Derani
The Derani alphabet (Toaq: (áofabeta mı Deranı)) is the official native writing system of Toaq, first introduced in Toaq Delta. It is the successor of Hoelai.
Symbols
Letters
Below is a list of Derani letters. Vowels share letters with consonants.
| Derani | Latin | Name | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| | M | (mameı) | /m/ |
| | B, U | (bubue) | /b/, /u/ |
| | P | (pıpoq) | /pʰ/ |
| | F, E | (fofuaq) | /f/, /ɛ/ |
| | N | (nanaq) | /n/ |
| | D | (dudeo) | /d/ |
| | T | (tıtıeq) | /tʰ/ |
| | Z | (zozeo) | /d͡z/ |
| | C, I | (cecoa) | /t͡sʰ/, /i/ |
| | S, A | (saqseoq) | /s/, /a/ |
| | R | (raırua) | /ɾ/ |
| | L | (laolıq) | /l/ |
| | NH | (nhanhoq) | /ɲ/ |
| | J | (jujuo) | /d͡ʑ/ |
| | CH | (chıchao) | /t͡ɕʰ/ |
| | SH | (shoshıa) | /ɕ/ |
| | Ꝡ | (ꝡeꝡa) | /w~j/ |
| | Q | (aq'aq) | /ŋ/ |
| | G, O | (guguı) | /ɡ/, /o/ |
| | K | (kıkue) | /kʰ/ |
| [note 1] | ' | (o'aomo) | /ʔ/ |
| | H | (hehaq) | /h/ |
- ↑ O'aomo is only used in order to clear up ambiguities. Other than that, it is not used. For example, in (aq'aq), is not used because (q) cannot be a vowel, meaning there are no ambiguities.
When reading, one should assume that the first letter is a consonant. If the second letter is consonant-only, the first letter should be a vowel.
Prefixes are separated from the main word by a after the last prefix.
Tones
The first tone 
is not marked.
| Tone | Derani | Latin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (falling) | ◌ | ◌ |
| 2 (rising) | ◌ | ◌́ |
| 3 (low glottal) | ◌ | ◌̈ |
| 4 (rising-falling) | ◌ | ◌̂ |
Punctuation
| Derani | Usage |
|---|---|
| | declarative full stop |
| | non-declarative, non-interogative full stop |
| | question mark |
| | subordination mark, marks increase or decrease in clausal nesting |
| | quotation mark |
| and | marks variables to which can be referred with anaphoric pronouns (only the head of a serial gets marked) |
| | for determiners with null complements (e.g. saying (sá) instead of (sá raı)) |
Unicode encoding
To type Derani characters, we use the block EDB0–EDEF of the Unicode Private Use Area. Check out the toaq/fonts repository on GitHub for fonts that can display these characters. See here for typing Derani.
| EDBx | EDCx | EDDx | EDEx | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | | DERANI LETTER MAMEI | | DERANI LETTER SHOSHIA | ◌ | DERANI COMBINING RISING TONE | | DERANI MODIFIER LETTER PREFIX |
| 1 | | DERANI LETTER MAMEI CODA | | DERANI LETTER VEVA | ◌ | DERANI COMBINING LOW GLOTTAL TONE | | DERANI QUOTATION MARK |
| 2 | | DERANI LETTER BUBUE | | DERANI LETTER AQ-AQ | ◌ | DERANI COMBINING RISING-FALLING TONE | | DERANI SUBORDINATION MARK |
| 3 | | DERANI LETTER PIPOQ | | DERANI LETTER GUGUI | ◌◌ | DERANI COMBINING HIATUS MARK | | DERANI DECLARATIVE FULL STOP |
| 4 | | DERANI LETTER FOFUAQ | | DERANI LETTER KIKUE | ◌◌ | DERANI COMBINING DIPHTHONG MARK | | DERANI OTHER FULL STOP |
| 5 | | DERANI LETTER NANAQ | | DERANI LETTER O-AOMO | | DERANI INTERROGATIVE FULL STOP | ||
| 6 | | DERANI LETTER DUDEO | | DERANI LETTER HEHAQ | | DERANI START OF CARTOUCHE | ||
| 7 | | DERANI LETTER TITIEQ | | DERANI END OF CARTOUCHE | ||||
| 8 | | DERANI LETTER ZOZEO | | DERANI SYMBOL FOR NULL VARIABLE | ||||
| 9 | | DERANI LETTER CECOA | ||||||
| A | | DERANI LETTER SAQSEOQ | ||||||
| B | | DERANI LETTER RAIRUA | ||||||
| C | | DERANI LETTER LAOLIQ | ||||||
| D | | DERANI LETTER NHANHOQ | ||||||
| E | | DERANI LETTER JUJUO | ||||||
| F | | DERANI LETTER CHICHAO | ||||||
Use of the combining characters follows Unicode convention, with tone marks appearing immediately after the letter they attach to, and the diphthong mark appearing between the two letters it attaches to.
The encoding has separate characters for the start and end of a cartouche. This is because cartouches can span across more than one word, and so fonts need both ends delineated to know which letters they extend over.