[WIP] Arál Draván - using the "Pasis" method

[Karro]

Seconded. Looks great. My only question is why the regional names, like Anghaza and Kaladayn are not stroked - some of them are just the tiniest bit tougher to read than the stroked names.

[cereth]

What I was trying to accomplish was to make subtle differences between the larger labels (regional names, nations, and mountains) to represent they they signified different things. Regional names (Entíga for example) I made transparent to differentiate them from national names. Hopefully I didn't sacrifice too much readability in doing this.

I may play with outlining (original typed 'stroking', but that sounded bad) them to see if I like how it looks.

[Karro]

What I was trying to accomplish was to make subtle differences between the larger labels (regional names, nations, and mountains) to represent they they signified different things. Regional names (Entíga for example) I made transparent to differentiate them from national names. Hopefully I didn't sacrifice too much readability in doing this.

I may play with outlining (original typed 'stroking', but that sounded bad) them to see if I like how it looks.

Stylistically, it's your call. It took me a bit, at first, to realize that the difference was an intentional way of signifying nations and regions as being different from, say, the names of natural features. It was just an observation that in cases where you did have the outline it was clearer to read than in cases where you did not.

[cereth]

I stroked the regional text with a slight outline...and I think I like the results. I'll let 'the client' make the final call.

[Gary N. Mengle]

I sent along a (hopefully) final list(s) of in-setting corrections and additions to be made. I think the whole map looks freaking fantastic, and am completely delighted with it.

[cereth]

Newest additions and modifications.

[Karro]

Gary, another pronounciation question. What sounds do such letter combinations as "dh", "gh", "ch", and "nh" represent? Are these all to be understood as digraphs, or as separate sounds?

[Gary N. Mengle]

Gary, another pronounciation question. What sounds do such letter combinations as "dh", "gh", "ch", and "nh" represent? Are these all to be understood as digraphs, or as separate sounds?

Short Answer
The nh pairing is actually two separate sounds, but the others you mention are all digraphs.

Long Answer
I have adopted a different method of transliteration for each language family on Ytherra. Most of the names on this map are from a language called Draványa, which is the most prominent member of the Laghá family. I felt like this would result in each group of languages having a distinct visual 'feel'.

In the system used for Laghá languages, I use digraphs to represent certain phonetic elements. Laghá tongues tend to group phonemes into voiced/voiceless pairs. So, for example:

Voiced --> Voiceless
dh ----------> th
zh ----------> sh
d ----------> t
z ----------> s
gh ----------> ch

And so on. Most of these sounds are found in English. The dh for example, is the sound found in English their (as opposed to think.)

But a few aren't; the ch is the sound in German Bach, for example, and the gh is found in some dialects of French (written as r, oddly enough - in Parisian Paris.) If you can make the ch sound but voice it instead, that's the right sound.

The script used to write Draványa is syllabic, rather like Japanese Katakana, so Draványa words tend to come in forms which alternate between consonants and vowels. There are exceptions to this as well.

I have a pronounciation guide written up which I will get around to posting at some point, once I beat in into the proper shape.

[Karro]

Cool. That's pretty much what I was expecting. Many of those are fairly common digraphs I've seen around in various places, but it was the nh that I was a little uncertain on.

I'd been studying bits and pieces of Irish Gaelic (had a recent trip to Ireland) and had trouble there wrapping my brain around the "mh" digraph (differing sources suggested it be pronounced as a "v", a "b", or a "w").

The others are all the same, as far as I can tell, as what the same digraphs appear to be in Irish (except I don't think Irish has "zh", but I was familiar with that one as French "j" already).

[industrygothica]

The map looks fantastic. I'm sure your "client" will be pleased.

One thing I learned from one of Ravells's tutorials is that if you put a parchment or similar texture over the entire image and set the layer to multiply with a lowered opacity, it really helps to pull all the colors together.

Just a thought.


-IG