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The Hylian Alphabet


taz akt@e hilana

Taz Akta·ie Hilana

The Hylian alphabet is phonetic in nature, i.e. each symbol represents a disctinct sound. This is similar to the English alphabet, but is much more definite. Each Hylian letter represents only one and only one sound. The letters themselves are very simple block letters. Notice that the shapes consist only of right angles and straight lines, which makes the letters very simple to write and easy to discern.

The most important aspect of the language is transliteration of the words from the Hylian alphabet to the Roman alphabet. Transliteration is spelling the words from a foriegn alphabet into another alphabet. Translation is telling what the word means in another language. Don't confuse transliteration with translation.

A fact that makes the Hylian language easy to learn is that the letters are read from left to right and top to bottom. In other words, Hylian is read the same way English is. Many alphabets, such as the Roman alphabet which we use, has capital and lowercase letters. Hylian however, has only one set of letters. There are no capital or lowercase letters, all are in the same case.
 

Hylian Letter
Transliteration
Name
Pronunciation
a
 akte
(AHK-tay)
Like the a in "father".
į
akte asėnta
(AHK-tay 
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of akte.
 ä
 äkte
(ACK-tay)
Like the a in "hat".
ą
äkte
(ACK-tay 
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of äkte.
a·i
 a·ite
(EYE-tay)
Like the word "I". This is a diphthong that is a combonation of akte and ite. It is pronounced as a single sound.
< >
į·ķ
a·ite asėnta
(EYE-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of a.ite.
a·u
a·ute
(OW-tay)
Like the ow in "how". This is a diphthong that is a combonation of akte and ute. It is pronounced as a single sound.
į·ś
a·ute asėnta
(OW-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of a.ute.
b
bete
(BAY-tay)
Pronounced the same as English b.
d
 date
(DAH-tay)
Pronounced the same as English d.
 e
 ete
(EY-tay)
Like the a in "hate".
é
ete asėnta
(EY-tay 
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ete.
 ė
 ėnte
(ENN-tay)
Like the e in "get".
č
ėnte asėnta
(ENN-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ėnte.
f
fete
(FAY-tay)
Pronounced the same as English f.
g
gante
(GONN-tay)
Pronounced like an English hard g, as in "give".
h
hėnte
(HEN-tay)
Pronounced the same as English h.
 i
 ite
(EE-tay)
Like the ee in "see".
ķ
ite asėnta
(EE-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ite.
 ļ
 ļnte
(INN-tay)
Like the i in "give".
 ģ
  ļnte asėnta
(INN-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ļnte.
i·u
i·ute
(YOU-tay)
Like the word "you". This is a diphthong that is a combonation of ite and ute. It is pronounced as a single sound.
ķ·ś
i·ute asėnta
(YOU-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of i.ute.
j
jate
(JAH-tay)
Pronounced the same as English j or soft g.
jh
jhete
(ZHAY-tay)
Like the s in "measure", or j in French "Jacques".
k
kate
(KAH-tay)
Pronounced the same as English k.
kh
khate
(KHAH-tay)
This sound doesn't exist in English. It is similar to the German "ch", like in Bach, or the arabic letter
l
lete
(LAY-tay)
Pronounced the same as English l.
m
mate
(MAH-tay)
Pronounced the same as English m.
n
note
(NO-tay)
Pronounced the same as English n.
 o
 ote
(OH-tay)
 Like the o in "home".
ó
ote asėnta
(OH-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ote.
o·a
to·ate
(TAW-tay)
Like the aw in "law". This is a diphthong that is a combonation of ote and akte. It is pronounced as a single sound. 
ó·į
to·ate asėnta
(TAW-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of to·ate.
p
pate
(PAH-tay)
Pronounced the same as English p.
r
rote
(ROW-tay)
Pronounced the same as English r.
s
sate
(SAH-tay)
Pronounced the same as English s. It is always pronounced like the s in "sit". It never sounds like the s in "dogs".
sh
shļnte
(SHIN-tay)
Pronounced the same as English sh.
t
tote
(TOE-tay)
Pronounced the same as English t.
th
thate
(THAH-tay)
Pronounced like the th in English "thin". It is never pronounced like the th "the".
 u
 ute
(OOH-tay)
 Like the oo in "food".
ś
ute asėnta
(OOH-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ute.
 ü
 ünte
(UN-tay)
 Like the u "fun".
ł
ünte asėnta
(UN-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
Accented version of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of ünte.
 v
 vete
(VAY-tay)
Pronounced the same as English v.
w
wante
(WONN-tay)
Pronounced the same as English w.
y
yote
(YOE-tay)
Pronounced the same as English y. It is always used as a consonant as in "yes", never as a vowel as in "my".
z
zante
(ZAHN-tay)
Pronounced the same as English z.

Word Stress

One of the most important rules to know in order to speak properly is the proper stressing of syllables in a word. Some languages, such as Japanese place very little emphasis on syllable stress. Other languages, such as ones in the Indo-European family (which includes English), have very specific rules for which syllables to stress in a word. English happens to have very irregular stress patterns in its words, mainly because of the vast influences from foreign languages. Fortunately, Hylian has very regular stress patterns.

1. All words have their primary stress on the second to last syllable, unless there is a written accent mark. If there is an accent mark, then the marked syllable receives the primary stress.

2. All words have secondary stresses on the fourth to last syllable, unless there is a written accent mark. If there is an accent mark, then the secondary stress falls on every other syllable before the accent mark. For example, the word "hiparįduse" has an irregular stress pattern because it has an accent mark. The stress pattern for this word is /hi" par a' du se/. The third syllable /a'/ is stressed. The secondary stress is on /hi"/, which is the first syllable.

3. All syllables that do not receive a primary or secondary stress are unstressed. And all syllables after an accent mark are also unstressed.

4. When there is an apostrophe, the stress rules for the original word do not change. The original word is stressed as if it had no extra ending added to it. All the syllables after the apostrophe are always unstressed.

Below is a chart illustrating the stress rules.

The main stress is bold and indicated by an apostrophe ('), secondary stresses are indicatied by a double quote ("), unstressed syllables have no markings

Word
Stress Pattern
dege
dege
de' ge
veuarde
veuarde
ve" u ar' de
hipar&duse
hiparįduse
hi" par a' du se
 faeuire
faeuire
 fa e" u ir' e
Words with apostrophes retain the stress of the original word, the letters after the apostrophe are unstressed.
kasuto'sa
Kasuto'sa
ka su' to sa
Sections Hylian to English