I’m working on a conlang commission and reading Between Home and Ruin, both set in the future, where English has splintered into several dialects united by a common written language. This is a fun idea and a plausible one - Chinese and to some extent Arabic work this way. English arguably already works this way. There are people in Jamaica and Scotland whom I won’t be able to understand when they speak (see Jamaican Patois and Angry Scottish People Using Real Words Maybe) unless I have subtitles written with standardized spellings.But how exactly will that spelling system work? I did some experiments with English’s closest cousin (that is also a national language): Dutch. Example 0:
De Nederlandse krijgsmacht is de militaire organisatie van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden. De krijgsmacht wordt in de kern gevormd door de vier krijgsmachtdelen: de Koninklijke Marine, de Koninklijke Landmacht, de Koninklijke Luchtmacht en de Koninklijke Marechaussee. (from wikipedia)
Dutch and English parted ways between 1,600 and 1,400 years ago. In that time, they accumulated three kinds of differences: pronunciation differences caused by sound changes, grammatical differences caused by regularization, and vocabulary differences caused by coinages and loanwords.
Forcing Dutch into standardized English spelling* will cover up only the first difference. Example A:
The Nederlandse Criesmight is the militarie organization fan the Kingright ther Netherlanden. The Criesmight wortht, in the corn, geformd through the four Criesmightdealen: the Kinglie Marine, the Kinglie Landmight, the Kinglie Loft Might, and the Kinglie Marshalcy.
Remember that Example A above is still pronounced as Example 0. It’s just been spelled so that it’s easier for speakers of the “English dialect” to read. But is it easy enough? Maybe the Spelling Standardizers do away entirely with phonetics and translate the grammatical morphology. Speakers of the “Dutch dialect” have to remember to write <-s> when they say /-en/. Example B:
The Nederlands' Criesmight is the military organization fan the Kingright the's Netherlands. The Criesmight worths, in the corn, a-formed through the four Criesmightdeals: the Kingly Marine, the Kingly Landmight, the Kingly Loftmight, and the Kingly Marshalcy.
Or they go further could go further and simply translate words not found in English. Dutch speakers would say /krijg/ but write <war>. Example C:
The Lowerlands' Warmight is the military organization of the Kingdom of the’s Lowerlands. The Warmight is, in the core, formed through the four Warmightdeals: the Kingly Marine, the Kingly Landmight, the Kingly Loftmight, and the Kingly Marshalcy.
We could go farther (Warmight > Warstrength > Armed Forces). Where we stop is a matter of taste and practicality. Which brings me to the question of how this writing system would actually work.

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Last month, I posted the Ritual of Un-Descent, written in my reconstruction of Ancient Thracian, featured in chapter 19 of my novel Wealthgiver.

If you read chapter 19, you’ll know that the ritual goes sideways and the Unseen One delivers a personal message to Nikolai, the high priest:
Árbeie! Bilospelé!
Kapēssophiá, klyié
Méan. Klyié iós tan
Idexétai éis tomón.
Deseí ke gorê tón 5
Ásan tói tymí ión!
Staiýn ni tai pór tói ke pós
Zēltón tón ke sós ganós.
Dégmōn iadí. Mē
Ápseran pouteté. 10


Literally, that’s:
Orphan! Word-friend!
Passion-drunkard, listen
To me. Listen to he who
Welcomed you into (his) house.
Welcome and rejoice in that 5
which I gave to you!
There stand before and behind you
Gold and Death.
The Welcomer rides. Do not
Pule back (in response). 10


And the poetic translation:
Listen, Orphan, Friend to Words
Hear me now, Passion-Drunkard.
I and I alone am who
welcomed you this house into.
Death or treasure will you find. 5
One before you, one behind.
The Host will ride upon the ground.
Do not complain. And turn around. 10


Doggerel? Yes, but it’s pretty good considering what all was going on.
​
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This Thursday, paying readers will see parts of the next ritual poem in chapter 19 of Wealthgiver. Like the Andrean Prophesy, the Ritual of Un-Descent is sung in the (fictional) Ancient Thracian language. Unlike the prophesy, which was invented by Kori Chthamali in the 19th century, the Ritual of Un-Descent is old, if not ancient. Written forms of the rite date back to the 6th century AD. Its similarities to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, dated to the 7th century BC, are hotly contested by Bessian scholars.
The Ritual of Un-Descent is traditionally sung by three people, representing The Rushing One (a minor deity almost unknown outside this ritual), The Lady Reaper (also known as The Maiden and The Mistress), and The Unseen (also known as The Master and The Wealthgiver).
First, in the original Ancient Thracian:

SÉRMĒS SÓS:
Ánite! Pleistoré!
Palodegmṓn, sa e
Kḗphēt dṓe
Tḗn opdésedyde.
ÁNITĒS SÓS:
Ergeí, Porhēgéntiâ! 5

PORHĒGÉNTIÂ:
Dēmḗthera póra
Áskeira pephlóu e ion.

