Lecture 3: Consonant Pronunciation

[Hooligan]

Hello again, students. With last week's lesson on vowel pronunciation under our belt, all that remains now is to discuss the pronunciation of the Talossan consonants. With that and the knowledge of the small number of irregularities in pronunciation, you should have a complete picture of hinw each Talossan word is pronounced.

PART 1. CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION

Most of the Talossan consonants sound just like an English speaker would expect. For example, there is nothing (much) to say about the consonants b, m, p, and t (among others). If you say them just as you say them in English, you will be fairly safe.

As with the vowels, English isn't always consistent about the pronunciation of consonants. For example, in the respective English words lamb and hustle, the letters b and t are silent. If those same words were Talossan words, every letter would be pronounced. This makes learning the Talossan consonants fairly simple. There are only a few little quirks to cover, for only a few of the letters. The first of these, and the one about which there is the most to say, is the letter c, a letter we touched on last week.

The Letter c

We have already covered the fact that c is always pronounced "hard", like the English letter k except when it is followed by an e or an i. In those cases, the pronunciation of c becomes like the English "ch" sound. As you learned last week, a Talossan word cic would be pronounced like the English word cheek.

There are a couple more things to say here, though. First, if the ce or ci letter pair is followed immediately by another vowel, the e and i become silent (and do not form a diphthong with the following vowel). The only exceptions to this rule are cei and ceu, in which a diphthong forms. This can be clarified by a few examples:

• felicia (= happy). The cia combnation is pronounced like the English "chah", and not like the English "chee-ah".
• ricieu (= rich). This is pronounced like the English word "reach" then the Talossan diphthong eu.
• aceint (= accent mark). In this case, the ei is the diphthong (pronounced as in English "say"), and the c is the "ch" sound from English "chain".

So...simply keep this rule in mind -- that ci and ce are pronounced like English "chee" and "cheh", and you will be in good shape. Sometimes, an English speaker who is first learning Talossan might find himself or herself forgetting this, especially in words like felicia (which is also an English proper name, in which the letter c is pronounced as s, and the letter i is pronounced as "ee") and cervieþa (= beer, due to the pronunciation of the initial letter in the Spanish word cerveza being as English "s").

Here are some more examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• ceora (= raven). Here the e is silent, but still has its effect on c. Therefore, the first syllable of this word is pronounced just like the English word chore.
  
• saici (= popcorn). The final syllable this word is as the first sound in the English word cheese.
  
• Zecemvar (= December). Another case where an English speaker may inadvertantly pronounce a c as English "s", when properly it is as English "ch".
  
• caisch (= cheese). This c is hard, like the English letter k.
  
• cinesch (= pale yellow, and also Chinese). Here is another word beginning like English cheese.
  
• celestéu (= sky blue). This word begins with the English "ch" sound as in chair.
• cäps (= head). This is a hard c, as in English cap.
  
• vicamiral (= vice-admiral). Another hard c that an English speaker might be tempted to soften.
  

The Combination sch

We have already discussed the fact that sch is one way in Talossan to indicate the English "sh" sound (as in she and ash).

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• suorsch (= mouse). Here the first syllable is pronounced like the English word cane.
• dudesch (= twelve).
• uschor (= wife).

Note, however, that when preceded by a t, the sound changes.

The Combination tsch

The combination tsch is another way in Talossan to form the "ch" sound as in English chair and churn. This method is typically seen at the end of a word, or (less frequently) when the vowel that follows is not an e or i (in which cases the combinations ce and ci would indicate the "sh" sound). As discussed above, though, this means that tschu and ciu sound exactly alike, both pronounced like the English word chew.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• squetschadoira (= printer)
• calatsch (= cake).
• sändwitsch (= sandwich)
• La Republica Tschec (= The Czech Rrepublic)
• Tzaratütsch (= Germany)
• vaintsch (= twenty)

When you see a ch that is not preceded by an s, however, this means something different. We will discuss this next.

