Letter-Names

🔤 Letter Names

The 17 letters of LEKA each carry a name — short, dignified, beginning with the sound it represents. Like aleph/bet in Hebrew or alpha/beta in Greek, each name turns the letter into a character.

When chanted in order, the alphabet sounds like a small song.

The 17 Letter Names

Letter	Name	Stress	Story
a	ana	A-na	Soft, breathy, the simplest possible name. Echoes mother-words across languages (Spanish ana, Sanskrit aṇa). The seed-sound deserves the seed-name.
e	eli	E-li	Open and bright. Has the lift of Hebrew eli (mine, ascending) without taking from it — feels like a name that wants to be sung.
i	iri	I-ri	Two rising notes. Echoes Japanese iri (entrance, to enter) — the sound that opens.
o	ona	O-na	Round, full, complete. Spanish/Italian feminine ending — feels like the closing breath of a word.
u	uma	U-ma	Deep and held. Carries Sanskrit uma (a name of the goddess, "tranquility"). The vessel-sound.
p	pesa	PE-sa	A bit of Spanish peso (weight), a bit of Italian pesa (it weighs). Anchored release.
t	tena	TE-na	Italian tenere (to hold) softened. The sound that holds.
k	kema	KE-ma	Coined internally. Sharp opening softened by the m-tail. The percussive crack made tender.
m	misa	MI-sa	Italian/Spanish misa (Mass) — a chanted name fitting the closed hum. Resonates with quiet reverence.
n	nala	NA-la	Sanskrit nala (stalk, reed) — what hums in the wind. Resonance with form.
s	sira	SI-ra	Whispered and flowing. The serpent breath. Echoes Italian sirena without taking from it.
l	lemi	LE-mi	French l'ami slightly inverted — the standing tongue, friendly.
r	rasa	RA-sa	Sanskrit rasa (essence, juice, feeling). The rolled sound carries flavor.
h	hema	HE-ma	The breath name. Sanskrit hema (gold, warm) — what passes between two things.
y	yami	YA-mi	Japanese-flavored softness; yami in Japanese means "darkness" — but here it's the gliding, the holding-of-sound.
v	vela	VE-la	Italian/Spanish vela (candle, sail) — voiced softness, the flame of the alphabet.
*	*ira	I-ra	The click followed by the spiral name — ira (Sanskrit, "movement / earth"). The motion-letter has a motion-name.

The Alphabet, Chanted

ana, eli, iri, ona, uma —
pesa, tena, kema, misa, nala, sira, lemi, rasa, hema, yami, vela —
*ira.

Vowels first, then consonants, then the click. Reads like a lullaby. Try saying it three times.

Notes

Letter names should be teachable to children in a single sitting.
Each name starts with its own sound — this is the core rule. Don't break it.
When teaching, point to the glyph in the ceremonial script while saying the name.
tena replaced tela in early drafting because tela already means cloth — a small reminder of the "check for conflicts" rule.

Status: #finalized