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Lesson #1: Pronunciation and Writing

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Learn to pronounce Malenese words and read the native script.

This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 7 Oct 2017, 01:24.

[comments] mfelessonslesson 1 Malenese (4 articles)

[Public] ? ?

1. Lesson #1: Pronunciation and Writing ? ?

2. Spelling Rules ? ?

3. The Modern Feirie "Mirror" Syntax System ? ?

4. Verb Classes ? ?

+ Write new article in Malenese

Menu 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE ALPHABET 3. PRACTICE AND END

[edit] [top]INTRODUCTION

Malenese, like English, and many other languages, uses an alphabet, and, in order to learn Malenese, one must first learn to read the Malenese Runes that the language is written with. Because of the large number of sounds in the language, the alphabet is quite a bit larger than the English alphabet, at 64 total symbols. However, most of the symbols are based off of simpler ones, with various extra marks added, for specific sounds. The chart below details each symbol, and an approximation of how to pronounce it. Unfortunately, the language is pronounced very different from English, so most of the descriptions aren't very accurate, so an IPA transcription is provided for those who can read it. Additionally, to speak Malenese correctly, you must be able to whistle.
Malenese does not use capitals.

VOWELS
Each vowel has eight ways to be pronounced. Luckily, this is completely predictable, and is based on the preceding consonant. A nasal consonant makes the vowel ahead be nasalized, and a compressed consonant makes the vowel ahead be compressed. A nasal compressed consonant make the vowel ahead be both nasalized and compressed. Compressed means that the vowel or consonant is pronounced while pursing the lips. Also, vowels change pronunciation based on whether they are stressed or not. Luckily, the stressed vowel is always the last one in the word, it always kinda sounds like I'm talking like this. EASY!

THE LETTER R
'r' also has eight ways to be pronounced. Like the other vowels, it can be nasalized and compressed, but, unlike vowels, it doesn't change by stress, but by whether the preceding consonant is dorsal or not. All dorsal consonants start with either 'x', 'g' or 'q'. Additionally, while it is usually a vowel, when between vowels, it's pronounced as a consonant.