The Combinations che and chi

Before we leave the letter c, another thing to be covered is how it behaves in the letter combinations che and chi. In these combinations, the letter c becomes a "hard c" (that is, pronounced like English k) and the letter h is silent. This (changing of c to ch) is the method by which the "hard c" sound is indicated when the letter that follows is an e or an i.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• Chenapura (= Friday). Here the first syllable is pronounced like the English word cane.
• ambracafirancheu (= reddish brown)

Since this combination is only used to introduce an e or i, every Talossan word that ends in ch also ends in sch.

The Combination c'h

The letter c is used in one more combination, and that is c'h. The apostrophe here is an integral part of the combination and cannot be omitted. These three symbols (the two letters and the apostrophe) together form a single sound in Talossan. Some call it the "throat-scraping sound", others the "hard h" sound; I prefer to simply describe it as the sound you hear in the Scottish word loch (= lake, as in Loch Ness).

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• c'hrom (= chrome)
• lüc'ht (= file)
• nic'ht (= night) is one very common word containing this combination.

The Combinations sc'h and s'che and s'chi

The two combinations sc'h and s'ch give some students of Talossan a little trouble, since they are similar in appearance, not only to each other but to the combination sch.

The first of these (sc'h) is parsed as (s)(c'h) -- it is the s sound followed by the sound from the Scottish word loch. One example word from the vocabulary of week 1 is vesc'ha (= spade).

The second of these combinations (s'ch) is parsed as (s)(ch) and only ever appears before a letter e or i. The apostrophe in s'ch indicates the separation of the two elements (which would otherwise combine into the single sound sch). Since this combination consists of the s sound followed by "the hard c" sound, the Talossan word s'chi (= ski) is pronounced just like the English word.

The Letter ç

The letter ç (a c with a little curl underneath it, called a "cedilla") is pronounced like the English letter s.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• espoçeu (= husband)
• iraschença (= anger)
• esperançù (= hope)

The Letter d

The letter d is fairly unsurprising. Pronouncing it as in English will be correct in all cases, although it is useful to note that a trained Talossan speaker will tend to allow the letter d to "degenerate" in some positions. When being spoken as the sole sound between two vowels, or when adjacent (either preceding or following) the letter r, then a fluent Talossan would likely be heard to pronounce the d as the soft "th" sound as in the English words "this" and "that".

The Letter ð

The letter ð is thought by some to be disappearing from Talossan, and being replaced by the letter d. The letter ð is pronounced as the soft "th" sound as in the English words "this" and "that" (the sound into which the letter d degenerates between vowels or adjacent to the letter r, as described above).

The letter ð appears today in barely 100 Talossan words, and in all these cases, it is now acceptable and proper to use d in place of the letter ð. For example, the word àð, which is one form of the word for at or to, is now often seen spelled àd. In both cases, the pronunciation ends with the soft "th" sound, according to the rules given above.

We will discuss àð a bit later in the class so that you have a clearer picture of why I said "one form of the word for at or to". Don't let that "one form of" language scare you; it's nothing to be afraid of, as you'll see later in the course.

The Letter g

The letter g is pronounced as in the English word ago except in a few specific words and when it is involved in one of the combinations described below. Examples from the vocabulary from week 1 include gitara (= guitar), tevga (= flute), vinegrada (= pickle), plug (= taco), negreu (= black), and gamba (= leg).

The words in which the letter g is not pronounced as in ago but instead as in age are the Talossan words regeu (= king) and legeu (= law). In both of these words, and in words derived from those two words (such as regipäts), the letter g is pronounced as the English letter j, just as in the English words rage and judge.

[Notice, though, that not all of the words derived from regeu have retained the letter g. For example, rexhaint (= regent) and rexhital (= royal). Even regeu itself is also seen spelled rexheu. See the discussion of the xh combination below.]

