Orthography

The script is fundamentally latin based, to represent the majority of Indo-European languages today, but with extended consonants and long vowels.

The latin inspired consonants are thus: [b d f g h k l m n p r s t v z]. It can be observed that it maintains the principle of one grapheme per phoneme, and there are no silent consonants or doubling for grammatical marking. For example, veritas (truth, factual correctness) is pronounced /veritas/, a stable phoneme to grapheme mapping.

There are also extended, extra-latin consonants: [Þ C X J].

Þ - Thorn. Represents /θ/, for example with Þu (/θu/, you sg.), Þar (/θar/, there), Þei (/θei/, they). Þ never alternates with ð (/ð/) in spelling, and non Germanic speakers may struggle to differentiate the phonetic difference. Voicing of Þ is phonetic only.

C - Cair. Represents /ts/, an example being certum (/tsertum/, certainty; established fact). It should be noted that C is never pronounced /k/, which is represented by k.

X - Xen. Represents /ks/, for example in the word ex (/eks/, out of; from). It should not be mistaken with ẍ (/z/). The cluster is preserved in spelling regardless of phonetic simplification

Ẍ - Zar. Represents /z/, for example in the word Ẍronos (/zronos/, sequential, measurable time)

J - Jor. Represents /dʒ/ or /j/, depending on context. If Jor features at the start of a word, the pronunciation is /j/, but if Jor appears part way or at the end of a word, the pronunciation is /dʒ/. Example of this include Ju (/ju/, you pl.) and Storjé (/stordʒeː/, familial affection, especially between relatives). Whilst pronunciation is context-sensitive, spelling is invariant.

The vowel system is built on a pairing system of short and long vowels. The short vowels are thus: [a e i o u y]. They are stable monophthongs and there is no reduction or deletion in writing. For example, Tempus (/tempus/, duration of time; time as a continuum), or Dominum (/dominum/, ownership; lordship; dominion).

Long vowels are marked with an acute accent above the vowel: [á é í ó ú ý]. For example, Gnó (/gnoː/, to know as a fact), or Mnémé (/mneːmeː/, memory; recollection). Long vowels are optional in informal writing, but in scholarly texts when contrastive meaning is required, they are obligatory.

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Diphthongs are strictly due to preservation from etymological sources. Examples include AléÞeia (/aleːθeia/, uncolcealed truth; revelation of reality). Diphthongs are never simplified and function as semantic-historical markers

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There are additionally Phoneme-to-Grapheme principles:

1. One-to-One Mapping Principle: each phoneme has a stable orthographic representation:

   1. Es /es/ : to be; to exist

   2. Mi /mi/ : I

   3. Vi /vi/ : we

   4. Þu /θu/ : you sg.

2. No Silent Graphemes: every written character corresponds to: a phoneme, or: a historical-etymological component that remains semantically active. For example: Veritas remains full Latin morphological structure despite phonological simplification in descendant languages.

3. Etymological Preservation Rule: borrowed lexemes retain their original structural identity, whether that's from the Latin, Greek, Germanic or other layer. Example comparisons include:

   1. Veritas /veritas/ (Latin epistemic truth)

   2. AléÞeia /aleːθeia/ (Greek unconcealed, revealed truth)

   3. Despite a similar gloss ("truth"), orthography preserves conceptual origin distinction.

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The Capitalisation System is category-sensitive rather than purely syntactic. Proper nouns (Odin, one; Mi, I; Þu, you sg.) are always capitalised. All nouns can be capitalised at the authors discretion. Capitalising a non-proper noun creates a philosophical, scholarly and metaphorical tone. Veritas would mean undeniable truth, say, in the context of theology, whereas veritas means just truth or factual correctness. It is a nuance difficult to express outside of Archaeval.

Functional words are never capitalised (es, et, ex, en, per, meta).

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Compounds are written as seperated orthographic units by an apostrophe ('). For example, kratos and imperium (meaning: power, strength, dominion; sovereign command - respectively) when combined gives kratos'imperium or imperium'kratos. Word order is largely irrelevant, and up to the authors discretion. The Capitalisation system can be used here, and so if we were talking about the 'concept' or 'metaphorical' theory of the strength of a sovereign command in a Constitutional Monarchy, we would be given Kratos'imperium or imperium'Kratos. Word order remains discretional in the presence of a capitalisation

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A minimal but functionally dense punctuation set is used:

1. Interpunct (·): seperates syntactic unity without full sentence termination: Þu-es frím· mi-gnó sofíam. (You are free; I know wisdom (for a fact).

2. Eshapunct (.): terminates a sentence. In informal writing, can be used as frequently as the interpunct, but in formal, scholarly work, is used infrequently, and typically to mark the end of a paragraph: veritas-es certumum. (Truth is certain.)

3. AléÞeipunct (:): introduces elaboration or a definition, and can be used interchangeably with -es: sofía: noésisim un Caritasam. (Wisdom is conceptual understanding and benevolence towards others (metaphorical Caritas).