New Fan Works
Old Fan Works
Zelda Series
Multimedia
Features
Interactive
Site Info
|
The Hylian Alphabet
taz akt@e hilana
Taz Akta·ie Hilana
The Hylian alphabet is phonetic
in nature, i.e. each symbol represents a disctinct sound. This is similar
to the English alphabet, but is much more definite. Each Hylian letter
represents only one and only one sound. The letters themselves are very
simple block letters. Notice that the shapes consist only of right angles
and straight lines, which makes the letters very simple to write and easy
to discern.
The most important aspect
of the language is transliteration of the words from the Hylian alphabet
to the Roman alphabet. Transliteration is spelling the words from a foriegn
alphabet into another alphabet. Translation is telling what the word means
in another language. Don't confuse transliteration with translation.
A fact that makes the Hylian
language easy to learn is that the letters are read from left to right
and top to bottom. In other words, Hylian is read the same way English
is. Many alphabets, such as the Roman alphabet which we use, has capital
and lowercase letters. Hylian however, has only one set of letters. There
are no capital or lowercase letters, all are in the same case.
|
Hylian Letter
|
Transliteration
|
Name
|
Pronunciation
|
|
a
|
akte
(AHK-tay)
|
Like the a
in "father". |
|
�
|
akte as�nta
(AHK-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of akte. |
|
�
|
�kte
(ACK-tay)
|
Like the a
in "hat". |
|
�
|
�kte
(ACK-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of �kte. |
|
a·i
|
a·ite
(EYE-tay)
|
Like the word "I". This
is a diphthong that is a combonation of akte and ite. It
is pronounced as a single sound. |
 < >
|
�·�
|
a·ite as�nta
(EYE-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version of the
above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern.
This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of a.ite. |
|
a·u
|
a·ute
(OW-tay)
|
Like the ow in "how".
This is a diphthong that is a combonation of akte and ute.
It is pronounced as a single sound. |
|
�·�
|
a·ute as�nta
(OW-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version of the
above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern.
This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of a.ute. |
|
b
|
bete
(BAY-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
b. |
|
d
|
date
(DAH-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
d. |
|
e
|
ete
(EY-tay)
|
Like the a
in "hate". |
|
�
|
ete as�nta
(EY-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of ete. |
|
�
|
�nte
(ENN-tay)
|
Like the e
in "get". |
|
�
|
�nte as�nta
(ENN-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of �nte. |
|
f
|
fete
(FAY-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
f. |
|
g
|
gante
(GONN-tay)
|
Pronounced like an English
hard g, as in "give". |
|
h
|
h�nte
(HEN-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
h. |
|
i
|
ite
(EE-tay)
|
Like the ee
in "see". |
|
�
|
ite as�nta
(EE-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of ite. |
|
�
|
�nte
(INN-tay)
|
Like the i
in "give". |
|
�
|
�nte as�nta
(INN-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of �nte. |
|
i·u
|
i·ute
(YOU-tay)
|
Like the word "you". This
is a diphthong that is a combonation of ite and ute. It is
pronounced as a single sound. |
|
�·�
|
i·ute as�nta
(YOU-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version of the
above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern.
This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of i.ute. |
|
j
|
jate
(JAH-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
j or soft g. |
|
jh
|
jhete
(ZHAY-tay)
|
Like the s in "measure",
or j in French "Jacques". |
|
k
|
kate
(KAH-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
k. |
|
kh
|
khate
(KHAH-tay)
|
This sound doesn't exist in English. It is similar to the German "ch", like in
Bach, or the arabic letter  |
|
l
|
lete
(LAY-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
l. |
|
m
|
mate
(MAH-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
m. |
|
n
|
note
(NO-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
n. |
|
o
|
ote
(OH-tay)
|
Like the
o in "home". |
|
�
|
ote as�nta
(OH-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of ote. |
|
o·a
|
to·ate
(TAW-tay)
|
Like the aw in "law".
This is a diphthong that is a combonation of ote and akte.
It is pronounced as a single sound. |
|
�·�
|
to·ate as�nta
(TAW-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version of the
above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress pattern.
This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form of to·ate. |
|
p
|
pate
(PAH-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
p. |
|
r
|
rote
(ROW-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
r. |
|
s
|
sate
(SAH-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
s. It is always pronounced like the s in "sit". It never
sounds like the s in "dogs". |
|
sh
|
sh�nte
(SHIN-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
sh. |
|
t
|
tote
(TOE-tay)
|
Pronounced the same as English
t. |
|
th
|
thate
(THAH-tay)
|
Pronounced like the th
in English "thin". It is never pronounced like the th "the". |
|
u
|
ute
(OOH-tay)
|
Like the
oo in "food". |
|
�
|
ute as�nta
(OOH-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of ute. |
|
�
|
�nte
(UN-tay)
|
Like the
u "fun". |
|
�
|
�nte as�nta
(UN-tay
ah-SENN-tah)
|
Accented version
of the above letter, used in words that do not follow the normal stress
pattern. This is not considered a seperate letter, it is a different form
of �nte. |
|
v
|
vete
(VAY-tay)
|
Pronounced the
same as English v. |
|
w
|
wante
(WONN-tay)
|
Pronounced the
same as English w. |
|
y
|
yote
(YOE-tay)
|
Pronounced the
same as English y. It is always used as a consonant as in "yes",
never as a vowel as in "my". |
|
z
|
zante
(ZAHN-tay)
|
Pronounced the
same as English z. |
Word
Stress
One
of the most important rules to know in order to speak properly is the proper
stressing of syllables in a word. Some languages, such as Japanese place
very little emphasis on syllable stress. Other languages, such as ones
in the Indo-European family (which includes English), have very specific
rules for which syllables to stress in a word. English happens to have
very irregular stress patterns in its words, mainly because of the vast
influences from foreign languages. Fortunately, Hylian has very regular
stress patterns.
1.
All words have their primary stress on the second to last syllable, unless
there is a written accent mark. If there is an accent mark, then the marked
syllable receives the primary stress.
2.
All words have secondary stresses on the fourth to last syllable, unless
there is a written accent mark. If there is an accent mark, then the secondary
stress falls on every other syllable before the accent mark. For
example, the word "hipar�duse" has an irregular stress pattern because
it has an accent mark. The stress pattern for this word is /hi" par a'
du se/. The third syllable /a'/ is stressed. The secondary stress
is on /hi"/, which is the first syllable.
3.
All syllables that do not receive a primary or secondary stress are unstressed.
And all syllables after an accent mark are also unstressed.
4.
When there is an apostrophe, the stress rules for the original word do
not change. The original word is stressed as if it had no extra ending
added to it. All the syllables after the apostrophe are always unstressed.
Below
is a chart illustrating the stress rules.
The
main stress is bold and indicated by an apostrophe ('), secondary stresses
are indicatied by a double quote ("), unstressed syllables have no markings
|
Word
|
Stress
Pattern
|
|
dege
|
dege
|
de' ge
|
|
veuarde
|
veuarde
|
ve" u ar' de
|
|
hipar&duse
|
hipar�duse
|
hi" par a' du se
|
|
faeuire
|
faeuire
|
fa e" u ir' e
|
|
Words with apostrophes retain the
stress of the original word, the letters after the apostrophe are unstressed.
|
|
|
kasuto'sa
|
Kasuto'sa
|
ka su' to sa
|
|
Sections
Hylian to
English
|