The Combination glh

The consonant combination glh is one of the first ones that someone new to Talossan encounters, since it begins the word glheþ (= language). The exoticness of this letter combination (and the þ that ends the word) often makes an English speaker hesitate before beginning to learn Talossan. It is not really that scary once you learn how to pronounce it, though.

In Talossan, glh is pronounced as "lli" is pronounced in English words like million and billion. You can think of this, then, as the sound of a letter l (as in bill) followed immediately by an English letter y (as in you).

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• figlheu (= son)
• Fevraglh (= February)
• uglh (= eye)
• aureglha (= ear)

Don't be afraid of glh. Glh is your friend.

The Combination gn

When the letter g appears in the combination gn, the whole thing is pronounced as the Spanish ñ (as in Señor), which is the sound heard in the English words onion and canyon. An English speaker might be tempted to pronounce the letters g and the letter n in separate syllables; this mistake should be avoided.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• pigneta (= wrist)
• Pologn (= Poland)
• tristimogna (= sadness)

The Combination gh

The combination gh is exceedingly rare (so much so that it is hardly worth mentioning in this class; it appears in only ten words), but if you ever run into it, pronounce it like the gurgling sound at the end of the pirate cry arrrrgh!.

The Letter h

When it is not involved in a consonant combination, the letter h is pronounced as an English speaker would expect, as in the words hand and hair. I say "when it is not involved in a consonant combination", though, because as we have already seen, the letter h is involved in a great many of the consonant combinations (and we will see even more of them that include h, below).

The Letter l

The letter l has perhaps the most varied pronunciation rules of all the Talossan letters. Although a beginning Talossan speaker can use the English sound as in lip and loop to pronounce all Talossan l's, once you get a "feel" for the language, you will learn that some of the l's change or even disappear. Here is how.

First of all, a fluent Talossan speaker will allow an l to degenerate in the same way that the letter d degenerates between vowels. That is, l's between vowels often are pronounced like the soft "th" sound as in the English words this and that.

Secondly, if a Talossan word ends with the (single) letter l, then the l becomes pronounced as the English letter w and can even become completely silent if the vowel sound that precedes it is a "round" vowel (o, u, ö or ü).

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• martel (= hammer). The experienced Talossan speaker will pronounce that final l as an English w.
• lupul (= wolf). In this word, the initial letter l is given full value (and pronounced as in loop) but the final l undergoes the change described, and can even disappear entirely from speech.
• nical (= nickel). This final l is pronounced as English w.

Notice that this "change" is not universal, however. For example, the l's in the very common Talossan words el (= the) and àl (= to the) are usually given their full pronunciation. Essentially, the most that can be said is that the "degeneration" of l at the end of a word is a feature of Talossan to be aware of, but perhaps should not be considered a hard-and-fast rule of pronunciation.

The Letter n and its Pronunciation in ng

The Talossan letter n is pronounced just like the English letter n, even in the way the sound of that letter changes when it is involved in the consonant combinations ng, nc, and nk (and any other combination in Talossan, such as nche and nchi, in which n is followed by a "hard c" sound). Just as in English, this combination is pronounced as in English sing and sink. Example from the vocabulary from week 1 include ambracafirancheu (= reddish brown) and bisquinc (= ten).

Just as in English, the letter g is pronounced in an ng combination only if this combination is followed by a vowel or a "liquid consonant" (meaning the consonant l or r); otherwise the letter g is silent in the combination. English examples of the pronounced g include anger and hungry. Talossan examples include Anglatzara (= England) and langosteu (= lobster).

Talossan examples of a silent g (as in English sing and ring) include sang (= blood), angström (= angstrom), and lung (= long).

Historical note: Prior to the 2007 Arestada, the letter combination ng was often seen written ñ when this sound appeared in the middle of a word. However, ng was consistently used at the end of a word. The 2007 Arestada regularized this part of the language, and removed ñ from "New Spelling". That letter also appears in "Old Spelling" in the consonant combination gñh, which after the 2007 Arestada became the combination gn that was discussed above.

