This is a subject that I frequently post about, and yet its basics have yet to be properly discussed. This post will help you to achieve familiarity with the Icelandic language, both in terms of written characters and their respective sounds. This guide may also be used as a method for pronouncing Old Norse. It is a lengthy guide, but that is because Icelandic, in all its beauty, is a bit difficult for most people to pronounce. In the end, this quite is only “basic” because it does not delve deeply into the linguistics behind certain sounds involved. Nonetheless, this guide should provide to be very helpful!
When working through this guide, try to avoid becoming overwhelmed. I strongly recommend working through only one section at a time.
So, the history of the word aluminum (American spelling, since I’m American) is pretty boring. Sir Humphry Davy (If you think you have a bad name…) coined it himself in 1812, from aluma, the name for what we now call aluminum oxide (from alum, meaning, more less, bitter salt).
The interesting part comes in with the pronunciation. Americans say aluminum. English people say aluminium. Why?
The word, with the aluminum spelling, was premiered in Chemical Philosophy, a book by Davy, in 1812. But, then, that same year, someone reviewing Davy’s book anonymously objected to the spelling, proposing a new one, so that the new chemical would match other chemicals, like potassium and ammonium.
Aluminium, for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound.
This new spelling took off, and by now aluminium is by far the more common spelling of the word.
But in America, the aluminum spelling remains strong, thanks largely in part to Charles Martin Hall. Hall invented a much quicker and easier way of producing aluminum in 1884. While Hall preferred the aluminium spelling, in advertisements he misspelled it aluminum, and inadvertently popularized the spelling throughout America.
Now, while almost the entire English-speaking world says aluminium because of one guy’s book review, America still says aluminum because of one guy’s fuckup.
Apropo of nothing, Charles Martin Hall was kind of a looker, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Annotated screenshots from Memrise’s Pronunciationmode.
I don’t know if this feature is available for both iOS and Android, and I don’t know if it’s exclusive to premium membership. However, before I had premium, I remember the Memrise app would kind of cycle through the different premium exclusive modes sometimes, so even if you don’t have premium you will get access to this feature on and off, I think.
here’s ur reminder that axolotl is NOT pronounced like “ak-suh-laa-tl” (or lot-ul), it is in fact a nahuatl word (that most commonly translates to “water dog” actually, very cute!) and is pronounced “ah-SHOW-lowtch” !!!!
i think abt this every time i see a post abt axolotls coz i just know there r so many ppl mispronouncing it and the thought bothers me. if ppl, esp white ppl, reblogged this to spread the word to those who may not be aware, i’d be very grateful. thank u!!
TheInitial Law(두음법칙) was a law made during Japanese colonisation whereby some consonants are unable to be the main consonant of certain words. This was because some syllables (combination of consonant and vowel) were too hard for the Japanese to pronounce. In modern Korean, this law is applied with few exceptions. However, in North Korea, they do not use this law, but with a few exceptions.
In Korean (South Korea), ‘ㄹ’ and ‘ㄴ’ are subject to the Initial Law. An example of this would be the surname ‘류’ being written as ‘유’ (some exceptions). When the consonants ‘ㄹ’ and ‘ㄴ’ are used as the main consonant in the first syllable of a word, they are changed to ‘ㅇ’ or ‘ㄴ’. The Initial Law rarely applies to syllables in the middle of a word.
Applications of the Initial Law
‘ㄴ’ or ‘ㄹ’ changing to ‘ㅇ’
‘렬’ and ‘률’ following a vowel or ㄴ batchim are pronounced as ‘열’ and ‘율’
When ‘녀, 뇨, 뉴, 니, 랴, 려, 례, 료, 류, 리’ is at the start of a word, it is pronounced as ‘여, 요, 유, 이’, '야, 여, 예, 요, 유, 이’
한자음 '라, 래, 로, 뢰, 루, 르’ 등 ㄹ+ㅣ를 제외한 단모음이 단어 첫머리에 올 때 '나, 내, 노, 뇌, 누, 느'로 발음한다.
For example, 림 ➡️ 임, 로 ➡️ 노, 념 ➡️ 염, 라렬 ➡️ 나열This does not apply to foreign words or words that are not of Korean origin.
Hanja compound words use the Initial law for syllables other than the first syllable (e.g. 신려성 ➡️ 신여성, 공렴불 ➡️ 공염불, 회계련도 ➡️ 회계연도)
Exceptions to the Initial Law
Syllables other than the first syllable (e.g. 남녀, 은닉, 독자란, 비고란)
준말에서 본음으로 소리 나는 것은 본음대로 적는다.
