Language / Writing
Working Latin orthography for East African Kutchi.
This guide sets out provisional spelling conventions used in Madhaaf's documentation of Mombasa and Ethiopian Kutchi. Roman Urdu is one point of comparison, but recorded Kutchi pronunciation and usage determine the research conventions.
Letters and intended use
This letter reference is used for transcribing Kutchi examples. Apostrophes, vowel marks and (n) are retained where they preserve distinctions found in the original material.
| Letters | Intended use |
|---|---|
a, e, i, o, u | Basic vowels |
aa (ā), ee (ē), oo (ō) | Long vowels |
b, p, t, d, k, g | Common consonants |
ch, j | As in Roman Urdu chai and jaan |
kh, gh | Aspirated or other distinct sounds, depending on pronunciation |
ph, bh, th, dh | Aspirated consonants |
sh, zh | Additional consonant sounds, if present |
r, l, m, n, w, y | Common consonants |
q, f, z, h, s | Other sounds or loanwords |
(n) | Nasalized n |
‘l | Glottal L |
Published editorial notes
Editorial notes explain revisions to the writing conventions and document points that still need speaker confirmation.
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