Tag Archives: pronunciation

Slovak – Slovenčina

OK, I’ve got to take a start in Slovak, there is no point in holding it back (there is the whole Telugu-plus-Faroese-plus-other-languages-at-the-same-time thing, but, anyway…)

Starting with the alphabet & pronunciation:

grapheme IPA
a a
á
ä ɛ, æ
b b
c t͡s
č t͡ʃ
d d
ď ɟ
dz d͡z
d͡ʒ
e e
é
f f
g ɡ
h ɦ
ch x
i ɪ
í
j j
k k
l l, l̩
ĺ l̩ː
ľ ʎ
m m
n n
ň ɲ
o ɔ
ó ɔː
ô u̯ɔ
p p
q kv
r r, r̩
ŕ r̩ː
s s
š ʃ, ʂ
t t
ť c, tʲ
u u
ú
v v
w v
x ks
y ɪ
ý
z z
ž ʒ, ʐ

 

And words are stressed on the first syllable. 🙂

 

Slovenčina

Føroyskt – 2014-06-17

I’m still getting the gist of Faroese orthography & pronunciation. Luckily I found a lot of words transcribed into IPA in the book “An Introduction to Modern Faroese” by W. B. Lockwood.

Føroyskt IPA English
gakk  [gaʰkː] to go
bakki  [baʰcːɪ]  cliff
 koppur   [kɔʰpːʊɹ] cup
 mítt   [mʊiːʰtː]  my, mine
 batna   [ˈbaʰtna]  to improve
 líttli   [lʊiːʰtlɪ]  little one
 tómur   [ˈtɔuːmʊɹ]  empty
 óguldig   [ˈɔuːgɔldɪ]  unpaid
 hestarnir   [ˈhɛstanɪɹ]  the horses
 tilbiðja   [ˈtiːlˌbiːja]  to worship
álítandi   [ˈɔaːlʊiːtandɪ]  reliable
 ongastaðni   [ˈɔŋgastɛaːnɪ]  nowhere
 seyðafylgi   [ˈsɛijaˌfɪlɟɪ]  flock of sheep
 ótespiligur   [ˈɔuːtɛspiˌliːjʊɹ]  unpleasant
 margháttligur   [maɹˈkɔʰtlijʊɹ]  peculiar
 uppískoyti   [ʊˈpʊʃkɔjtɪ]  addition
 aloftast   [aˈlɔftast]  often
 lærarinna   [lɛaɹaˈɹinːa]  teacher
 studentur   [stuˈdɛn̥tʊɹ]  student
 forargiligur   [fɔˈɹaɹɟɪˌliːjʊɹ] annoying
 forbanna   [fɔɹˈbanːa]  to curse
 land   [land̥]  land

 

Pronunciation of some English words

Just refreshing the pronunciation of some English words:

  • solder (alloy used to join metal pieces):  /ˈsɒldə(ɹ)/; /ˈsəʊldə(ɹ)/, /ˈsɑdɚ/, /ˈsəʊdə(ɹ)/ (Canada, USA) (see also forvo.com)
  • façade / facade (face of a building): /fəˈsɑːd/
  • gif (image format): /dʒɪf/, /ɡɪf/
  • short-lived: /ʃɔː(ɹ)tˈlaɪvd/, /ʃɔː(ɹ)tˈlɪvd/
  • mischievous (troublesome): /ˈmɪst͡ʃɪvəs/
  • kindergarten (elementary school grade): /ˈkɪndə(ɹ)ˌgɑː(ɹ)dən/ (different from German)
  • frigate: /ˈfɹɪɡ.ət/

 

 

Shqip – 2014-01-14

Reviewing Albanian pronunciation…
Vowels are:

a [a]
e [ɛ]
i [i]
o [ɔ]
u [u]
y [y]
ë [ə] or silent

Consonants m, n, p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, s, z, h have common Latin values.

nj [ɲ]
ng [ŋ]
q [c]
gj [ɟ]
c [ts]
x [dz]
ç [tʃ]
xh [dʒ]
th [θ]
dh [ð]
sh [ʃ]
zh [ʒ]
j [j]

I’m in doubt about , it is indicated everywhere as a trill or tap, i.e., as in Italian or Spanish, but I’ve heard it pronounced as an English or American retroflex r in a few videos.