Sambahsa Phonetics in IPA

8/14/2019 Sambahsa Phonetics in IPA

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IPA Sambahsa phonetics

Pronounciation:

Sambahsa uses the 26 letters of the Roman Alphabet and combines them toproduce a variety of sounds. The corresponding forms in IPA areindicated in brackets [ ]. If there is no indication, the pronounciation isnearly the same as in English.

Thanks to Jim Henry (http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/i/jimhenry1973/) for his valuableadvice.

a is [a].

ae and ay are pronounced [aj]

au is [a], but eau is [o:]

ai is [].

e is pronounced [e] when it is stressed, at the beginning of a word, orfollowed by the two same consonants. Otherwise, it is []. At the end of aword, it is unpronounced, except if it eases the pronounciation with the

following word (example: in case of consonantic clusters). As the lastvowel of a word and followed by a final s or t, it is likewiseunpronounced, except if it would then be impossible to distinguish thes or t from the consonant before the e (the same rules apply inEnglish with the plural ending -es or the preterit ending -ed).Nevertheless, it is always pronounced in the endings -ques [ks] and -quet- [kt].

ee is thus [e]. ei and ey are [ej]. eu is []. In spoken language, []after another vowel is commnly dropped and the preceding vowel islengthened.

i is [i]. ie is pronounced [i] at the end of a word, but [je] in other positions.

o is [o]. oe is [oj]. ou is [u:]

u is [u:]. But, if one of the two following letters is a e, then this u turns to[y]. ui is [wi].

y is [y] except when it stands before or after a vowel [j], or at the end of aword under the forms y [i] or ys [is].
http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/i/jimhenry1973/http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyelle_moyenne_inf%C3%A9rieure_ant%C3%A9rieure_non_arrondiehttp://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyelle_moyenne_centralehttp://bellsouthpwp.net/j/i/jimhenry1973/http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyelle_moyenne_inf%C3%A9rieure_ant%C3%A9rieure_non_arrondiehttp://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyelle_moyenne_centrale


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c is [k] except before e, i or y where it turns to [ts]. ch is [t ]. If ch is followed by a consonant, it is then pronounced [k]. For purposes ofaccentuation, ck counts as a double k, or k + k. sc is alwayspronounced [s] before e, i or y.

g is pronounced [g], except before e, i or y, where it is [d ]. gh is always [g]. gn before a vowel is pronounced [nj].

h is aspired at the beginning of a word. Otherwise, after a vowel, it serves tolengthen this one, and, after a consonant, it keeps this one from beingphonetically altered (see the paragraphs below).

j is always pronounced [ ].

kh is [x]

n is [n]. When [n] and [g] collide, they turn to [] at the end of a word, and to[g] within. Likewise, [n] + [k] will turn to [k].

ph is [f]

qu is [k] except before a or o, where it turns to [kw].

r has a pronounciation which can vary from country to country.Nevertheless, rh and rr must always be rolled. Some words of Asianorigin show the combination rl, which can be pronounced [ ].

s [s] turns to [z] between two vowels (w and y do not count as vowels iftheyre used as semi-vowels), except if it is a double ss. sch is alwayspronounced [ ], while sh in Sambahsa corresponds to the ich-laut of German []. sc is always pronounced [s] before e, i or y.

th is pronounced [], except if there is [s], [ ], [], or [ ] just after or before it. Then, it is pronounced like t [t].

w is pronounced as in English. Yet, in Sambahsa, it can work as anunstressed vowel when it is between two consonants. It is then

pronounced like a short u sound.

z is pronounced [dz].

In difficult consonantic clusters, it is common that a t or a d be leftunpronounced. Likewise, an unstressed e [] is often unpronouncedwhen it stands besides another vowel.

Accentuation:


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In Sambahsa, to determine where the stress falls, you must start from the lastsyllable of the word and go backwards to the beginning. Prefixes arenever stressed and send back the accentuation on the stem of the word.Likewise, a vocalic w can never be stressed. Otherwise, when the stresscannot fall on the last syllable, consider that it is on the penultimate one.