The Letter q

When the Talossan letter q is followed by a diphthong beginning with the letter u, then it behaves exactly as it does in English, and qu sounds just as it does in the English words queen and quilt. Examples from the vocabulary from week 1 include siquala (= chicken hawk), muqua (= badger), and bisquinc (= ten).

However, when it is not followed by the letter u, the Talossan letter q is pronounced in an unexpected way; unexpected not only for English speakers, but also for speakers of other Romance languages (in which the letter q usually behaves like the English k).

In Talossan, the letter q, when not followed by u, is pronounced as the beginning of the English words cue and cute. That is, it is pronounced as an English k followed by an English y (as in you). [You learned the one and only exception to this rule when you learned to count in Talossan -- in the word qátor (= four), the q is pronounced as an English k.]

An English speaker often finds it difficult to remember this unique pronunciation, and to "Q your Q's" is the mark of a practiced Talossan speaker. Since this letter is prominent in many important Talossan words, such as qe (= that) and qi (= who, which) and qet (= what), the student would be well-served by practicing saying these words out loud using the sound of the Talossan q so that when they are encountered, they will be pronounced correctly. Another example from the vocabulary assignments from week 1 is músiqeu (= music), which can almost be thought of as rhyming with "Susie-Q".

The Letter r

The letter r is pronounced just as in other Romance languages (which means that it is pronounced essentially as in English, except shorter, perhaps just as a tap of the tongue against the palate). If that is unclear, pronouncing it as in English is acceptable.

The Combination rh

The combination rh is very often seen, because it appears at the end of the infinitive form of every Talossan verb. In fact, this is virtually the only place where this combination is seen -- rh only appears in a couple other words.

The English speaker might be surprised to learn (and it may be difficult to get used to) the fact that the Talossan combination rh is pronounced like the English sound "sh", as in ship and she and ash. Yes, that is right, the Talossan word amarh (= to love) is pronounced "ah-mahsh", to rhyme with the English words wash and gosh.

Again, the infinitive form of every single Talossan verb ends with this unusually pronounced combination.

Historical note: prior to the 2007 Arestada, the infinitive form of all regular Talossan verbs ended simply with r, not rh. However, these forms were pronounced to rhyme with "gosh" and so in 2007, the Comità decided to reïnforce the pronunciation of these words in spelling by using the rh combination, which has existed in Talossan for many years. In fact, some term this particular change made by the 2007 Arestada as a "restoration".

The Letter s

The letter s is always pronounced as in English, except when it appears in the combination osa, where it takes the English "z" sound, as it does in English words like rose.

Notice, however, that this change of pronunciation does not apply to the word Talossa. This is due to the fact that the s is doubled. This is as good a time as any to discuss the effect of a doubled consonant.

Doubled Consonants and the Letter ß

Essentially, if a consonant is doubled in Talossan, this means that it should be pronounced with its "default", or "full" value. In other words, a doubled letter d will not "degenerate" to the "th" sound as described above, and a doubled letter l at the end of a word will not "degenerate" to the "w" sound described above.

This is why a word like Talossa will have the letter s sounded as in English saw rather than in English rose, which is how it would be pronounced if the letter s were not doubled.

In Talossan, the letter combination ss can be written as ß (this letter is called an "eseta" in Talossan). For this reason, ß is always pronounced as a full English letter "s" as in sing or say. Although ss and ß are 100% equivalent, writers of Talossan tend to use ss only in informal works, when it is not convenient to type an eseta. In anything other than casual written text, the letter ß is almost universally used in preference to ss. However, in the word Talossa and all words built from it, ß is never used; ss is always seen. The combination ss is also preferred in the common words qissen (= whose), qissensevol (= whosoever), and fossent (= we must, they must).

Note that no Talossan words begin with ß (or ss). As with all other doubled-consonants, this construction only occurs in the middle or at the end of a word.

