Sethun · the script

The Thirty Letters

One letter, one sound. No letter is silent, no sound is shared, and no word is pronounced other than as it is written. Each glyph has an engraved form and a handwritten form.

Reading the grid

The heavy form is the engraved capital, cut with a chisel at fixed angles. The lighter form beneath is the handwritten lowercase, which drops the upper third so a line of text sits on one rule. Letter names are themselves Luadan words.

Vowel cuts

1. an

a · /a/

the open quarry

2. arn

á · /aː/

the long shadow

3. eth

e · /e/

the level line

5. orn

o · /o/

the wheel

6. ur

u · /u/

the cupped hand

7. yl

y · /y/

the split reed

8. øth

ö · /ø/

the shuttered lamp

Struck cuts

4. iv

i · /i/

the plumb

9. pel

p · /p/

the post

10. bar

b · /b/

the anvil

11. tal

t · /t/

the crossbeam

12. dun

d · /d/

the door

13. kar

k · /k/

the chisel

14. gorn

g · /g/

the gear tooth

Flowing cuts

15. mor

m · /m/

the mountain

16. nen

n · /n/

the river bend

17. ngal

ŋ · /ŋ/

the yoke

18. rok

r · /r/

the crag

19. lun

l · /l/

the shore

29. jed

j · /j/

the seedling

30. wel

w · /w/

the twin oars

Breath cuts

20. sef

s · /s/

the current

21. zar

z · /z/

the struck spark

22. shen

š · /ʃ/

the falling water

23. thar

þ · /θ/

the breath of stone

24. fen

f · /f/

the flag

25. vor

v · /v/

the keel

26. hain

h · /h/

the open gate

27. tsek

c · /ts/

the shear

28. khul

x · /x/

the wind over the pass

Numerals

0

nul

1

an

2

du

3

þri

4

kar

5

hand

6

hand-an

7

hand-du

8

hand-þri

9

hand-kar

10

tel

Strokes count to four; five closes into a box; ten is a boxed cross. Higher orders repeat the boxed forms with a vertical rule cut between columns.