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The Negaleg language (TwIPhASmO [T-eye- far-so] as the Negalegs call it) has an alphabet of 21 letters, known as TwIA (T-eye-ah). The chart below is a basic overview of written and spoken TwIPhASmO sound forms.

English Approximation

Pronunciation

Sharp “Ff”

Short outburst of air, as in ‘puh’

Ch as in cheese

Sh as in ‘Shut’

Softened ‘B’ as in ‘buh’

Softened ‘C’ as in ‘cuh’

Softened ‘G’ as in ‘lug’

Softened ‘S’ as in ‘sew’

Softened ‘P’ as in ‘lope’

‘ock’ as in ‘sock’

‘S’ cut off by letting the tongue go limp
Long ‘S’ as in ‘less’, allowed to trail off
Short, sharp ‘S’ as in ‘sat’

Sharp, long ‘S’ as in ‘hiss’

Sharp! Like normal ‘T’ only with more air pressure, through pursed lips
Same as English

Long ‘H’ as in ‘hard’

‘Ar’ as in ‘far’

‘Ee’ as in ‘glee’

Sounds like ‘eye’

Oh as in ‘slow’

Here is the Negaleg alphabet as it would be written (with English Approximations)

Vital to the meaning of the words is the inflection with which they are said. Translated into scripture, the inflective instructions are thus:
Sarcastic: A diagonal stoke down the bottom right third of the letters
Joyous: A diagonal stoke down the middle of the letters
Suggestive: A diagonal stoke down the top left third of the letters
Angry: Horizontal stroke through the center of each letter
Forceful: Horizontal stroke through the bottom third of each letter
Tender: Horizontal stroke through the center of each letter
Questioning: A horizontal stroke through the top of the letter

This can, of course, cause some confusion if all indicators were to be used at once, but this is not necessary. Therefore, the same letter could be:

Depending on the way that it is written. A broad vertical stroke indicates that the letter is a mistake and has been crossed out (usually a scribble is used to cover offending letters/words). In the English form of writing TwIPhASmO, the three most common forms of expressing intent are bold for angry or strong, Underlined for questioning and italic for joyous.

The final addition to writing is numbers. The first ten letters of the alphabet double as numbers, transformed by a witch-hat like shape above them. In speech, the sound on its own is uniquely that number (ie. 1 is ‘Ph’)

Negaleg letters are written in a similar manner to Human letters, only slightly reversed. Where human counting would put numbers in thousands-tens-ones configuration, Negaleg numbers are in ones-tens-thousands configuration. Therefore 127 would be expressed 721.

To the left is a typical piece of Negaleg writing paper.
Negaleg writing occurs on a diagonal and is read from bottom right to top left. Blank squares indicate a new sentence, this is the only punctuation within the written language. All that is required to impart meaning is the emotive accents and symbols themselves.

A single spot indicates a new word, double spot indicates the end of a sentence.

Prefix/suffixes

In writing English TwIPhASmO, prefixes and suffixes are separated from the word by a full stop and no space.

Prefixes govern tense in verbs.

SwE (s-ee) – Past tense ie. “walked” would be “SwE.TwIClAr” (s-ee Tee-kah)
SwBh (s-‘puh’)– Present tense ie. “is walking/walks” would be “SwBh.TwIClAr” (s-‘puh’ Tee-kah)
OPl (Oh-p) - Future tense ie. “(Will) walk” would be “OPl.TwIClAr” (Oh-p Tee-kah)

Also additional is a rough measure of time, a prefix to a prefix if you like, which can be added to SwE or OPl.

H added to Swe, (h- swe) means a short time ago, ie. HSwE.TwIClAr (ha-s-ee Tee-kah)
Ch added to Swe, (ch-swe) means a long time ago, ie. ChSwE.TwIClAr (Ch-s-ee Tee-kah)

Prefixes also govern ownership in nouns.

PlO (poh)- Mine ie. “My hat” would be PlO.Esn (poh-ee-ss)
SO (soh)- His/her ie. “His/her hat” would be SO.Esn (soh-ee-ss)
ThO (thoh)- Ours ie. “Our hat” would be ThO.Esn (thoh-ee-ss)
BlO (boh)- Yours ie. “Your hat” would be BlO.Esn (boh-ee-ss)

An example of these prefixes at work is “My hat walks”:
PlO.Esn SwBh.TwIClAr (poh-ee-ss s-‘puh’ Tee-kah) literally “Mine hat walks”

Prefixes indicate a plural

Ph (ff) as a prefix indicates plural ie. “Hats” would be Ph.Esn (ff-ee-ss).

Plural prefixes can be used prior to other prefixes, ie. PhPlO.Esn (ff-poh-ee-ss) “My Hats”

Suffixes are always adjectival. Here is an example:

StE (st-ee) - old ie. “Elder” would be “PhASmO.StE” (far-so-stee), literally “Negaleg Old”.

