Ho Orthography based on Etymology

Standardizing Latin Ho Alphabet

CONSONANTS:

K	G	Ṅ	(Ḱ)
CH*	J	Ń	(Ć)
Ṭ	Ḍ	Ṛ
T	D	N	T́
P	B	M	Ṕ
R	L
S	H
Y	(V)

*CH better aligns with English pronunciation, and is used by Deeney, but C can be considered.

Letters for Preglottalized consonants (Ṕ, T́) and the Glottal Stop (Ḱ, Ć) are taken from Bodding.

Letters inside brackets are used only for etymological reasons, their pronunciation is no longer preserved in Ho. Retroflex Nasal is not phonemic, therefore not included. Y only occurs in medial positions, never in the initial and final positions.

VOWELS:

SHORT	LONG	NASALIZED SHORT	NASALIZED LONG	DISAMBIGUATION
A	Á	Ã	Ã́	Â
E	É	Ẽ	Ẽ́	Ê
I	Í	Ĩ	Ĩ́
O	Ó	Õ	Ṍ	Ô
U	Ú	Ũ	Ṹ

Deeney uses a macron above to indicate long vowels, an acute accent is chosen here for aesthetic purposes. ÂÊÔ can be used either in dictionaries to indicate the weaker forms of AEO or to distinguish between words, for example, 'ka' (negative particle) vs 'kâ' Optative Mood marker, English word 'Era' vs Ho 'Êra'.

RULES:

1. All nouns are to be capitalized. This is to cater to the peculiarity of the language where words are very flexible, words being used as nouns as well as verbs.

2. PNM words ending in 'ḱ' and 'ć', which have now all become a Glottal Stop in Ho, are to be written in the PNM form. E.g.:

reʔ > reć

goʔe > goć

sareʔ > sareć

Uriʔ > Urić

aʔe > ać

Iʔi > Ić

Chariʔ > Charić

sokoʔe > sokoć

pereʔ > pereć

uʔi > uć

Muʔi > Muć

Nakiʔ > Nakić

gitiʔ > gitić

Láʔi > Láć

sĩṛĩć > sĩić

tagoʔe > tagoć

eṭeʔ > eṭeć

3. Vowel elongation and diphthongs caused by loss of Proto-North Munda 'ṛ' will be written as they would occur in PNM, except that 'ṛ' will be omitted, if the vowels are nasalized, only the first vowel will carry the nasalization mark. E.g.:

Aṛandi > Aandi

ikuṛum > ikuum

Kuṛam > Kuam

paṛa > paa

Mukuṛi > Mukui

Hoṛmo/Homoṛo > Homoo

Hoṛo > Hoo

anjaṛa > anjaa

haṛaḱ > haaḱ (Ho has added nasalization)

naṛaka > naaka

rãṛãsa > rãasa

ẽṛẽć > ẽeć

Sikĩṛĩć > Sikĩić (it is unclear whether PNM form had nasalization, Ho pronunciation without nasalization also exists, Sikiić)

4. In places where PNM has 'h', attempt should be made to retain it there, if vowel elongation has occured, then the vowel after the 'h' is to be omitted. E.g.:

Baha > Bah

Sahan > Sahn

Bohoḱ > Bohḱ

Rehet́ > Reht́

Hanhar > Hanhr

Hońhar > Hońhr

nahaḱ > nahḱ

jaha > jah

5. PNM words which have both 'ṛ' and 'h', attempt should be made to account for both. E.g.:

Meṛhet́ > Meeht́

rohoṛ > rooh

heṛhet́ > heeht́

haṛhat́ > haaht́

6. Words where vowel elongation has occurred due to loss of final 't́', are to be written as in PNM, omitting the vowel right before the final 't́'. E.g.:

ilat́ > ilt́

Surut́ > Surt́

Jilat́ > Jilt́

Murut́ > Murt́

seret́ > sert́

selet́ > selt́

Torot́ > Tort́

irit́ > irt́

jeret́ > jert́

7. An 'ṅ' followed by a 'g' and an 'ń' followed by 'j' may be written as 'n', as the combination 'ng' is rare, this combination can be instead represented by 'nng', as in 'tannga'.

Siṅgi > Singi

salaṅgi > salangi

tiṅgu > tingu

ańjaa > anjaa

8. Monosyllabic words where the vowel is long due to phonological reasons, the length will be denoted by an acute accent, nasalization is to be omitted if absent in PNM. E.g.:

Tí

Jó

sí

lá

Íl

Ím

9. In PNM words that had a V/W/ in medial positions, attempt should be made to preserve it in spelling, only removing one vowel from either sides.

Rava > Rva

Irivil > Irivl

jivet́ > jivt́

even > evn

livet́ > livt́ > liut́

hawet́ > hayt́