`Galoo Ennam
Since `Galoo Ennam is not a variety of English Script, the order used is the Sanskrit-derived devānagāri order. This is the order which is usually used to alphabetize Asian languages, and has been used in Japanese, Burmese, Khmer, Tibetan, Thai, Lao, Newari and Meithei, among others. This order has been chosen because it is a) scientifically-based and b) able to accurately organize the phonology (sound patterns) of the Galo language. For example, all the vowels are grouped first, then the consonants in order of place of articulation (from the back of the mouth k to the front p) followed by manner of articulation (voiceless k, voiced g and nasal q for all the stops, followed by liquids l, r and then fricatives s, h).
`Galoo Ennam has seven vowels, seventeen consonants and two tones. Among vowels, two unfamiliar symbols may be w and v; they represent the sounds in `wlww ‘stone’ and `vmv ‘fire’. i and e represent the sounds in `isi ‘water’ and mee ‘many’ only. Among consonants, two unfamiliar symbols will be q and x, which represent the sounds in aqo ‘different’ and axi ‘elder sister’. The reason these symbols are chosen instead of ng and ny is to allow Galo writers to represent the difference between long and short consonants, as in aqqo ‘five’ and axxi ‘little’. Finally, although there are two tones in Galo – high/plain and low/tense – only the low/tense tone is actually marked, as in `tabv ‘sugar cane’. The high/plain tone is not marked, as in tabv ‘snake’. The pronunciation of a high/plain tone is usually basically the same, no matter which context it is in – there is a relatively high, level pitch throughout the word. The pronunciation of a low/tense word can differ very much, depending on the shape of the word and the context in which it occurs. However, there is always some sort of pitch movement on a low/tense word; it is never level and plain.
This is the basic inventory of Galo Script, contrasted with devānagāri, Paadam, and IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet). This script is intended to be both practical and accurate: practical in the sense that it is useful, not too difficult to learn and understand, and not too difficult to use in handwriting, typewriters, computers and other writing media for Galo people to begin using it immediately; accurate in the sense that it represents all the sounds of Galo correctly for the first time:
Vowels:
The script of Galo language “`Galoo Ennam” is a form of Modified Roman Script. It was developed by the Galo Language Development Committee in 2008. `Galoo Ennam has been developed to represent the sounds of Galo language as accurately as possible. It is also designed to be accessible, in the sense of being found on all existing computers, typewriters, mobile phones, and so on. Uses of a phonetically accurate script such as `Galoo Ennam is especially important in books on `goqku agom and other kinds of poetic language that most people may not already know.
Consonants:
Tones:
Note: “--" indicates that this symbol is not available.
How to read and write vowels
Galo language has long and short sounds in vowels. In `Galoo Ennam, short sounds are symbolized using a single letter. Long sounds use two letters:
a anam ‘to keep’ aa aanam ‘to come; to enter’
i jinam ‘to give’ ii piinam ‘to prick’
u unam ‘to boil’ uu uunam ‘to be awake’
e ennam ‘to write’ ee eenam ‘to bind something’
o onam ‘to pluck’ oo oonam ‘to tend’
v vbv ‘skirt’ vv vvnam ‘to decant’
w wnam ‘to pound’ ww wwnam ‘to slither’
It is also important to note that Galo has vowel length at the ends of words. Although it may be difficult to notice in some cases, this is an important part of the Galo sound pattern:
alo ‘salt’ aloo ‘bone’ (or aloo ‘day’)
axi ‘elder sister’ alii ‘seed’
alv ‘good’ alvv ‘forepaw’
Some important properties which differentiate long and short vowels are:
1) word-final short vowels usually disappear when followed by another word, whereas long vowels don’t:
Abo Tanii → Ab Tanii ‘The Father of Humankind’
aloo pookoo → aloo pookoo ‘skeleton’
alo go → al go ‘some salt’
`ato-`ayo → `at-`ayo ‘grandparents’
aci-abo → ac-abo ‘mature man’
alv `duu → al `duu ‘fine’
`hwwnv v → `hwwn `v ‘it’s a tree’
2) word-final short vowels which are preceeded by only two letters (not three) disappear and cause the preceeding consonant to double when followed by certain grammatical words such as v and vm, whereas long vowels don’t:
axi + v → axx v ‘it’s elder sister’
alv + v → all v ‘it’s good’
alii + v → alii v ‘it’s a seed’
alvv + v → alvv v ‘it’s a forepaw’
How to read and write consonants
k koohap/koosap ‘fireplace tongs’ c cumnam ‘to weave’
g guluu ‘fireplace border’ j jarnam ‘to fly’
q qinnam ‘to be ripe’ x axi ‘elder sister’