When a shortened word (like it’s) sounds like the actual word (e.g. 국제연합 shorted as 국련 )
Dependent nouns (e.g.냥, 년, 리, 량)
냥- old counter for money, 년- counter for year, 리- old counter for distance, 리- reason, 량- counter for train carriages
If a name with only one syllable is pronounced with the surname as one (e.g. 신립, a general in Joseon)
If a name is not one syllable, the Initial Law applies
Changes in the Initial Law
Surnames that had previously been changed due to the initial law can be changed back (이➡️리, 임➡️림, 유➡️류)
It’s Mi’kmaw Heritage Month, so it seemed like a good time to share this knowledge. And yes! For those wondering, there is a subtle pronunciation difference (which you can hearhere):
Alright now you know the basics of the German articles, but how do you pronounce them?
der = in this case you pronounce the “r” like an “a” so it’s more like a “dea” (Attention: e is NOT pronounced like the 2nd “e” in the word “Mercedes”, it’s more like the last “e”.)
die = No. This is not pronounced like the English word. It’s actually pronounced like the English letter “d”, but a little bit harder.
das = the “s” sounds in this case like a snake. You know? Ssssssnake. But don’t focus that much on the s because if you say it too long, it will turn into another word.
(Yes, I’m actually going to keep the “Ahoy” thing now.)
Basically, it’s a channel of mine where I post videos on how to pronounce certain sounds as some of these sounds could apply to you in some way.
Need help on German Ch? I got two videos for each one!
Need help with French Nasal Vowels? Just jump right in! (After some fundamental links of course but you’ll thank me later for showing you them.)
And I have videos for Welsh LL and more to come…
I not only just post sounds, but also very very very important concepts to learn. Like what rounding, voicing, or affricates are. Learning these can tremendously expand you’re ability to pronounce foreign sounds. Those can do what simple one sound videos can’t.
So check it out if you want some very different tips on the subject. I base the sounds off of things you know and can relate with rather than say too many weird complex terms and expect you to get it.
But then again, everyone has a different way of learning, maybe mine can do justice?
I’d like to briefly explain how I got to a point where I can take Japanese university classes in Japanese without too much of a language issue.
This post will be about speaking, probably the most fun and rewarding part of learning a language is when you don’t realise you’ve been speaking a language you weren’t raised into. Questions are always welcome! 愚問がない！
Speaking
Actually speaking Japanese is the best way to learn how to speak Japanese. If you don’t live in Japan it might be more difficult but even back in my hometown I was able to find friends and people to talk with though language swap, tutoring and so forth. I had the most success with “HelloTalk” and even after not using it for over a year, I still talk with the friends I made there. Mimic what and how Japanese people say things and step out of your comfort zone
Pronunciation
I can’t stress how important it is to learn proper pronunciation. You will feel so much better about speaking if you know how to say what you’re saying. Knowing proper pitch accent is made all the more important with Japanese since there are so many homonyms in Japanese. Pretty much every Japanese learner at some point said something the wrong way and the message got lost entirely. The best resource that I’ve found in terms of practicality is made by “Dogen”.
Just today I said the word 意外 but with the pronunciation of 以外 and had I not known that pitch accent exists, I would not have been able to quickly correct myself
I highly recommend recording yourself speaking and listening to it back, if you immediately cringe at hearing yourself, do it more. I’m know that people hating the sound of their own voice is a real thing but, getting used to hearing yourself talk and identifying things that sound very non-Japanese-like and improving on them will get you so far. Pleaserecordyourself.
A Few Thoughts on Speaking
Japanese learners are notorious for their ability to read and write but not being able to put a sentence together when speaking. And then when we do speak, it sounds like we’re reading off a script. Speaking isn’t tested in the JLPT which is probably a big reason that not many people learn it. Please learn how to converse in Japanese
Hello ! I know many of you have problems with pronunciation in swedish, like how to say “j” or “skj” it’s not really difficult but you need to learn it to get a perfect swedish!
Pronounce each syllable as if it formed part of an English word, and you will be understood sufficiently well. Remember the points below, and your pronunciation will be even closer to the Swedish. And: nearly everyone, everywhere in Sweden speaks English.
Avowelis usuallylong when it’s the final syllable or followed by only one consonant; followed by two it’s generally short. Unfamiliar combinations are:
åwhen short as in hot(långt) , when long as in raw(igår).
ä when before r as in man(nära); otherwise as in get(träffas).
ej(nej) as in mate.
ö as in fur but without the r sound(första).
Consonants are pronounced as in English except:
g when before i, j, y, d, v, or ö as in yet (Göteborg); otherwise hard g as in get(vardagar) ; occasionally as in shut.
j, dj, lj as in yet(jag).
k before i,e,y,ä or ö like shinsheep(kycklingsoppa), otherwise hard (fisk).
quaskv(queer).
sch, skj, stj as in shut (stjäla); otherwise hard.
Consonantsare pronounced like the English letter sound, except for ‘R’ which is pronounced between an 'L’ and an 'R’.
Double vowels (aa, ii, uu, ee, oo) are pronounced twice as long as the single vowel.
Don’t say the characters in your head, say them out loud so you can get more speaking practice.
Memorizethe Kana symbols with vivid pictures. For instance; き “ki” looks and sounds similar to “key”.
