Liyahu is a constructed language created by Xay Voong during the development of a role-playing video game. The core concepts are based on the trinity entities
mind,
body, and
soul. The philosophy is rational, structural, straightforward, compact and concise.
Character CompositionLetters and numbers are made of up three symbols--called
vi--positioned around the skeleton, or skel--called
nga. (Note the symbols may be color coded, but not necessary.)
 |  |  |
| Mind | Body | Soul |
| livi | yavi | huvi |
| blue | green | red |
 |  |
| Skel | Down skel |
ngavi
also mingavi (up skel) | vangavi |
| letters | numbers |
AlphabetLetters--called
la--are written with
mingavi (up skel) arranged either
horizontally or
vertically.
VowelsNote: Some Latin consonants are used as vowels when romanizing Liyahu. These are
q,
j,
c, and
x. In other words, when you see these letters, treat them as vowels. So in addition to the original
a,
e,
i,
o, and
u, there are nine vowels.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| li | ya | hu | le | lj | yq | yc | hx | ho |
| /i ɪ/ | /ɑ/ | /u ʊ/ | /ɛ a/ | /y ʉ/ | /ɔ/ | /œ ɜ/ | /ə ʌ/ | /o/ |
keep
it | hah | food
foot | pet
pat | über
Jyutping
(Cantonese)
| law | perm
seung
(Cantonese) | bundle | toe |
Consonants |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| lu | ra | rhi | yi | wu | nya | ha | khi | ghu |
| /l/ | /r/ | /ɾ/ | /j/ | /w/ | / ɲ/ | /h/ | /ħ/ | /ʔ/ |
| lull | roar | carros
(Spanish roll) | yay | wow | piña | hah | loch | but
(glottal stop) |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| ngi | ka | gu | na | tu | di | mu | pi | ba |
| /ŋ/ | /k/ | /g/ | /n/ | /t/ | /d/ | /m/ | /p/ | /b/ |
| longing | kick | gag | nun | tot | did | mom | pop | bob |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| si | tsa | shu | za | dzu | zhi | vu | fi | tha |
| /s/ | /tʃ/ | /ʃ/ | /z/ | /dʒ/ | /ʒ/ | /v/ | /f/ | /θ/ |
| sis | church | shush | zaz | judge | vision | vive | fife | thoth |
NumeralsNumbers are written with
vangavi (down skel). The empty vangavi is also used to represent
zero.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| hi | ri | wa | khu | me | ngq | nx | zhj | thc | sho |
PunctuationPunctuation marks are written with
parts of the ngavi (called
kc, sounds like cat without t) in any of the
eight directions that it is turned. Up is
mi, down is
va, left is
fq, right is
pa.
 |  |  |
| Full stop | Space | Comma |
| fqngavi | fqkcvi | vafqkcvi |
| left-full-skel | left-part-skel | down-left-part-skel |
Three-symbol characters
Three-symbol characters represent common, useful, culture-independent words.
