Breaking the Runic Code

Eldur fuTark tIp fontz

rItiN wiT runz iz fonetik

Tu folowiN list uf run kerukturz and Ter fonetic saundz wil gId ju in inturpretiN modurn iNlish riten juziN runz

it iz also importunt tu rimembur Tat Ter ar mor run karakturz Tan juzd hir

in Tis list I am limited tu Tu runz in Tu tIp font I am JusiN

for Tu konwiniens uf ridurz Tu list folowz Tu ordur uf Tu iNglish alfubet raTur Tan Tu tradishunal fuTark ordur

wi also wil point aut Tat Ter iz no punkchueshun in aur runic script

raTur wi start itch sentens wiT e nu lIn

also pliz kip in mInd Tat mani uf Tu runz kan bi mad in mor Tan wun wej

sum uf Tu werieshunz ar discrIbd bilow but mani mor can bi faund in ani buk on runz

a the ‘a’ sound as in cat, car, and saw.

B the ‘b’ sound as in boy.

K the ‘k’ sound as in cat, king, lick, liquor, and quick.

D the ‘d’ sound as in dog, day, and clod.

E the ‘e’ sound as in beg or end; the ‘a’ sound as in late or braid.

F the ‘f’ sound as in fat, photo, or laugh.

G the ‘g’ sound as in go or rig.

H the ‘h’ sound as in how, hill, or who.  This character is also made facing in the opposite direction; that is, with the diagonal line in the middle slanting upward from left to right.

i the ‘i’ sound as in sit; the ‘e’ sound as in tree

j the ‘j’ sound as in jump; the ‘g’ sound as in judge; the ‘y’ sound as in yellow.  This character is also made facing the opposite direction; that is, with the upper part open to the right and the lower part open to the left.

L the ‘l’ sound as in leg or tell.

M the ‘m’ sound as in man or summer.

n the ‘n’ sound as in now or runner.

O the ‘o’ sound as in go, for, on, or John.

P the ‘p’ sound as in palm or slap.

R the ‘r’ sound as in red or order.

S the ‘s’ sound as in sun or ice.  This character is also made with the upper  and lower lines vertical and the connecting line slanting upward diagonally from left to right.

t the ‘t’ sound as in too or rotten.

U the ‘u’ sound as in up; the ‘oo’ sound as in foot or boot; the ‘u’ sound as in fur or pure.  This is one of the most frequently used runic characters. 

W the ‘v’ sound as in vine or river; the ‘w’ sound as in wind; the ‘f’ sound as in of.

I the ‘y’ sound as in sky; the ‘I’ sound as in nice or time.

Z the ‘z’ sound as in zoo, runs, cousin, is, or reason.

T the ‘th’ sound as in the, they rather, and them.

N the ‘ng’ sound as in sing, running, and English.

In addition to these single character sounds, there are several character combinations used in much the same way that they are used in the English alphabet.

au the ‘ow’ sound as in cow, how, and sound.

Oi the ‘oi’ sound as in noise or boy.

tch the ‘ch’ sound as in church, witch, catch, or rich.  Some runic writings invert the character that makes the ‘z’ sound for the ‘ch’ sound.

Sh the ‘sh’ sound as in hush, shoulder, or shot.

Zh the ‘s’ sound as in vision.

Because runes are phonetic, different regional accents may result in spelling variations.  The context is often the best clue to the word represented by the runes used.  Double letters (like the double ‘t’ in letters) are rare in runic script. When they do appear, each will be pronounced, though two different sounds may be represented. For example, ‘being’ in runic script appears as follows:

biiN

The first  i is the long ‘e’ sound and the second the short ‘i’ sound, with both being clearly pronounced.  There are no silent runes.  Where in English, a silent letter may determine the way a proceeding or following letter is pronounce, in runes every letter stands on its own.  This also leads to spelling variations.  For example, some writers will write the English word ‘may’ with just two characters,  me while other writers will use three, mej to reflect the way that they hear and speak the word.  While these variations can be challenging, they also are part of the fun of ‘breaking the code’ and understanding English transliterated into runic script.