User:Determinant666/sandbox

Wizard Quell (WQ) is a secret language created by Durmstrang alumni in late 18th century in order to keep their conversations hidden from non-wizards (mugglez). This language is influenced primarily by English, Komi and Magyar. Since many words in WQ have multiple variants and no official grammar of this language exists, it's almost impossible for muggles to learn.

WQ was spoken by wizards all around the world, especially in Russia. However, due to October Revolution in 1917, most Russian wizards emigrated to Great Britain and France, so this language was abandoned. Only a few Bulgarian wizards continue speaking WQ.

Writing system
Wizard Quell uses Latin alphabet, albeit with addition of 3 extra letters: Ñ (sometimes written as Ń or Ň), Ö and Ʒ (since late '90s sometimes written as Ž, especially online), which are always pronounced respectively as [ɲ], [ə~ʌ] and [ʒ~ʐ].

However, WQ spelling is mostly irregular, quite similar to that of English.

Phonology
Wizard Quell's phonology resembles that of English, albeit with the extra vowel [ɨ] (like Russian ы). However, the exact realizations of WQ phonemes may vary depending on the diaspora.

E.g., wizards in Northern Russia used the following phonetic system:

Also, WQ features a multitude of diphthongs:.

Notes:


 * The phonemic status of is unclear. This sound is most likely an allophone of, usually appearing as a reflex of the same sound in Komi loanwords, e.g. кузь  («long») is rendered as kouge. However, it tends to merge with.
 * may be either a trill or an approximant (as in English). The most common realization is.
 * is of indeterminate length, yet it's transcribed as simple for convenience.
 * may be realized as . It occurs only before.
 * may occur only before . In English loanwords where doesn't precede  (except father), this back vowel was fronted to  (apparently under the influence of Russian and Komi languages) and then eventually to  (a similar process also happened in American English).
 * Before, retroflex sibilants are realized as postalveolar.
 * Sequences such as, where C is any palatalizable consonant (i.e. except , and all retroflex consonants) and V is any vowel other than  and  may be realized as  or, if the  is unstressed, as . Similarly,  is realized as.

On the other hand, British and Bulgarian wizards used a simpler phonetic system:

Notes:


 * Bulgarians tend to pronounce as.
 * is merged with in Britain.
 * may be realized as in Bulgaria.

This system is evidently aligned with English phonology: retroflex and alveolo-palatal sibilants are merged into their postalveolar counterparts, and is merged with.