Adapting international words to Pandunia
Western words
Majority of international Western words are from Greek and Latin. Pronunciation of several letters have changed since the Antiquity. Pandunia uses modern pronunciation and phonemic spelling. Therefore, for example the soft c is witten with an s and the hard c is written with a k.
| Latinate | Pandunia | Notes and examples |
|---|---|---|
| c (hard) | k | café > kafe, copy > kopi, cup > kupa |
| c (soft) | s | city > site |
| g (soft) | g (hard) | geography > geografia |
| s | s / z | sol > sol, massage > masaje, rose > roze |
| ch (Greek) | h | chaos > haos, cholera > holera |
| ch (French) | x | chic > xike |
| th | t | theme > tem |
| ph | f | philosophy > filsofia |
| qu | k | mosquito > moskite |
| x | x | galaxy > galaxia |
| -tion | -tion | nation > nation, function > funtion |
The t in -tion sounds like the normal t. It doesn't sound like sh as in English or like s as in French. Therefore the t's sound identical, for example, in the derivation series ate 'act', ative 'active' and ation 'action'.
Sinitic words
Sinitic words are borrowed from East Asian languages, that include different varieties of Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, etc.), Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and sometimes also Malay, Filipino and Thai. The common ancestor of Sinitic words in these languages is Middle Chinese, which was spoken in ancient China.
Middle Chinese had three nasal finals, -n, -m and -ng, and three stop finals, -p, -t and -k. All of them are preserved by Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean. Mandarin has lost all final stops and it has merged -m to -n. Japanese has kept only one final nasal and a helping vowel is added after the final stops.
Middle Chinese was a tonal language like the modern varieties of Chinese and Vietnamese. The tone of a syllable is very important because it can differentiate one word from others. For example, the syllable ma means 'mother' in the first tone and 'horse' in the third tone in Mandarin. Mandarin has four tones, which are numbered from 1 to 4. The tone is often marked with a number after the syllable. Pandunia is not a tonal language. Therefore the Chinese tones are transformed into Pandunia in a changed form.
Every Sinitic word is borrowed to Pandunia in a form that is a compromise between the aforementioned languages. The recipe for building a Sinitic word for Pandunia is the following:
- Select the common initial consonant from Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean. Typically at least 2/3 of them agree. Japanese and Vietnamese have frequently changed it.
- Select the medial vowel(s) from Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese.
- Select the final nasal or stop consonant from Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and/or Vietnamese. Typically at least three of them agree.
- Add -e if the stem ends in a stop consonant.
Some examples of this word building process are shown in the table below.
| Mandarin | Cantonese | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese | Pandunia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 罚 fa2 | 罰 fat6 | 罰 batsu | 벌 beol | phạt | fate |
| 板 ban3 | 板 baan2 | 板 ban | 판 pan | bản | ban |
| 术 shu4 | 術 seot6 | 術 jutsu | 술 sul | thuật | xute |
Mapping syllables from Mandarin to Pandunia
What follows are tables that include transformation of all existing Mandarin syllables into Pandunia's phonology and spelling. The header row and column include all Mandarin initials and finals, respectively, in Hanyu Pinyin. The data cells include the Mandarin syllables transformed into Pandunia spelling.
The tables can be used when an adaptation of a Mandarin word is needed in Pandunia or when a Mandarin word is added to the pool of all Sinitic cognates. The final word in Pandunia can be affected by other languages and the tone-to-vowel transformation rules.