If you’re going to Japan, take some time out to learn about their body/hand gestures too! Actions speak louder than words and some body/hand gestures that are okay in your country may not be okay or polite in Japan. If you do something that does offend someone, just apologize to them.
HIRAGANA NOTES:
The hiragana syllabary is used to write word endings and Japanese words, replacing the kanji if the kanji is not widely known or the readers are children. It can also be used alongside kanji to indicate its pronunciation.
When there is a “little tsu”(つ) inside a word (ie.きった), it means that the consonant of the next syllable is doubled. For instance, きった iskitta(“keet-tah”) and means “cut” as in “cut the cake”, whereas きた iskita(“keetah”) and means “north”.
The vowels i and u are often silent or barely pronouncedin most Japanese words, especially when they are located at the end of certain verbs. It is also the case of the vowel “u” that follows the consonant “s”. For example,“arimasu” (there is) is pronounced “ah-ree-mas”, “deshita” (was) is pronounced “deh-shtah”, and “suki” (to like) is pronounced “skee”.
Romanized Japanese words with ō translate as ou, or おう
Whenは,をandへ are used as sentence particles, they are respectively pronouncedwa (“wah”), o (“oh”) and e (“eh”)…particle lessons later (stay focused on your current task)
KATAKANA NOTES:
The katakana syllabary is used to write a word borrowed from a foreign language, as well as all foreign names and onomatopoeia. It can also be use for emphasis, similar to using bold or italic text in English.
In katakana, the character (ー) is used to double the vowel of the preceding character. For instance, the word “game” uses katakana characters for being a foreign word, and is written “ゲーム" : "geehmu” (the final u is barely pronounced).
{Here is a guide to difficult pinyin pronunciation I found in a book on the Chinese government that I will work cite at the end of the post}
As many know, Chinese characters are one syllable long, made up of an ‘initial’ letter and ‘final’ letter that dictates that overall sound of the syllable. With that in mind, here are two tables cover the harder pronunciations in pinyin for ‘initial’ and ‘final’ letters.
Initials:
Pinyin English (pronunciation)
c ts
qi cheek
x hs
z dz
zh jack
Finals:
Pinyin English (pronunciation)
a father
ai bye
ao now
e but
i see (note: after initials ‘ch’, ‘sh’ & ‘zh’,it’s pronounced as ‘r’)
iu yo
ou so
u loot
ua trois (french for “three”)
(note: italicized is equivalent in sound that pinyin makes)
Combination Examples
Pinyin English (pronunciation)
zhou jyo
xi hsee
zao dzow
Work Cited
Lieberthal, Kenneth. “Pinyin Pronunciation Table.” Governing China: from Revolution through Reform, W.W. Norton, 2004.
A/N: If you have any questions, feel free to drop them on me!
edit: as it’s been brought up, the table’s representation of how to pronounce ‘qi’ is slightly off. A slight ‘t’ in front makes it more authentic and correct. I believe the book compared it to “chee” in cheek because that is the closest representation in English. Nevertheless, ‘tchee’ is more accurate.
I don’t need, nor really want, a fully voiced game, as it would take away some of AA’s charm. Yet I’d like to hear how Barok pronounces his name.
I think it would probably sound quite endearing as he’s struggling to properly say it. But then again, maybe he didn’t have issues saying it, because ten years ago he has had a friend who has taught him a few things here and there; even Ryuu pointed out that Barok is somewhat familiar with certain customs/aspects from his home country.
Either way, that’s one of the few instances where I would welcome being able to hear a character’s voice. I actually think that the game could have benefitted from including very, very limited voice acting. I know there is limited voice acting in the game, but the unused voice clips we do have of the characters are magnificent and could have been included. :)
I think about this a lot tbh. Like, Natsume Souseki isn’t a terribly difficult name to pronounce but I want to know if he can say Ryuunosuke’s name, because I’m willing to bet he flubs it adorably.
Come to think of it, I wish they’d given us an example of how Barok’s name is pronounced in the English version. I’ve always assumed it was the same as in the Japanese, like Baroque, but it seems that nearly every other English speaker I’ve talked to says it like “Bah-rock”. Like… I don’t want to think of our former president when I’m simping… WHICH IS IT??
I personally pronounce it like the dutch word “Barok” like “bah-row-k” or /ba:ɾo:k/ with slightly tapping the tongue against the back of the front teeth for the r (like when you say ‘little” really fast). Imma just flex my knowledge of the IPA, I can’t resist lmaooo I guess TL:DR, make the vowels long so I don’t simp for a former US President lmao XD
But “baroque” is pronounced like “ba-rock” in British English!
According to Wikipedia (UK: /bəˈrɒk/, US: /bəˈroʊk/; French: [baʁɔk]). Unfortunately I’m not @ultraviolet-ink so I can’t understand the symbols. Checking pronunciations on dictionary sites suggests it’s “ba-rock” in British English versus “bah-oak” in American. Which makes me twitch badly, because it’s very unlike the French.
So I would pronounce Barok like Baroque, which is “ba-rock”! I didn’t even know that Americans said it differently until literally just now.
