The Alphabet in Brithenig
The Alphabet
| A, a | a | a, can be ə in an unstressed position |
| B, b | bi | b |
| C, c | ci | k in most positions, ʧ before e and i |
| D, d | di | d |
| E, e | e | ɛ, can be ə in an unstressed position |
| F, f | fi | v, silent as a final letter |
| G, g | gi | g in most positions, ʤ before e and i |
| H, h | ach | h, very lightly pronounced, if at all |
| I, i | i | i |
| K, k | ka | k |
| L, l | el | l |
| M, m | em | m |
| N, n | en | n |
| O, o | o | ɔ |
| P, p | pi | p |
| R, r | er | r |
| S, s | es | s, or z between vowels |
| T, t | ti | t |
| U, u | u | u, in some words may be ɨ |
| W, w | dubl u | w when used as a consonant, u when used as a vowel |
| Y, y | i greg | i |
Combined Letters
| ae | aɪ or a: |
| ai | aɪ |
| aw | aʊ |
| ei | ɛɪ |
| ew | ɛʊ |
| iw, yw | iʊ |
| oe | ɔɪ or ɔ: |
| oi | ɔɪ |
| ui | uɪ |
| ch | x |
| ċ | ʧ, used as a word-final sound |
| dd | ð |
| ff | f |
| gh | g |
| ġ | ʤ, written as a word-final sound |
| ll | ɬ |
| ph | f |
| rh | rʰ |
| sc | sk, ʃ before i and e |
| θ |
The letters j, q, v, x, and z are used in foreign words that have been borrowed into the language, especially modern words that have not been adapted to the Brithenig orthography. They are not included in the traditional alphabet.
Certain phrases are treated as diphthongs also. Sa es, she is, there is, there are is pronounced as `saes'. A es and O es are treated similarly. In the standard dialect of Brithenig, where 'ae' and 'oe' are pronounced as long vowels, instead of diphthongs, these phrases can be contracted to sa's, a's and o's. When it becomes necessary to prevent two sounds from eliding, to avoid confusion or loss of sound or meaning, the ending -dd is added to a word: ys a-dd abrob, he has nearly...
The letter 'y' at the beginning of a word is often unstressed and when preceded by a word ending in a vowel it often elides.
Some monosyllabic words end with a consonant cluster with r or l as the last letter. It is the case here that the last letter is pronounced as if the vowel in the word is repeated before it. Llifr, book, is pronounced as 'llifir'. Sometimes it is spelled this way. With longer words `r' in this position is silent.
Stress in Brithenig is placed on the ultimate, or last syllable.
Brithenig sometimes accents words with a circumflex, called a teithith, or little roof. Although the accent is always pronounced as 'long', more often than not it appears to be purely grammatical, for example, la and lâ.
