o yis The Istran script
The O Yis language is generally written using the Istran alphabet, which consists of 28 letters, 12 pitch contour marks and a number of additional punctuation marks:
| a | a | b | b | c | c | l | l | |
| e | e | t | t | z | z | m | m | |
| i | i | k | k | x | x | n | n | |
| o | o | g | g | h | h | N | ŋ | |
| u | u | q | q | s | s | r | r | |
| y | y | f | f | T | tz | v | v | |
| p | p | d | d | D | dz | j | j |
The pitch marks are required at the start of every paragraph, and also at the start of any sentence, clause or phrase that breaks the pitch contour of the preceding clauses. While there is a reasonable correlation between the pitch mark and the pitch contour of the phrase, the marks are in fact an indication of the facial expression of the speaker as they say the phrase:
| F | fear, surprise | Q | questioning, interrogation | |
| Y | disgust | P | pride | |
| M | elevation, motivation | X | neutral, default | |
| J | joy | Z | dismissal, negation | |
| I | interest, gratitude | S | sadness | |
| C | confusion | A | anger |
The commonest punctuation marks are:
| ' | list divider | : | emphasis marker (at start of word) | |
| ; | clause closure | ' | syllabic consonant marker | |
| . | sentence/paragraph closure | " | quoted speech marker |