ÁNITĒS SÓS:
Mē dé bladymeiê iâ.
PORHĒGÉNTIÂ:
Sédzōn me tón dymón.

ÁNITĒS SÓS:
Óiyk tóus dessóis 10
Áeikhēs te eis.

PORHĒGÉNTIÂ:
Sēnséithēs tū
Éiseis is tó koú.

ÁNITĒS SÓS:
Diós Brḗthar eimî!

PORHĒGÉNTIÂ:
Xēthópats eisî! 15

ÁNITĒS SÓS:
Xēthópaniâ sezṓn

PORHĒGÉNTIÂ:
Eis sa serpanthṓn.


The meter changes from seven in lines 1-4 (sung by The Rushing One), to eight syllables per line for the conversation between The Unseen and the Lady Reaper, with the exception of lines 16 and 17 (the final line). Both of these are of seven syllables, and both are sung by the Lady Reaper.
For example, the first line (the invocation of The Unseen) is sung “A-ni-te ple-i-sto-RE!”
Long vowels (for example ē) are always sung as two syllables. Diphthongs (for example ai) are usually two syllables as well, but sometimes they are a single syllable. See the difference between eis (e-I-s) and Xēthópaniâ (“kse-THO-pan-ya”). A circumflex over a vowel indicates an on-glide, such as â (“ya”) or î (“yi”), but there is no spelling to differentiate an off-glide from a diphthong. Accented vowels are stressed.
X is pronounced “ks.” TH, KH, and PH might once have been pronounced as aspirates (tʰ, kʰ, pʰ) or as fricatives (θ, x, ɸ), but are today pronounced as normal unvoiced stops: t, k, p.

Now, the rhyming translation:
THE RUSHING ONE:
Oh, Wealth-giver! Oh, Unseen!
Host-of-many, take your queen
Welcome her below, He deems.
THE UNSEEN:
Go you now, Oh Lady Reaper!
LADY REAPER:
To my Mother 5
Un-bright robed.
THE UNSEEN
Not with smoking heart to meet her.
THE LADY REAPER
With smoke my heart is all enclosed.
UNSEEN:
Never, by the Ones who Do
Shameful will I be to you. 10
LADY REAPER
My man you are
No matter where.
THE UNSEEN
Of Sky I’m Brother!
LADY REAPER
You’re Guest-Master!
THE UNSEEN
You will be, Mistress of all 15
LADY REAPER
Mistress of all of those who crawl.


Readers have asked me to include a linguistic gloss in my literal translation:

Ánite! Pleistoré!
(neg-SEE-past.part-masc-voc WEALTH.GIVE-masc-voc)
“Oh, Unseen! Oh, Wealthgiver!”
Palodegmṓn, sa e
(MANY.HOST-agent-neu THIS EMPH)
That Host of Many
Kḗphēt dṓe
(HAVE-2nd-plur-subj ORDER-3rd)
have. This he orders.
Tḗn opdésedyde.
(THE-fem-acc UNDER.WELCOME-2nd-plur-imp)
Welcome her!
Ergeí, Porhēgéntiâ!
(GO-2nd-imp GRAIN.REAP-abst-fem)
Go, Lady Reaper!
Dēmḗthera póra
(EARTH.MOTHER-fem-acc TO)
To (the) Earth Mother.
Áskeira pephlóu e ion.
(neg-SHINE-adj-masc-gen PEPHLON-masc-gen EMPH REL-masc-acc)
The one of the un-shining pephlon.
Mē dé bladymeiê iâ.
(NOT IMP BAD.SMOKE-verb-2nd-imp IMP)
Do not “bad-smoke” at all. (i.e. “do not hold a grudge”)
Sédzōn me tón dymón.
(HOLD-1st 1st-clit THE-masc-neu SMOKE-masc-neu)
I hold my smoke.
Óiyk tóus dessóis
(NEVER THE-masc-dat-plur GOD-masc-dat-plur)
Never to the gods (the word for “god” is related to the word for “do”)
Áeikhēs te eis.
(neg-FAIR-adj-masc-nom 2nd-clit BE-1st-fut)
I will be shameful to you.
Sēnséithēs tū
(SAME.LIE.DOWN-part-adj-masc-nom 2nd-nom)
Husband you
Éiseis is tó koú.
(BE-2nd-fut REL INF WHERE)
You will be, wherever (you are).
Diós Brḗthar eimî!
(SKY-masc-gen BROTHER-masc-nom BE-1st)
I am (the) Sky’s brother!
Xēthópats eisî!
(GUEST.LORD-masc-nom BE-2nd)
You are the Guest-Master.
Xēthópaniâ sezṓn
(GUEST.LORD-fem-nom ALL-masc-plur-gen)
You, Guest-Mistress of everyone
Eis sa serpanthṓn.
(BE-1st-fut THIS CRAWL-pres-part-masc-plur-gen)
I will be of these crawling (ones)

ITo read this poem in the context of the story of Wealthgiver, you can subscribe to the story on Substack or Patreon  and wait until the end of March for the free version. Or else upgrade and read it this Thursday ;)