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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/17459
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/17459
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 **Note** : This may be more suited to Worldbuilding SE. I believe it belongs here, because it is about how to write a conlang, but if not, please feel free to move it.

I am constructing Elvish. In my Elvish, there is no letter 'K'. Instead, the elves use 'C' to form the `K` sound. Additionally, the letter 'C' cannot form the `S` sound, as it can in English. It can only be pronounced as `K`.

This presents a problem. In English, we can usually tell whether a 'C' should be pronounced `S` or `K` by the letters about it. This means that in some Elvish words, readers will assume the letter 'C' is pronounced `S`, when it is in fact supposed to be pronounced `K`.

Example:

Looking at the word `Acir`, you would pronounce it `ah-SEER`. It is supposed to be pronounced `ah-KEER`.

I have thought of a way around this problem, but I am not sure if I should use it. My method is to write the Elvish words the way they sound, and not the way they would be spelled in Elvish. To take the above example, `Acir` would be spelled `Akir`.

The reason I am hesitant to do this is because there are no 'K's in Elvish for a reason. The letter 'K' looks (and sounds) too harsh to be an Elvish letter. Elvish should be soft and flowing, all S's and L's. If I write Elvish the way it sounds, it won't look soft and flowing, which could throw off the feel of the entire language.

**Should I write my language as it sounds anyway?** Will the reader still see it as 'soft and flowing'? Or should I stick with the Elvish lettering and trust to a glossary to correct the reader's pronunciation?

**Further Note** : Just removing the `K` sound from the words that have it would be the obvious answer. However, I've already built a lot of roots, and I would prefer to not have to rewrite those that have it.

Original score: 7