Sounds
5 vowels — always the same sound
- a
a— as in father, spa - e
e— as in café, fiancé - i
i— as in machine, ski - o
o— as in god, lot - u
u— as in flute, blue
15 consonants
- p
p— as in pin - b
b— as in bat (voiced p) - t
t— as in top - d
d— as in dog (voiced t) - k
k— as in kite - g
g— as in go (always hard) (voiced k) - f
f— as in fan (lip against teeth) - m
m— as in map - n
n— as in net - s
s— as in sun (always voiceless) - l
l— as in lip - w
w— as in win (rounded lips) - v
v— as in van - z
z— as in zoo (buzzing s) (voiced/buzzing s) - j
j— as in yes, you, yard (⚠️ NOT like English "j" in "jump")
Rules
Every syllable is one consonant + one vowel (like "ma", "to", "ki") or a lone vowel ("a", "o"). No consonant clusters. No closed syllables. Every human on earth can pronounce this.
Stress: always on the first syllable of each word. No exceptions.
To help mark word boundaries across different native languages, the last syllable of each word should be slightly prolonged (~50% longer). This makes it easy to tell where one word ends and the next begins.
g is always hard (as in "go"), never soft (not like "gem").
s is always voiceless (as in "sun"), never buzzing (not like "rose").
j always sounds like English "y" (yes, yard). Never like "jump".
Flexibility
Pronunciation is intended to be flexible. If a sound is unfamiliar in your native language, use the closest sound available to you. For example: if you cannot produce z (voiced s), use š ("sh"). If w is difficult, use u or v instead. The goal is mutual understanding, not perfect replication.
Pronunciation examples
lo"loh" — attractionni"nee" — speedgo"goh" — qualitygu"goo" — ownershipwu"woo" — 8ge"geh" — paina-lo"ah-loh" — devotion (all attraction)ni-fu"nee-foo" — angry (opposite calm)