A single vowel being the last letter of a word is never stressed (except in a fewinternational loanwords like caf).

a or o in the last syllable of a word are stressed if it is followed by aconsonant (except s) or another vowel.

e is only stressed in the last syllable of a word if it is followed by anothervowel, h, or twice the same consonant (remember that ck counts ask + k)

i is only stressed in the last sylable of a word if it is followed by e, twice thesame consonant, h, i or n (but not ng). It is always stressed if itappears in the combination ui.

u is stressed in the last syllable of a word if it is followed by any consonant(except s) or by e or w or y.

y is only stressed in the last syllable of a word it is followed by twice thesame consonant.

Exceptions to these rules are the(i)um endings of things andule, which arenever stressed. On the contrary, -elas an ending is always stressed if oneof the two letters before is a o.

Ex:

territorium = [terri'torjum]specule (mirror) = ['spekyl]hotel = [ho'tel]

Compounds are stressed following the rules above; but if the stress falls on a

syllable that would not have been stressed in the isolated word, then thestress falls on the first accentuable syllable before. Remember that thesuffix -ment is treated as a part of a compound.

Ex: sambhsa from sam and bhsa; mundilectfrom mundiland dialct.

Nota: The pronounciation and accentuation rules do not necessarily apply toproper names.

Exercises on Orthography and Accentuation in Sambahsa.


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(Thanks to Dave MacLeod for his help: www.pageF30.com )Sambahsas orthographical and accentuational system is quite elaborated; this is dueto the fact that it tries to respect the forms that loanwords have in the sourcelanguages, especially West-European languages where orthography plays a keyrole.

Nevertheless, those rules are entirely regular, and can be mastered throughrepetition. This series of exercises, which can be redone several times, is here tomake you acquainted with them.

A [:] following a vowel indicates that this one has to be lengthened. Letters in italicscan be left unpronounced.These exercises will consist each of series of ten difficult words. Your task will be todetermine their right pronounciation (including the place of the stress) and then tocompare with the solution given.

1st Series:

inkapiet : (he/she/it) would beginalyo : another (one)dwogimt : twentiethsecule : centurysecret : secretkjiawxieng : by chanceghyien : opened (preterit)sgillen : sealed (past participle)salgih : took outgiowit : (he/she/it) remove

inkapiet : (he/she/it) would begin

[ikap'jet] : The orthography here is clear. ie is always stressed when it stands atthe end of a word. Under the stress, e is always pronounced as [e]. If no consonanthad followed ie, then it would have been pronounced [i] (or even [i:]).Be careful, ye does not trigger the same effects as ie, since y is only a semi-vowel. In *inkapyet, the stress would not have fallen on *e, but on *a.

alyo : another (one)

['aljo] : quite easy; alyo is uncommon in Sambahsa insofar as it is declined.

dwogimt : twentieth

['dwod imt] : I as the last vowel of a word is only stressed if it is followed by h (then it turns to [i:]) or n (but not ng !) or the same consonant twice.

g is pronounced [d ], as in English, before e, i or y.
http://www.pagef30.com/http://www.pagef30.com/


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In the spoken language, it is common that the final t is left unpronounced. As thepronouns of sambahsa are declined, this does not give rise to misunderstandings.

secule : century

['sekyl] : Here, two important exceptions are featured. First of all u is normallypronounced [u] except when there is a e in the two following letters. Then, this u ispronounced [y].Secondly, e as the last letter is left unpronounced and sends back, normally, thestress on the first preceeding vowel. The only exception are words ending with -ule,where the stress is sent back again on the vowel before this -ule-. This comes fromthe fact that, in Latin, ul- was already unstressed.

secret : secret

['skret] : Here, the place of the stress is due to the fact that se is perceived as aprefix; it is the contraction of seni = apart, separately. In Sambahsa, prefixes arenever stressed and the accentuation then comes back on the stem of the word.Unstressed e is pronounced [] as e in English the, except when it is inconjunction with another vowel, or when it is followed twice by the same consonant(ck counting as k + k). Yet, in common speech, the difference between [e] and[] might be hardly noticed; more important is to stress the right vowel.

