búzar fat, blubber, thu smoke
ù ‘u’ as in put - mùdh shelter, kùt late afternoon, early evening, kùlai first, before
w Not as strong as English ‘w’ in we ; for most speakers of the language the only difference between w and short u is that w is shorter - wa yes, kawa island, báw wave
y Not as strong as English ‘y’ in yes; for most speakers of the language the only difference between y and short i is that y is much shorter - ya speech, talk, language, aya come!, máy well, spring; tears; pearl-shell, nacre
z most commonly like English ‘z’ in zoo, or English ‘s’ in has; sometimes like English ‘j’ in jump, or ‘dg’ in budge when at the beginning or in the middle of a word - zázi grass skirt, za thing, object, zizi crackle, crack, rustling noise Combinations of vowels (‘diphthongs’, such as ai, au, œi, eu etc.) are pronounced as written. Thus, for example, ai is a-i (basically very similar to ‘i’ in ‘mine’ with a posh accent). In singing and sometimes in slow speech, such vowel combinations can be said separately. The diphthongs are:
ei - sei there
iu - biuni kookoobuura, kingfisher
œi - bœi coconut frond
eu - seu belonging to there
ai - Saibai Saibai
œu - kœubu battle, war
òi - òi hoy!, hey! (reply to a call, vocative particle)
au - kaub tiredness
ui - mui fire
ou - berou of a/the rib
In the Bani and Saibai (etc.) orthographies, these are written as follows:
ey - sey
iw - biwni
œy - bœy
ew - sew
ay - Saybay
œw - kœwbu
oy - oy
aw - kawb
uy - muy
ow - berow
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