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Pronunciation

by chiklit, July 8, 2006

Messages: 8

Language: English

chiklit (User's profile) July 8, 2006, 5:41:03 PM

Hi. I've been having trouble figuring out how to pronounce words like konsciigi. Is it like kons-tsi-igi? or kon-s-ts-i-igi? kon-s-tsi-igi?

It seems like if pronounced naturally it would be kon-tsi-gi. But the fact that everything needs to be pronounced in Esperanto seems to make pronouncing words like this much harder than they need to be.

oren (User's profile) July 9, 2006, 2:39:02 AM

chiklit:Hi. I've been having trouble figuring out how to pronounce words like konsciigi. Is it like kons-tsi-igi? or kon-s-ts-i-igi? kon-s-tsi-igi?

It seems like if pronounced naturally it would be kon-tsi-gi. But the fact that everything needs to be pronounced in Esperanto seems to make pronouncing words like this much harder than they need to be.
Yeah, in Esperanto everything must be pronounced, even multiple vowels. So it would be: "kon - stsi - i'- gi" (remember to place the accent on the second to last syllable).

To practice that tricky (and somewhat common) combination of "sc," I repeat 'last Sunday' over and over quickly; you get the same sound, and it shouldn't take up two syllables.

-oren

jvp1971 (User's profile) July 11, 2006, 3:29:14 AM

Last Sundy! Brilliant. I have been falling over that hurdle for quite some time. Dankon!!

JenniferatLernu (User's profile) December 3, 2007, 2:50:25 PM

oren:To practice that tricky (and somewhat common) combination of "sc," I repeat 'last Sunday' over and over quickly; you get the same sound, and it shouldn't take up two syllables.

-oren
I just had to bump this thread.

Oren's suggestion to practice saying 'last Sunday' over and over quickly to get used to teh "sc" sound is brilliant.

I was recently introduced to the word scii and it's not easy to prounouce. ridulo.gif

mnlg (User's profile) December 3, 2007, 2:54:37 PM

A long time ago I was chatting on IRC on a channel dedicated to Esperanto. An English speaker joined the channel; he was a beginner and he asked this very same question. A channel member suggested him to practice with the word "breasts". I still remember the laughs that followed ridulo.gif

Filu (User's profile) December 4, 2007, 6:29:48 PM

Only a couple of days with a French-Canadian should provide you with a lot of "scii" (that's exactly how a very common swear word is pronouced in Québec lango.gif )

Ok! The other tricks are probably both cheaper and just as good. It's only because reading this thread made me smile and because I wanted to share this little bit of joy with you that I came over to give my little sidetrack comment.

eb.eric (User's profile) December 4, 2007, 7:28:05 PM

I find it hardest to pronounce words like "cxiuj"... the iuj combination feels awkward to me.

It's easier for me to pronounce it as three syllables, cxi - U - i, avoiding that final cluster. It doesn't sound too different from CxI - uj.

Hmmmmmm

JenniferatLernu (User's profile) December 5, 2007, 1:11:17 AM

Oh my that's funny. I'm sure any word that ends in 'sts' would work but I'll certainly remember 'breasts'. hehehe

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