kjiawxieng : by chance

[k jaw 'ksje] : Weve already explained that ie, as a double vowel, must bestressed. w, when it is followed by a consonant, is pronounced like a very short [u]and is never stressed. In Sambahsa, letters can interact between each other. Thus,you may hear [k ] instead of [k ] at the beginning of the word.

ghyien : opened (preterit)

[gjen] : Remember that gh is always pronounced [g] (the h is here to harden theg). The verb ghyan [gjan] turns to ghyien under ablaut; thus, the y is stillpresent in the simple past tense form only for purely grammatical reasons.

sgillen : sealed (past participle)

['sd il ln] : Before e, I and y, g is pronounced [d ], as it is often the case in English. You can pronounce ll as in the English word well, but be aware that most foreignspeakers will pronounce it as a simple l.


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salgih : took out

[sald'i:] : The final h is unpronounced but serves to lengthen the i. As the I islengthened, it thus bears the stress; while i alone at the end of the word wouldnthave been stressed.

giowit : (he/she/it) remove

['djowit] : Here, the y may be left unpronounced by some people, the reason forthis being that the presence of the y is indicated by the softening of g before.

2nd Series:

encouragend : encouraging

stieures :powersgwaukan : determined(adjective)reduce : reducenuclear : nucleargnohsit : (he, she, it) kneweet : (he, she, it) wasdesert : desertkhiek : failed (preterit)sprehge : talk to, ask

encouragend : encouraging

[eku:r'ad nd] : e, standing alone as the last vowel of a word, is never stressed, except if its followed twice by the same consonant or ck. Then, the stress falls onthe vowel before. ou is always as [u:] in Sambahsa (though its not a problem if youforget to lengthen it). At the beginning of a word, e is always pronounced [e], even ifits unstressed.

stieures :powers

[styrs] : The final e is left unpronounced in Sambahsa, even if its followed by t ors, insofar as this last sound can be distinguished from the preceding consonant. InSambahsa, eu is always pronounced [].

gwaukan : determined(adjective)

[gwa'kan] : a as the last vowel of a word is always stressed if it is followed byanother letter (except s). The same system applies to o and u. In Sambahsa,au is pronounced [`a ] like in German or Spanish.


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reduce : reduce

[r'duts] : First, weve already seen that u is pronounced [y] if one of the twofollowing letters is e. Secondly, c is pronounced [ts] before e, i or y.

nuclear : nuclear

[nukl'ar] : The fact that a is followed by r makes it bear the stress. The [] isnearly silent.

gnohsit : (he, she, it) knew

['njo:sit] : In Sambahsa, gn is pronounced [nj] as in French or Italian (ex:champagne). The presence of h not only lengthens the o, but keeps the

following s from being pronounced [z] (a single s between two vowels ispronounced [z]).

eet : (he, she, it) was

['et] : ee is normally pronounced [E], but it will often turn to [E:].

desert : desert

[d'zert] : Between two vowels, a single s turns to [z]. The second e bears thestress because de, in Sambahsa as in Latin, is a prefix.

khiek : failed (preterit)

[xjek] : In Sambahsa, kh is always the guttural sound [x].

sprehge : talk to, ask

[spre:d ] : g is pronounced [d ] before e, i and y.

3rd Series:

ihes : to goaproposs : by the way

juce :juicetaiptro : until presently

bayghend : belonging (present participle)lyt : a little


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jawieb : replied (preterit)lyekwrntvursta : liverwurstsmoquettes : moquetteslakin : however

ihes : to go

[i:s] : the h lengthens the preceding h. A single e as the last vowel of a word andfollowed by s or t is not pronounced (unless this final s or t could not bedistinguished from the penultimate consonant).

aproposs : by the way

[aprop`os] : the stress falls on the last o because it is followed twice by the sameconsonant.

juce :juice

[ y ts] : u is pronounced [] if one of the two following letters is e. c is pronounced[ts] before e, I and y.