[edit] [top]THE ALPHABET

Native	Roman	IPA	Pronunciation
f	f	[f͉ʰʷʰ]	Just like in English, but exhaled harder.
s	s	[s̪ʰ]	Mostly the same as the Polish 's', but exhaled harder.
t	t	[θʰ]	Like the 'th' in 'thin' but exhaled harder.
x	x	[x͉ʰ]	Like the Irish 'cháis' or the Russian 'хлеб' but exhaled harder.
v	v	[f̬ˑ]	Try to pronounce the 'f' and 'v' of 'calf veins' as one sound.
z	z	[s̬̪̻₎ˑ]	Try to pronounce the 's' and 'z' of 'crass zebra' as one sound.
d	d	[θ̬ˑ]	Try to pronounce the 'th' and 'th' of 'health that' as one sound.
g	g	[x̬ˑ]	Try to pronounce the 'ch' and 'gh' of the Irish words 'taoiseach ghasúr' as one sound.
m	m	[ṽˑ]	Made by making an 'm' with the bottom lip touching the top teeth.
n	n	[ɦ̪͆ˑ]	Made by humming through shut teeth.
l	l	[ð̃ˑ]	A nasalized version of the 'th in 'this'. Hard for English speakers.
q	q	[ɣ̃ˑ]	A nasal voiced 'x'. Hard for English speakers.
fj	fj	[ɸ̞ʰ]	Essentially blowing through slightly pursed lips with a burst of air.
sj	sj	[ɕ͉ʰ]	Made by making a 'sh' with the tongue touching the bottom teeth, and exhaling harder.
tj	tj	[l̪̥͆ʰ]	A whispered 'l' with the tongue between the teeth and a burst of air.
xj	xj	[j̥ʰ]	A whispered 'y' with a burst of air.
vj	vj	[ɸ̬ˑ]	Like 'fj' but with humming at the end.
zj	zj	[ɕ̬ˑ]	Like 'sj' but with humming at the end.
dj	dj	[ɬ̬ˑ]	Somewhat like 'tj' but with humming at the end. Tongue is flatter.
gj	gj	[j̬̥ˑ]	Like 'xj' but with humming at the end.
mj	mj	[β̞̃ˑ]	Essentially humming through slightly pursed lips.
nj	nj	[ɦˑ]	Just humming with an open mouth.
lj	lj	[l̪͆̃ˑ]	A nasal 'l' made between the teeth.
qj	qj	[j̃ˑ]	Nasal 'y'.
fh	fh	[f͉ʰʷʰ:]	Pronounced twice as long as the unmodified consonant.
sh	sh	[s̪ʰ:]
th	th	[θʰ:]
xh	xh	[x͉ʰ:]
fc	fc	[f͈ʷ]	'p'
sc	sc	[s̪ʼ]	't'
tc	tc	[θʼ]	't' between the teeth
xc	xc	[xʼ]	'k'
fjh	fjh	[ɸ̞ʰ:]	Pronounced twice as long as the unmodified consonant.
sjh	sjh	[ɕ͉ʰ:]
tjh	tjh	[l̪̥͆ʰ:]
xjh	xjh	[j̥ʰ:]
fjc	fjc	[ɸʼ]	hard 'f'
sjc	sjc	[ɕʼ]	'ch'
tjc	tjc	[ɬ̪ʼ]	hard 'l'
xjc	xjc	[çʼ]	'ky'
sw	sw	[s͎͉ʰ]	Whistled 's'
xw	xw	[x͉ʰᵝ]	Like 'x' but with pursed lips.
zw	zw	[s̪̼̬ˑ]	Whistled 'z'
gw	gw	[x̬ᵝˑ]	Like 'g' but with pursed lips.
qw	qw	[ɣ̃ᵝˑ]	Like 'q' but with pursed lips.
sjw	sjw	[ɕ͎͉ʰ]	Whistled 'sj'
xjw	xjw	[j̥ʰᵝ]	Like 'xj' but with pursed lips.
zjw	zjw	[ɕ̼̬ˑ]	Whistled 'zj'
gjw	gjw	[j̬̥ᵝˑ]	Like 'gj' but with pursed lips.
qjw	qjw	[j̃ᵝˑ]	Like 'qj' but with pursed lips.
shw	swh	[s͎͉ʰ:]	Pronounced twice as long as the unmodified consonant.
xhw	xwh	[x͉ʰᵝ:]	Pronounced twice as long as the unmodified consonant.
scw	scw	[s͎͈ʼ]	Whistled 'sc'
xcw	xcw	x͈ᵝʼ]	Like 'xc' but with pursed lips.
sjhw	sjwh	[ɕ͎͉ʰ:]	Pronounced twice as long as the unmodified consonant.
xjhw	xjwh	[j̥ʰᵝ:]	Pronounced twice as long as the unmodified consonant.
sjcw	sjcw	[ɕ͎͈ʼ]	Whistled 'sjc'
xjcw	xjcw	[çᵝʼ]	Like 'xjc' but with pursed lips.
i	i + Stressed	[i̘]	Like English 'ee' in free, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward.
	i + Stressed + Compressed	[i̘ᵝ]	Like English 'ee' in free, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward, and made with pursed lips.
	i + Stressed + Nasal	[ĩ̘]	Like English 'ee' in free, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward, and nasalized.
	i + Stressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ĩ̘ᵝ]	Like English 'ee' in free, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
	i + Unstressed	[ɪ̘]	Like English 'i' in fit, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward.
	i + Unstressed + Compressed	[ɪ̘ᵝ]	Like English 'i' in fit,, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward, and made with pursed lips.
	i + Unstressed + Nasal	[ɪ̘̃]	Like English 'i' in fit,, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward, and nasalized.
	i + Unstressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ɪ̘̃ᵝ]	Like English 'i' in fit,, but the tongue is generally higher and more forward, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
u	u + Stressed	[ɯ]	Like English 'oo' in boot, but without lip rounding.
	u + Stressed + Compressed	[ɯᵝ]	Like English 'oo' in boot, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips.
	u + Stressed + Nasal	[ɯ̃]	Like English 'oo' in boot, but without lip rounding, and nasalized.
	u + Stressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ɯ̃ᵝ]	Like English 'oo' in boot, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
