Conjunct example: ST→ᛥ, S.T→ᛋᛏ
This keyboard is not case-sensitive.
ᚻᚪᚹ᛫ᛏᚣ᛫ᚱᛡᛏ᛫ᛁᚾ᛫ᚱᚣᚾᛋ
How to Write in Runes
I have a system of using these runes to write my dialect of American English.
Of course, if you have a different dialect, or just like runes, you
might prefer to use the keyboard differently. This is just one possible system
which is more phonetic than standard English spelling.
First of all, forget everything you know about English spelling.
My system of Runic spelling is (mostly) phonetic, unlike J. R. R. Tolkien's
system, which mostly substitutes the non-phonetic English spelling system
letter by letter. There are a few exceptions to this phonetic
system, which I will explain later. First, here is a basic guide to
writing modern English in my system of runes. I have included the
sounds of American English as I speak it in IPA (the international
phonetic alphabet), plus an example of this sound in a word,
and finally the rune to represent that sound. I start with
pure vowels, then diphthongs, and finally consonants. There is
no distinction for vowel length.
IPA
Rune
Example
ɑ
ᚪ
far
ɔ
ᛟ
hot
æ
ᚫ
hat
ɛ
ᛖ
send
ɪ
ᛁ
sit
i
ᛁᛁ
seed
ʊ
ᚣ
book
u
ᚣ
food
ə,ʌ
ᚢ
fun
ə
ᚢ
about
ɜ
ᚢ
turn
eɪ
ᛠ
stay
aɪ
ᛡ
lie
aʊ
ᚪᚹ
found
oʊ
ᚩ
no
ɔɪ
ᚩᛁ
point
p
ᛈ
pot
b
ᛒ
boy
t
ᛏ
time
d
ᛞ
dog
k
ᚳ
kite
g
ᚷ
game
tʃ
ᚳᚻ
cheese
dʒ
ᚷᚻ
jog
f
ᚠ
fear
v
ᚠ
vine
θ
ᚦ
thing
ð
ᚦ
this
s
ᛋ (ᛋᛋ)
see, lots
z
ᛋ
zebra, songs
ʃ
ᛋᚻ
share
ʒ
ᛋᚻ
measure
h
ᚻ
hole
m
ᛗ
mouth
n
ᚾ
now
ŋ, ŋg
ᛝ
ring
j
ᛄ
you
w
ᚹ
wind
ɹ
ᚱ
rain
l
ᛚ
line
You may have noticed that some runes stand for more than one sound. There are
a few other possible ambiguities. Here are some rules to clear that up.
Apostrophes and punctuation are used just like in standard English.
/i/ at the end of a word or before an apostrophe is simply ᛁ.
So you have we'll/ᚹᛁ'ᛚ, will/ᚹᛁᛚ, wheel/ᚹᛁᛁᛚ. This applies to morphemes too:
you have any/ᛖᚾᛁ, anything/ᛖᚾᛁᚦᛁᛝ. Also note that ᛁᛁ may represent /iɪ/ as in
being/ᛒᛁᛁᛝ.
If there is ambiguity between /f/ and /v/, use ᚠᚠ for /f/ and ᚠ for /v/.
So you have live/ᛚᛁᚠ, leave/ᛚᛁᛁᚠ, leaf/ᛚᛁᛁᚠᚠ, lives/ᛚᛁᚠᛋ, leaves/ᛚᛁᛁᚠᛋ. Note that
rules apply in the order they are listed here in case of a conflict.
There is similar ambiguity clarification as above for /s/ (ᛋᛋ) and /z/ (ᛋ),
So you have ones/ᚹᚢᚾᛋ, once/ᚹᚢᚾᛋᛋ
"No" is spelled ᚾᚩ and "know" is spelled ᚾᚩᚹ.
Words which use "tr" for /tʃɹ/ in standard English are spelled with ᛏᚱ, not ᚳᚻᚱ.
Similar for "dr"/ᛞᚱ and /dʒɹ/; "x"/ᛉ and /ks/. So you have truck/ᛏᚱᚢᚳ, draw/ᛞᚱᛟ,
tax/ᛏᚫᛉ, racks/ᚱᚫᚳᛋ.
Word-final /ə/ is written ᚪ. So you have comma/ᚳᛟᛗᚪ (not ᚳᛟᛗᚢ),
vanilla/ᚠᚢᚾᛁᛚᚪ. Exception: the/ᚦᛖ.
Syllabic consonants are spelled with ᚢ before the consonant. So you
have bottle/ᛒᛟᛏᚢᛚ.
ᛋ and ᛏ are optionally written together as the ligature ᛥ as in stone/ᛥᚩᚾ.
Likewise for ᚳᚹ becoming ᛢ.
The name of this alphabet is written ᚠᚢᚦᚩᚱᚳ, but pronounced /fuθork/ like "FOO-thork"
as if it were spelled ᚠᚣᚦᚩᚱᚳ.
If you'd like to contribute to this keyboard, or just check out the source code,
the GitHub is at crackalamoo/futhorc.
If you like this tool, you might also like
Aljamiado.