taiptro : until presently

['t ptro] : ai is always pronounced [ ], as in French.

bayghend : belonging (present participle)

['bajgnd] : the h hardens the g before e.

lyt : a little

[lyt] : y, when it does not accompany any vowel, is pronounced [y] except as -yand -ys at the end of a word, when it turns to [-i] and [-is] respectively.

jawieb : replied (preterit)

[awij'eb] : As the conjunction of two semi-vowels may be hard to pronounce, a [i]can be added between [w] and [j].

lyekwrntvursta : liverwursts


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[lykurnt'vursta] : w, between two consonants, is pronounced like a very short [u]. Indifficult consonantic clusters, the pronounciation of t can be omitted.

moquettes : moquettes

[mok'ets] : Remember here that the final e is left unpronounced. This final e, aswell as the double tt, indicates that the stress falls on the central e. qu ispronounced [k] before e, i and y, and [kw] before a, u and o.

lakin : however

[la'kin] : Remember that, as an exception, a final -in takes the stress, but not a final-ing !

4th Series:

exspectet : (you) expectsimple : simplemathmoun : content (substantive)vasya : all the (plural)ghianshiek : rock, boulderhamrahn : accompanied (past participle)torche : torchvanscho : I wishmuzlim : faintlyusit : (he/she/it) undid

exspectet : (you) expect

[eks'pektt] : here, the last e has to be pronounced, since it helps to distinguish thefinal e from the preceding one.

simple : simple

['simpl] : the pronounciation of the final e depends on whether the next word in thesentence will begin with a consonant or not.

mathmoun : content (substantive)


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[mam'u:n] : In Sambahsa, th is pronounced as in English thin, except when itstands close to a consonant (ex: s, sch, z) incompatible with it. Then it turns to [t].

vasya : all the (plural)

['vasja] : y is a semi-vowel, not a vowel. Thus, s is not pronounced [z] when itstands between it and a vowel.ghianshiek : rock, boulder

[gjan'jek] : sh is always pronounced [].

hamrahn : accompanied (past participle)

[ham'ra:n] : the last h lengthens the last a.

torche : torch

[tort] : ch is pronounced as in English, except before a consonant, where it turns to[k].

vanscho : I wish

['van o] : sch is always pronounced [ ].

muzlim : faint

['mudzlim] : z is always pronounced [dz].

lyusit : (he/she/it) undid

['ljuzit] : s is pronounced [z] because it stands between two vowels.

5th Series :

saanskyur : umbrella racklinoleium : linoleumwahid : only (adjective)scenes : scenesbotel : bottleidentifie : identify

aghyern : morningsilhouette : silhouette


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argwrnten : silvernbureau : bureau, office

saanskyur : umbrella rack

[sa.an'skjur] : Beware of pronouncing both a of saan distinctively.

linoleium : linoleum

[lino'lejum] : Endings in -um do not bear the stress, as those in us.

wahid : only (adjective)

['wahid] : Here, the h ought to be pronounced, since it stands between two vowels.

scenes : scenes

[sens] : sc is pronounced [sk], except before e, i or y where it turns to [s].

botel : bottle

[bo'tel] : The ending el of words is stressed if one of two preceding letters is a o.Examples: forel, colonel, personel, pomel

identifie : identify

[idnti'fi:] : as a long vowel, ie is stressed even at the end of a word. When followedby another letter, it is pronounced [ye], before [i:] without.

aghyern : morning

['agjrn] : y is a semi-vowel, thus e alone cannot be stressed.

silhouette : silhouette

[silhu:'et] : ou is always pronounced [u :] and remains thus unaffected by thefollowing e .

argwrnten : silvern

['argurntn] : w , even when it serves as a vowel, can never be stressed, thus thestress goes on the beginning of the word.


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bureau : bureau, office

[byr'o :] : eau is always pronounced [o :], and the e affects the preceding

u , which turns to [y].

c. Dr. Olivier Simon

Sambahsa Phonetics in IPA

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