t twwpak ‘drinking snack’ p panam ‘to chop’
d dumpaa ‘pillow’ b banam ‘to vomit’
n nappaa ‘mouth’ m moi ‘younger maternal aunt’
y yapuu ‘white’ s laksuk ‘wash hands’
r rwkv ‘farm’ h hipv ‘raft’
l lalwk ‘shirt’
How to read and write tones
Recognizing and writing tones is one of the most challenging aspects of writing in Galo. However, it is also necessary, since Galo like all other Tibeto-Burman languages, is a tonal language and therefore, hundreds of Galo words are differentiated by tone only. Plain words are spoken with a normal, level pitch; they are unmarked in Galo Script. Tense words are spoken with a rising-falling pitch; they are marked by a symbol ` at the beginning of a word. For example:
Plain Tense
aci ‘elder brother’ `aci ‘pain’
xibo ‘guest’ `xibo ‘priest’
tabv ‘snake’ `tabv ‘sugar cane’
ai ‘tooth’ `ai ‘heavy’
au ‘fat; grease’ `au ‘spicy; chili taste’
axi ‘elder sister’ `axi ‘two’
adwr ‘tired’ `adwr ‘unnaturally oriented’
anv ‘leaf’ `anv ‘mother’
takv ‘squirrel’ `takv ‘body louse’
NB: Note that this is not the same as “present tense” or “past tense” in English grammar. “Tense” tone refers to the added tension in the vocal cords produced when making these sounds.
In general, if a tone is marked, it should be marked on that word in a sentence, even though the “contour” of the pitch may be slightly different for contextual reasons:
`bww `qok acc v `na ‘He’s my elder brother.'
`bww `qok `ann `v `na ‘She’s my mother.’
Another important point regards suffixes. In general, if any word contains a suffix with a Tense tone, that word will itself be Tense. In this example, donam is a Plain verb, but the Imperfective suffix -`duu is Tense. Therefore, the word resulting from their combination is also Tense:
donam ‘to eat’ + -`duu ‘Imperfective’ → `doduu (not doduu)
donam ‘to eat’ + `-lww ‘Desiderative’ → `dolww (not dolww)
If a Plain verb has a Plain suffix, the resulting word is also Plain:
donam ‘to eat’ + -to ‘Perfective’ → doto (not `doto)
donam ‘to eat’ + -rv ‘Irrealis’ → dorv (not `dorv)
Any Tense verb will always be Tense, no matter what kind of suffix it takes:
`duunam ‘to sit’ + `-duu ‘Imperfective’ → `duuduu (not duuduu)
`duunam ‘to sit’ + `-lww ‘Desiderative’ → `duulww (not duulww)
`duunam ‘to sit’ + -to ‘Perfective’ → `duuto (not duuto)
`duunam ‘to sit’ + -rv ‘Irrealis’ → `duurv (not duurv)
Here is the basic rule: if any part of a word is Tense, that entire word will be Tense. If all parts of a word are Plain, that entire word will be Plain.
Special phonological processes in Galo
Consonant voice copying within words
In Galo, most words end either with a vowel (such as v), a nasal consonant (such as n), a liquid consonant (only r) or else with a voiceless consonant k, or p. When words ending in a voiceless consonant are used to create new words, the voiceless consonants is sensitive to the following word and generally changes. That is, if a voiceless consonant has a voiced consonant to its right, it will also become voiced:
alak ‘arm/hand’ → lagbor ‘palm of the hand’
vrap ‘door’ → `rabgo ‘doorway’
Consonant place copying within words
Words ending in nasal consonants n or m also change when they are used to form new words. They move to the place of articulation (location in the mouth) of the following consonant. For example:
`igin ‘basket variety’ → `giqgww ‘`igin basket spine’
adin ‘meat’ → dimpaa ‘chopping block’
`Siyom ‘river name’ → Yoqgoo ‘river name’
Total consonant copying within words (-nnam verb forms “1” and “2”)
Certain roots which appear to end in -n in fact fully copy any following consonant. If they occur at the end of a word, they are pronounced k. If they are followed by a vowel, they are pronounced g. These are roots which once ended in *-t or *-s (they still do in Adi and Mising), but which have changed in Galo. Other roots which appear to end in -n in fact do end in -n, and these roots do not assimilate. Since it is not possible to differentiate a “real” and a “copied” -n in the citation forms of verbs, we have adopted a convention of marking the non-copying roots with a (1), and the copying roots with a (2). For example:
cinnam (1) ‘to pick’ → `cinduu ‘picking’
→ cinto ‘picked’
→ `cinlww ‘want to pick’
→ cinrv ‘will pick’
cinnam (2) ‘to throw a spear’ → `cidduu ‘throwing a spear’
→ citto ‘threw a spear’
→ `cillww ‘want to throw a spear’
→ cirrv ‘will throw a spear’
Where to put spaces between words
Word spacing can be extremely difficult in Galo. This is because Galo grammar and Galo phonology operate somewhat differently in the way “boundaries” are assigned to “words”. This is a common thing in Tibeto-Burman languages, but it can be very frustrating when working out a writing system or learning to write.
