Subject: Re: [lojban] Re: Lojban Text to Speech

From: Invent Yourself <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 15:09:17 -0500 (EST)

On Sun, 6 Jan 2002, Candide Kemmler wrote:

> It's very sad for me, as I love trilled r's and I also think that they
> fit perfectly with lojban.
>
> However, since I'm definitely not the only one experiencing this
> problem, it's maybe even a chance that I'm the one supposed to record
> the diphones ! But are actually two people interested in doing the
> recordings, and my colleague's mother tongue is Greek: he has no
> problems with trilled R's.
>
> So what do we do ?
>
> - Do we let Ioannis (my Greek colleague) record the sounds with trilled
> "apico-alveolar, fish-hook r's", knowing that some people might
> experience problems pronunciating them ?

Greek is a fine language for Lojban! Dr. Nick Nicholas speaks his English
with an Aussie accent with no hint of Greek, but his Lojban is Greekly
accented and it's complete with solid, trilled "r" which are clearly
distinguishable from any vowels, and vowels that are clean and straight.

I grew up speaking nothing but English, yet I have no trouble pronouncing
both trilled "r" of any magnitude, and "x" of any strength. While "x"
might be difficult to explain, trilled "r" is really a soft aspirated "d".
(Oh how the pedants will strike over such a vulgarization!)

Avoiding trilled "r" in the speech samples because some people have
problems with them is tantamount to drifting the language away from their
use. In my opinion they are preferred because they are clearer to the
unskilled at hearing Lojban (everyone!). And it is best that Americans
attempt them because we are notorious for mutilating our vowels, and it's
easier for us keep pur vowels straight if there is a stronger consonant
edging it.

I suspect most of the world can pronounce them.

-- 
The tao that can be tar(1)ed
is not the entire Tao.
The path that can be specified
is not the Full Path.