You crossed the border, and you are now in my realm, the place that Rwebhu Kidh calls home. Well come, traveller.

I hope you find much to interest you, and don't get lost. If you do, ask for directions from the nearest person, or go to the Great Signpost and take your bearings from there. If that does not help, then – * thinks * – I guess you're stuck lost.

A lot of things here are different, so watch your step – you're not even safe when it comes to 'North is to the left when you are facing West', or '2 plus 2 equals 4'. Though you can rest assured that it is impolite to read someone's mind without permission.

Have fun exploring!

*wanders into Ccwiicc* *realizes where he is*
You finally got a subforum! I'm looking forward to exploring! Good thing my medical insurance is in effect now.

Thanks for the welcome, Juliet. It's going to be fun to explore your world.

I've been enjoying seeing all the pictures you have with your posts.

Yeah, me too! They are really cool, and add a nice touch to each thread.

* grabs hand and shakes lots and lots * A Wolf! I'm so glad you are here. I hope you have fun exploring. I don't know how I am going to do with having a sub-forum...I was kind of reluctant to ask for one...I don't talk about my world much. But I'll do my best.

Thankyou for visiting, Jonathan. It is an honor. I am particularly glad for your input.

Thankyou. * curtsies * I wanted to draw the signpost, then I thought it might be cool to have it on the thread. Then I thought it might be cool to draw some more. I love drawing, I just need ideas for things to draw, so it was a nice opportunity.

Thank you. *bows* Hmm...I might be able to help poke you to once I finish exploring your world.



Well, I hope it becomes a pattern on your subforum, it sets it apart in a really neat way.

I agree.

If I may ask, how does one pronounce "Ccwiicc"?

I'll do my best.

Really quick. * grins * Sorry, I couldn't resist.... It is pronounced that way though. I used to spell it Kwik, and still do on occasion, but Rwebhu didn't like that. She wanted me to be consistent. She's bossy.

But that is actually only the abbreviated version. I rarely give Rwemun names in full, because – well, I would have a hard time pronouncing them constantly. The real name is... * pauses * Let me ask....

oNiirwiccrwuneggccwiicc.

Heh.

0.0 * takes map and hides it behind her back * You can't leave yet! You must explore first!

Oh, and yes I understand it is rather odd for you to be meeting me here, but Rwebhu is very tired from a Trying Ordeal she just went through, so I am doing my best. She is cranky and long winded when she is tired. * blithe smile *

Just when I thought I'd seen everything your family had up their sleeves. The conversations that you must have...

I really love what I've seen here so far. But I've got to say that when I read Ccwiicc, I mentally pronounce it has k-ch-wik-ch. I haven't the foggiest idea where that came from, but then you said it was pronounced "quick"...I almost felt linguisticly let-down.

Hm? * raises eyebrows innocently *

* swallow * You don't want to know.... The really cool thing about our conversations, though, is that Papa and Mama are just as interesting conversation starters as we are. It was Papa's idea to discuss the idea of portraying the ancient great men (like Eber) as connected to the Dunedain in some way in our really really historical fiction we are working on.

I'm very glad. * smiles *

* rolls that over her tongue several times * Cool word... But no, not the word I was getting at. Rwano doesn't even have the 'ch' sound. Sorry you got that. I did the double 'c' for 'k' because single 'c' stands for the 's' sound, in the Rwano phonetic system.

I know what you mean about feeling linguistically let down... If it'll make you feel any better, though, you could try saying the full version of it. * grin * Speaking of which, it isn't actually what I said was up there, it's oNiircgrwewxyiiwunccwiicc. I knew there was a mistake somewhere in there.... It means 'bloody cup'. * smiles * Yes, Lycanis, I know I told you it meant rock earlier...and it does, but that's as a derivative, sort of. It's derivation is 'bloody cup'. Meaning, it means 'bloody cup', but it is also a synonym for 'rock'. * nodnod * I like Rwano....

What's the value of a doubled vowel /ii/ as opposed to a single vowel /i/. Is /x/ pronounced as in English. Is /y/ pronounced as in /yes/ or as in /-ly/.

Your consonant clusters are very fun.

<ii> is kit. <i> is kite. <x> is a sound that I have not heard of in any language (though Patrick might have seen it somewhere) – <b> with the tongue on the upper lip. <y> is yes.

* nods * Definitely.

Oh, the <e> the <g> and the <u> are different too. <e> is pronounced sort of like half between met and hate (though it's sort of an accent nitpick – either of those would be fine to use I suppose, they'd just know you aren't a native ). <g> is a sound that is in Hebrew, sort of a <kh>, voiced, and very deep in the throat. <u> is like in blue, not like cup.

Might <x> be a glottal fricative? *hopes*



<g> is a voiced glottal stop?

No... You know how you say <b>? Your lips are together, but they part plosively to produce the sound. <x> is the same, except it's not your lips – it's your upper lip and your tongue. * cocks head and hopes that was clear *

Glottal stops are normally voiced, aren't they? Unless you're sick, or whispering, of course... But no...actually it's more like the fricative glottal stop you mentioned above, I think. It's like gargling, you know? You do <k>. You do <k> fricative. You do it fricative and voiced. Then you do that way down deep in your throat, as far as you can go.

Oh, and <o> isn't pronounced joke. The <o>, <i>, <a>, an so on, sounds are not single vowels, you know – they are vowels doubled with <y> and <w>, which are sort of half vowels. <o> is the cut sound with <w>. But what I mean by <o> here is the met sound with <w> on it.

*walks forward* Oh! I'm in Ccwiicc! Well looks like I'm stuck here for good if Rwebhu doesn't give us the map.

Let's see...do you have anything important to do in the near future? * contemplates letting you be stuck here for awhile, so you'll have to explore * * grins *

Returns six months later to finish the conversation.



Yes, that was clear. What you are describing is a mono-labial (I believe that is the right word) version of <b> which is bi-labial (that means two lips). I actually use that same sound in one of my languages (but I can't recall which one). Another example of a mono-labial vowel is /f/ which is actually articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth (labio-dental, technically).



OK, so it's a glottal fricative. Very difficult to learn to pronounce (at least for me) .

Those would be called diphthongs...I like using <o> as the character for that sound, btw. Your sound system seems to be very well thought out.

*goes off to explore Ccwiicc for a while.

Woooords! Hehe... I'll remember that vocabulary, it makes it a lot easier to talk about phonetics.

Yeah. It took awhile practicing to do it easily, and I still don't do it easily when it's stuck in Rwano consonant clusters.

Thanks.

I hope you enjoyed it.