The majority of words in Galo are disyllabic (made of two syllables). Examples are alak ‘hand/arm’ and donam ‘to eat’. But this is not a requirement. Many words are also monosyllabic (made of a single syllable). Examples are xii ‘person’ and paa ‘dawn’.
The problem begins when grammatical forms are added. Grammatical forms are usually not very good as independent “words”, and they tend to “lean” on nearby words. Therefore, it can be tempting to write them as part of “the same” word. But if we listen closely, there are differences between what happens inside a word and what happens at the word’s edge. For example, the “special phonological processes” discussed above happen only inside words, not at a word’s edge. In the below example, note that -p, as in kap- ‘cry’ becomes -b when it occurs next to a voiced consonant inside a word, but not when it comes at the end of a word, as in `rvp ‘begin’:
kap- ‘cry’ + -rvp ‘begin’ + -`duu ‘Imperfective’ → kabrvp `duu
But now, note that the same -p in -rvp ‘begin’ becomes -b when it occurs inside a word:
kap- ‘cry’ + -`lww ‘want’ + -rvp ‘begin’ + -`duu ‘Imperfective’ → kablww `rvbduu
Therefore, it is important to write kabrvp and `duu as separate phonological words even though -`duu ‘Imperfective’ is a grammatical suffix. In this sense, although kap-rvp-`duu is a single grammatical word, it is realized in Galo as two phonological words: kabrvp and `duu. Since most Galo writers tend to try to reflect their actual pronunciation when writing, we have also tried to follow this principle.
Another important point regards tone marking. If kap-rvp-`duu is written as a single word kabrvpduu…where do we put the tone mark? In fact, kabrvp is a Plain word, while -`duu is a Tense suffix. So, can we put the tone mark in the beginning: `kabrvpduu? Probably not. Compare `kablww + -`duu, a Tense word plus a Tense suffix. This word sounds different: `kablwwduu. If we write `kabrvpduu and `kablwwduu the same way, this violates the way Galo people actually speak and makes the tone symbol almost meaningless. Instead, if the phonological words are written separately, as they are spoken, then the tone symbol can accurately represent pronunciation and reading and writing become easier:
`kabrvpduu kabrvp `duu
`kablwwduu `kablww `duu
A similar problem concerns the Accusative (object) marker `vm. This is a very common word which sounds very much like a suffix, in that it leans on a preceding noun. But here we have the same problem with tone marking. Consider `opoo ‘rice beer’ + `vm ‘Accusative’ and ohoo ‘cane; rope’ + `vm ‘Accusative’. If we write `opovm and `ohovm, the sound is different, but the spelling is the same. But, if we write the words separately, then the pronunciation and the spelling match:
`opovm `opoo `vm
`ohovm ohoo `vm
This rule is followed even when the combination of a word plus the Accusative create a disyllabic sequence (normally, a good “word”). This may be difficult to grasp at first, but it is important to ensure that the pronunciation and the spelling match:
tabv ‘snake’ + `vm → tabb `vm
`tabv ‘sugar cane’ + `vm → `tabb `vm
Finally, we note that certain grammatical words do not have an assigned tone, but instead take tonal spreading from a neighbouring word. The most important such example is v, which functions as both an article and a copula. When following a Tense word, v is realized `v. When following a Plain word, v is realized v:
tabv ‘snake’ + v → tabb v
`tabv ‘sugar cane’ + v → `tabb `v
Conclusion
This section has outlined a basic system for writing Galo using Galo Script. However, we are sure that other people will have other ideas, and it is also possible that the system that we have outlined here does not suit the speech of some particular Galo dialects which we have not considered. If this is so, we hope that people will bring any problems they encounter to the attention of the Galo Language Development Committee, and help us work toward solutions. Everything in this book is a work in progress. Let’s complete it together.
For additional information and examples, see the Galo Welfare Society, Galo-English Dictionary (with English-Galo Index). In order to make the presentation more accessible to linguists, an IPA-based “International Edition” of the Dictionary has also been produced by La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Fore details log on to http://www.tibeto-burman.net/.
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