Dehai Blin Standard

Blin Alphabet (Dehai Standard)


 e     u      i      a      ie    _      o

he hu hi ha hie h ho, (head) le lu li la lie l lo, (Libya) He Hu Hi Ha Hie H Ho, (Haben) me mu mi ma mie m mo, (man) re ru ri ra rie r ro, (red) se su si sa sie s so, (sun) she shu shi sha shie sh sho, (sheet) qe qu qi qa qie q qo, (qal (word) Qe - Qi Qa Qie - Q, (QanQ be bu bi ba bie b bo, (boy) te tu ti ta tie t to, (table) Te Tu Ti Ta Tie T To, (Tel) ne nu ni na nie n no, (neck) ke ku ki ka kie k ko, (kettle) Ke Ku Ki Ka Kie K Ko, (koKob) kwe - kwi kwa kwie kw -, (kwaKw (crow) Kwe - Kwi Kwa Kwie Kw -, (KwaKewito) we wu wi wa wie w wo, (way) ye yu yi ya yie y yo, (Yodit) de du di da die d do, (day) ge gu gi ga gie g go, (gate) je ju ji ja jie j jo (genes) Che Chu Chi Cha Chie Ch Cho (Chena) Pe Pu Pi Pa Pie P Po (Paulos) nge nguu ngi nga ngie ng ngo (lengeta, 7) ngwe - ngwi ngwa ngwie ngw - (bungwa, lier) Gw - Gwi Ga Gwie Gw - (Gwana) fe fu fi fa fie f fo (fat) E U I A IE _ O (Ona) e u i a ie i o (om, tree) ze zu zi za zie z zo (zereba, speech) Se Su Si Sa Sie S So (SeHai, sun)

Note on use of script and alphabet

  1. Blin, as far as I know, is written in Geez script

  2. I personally prefer to write it in Geez script and my present attempts to write in the Latin Alphabet is merely for Dehai consumption.

  3. Two typical Blin sounds should be added to the dehai (Latin) standard: the velar nasal nge and its labilised form ngwe. In the Geez script they are written as the way g and G are written except that there is a dash above every letter. Both sounds never come at the beginning of a word. The sound for nge is similar to the English sound of the word going as in lenga = two, lengeta = seveen. ngwe appears in bungwa = lier, sungwera = a kind of tree.

  4. ze and Se do not appear in Blin but are used to pronounce loan words from Semitic language surrounding Blin, as in Selot (prayer), neSanet (freedom), Zeru (proper name).