	u + Unstressed	[ɯ̽]	Like English 'oo' in hook, but without lip rounding.
	u + Unstressed + Compressed	[ɯ̽ᵝ]	Like English 'oo' in hook, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips.
	u + Unstressed + Nasal	[ɯ̽̃]	Like English 'oo' in hook, but without lip rounding, and nasalized.
	u + Unstressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ɯ̽̃ᵝ]	Like English 'oo' in hook, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
e	e + Stressed	[e̘]	Like English 'ay' in play, but the tongue is generally more forward.
	e + Stressed + Compressed	[e̘ᵝ]	Like English 'ay' in play, but the tongue is generally more forward, and made with pursed lips.
	e + Stressed + Nasal	[ẽ̘]	Like English 'ay' in play, but the tongue is generally more forward, and nasalized.
	e + Stressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ẽ̘ᵝ]	Like English 'ay' in play, but the tongue is generally more forward, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
	e + Unstressed	[ɛ̘]	Like English 'e' in let, but the tongue is generally more forward.
	e + Unstressed + Compressed	[ɛ̘ᵝ]	Like English 'e' in let, but the tongue is generally more forward, and made with pursed lips.
	e + Unstressed + Nasal	[ɛ̘̃]	Like English 'e' in let, but the tongue is generally more forward, and nasalized.
	e + Unstressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ɛ̘̃ᵝ]	Like English 'e' in let, but the tongue is generally more forward, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
o	o + Stressed	[ɤ]	Like English 'o' in hole, but without lip rounding.
	o + Stressed + Compressed	[ɤᵝ]	Like English 'o' in hole, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips.
	o + Stressed + Nasal	[ɤ̃]	Like English 'o' in hole, but without lip rounding, and nasalized.
	o + Stressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ɤ̃ᵝ]	Like English 'o' in hole, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
	o + Unstressed	[ʌ]	Like English 'u' in cut, but without lip rounding.
	o + Unstressed + Compressed	[ʌᵝ]	Like English 'u' in cut, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips.
	o + Unstressed + Nasal	[ʌ̃]	Like English 'u' in cut, but without lip rounding, and nasalized.
	o + Unstressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ʌ̃ᵝ]	Like English 'u' in cut, but without lip rounding, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
a	a + Stressed	[æ̙]	Like English 'a' in hat, but the tongue in generally farther back.
	a + Stressed + Compressed	[æ̙ᵝ]	Like English 'a' in hat, but the tongue in generally farther back, and made with pursed lips.
	a + Stressed + Nasal	[æ̙̃]	Like English 'a' in hat, but the tongue in generally farther back, and nasalized.
	a + Stressed + Compressed + Nasal	[æ̙̃ᵝ]	Like English 'a' in hat, but the tongue in generally farther back, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
	a + Unstressed	[ɐ]	Like English 'u' in nut, but the tongue in generally farther back.
	a + Unstressed + Compressed	[ɐᵝ]	Like English 'u' in nut, but the tongue in generally farther back, and made with pursed lips.
	a + Unstressed + Nasal	[ɐ̃]	Like English 'u' in nut, but the tongue in generally farther back, and nasalized.
	a + Unstressed + Compressed + Nasal	[ɐ̃ᵝ]	Like English 'u' in nut, but the tongue in generally farther back, and made with pursed lips, and nasalized.
r	r	[ð̞̩͡ɻ̩]	Like the 'thr' in 'through'.
	r + Compressed	[θ̞̩͡ᵝɻ̩ᵝ]	Like the 'thr' in 'through', but compressed.
	r + Nasal	[ð̞̩̃͡ɻ̩̃]	Like the 'thr' in 'through', but nasalized.
	r + Dorsal	[ɰ̩͡ʁ̩]	Like the 'ur' in 'hour'.
	r + Dorsal + Compressed	[ɰ̩͡ᵝʁ̩ᵝ]	Like the 'ur' in 'hour', but compressed.
	r + Dorsal + Nasal	[ɰ̩̃͡ˑʁ̩̃ˑ]	Like the 'ur' in 'hour', but nasalized.
	r + Dorsal + Compressed + Nasal	[ɰ̩̃͡ᵝˑʁ̩̃ᵝˑ]	Like the 'ur' in 'hour',but compressed, and nasalized.
	r + Intervocalic	[ð̞͡ɻ]	Like the 'thr' in 'through'.

[edit] [top]PRACTICE AND END

For practice, study the chart, and then type into the boxes on the left the transcription of the text on the right.

i	↺	one
sha	↺	the wind
xjcunje	↺	Hello!
shetjci	↺	a wing
asjatjixwu	↺	a child

Having finished Lesson #1, and with some practice, you should be able to read any text written in Malenese. Congratulations!

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