Other suffixes include:
ESt (ee-st) – new (the reverse of old), ie. “PhASmO.ESt” (far-so-eest), “Negaleg New”
AP (ah-p)- big/large, ie. “PhASmO.AP” (far-so-ah-p), “Negaleg Big”
PA (pah)- small/little, ie. “PhASmO.PA” (far-so-pah), “Negaleg Little”

Additional suffixes add to the strength of the descriptions:
ThE (th-ee)- very ie. “My boss is a very big Negaleg”
PlOTwOBl PhASmO.ThEAP (poh-tw-oh-bul far-so-thee-ah-p), literally “Mine overseer Negaleg very big”

Eth (ee-th)- slightly ie. “My boss is a slightly large Negaleg”
PlOTwOBl PhASmO.EthAP (poh-tw-oh-bul far-so-eeth-ah-p), literally “Mine overseer Negaleg slightly big”

Compound Words

As in many Human languages, TwIPhASmO easily adds several different words together to form new and more descriptive ones.

The general rule with the formation of compound words is that nouns precede adjectives:

Caste is HOG (how-gh), warrior is SwETwA (ss-ee-t-ah), therefore warrior caste is HOGSwETwa (how-gh-ss-ee-t-ah).

Nouns also precede verbs:

Trail is EGl (ee-guh) Walk is TwIClAr (Tee-kah), therefore footprints is EGlTwIClAr (ee-guh- Tee-kah), literally “trail walk”.

This process can be used with any number of word elements, including prefixes and suffixes, as in SwETwAPhASmO.StE, “elder warrior” (literally “Warrior Negaleg Old”).

Sentence structure
Example sentence: I feel my legs are cold.
Base rules of formulating a sentence are thus:
• The subject of the sentence ALWAYS comes last. (Me feel legs cold mine.)
• Proper nouns, if present, come first. (Me feel legs cold mine)
• Verbs/adjectives relating to the accusative (what the sentence is about, ie. the ball or the dog) follow the accusative noun. ie. (Me feel legs cold mine.)
• Verbs relating to the nominative (the person/viewpoint from which the sentence is presented) precede the noun (Me feel legs cold mine.)

Numbers

It is important to note that numbers are the only words without vowel sounds, and should be pronounced with sharp hisses of air with very little vocal tone.

0 = Ph (ff)
1 = Bh (‘puh’)
2 = Ch (ch)
3 = Sh (sh)
4 = Bl (b)
5 = Cl (c)

6 = Gl (geh)
7 = Sl (s)
8 = Pl (p)
9 = Sc (ock)
10 = PhBh (ff-puh)

15 = ClBh (c-puh)
20 = PhCh (ff-ch)
40 = PhBl (ff-b)
100 = PhPhBh (ff-ff-puh)
1000 = PhPhPhBh (ff-ff-ff-puh)

Common Words

TwIPhASmO / English

English / TwIPhASmO

ABlI (ar-eye) – Level (rank)

EGl (ee-guh) – Trail

Esn (ee-ss) – Hat

HETwA (h-ee-t-ah) - Miscellaneous

HOG (h-oh-guh) – Caste

HOPhI (h-oe-ff-eye) - Human

ISm (eye-sah) - Where

OPhESm (Oh-ff-ee-s) – Approve/agree

PlAStE (par-s-ee) – Friends

PlETwA (how-gh-p-ee-t-ah) - Laborer

PhASmO (far-so) – Negaleg

PhASmO.StE (far-so-stee) – Elder

PhETwA (ff-ee-t-ah) - Laborer

SwA (ss-ah) – With/accompanied by

SwETwA (ss-ee-t-ah) – Warrior

ThABh (thar-‘puh’) – Dance

TwA (tw-ah) - Toilet

TwI (T-eye) –Tongue/language

TwIPhASmO (T-eye- far-so) - Negaleg language

TwIClAr (Tee-kah) – Walk

TwOBl (tw-oh-bul) – Overseer (boss)

Approve/agree – OPhESm (Oh-ff-ee-s)

Caste – HOG (h-oh-guh)

Dance - ThABh (thar-‘puh’)

Elder - PhASmO.StE (far-so-stee)

Friends PlAStE - (par-s-ee)

Hat – Esn (ee-ss)

Human - HOPhI (h-oe-ff-eye)

Laborer - PhETwA (ff-ee-t-ah)

Level (rank) - ABlI (ar-eye)

Miscellaneous - HETwA (h-ee-t-ah)

Negaleg- PhASmO (far-so)

Negaleg language - TwIPhASmO (T-eye- far-so)

Overseer (boss) - TwOBl (tw-oh-bul)

Scientist - HOGPlETwA (how-gh-p-ee-t-ah)

Toilet – TwA (tw-ah)

Tongue/language - TwI (T-eye)

Trail – EGl (ee-guh)

Warrior – SwETwA (ss-ee-t-ah)

Walk – TwIClAr (Tee-kah)

Where - ISm (eye-sah)

With/accompanied by – SwA (ss-ah)

A Rough Guide to Negaleg/Human translation (written)