Palauan Language - Writing System

Writing System

In the early 1970s, the Palau Orthography Committee worked with linguists from the University of Hawaii to devise an alphabet based on the Latin script. The resulting orthography was largely based on the "one phoneme/one symbol" notion, producing an alphabet of twelve native consonants, six consonants for use in loan words, and ten vowels. The 20 vowel sequences listed above under the heading Diphthongs are also all officially recognized in the orthography.

On May 10, 2007, the Palauan Senate passed Bill No. 7-79, which mandates that educational institutions recognize the Palauan orthography laid out in (Josephs 1997) and (Josephs 1999). The bill also establishes an Orthography Commission to maintain the language as it develops as well as to oversee and regulate any additions or modifications to the current official orthography.

Native consonants
Palauan letter IPA Example word
b , bai "community house"
ch charm "animal"
d , diall "ship"
k , ker "question"
l lius "coconut"
ll llel "leaf"
m martiliong "hammer (Span. Martillo)"
ng , ngau "fire"
r rekas "mosquito"
rr rrom "liquor"
s sechelei "friend"
t , tuu "banana"
Foreign consonants
Palauan letter IPA Example word
f fenda "fender (Eng.)"
h haibio "tuberculosis (Jpn. haibyoo 肺病)"
n sensei "teacher (Jpn. sensei 先生)"
p Papa "the Pope (Span. Papa)"
ts tsuingam "chewing gum (Eng.)"
z miuzium "museum (Eng.)"
Vowels
Palauan letter IPA Example word
a chad "person"
e , sers "garden"
ę ngalęk "child"
ee kmeed "near"
i sils "sun"
ii , iis "nose"
o ngor "mouth"
oo sekool "playful"
u bung "flower"
uu , ngduul "mangrove clam"

Read more about this topic:  Palauan Language

Famous quotes containing the words writing and/or system:

    I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.
    Ruth Behar (b. 1956)

    The golden mean in ethics, as in physics, is the centre of the system and that about which all revolve, and though to a distant and plodding planet it be an uttermost extreme, yet one day, when that planet’s year is completed, it will be found to be central.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)