Vowels and diphthongs
| - | b | p | m | f | d | t | n | l | g | k | h | j/zh | q/ch | x/sh | r | z | c | s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | ba | pa | ma | fa | da | ta | na | la | ga | ka | ha | ja | cha | sha | za | ca | sa | |
| o | o | bo | po | mo | fo | ||||||||||||||
| uo | vo | do | to | no | lo | go | ko | ho | jo | cho | sho | ro | zo | co | so | ||||
| ou | ou | pou | mou | fou | dou | tou | nou | lou | gou | kou | hou | jou | chou | shou | rou | zou | cou | sou | |
| u | vu | bu | pu | mu | fu | du | tu | nu | lu | gu | ku | hu | ju | chu | shu | ru | zu | cu | su |
| e | e | me | de | te | ne | le | ge | ke | he | je | che | she | re | ze | ce | se | |||
| ai | ai | bai | pai | mai | dai | tai | nai | lai | gai | kai | hai | jai | chai | shai | zai | cai | sai | ||
| ei | ei | bei | pei | mei | fei | dei | tei | nei | lei | gei | kei | hei | jei | shei | zei | ||||
| i | ji | chi | shi | ri | zi | ci | si | ||||||||||||
| i | i | bi | pi | mi | di | ti | ni | li | gi/ji | ki/chi | hi/shi | ||||||||
| ie | ye | bie | pie | mie | die | tie | nie | lie | gie/jie | kie/chie | hie/shie | ||||||||
| ia | ya | dia | lia | gia/jia | kia/chia | hia/shia | |||||||||||||
| iao | yo | bio | pio | mio | dio | tio | nio | lio | gio/jio | kio/chio | hio/shio | ||||||||
| iu | you | miu | diu | niu | liu | giu/jiu | kiu/chiu | hiu/shiu | |||||||||||
| ü | yu | nu | lu | gu/ju | ku/chu | hu/shu | |||||||||||||
| üe | yue | nüe | lüe | gue/jue | kue/chue | hue/shue | |||||||||||||
| ao | au | bau | pau | mau | dau | tau | nau | lau | gau | kau | hau | jau | chau | shau | rau | zau | cau | sau | |
| ua | va | gua | kua | hua | jua | chua | shua | rua | |||||||||||
| uai | vai | guai | kuai | huai | juai | chuai | shuai | ||||||||||||
| ui | vei | dui | tui | gui | kui | hui | jui | chui | shui | rui | zui | cui | sui | ||||||
| er | er |
Finals with -n
| - | b | p | m | f | d | t | n | l | g | k | h | j/zh | q/ch | x/sh | r | z | c | s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| an | an | ban | pan | man | fan | dan | tan | nan | lan | gan | kan | han | jan | chan | shan | ran | zan | can | san |
| en | en | bon¹ | pon¹ | mon¹ | fon² | don | non | gon³ | kon³ | hon³ | jon | chon | shon | ren | zen | cen | sen | ||
| ian | yen | ben | pen | men | den | ten | nen | len | jen | chen | shen | ||||||||
| in | yin | bin | pin | min | nin | lin | jin | chin | shin | ||||||||||
| un | vun | dun | tun | nun | lun | gun | kun | hun | jun | chun | shun | run | zun | cun | sun | ||||
| ün | yun | jun | chun | shun | |||||||||||||||
| uan | van | duan | tuan | nuan | luan | guan | kuan | huan | juan | chuan | shuan | ruan | zuan | cuan | suan | ||||
| üan | ven | juen | chuen | shuen |
Additional specifications for initials that have incomplete set of finals (i.e. empty space in the table):
| (1) | (2) | (3) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tone 1 | bon, … | fon | gon, … |
| Tone 2 | bun, … | gon, … | |
| Tone 3 | bun, … | fun | gon, … |
| Tone 4 | bon, … | fen | gen, … |
Finals with -ng
| - | b | p | m | f | d | t | n | l | g | k | h | j/zh | q/ch | x/sh | r | z | c | s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ang | ang | bang | pang | mang | fang | dang | tang | nang | lang | gang | kang | hang | jang | chang | shang | rang | zang | cang | sang |
| eng | eng | beng¹ | peng¹ | meng¹ | feng¹ | deng | teng | neng | leng | geng | keng | heng | jeng | cheng | sheng | reng | zeng | ceng | seng |
| ing | ing | bing | ping | ming | ding | ting | ning | ling | jing | ching | shing | ||||||||
| ong | dong² | tong² | nong² | long² | gong² | kong² | hong² | jung | chung | rong² | zong² | cong² | song² | ||||||
| iong | yong | jong | chong | shong | |||||||||||||||
| ueng | veng | ||||||||||||||||||
| uang | vang | guang | kuang | huang | juang | chuang | shuang | ||||||||||||
| iang | yang | niang | liang | jiang | chiang | shiang |
Additional specifications:
| (1) | (2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tone 1 | bong, … | dong, … |
| Tone 2 | bung, … | dung, … |
| Tone 3 | bung, … | dung, … |
| Tone 4 | beng, … | dong, … |