The Letter x

The letter x is pronounced as in English, except in the word endings -eux and -éux (which are the ways that Talossan words ending in -eu and -éu are pluralized), in which cases the letter x is pronounced like the English "sh" as in ship and she and ash.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• computex (= computer)
• lüxüs (= luxury)

The Combination xh

Since the letter j is a vowel in Talossan, and the letter g is pronounced as in age in only a small number of words, you may have been wondering how the sound of the English letter j (as in jump and jive) is spelled in Talossan. This is the job of the combination xh.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• xhenoglh (= knee)
• roxh (= red)
• vexhetal (= vegetable)
• erxhent (= silver)
• traxhedà (= tragedy)

The Combination tx

The combination tx is rather unique in Talossan, since (like gn) it is a combination that does not include the letter h. This combination is pronounced as the sound in the middle of the word vision, and the beginning of the Hungarian name Zsa Zsa.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• marótxena (= ice cream)
• fatxot (= bassoon)

The Letter þ

In Talossan, the letter þ (which is called a "thorn") is the final letter of the alphabet, coming after z. This letter can be written as tg. In other words, the words glheþ and glhetg are one and the same, in just the same way that paßerat (= sparrow hawk) is equivalent to passerat.

The letter þ is pronounced like the hard "th" sound as in English thick and thin.

Examples from the vocabulary assignments from week 1:

• cervieþa (= beer)
• Liþogn (= Lithuania)
• þistoria (= history)
• deþu (= ten)

PART 2. CONSONANT MUTATION

In (and only in) the word that follows either a preposition or the word la (= the), some consonants at the beginning of a word will "mutate". Don't be afraid. Really. Don't be afraid.

Again, remember that this only happens in words that come immediately after a preposition (words like the English "to", "from", "over", "under", etc.) and the word la.

Second, know that even though the mutation is typically heard in fluent Talossan speech, it is very often not (anymore) in writing. There are of course exceptions, but they are easy to remember -- a pronoun that follows a preposition or la will always be spelled in its mutated form. For all other words, though, writing of the mutation is almost universally no longer seen, except for some very short and common words, like ma (= hand).

A consonant mutates in one of two ways; it either gets "softer" (this is called "lenition") or "harder" (this is called "fortition").

Mutation that occurrs after a vowel usually indicated "lenition", and was marked by inserting the consonant h after the mutating consonant. For example, the consonant m grows "softer" (becoming pronounced like the English and Talossan letter v) when it begins a word, and when the preceding word (a preposition or la) ends with a vowel. That is, while the Talossan word for hand is ma, when this word appears after a preposition that ends with a vowel, or after la (= the), the consonant m "mutates". So this means that while ma means "hand", la mha (pronounced like la vah) means "the hand".

Mutation that occurrs after a consonant, however, usually indicated "nasalisation" or "fortition", and was indicated in a different way, using what is called "eclipsis". In these cases, the consonant into which the mutating consonant is changing is added to the front of the word (and historically, it was also common to then capitalize the "eclipsed" consonant). That is, while the Talossan word for cause is cauça, when this word appears after a preposition that ends in a consonant, the consonant c "mutates" and takes the sound of the letter g. This means that while cauça means "cause", per gCauça da (pronounced "gau-sah", with the "eclipsed" letter c silent) means "for cause (sake) of". Notice that the capitalization of the eclipsed consonant in this form of mutation has been largely abandoned (but is still optional), so that per gcauça da is also proper.

As I say, indication of mutation in writing is almost entirely out of use now, although it is mandated for mutating pronouns. Here are those pronouns in their normal and mutated forms.

• The pronoun me (= me) mutates (undergoing "lenition") to become mhe (which is pronounced "veh") when it appears after a preposition that ends with a vowel. For example, da mhe (= of you) and à mhe (= to you).
  
• The pronoun tu (= you) mutates (undergoing "lenition") to become thu (which is pronounced "hu") when it appears after a preposition that ends with a vowel, or after la. For example, da thu (= of you), à thu (= to you), and la thu (= yours).
  
