The native Asha'ille writing system is a cursive script called the kateinu yîréb. It developed from an angular script, traditionally written vertically and left-to-right on braided strands of grass. Interestingly, this writing order is very uncommon among natural languages: only Mongolian (and its relatives) are written this way, according to Wikipedia.
Below is the entire modern alphabet, the right-hand side version colorized to show each letter's separation from the one on either side of it:
The following chart shows the letters' standard Romanization and pronunciation values.
| Orth. | IPA | Orth. | IPA | Orth. | IPA | Orth. | IPA | Orth. | IPA | Orth. | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| k, c* | k | y | j | m | m | jh | Ê’ | p | p | ' | Ê” |
| a | ɑ | î | ɪ | i | i | ai | ɑi | g | g | ml | m͜l |
| t | t | r | ɹ | gh | x | v | v | sh | ʃ | ch | tʃ |
| ae, ei | e | e | ɛ | z | z | ln | ɫ̃ | th | θ | j | dʒ |
| n | n | b | b | l | l | d | d | dh | ð | ||
| u | u | s | s | o | o | f | f | o† | É” |
* Romanized c for /k/ occurs when, etymologically speaking, the sound derived from /x/. In the native script, it may be written as the letter k, gh, or the relatively rare c (not shown above), which is similar in form to gh with an added hat on the first semi-circle.
† No longer in use; historical letter only.
For a detailed discussion of each character, see the fonts page.
Young Creseans learn a refrain to help them remember the order of the alphabet. They may also use it as an excuse or apology to a teacher when the class has not finished whatever tasks were assigned:
Kateinu yîréb 'sa migh, zalojhaiv lnad feipám eg shath dhoò, mlchîshe jo.
"Regarding that challenging, instructive alphabet writing assignment, your students — saddened and dreading to admit this — have not completed it, my teacher."
Artistic Uses
The kateinu yîréb is normally written top-to-bottom, left-to-right. However, any of the four major directions are acceptable. In addition to this flexibility, more "artistic" layouts are encouraged for decorative purposes.
This flower image says kr'emeirjhom, which means no flowers. I created this wallpaper over the summer of 2005, when I interned at Microsoft. My boss told me that I should feel free to customize my work machine however I pleased — except that flowery wallpapers were strictly prohibited. British humor. "No flowers!" he said.
So the next day I showed up with this wallpaper, which literally says "No flowers!" He said he could tell that this would be a difficult internship, if I was already acting so disobedient my first week of work. Good times. :)
Then, while doodling at the bookstore in January 2006, I noticed that the Asha'illization of my family name had a nice repetition of double-curved consonants. I spent enough time rearranging Rájerîz until it looked like a four-leaf clover.
Fonts
See my page about kateinu yîréb fonts.
