Learning Quenya - Discussion Thread

[Kath]

Good plan Lhuna! Just randomly or as part of an actual sentence?

Oh and whoever said they were having trouble with H's I have a quick version that might help.

If the 'h' is at the front of the word it is said like the 'h' at the front of 'high'.

If it's in the middle and before 't' it is said like the sound at the end of 'loch'.

If it's in the middle and after 'i' or 'e' it is said like the german word 'ich'.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

My problem, Kath, is that much like the pronunciation difference between the names "Aaron" and "Erin", my dialect doesn't allow for differences in "h"s as you name them.

[Kath]

Ok well for the after i or e one there is another option but it's a little more confusing. Think of the word you and then say it out loud. Now do it again but try to put an air breath with an h sound in front of it stop the word after the first sound you make. That is the sound you are aiming for.

[Lhunardawen]

Originally Posted by Kath

Good plan Lhuna! Just randomly or as part of an actual sentence?

Of course the word would have to be relevant.

Like: "(insert name here), if you're not a werewolf, then we're all a bunch of roccor" or something like that.

(That was not exactly the best example, was it? )

But if everyone agrees to the rule, how can we make sure that we all follow it?

[the guy who be short]

Fea ~ an h at the front of the word would be pronounced normally, unless you have a really weird accent (yes, I know you have no accent, but still...)

The 'h' sound called the ach-Laut or the 'h' in 'loch' is pronounced as a hard 'ch.' Imagine Eomer saying it in his Scottish accent. It's also common in German.

The 'h' sound in 'ich' called the ich-Laut doesn't occur in English. It's hard to explain, it took my German teacher quite a while to explain it to us, but it's sort of... more hissy than the other 'ch' sound. *Finishes lamely*

I learnt all this but never memorised where to use each one.

[Kath]

But if everyone agrees to the rule, how can we make sure that we all follow it?

Well just say that each post has to have one Quenyan (?) word in it. It could be anything just as long as it fits in a sentence. I don't know how you could enforce it though except make threatening noises at anyone who didn't

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Och aye, one might end up hissing ich-Laut at ye, if ye aren't careful.

Now... *reviews personal accent/dialect*

We drop the "t"s at the end of most words... they're replaced with an almost throaty "h". Actually, that's true for most consonants unless we in the area make a conscious attempt not to (except for Geoff, because he insists that the proper pronunciation is alu-MIN-ium... you can guess where he hails from originally). Many vowels are dropped because they, quite frankly, are unnecessary.

An example of someone speaking locally for me would be.

"Hey, are you going out tonight? What movie are you guys seeing? Oh, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is hilarious."

becoming

"Hey, you go-n ow t'nigh? Wha movie are yeh guys see-n? Oh, Charlie 'n' the Chok-li Fact-ry is hilarious."

As you can see, locally, we have little reverance for letters that don't necessarily need direct pronunciation. The theory, I think, is that it's the thought that counts more than the "t"s or "g"s. It looks harsh written phonetically, but spoken, it's a fairly swift-spoken but soft rendition of the language. No harsh [consonant] edges to worry about.

And it's fantastic for us locals (a little tough to follow if you're not used to quick English.. poor exchange students...) but it makes it tough for us to learn foreign languages where every letter has a use.

And those crazy "h"s... they're more of a breath than they are a sound. *out-breath*'lo is the rough sound of "hello". Hence my troubles.

Oh, and just for good measure... me? An accent? Never... 's you lo-h with yer pretentious ways of sayin' things tha's go-h the res-h o' the worl-h in 'n uproar. You know... it's a darned good thing that spelling of English is [almost] universal or we'd be in trouble. In conclusion... did my post have a point? I'm not so sure. I think my point was to poke fun at hissing, to explain why I can't tell the difference between consonants, and to garner pity for the poor gal trapped in a world where an "h" is an out-going breath.