• The pronoun tu (= you) mutates (undergoing "eclipsis") to become dtu (pronounced "du") when it appears after a preposition that ends with a consonant. For example, per dtu (= for you) and cün dtu (= with you).
  
• The pronoun lor (= their) mutates (undergoing "lenition") to become lhor (which is pronounced "thor", using the "soft th" as in English "this" and "then") when it appears after a preposition that ends with a vowel or la. For example, da lhor (= of them), à lhor (= to them), and la lhor (= theirs). [Notice that even if the word were not respelled to lhor, the pronunciation rules for the letter l would still indicate this mutated pronunciation, as here the letter l "degenerates" to the "th" sound because it is between two vowel sounds.]
  
• The pronouns noi (= us) and voi (= you all) also undergo lenition when following prepositions that end with vowels. For example, da nhoi (= of us, in which the nh is pronounced as the Spanish ñ as in onion and canyon) and à vhoi (= to you all, in which the vh is pronounced as the English letter w).
  
• The pronoun síeu (= his, hers) has the feminine form sía which then mutates (undergoing eclipsis) in the phrase la tsía (= his, hers [of an owned object of feminine gender]). The second word here is also often seen tSía. The word is pronounced "tía" (the mutated letter s being silent).
  
• The pronoun méu (= mine) has the feminine form mía which then mutates (undergoing lenition) in the phrase la mhía (= mine [of an owned object of feminine gender]), pronounced "la vía".
  

Essentially, if you come across a Talossan word that begins with a confusing consonant pair that wasn't discussed in part 1 of this lecture, chances are you have encountered a mutated consonant. If the second letter is h, you have a lenitive change, but otherwise, as in the cases of the words gcauça, dtu, and tsía, you should pronounce the first letter and leave the second letter silent.

Pairs of letter resulting from eclipsis (for example, dt as in dtu and ts as in tsía) are not considered ingrained features of the language. This means that when you encounter dt or ts in the middle of a Talossan word, you have not encountered consonant mutation, and the two consonants in the pair should be pronounced separately.

However, the lenitive pairs are considered to be ingrained features of the language. That is, even when mh appears in the middle of a word, it is pronounced as the letter v. The lenitive pair that is most common (and which is most commonly seen in the middle of a word) is ph (which is pronounced like the letter f, just as in English). An example from the vocabulary from week 1 is Finphäts (= Finland).

The lenitive pairs other than those already discussed above are bh (pronounced like the letter v), dh (pronounced like the "soft th" as in English this or that), and fh (pronounced like the letter h).

Other than the mandated uses with pronouns listed above, and its (optional) use in some phrases like per gcauça, consonant mutation is typically only seen with the word ma (= hand) and with the words pü (= more) and míus (= less). For example, la phü (= the most) and la mhíus (= the least). It is also seen in the middle of some older words that were formed by contraction when the system of mutation was in use. For example, salamhenxh (= dining room) and autufhaçat (= self-made).

Mutation only still appears in writing in Talossan in these specific cases; otherwise, indication in writing is not something that is commonly seen. However, once you begin to speak fluently in Talossan, you will (perhaps surprisingly) find yourself mutating consonants at the beginning of words after prepositions and la, simply as a matter of course. However, when writing Talossan, it is now not usual to indicate the mutations heard in speech, except in the cases described above. For example, the vocabulary word piatana (= plane) need not become la phiatana in writing, but instead is written simply la piatana (= the plane). However, a fluent Talossan speaker would likely be heard saying that phrase using the "ph" sound (as in "phone") to begin the word piatana.

With the details in last week's lecture and this week's lecture, you now have a complete picture of Talossan pronunciation. As I have said in the lectures, there are some irregularly pronounced words in Talossan, as well (although there are not very many, and a few of them -- the Talossan words for four, five, and seven -- have already been discussed), and also some irregularly pronounced word-endings (again, there are very few of these; we will go over these next week).

Let me know if any of this lecture is unclear. I will be posting your assignments for this week in the next few days.