Re: [lojban-beginners] Lojban phonetics

[Warrigal <ihope127+w@gmail.com>]

On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Alexander Simard <alesimar@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have read this page http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?LojbanPronunciation
> to understand the phonetics of lojban, but I am still confused by the
> phonemes of several letters. I was hoping this group could clear up my
> questions. Is there anywhere a definitive and correct guide to
> pronounciation? the letters a, o, r, s, t, x and y still confuse me.

Here's a definitive pronunciation guide, if you know IPA:
http://dag.github.com/cll/3/2/ (The version Alex Moore pasted is
mangled and thus not very useful.)

Every vowel except y can be pronounced as in Spanish. I hear that
Italian has the same vowels. For Lojban's "a", you can use the vowel
in "palm" or "father"; for Lojban's "o", use the vowel in "law",
"caught" or "thought" as pronounced by someone outside of North
America. For "o", you can also use the way most English speakers,
including North Americans, pronounce the vowel in "strut", "run", or
"won", but that's kind of quirky.

You can also consult Wikipedia. Listen to the sound samples, if you
can; otherwise, scroll down and find a language you know:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_front_unrounded_vowel (a, preferred
pronunciation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_back_unrounded_vowel (a, alternative
pronunciation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel (o,
preferred pronunciation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel (o,
alternative pronunciation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_back_unrounded_vowel (o, quirky
pronunciation)

Finally, Lojban's "y". It *should* be pronounced as a mid central
vowel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_central_vowel), which is the
vowel in "fur" in Received Pronunciation. In practice, many people use
the technically incorrect vowel in "strut", "run", or "won"—this is
actually an "o" in Lojban, but people use it as "y" anyway.

Every consonant except "c", "j", and "x" can be pronounced as in
English. "r" can also be pronounced as in Spanish (both its "r" and
its "rr") or French. "x" is like Spanish's "j" sound, an unvoiced
velar fricative
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unvoiced_velar_fricative). Like a "k",
but forcing the air past your tongue instead of holding it
in—precisely the same way that an "s" is like a "t" but forcing the
air past your tongue instead of holding it in.

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