scɽ̂ɘ̱:sʌ́ƞ ⟨ c̀ꞁ̇ɘ ı̀ɘɜ̱̀v ⟩
The Kalob Abjhad Writing System
The Kalob Abjhad script is an attempt to create a featural, x-height-restricted abjad. To prevent visual collisions and maintain a dense, uniform horizontal ribbon of text, most base consonants lack ascenders and descenders (the consonants that do not have aspirated versions have descenders). Vowels are represented by combining diacritics placed above the consonants, while the aspirated +h modifier is represented by a macron diacritic placed below.
Orthography Guide
Consonants
The script relies on 17 specific Latin Extended and IPA characters. They are grouped phonologically, utilizing crisp geometric shapes for stops and open curves for affricates/fricatives.
Stops & Fricatives
The aspirated (+h) versions of each consonant are formed by adding a combining macron below the base glyph (̱).
| Group | Base (Unvoiced) | +h (Unvoiced) | Voiced | +h (Voiced) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labials (p, b) | e (p) | e̱ (ph) | ɘ (b) | ɘ̱ (bh) |
| Alveolars (t, d) | ʌ (t) | ʌ̱ (th) | v (d) | v̱ (dh) |
| Velars (k, g) | c (k) | c̱ (kh) | ↄ (g) | ↄ̱ (gh) |
| Approximants (q) | ʊ (q) | ʊ̱ (qh) | — | — |
| Sibilants (s, z) | s (s) | s̱ (sh) | ƨ (z) | ƨ̱ (zh) |
| Affricates (c, j) | ɛ (c) | ɛ̱ (ch) | ɜ (j) | ɜ̱ (jh) |
Nasals, Liquids, & Glides
These characters act as standard consonants and take vowel diacritics exactly like the stops.
| Latin | Character |
|---|---|
| m | q |
| n | ƞ |
| l | ꞁ |
| r | ɽ |
| y | ɥ |
Vowels (Diacritics)
Kalob operates natively as an impure abjad (C[V]). Consonants are inherently vowelless. To indicate a vowel, a specific combining mark is added directly above the consonant of that syllable.
| Latin | Vowel Diacritic | Example on 'p' (e) |
|---|---|---|
| a | Grave (◌̀) | è |
| e | Acute (◌́) | é |
| i | Circumflex (◌̂) | ê |
| o | Dot (◌̇) | ė |
| u | Diaeresis (◌̈) | ë |
| v | Caron (◌̌) | ě |
| w | Tilde (◌̃) | ẽ |
The Null Consonant & Hiatus (ı)
Because vowels must attach to a consonant, any word that begins with a vowel (or any syllable featuring vowel hiatus) requires a structural anchor.
Kalob uses the dotless ı (mapped to optional Latin x which is automatically inserted where needed) as its null consonant.
- Word-Initial Vowel: ag → ı̀ↄ
- Vowel Hiatus: phajhua → è̱ɜ̱ı̈ı̀
Syllable Boundaries & The Dash (-)
Because Kalob vowels attach directly to the preceding consonant, words with complex syllable structures (like CVCVCVC) can sometimes cause a vowel to incorrectly attach to a coda consonant rather than acting as the onset of a new syllable.
To force a syllable boundary and ensure a vowel separates from a prior consonant, use a hyphen (-). This tells the converter to break the sequence, allowing the vowel to attach to a null consonant (ı) if necessary, or simply preventing unwanted consonant-vowel combinations.
The "Tool U" Shortcut
To reduce diacritic clutter above the x-height for high-frequency grammatical particles, Kalob features a specific punctuation shortcut.
When the vowel u (◌̈) attaches to the null consonant ı to form the independent syllable ı̈ (representing "Tool U" in the grammar), it can be entirely replaced by a standard colon:
- ı̈ → :