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Piipl widoutn nalij a dem paas ischri, harijin ah kolcha kom iin laka chrii widoutn ruut.
~ Maakos Gyaavi, 1887-1940 ~
NYUU!
UORAL PRAKTIS fiicha
NEW! Oral Practice feature

PRONONGXIESHAN & PELIN GAID

Ebri leta fi soun, aazwie soun sieh wie

Pronunciation & Spelling Guide
Every letter is pronounced, the same way every time

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SHAAT VOWIL SOUN
Short vowel sounds

a

laka/as in
at
ban
rap
at hat, hot
bada bother, worse
fala follow
tan bak ya papa sa
stay back here dad sir

e

laka/as in
egg
lend
tell
heg egg
fene in trouble
preke difficulty
tel dem se gwe
tell them get lost

i

laka/as in
in
give
milk
sib sieve
fimi mine
lili little
gi mi mi si di li bit
let me see a little

o

laka/as in
fun
done/dun
some/sum
dos dust
fos first, fuss
olo scam
notn no go so nothing like that
ron go fi som rom ah fon
run and go for some rum and fun

u

laka/as in
put
foot
bull
yu you
guzu magic
fufu foolish, mashed yam
susu gossip
susu put bul fut tu yu
gossip telling you nonsense
 
LANG VOWIL SOUN
Long vowel sounds

aa

laka/as in
bath
car
last
aal all, even
baagin bargain
saaf soft
aal saal Paal uu laaf laas naa taat
even unlucky Paul who laughs last won't start

ee


not common
laka/as in
bay
neigh
great
abee taunt
ree-ree verbiage
abee yu tuu ful a ree-ree abee
nah-na-na-nah-na you're full of it

ii

laka/as in
deal
meet/meat
machine
iip many
biini tiny
siin agreed, OK
fiiva fever
miin fi miit fi siil di diil fi di biini miit mashiin
mean to meet to seal the deal on the tiny meat machine

uu

laka/as in
you
flu
boot
true
fuud food
tuu two
skuul school
yuut youngster
chuu fyuu yuut gat tuu chuu nyuu buut fi skuul naida fuud fi chuu
since few kids have two true new shoes for school nor food to chew
 
DIPTONG
Diphthongs

ai

laka/as in
by/buy
light
file
bai by, buy
sait sight, site
taim time, thyme
ail oil
fain fine, find
paint pint, point
mait chrai bai ai taim bai fain fain flait tinait
might try buying high time by finding fine flight tonight

aya

aia
3 vowels come together so the i is converted to a y to avoid vowil bonggl
laka/as in
higher
liar
feud
aya higher
layad liar
faya fire
tayad tired
tayad fi faya di aya layad
tired to fire the higher liar

au

laka/as in
aus (German)
frau (German)
Raul (Spanish)
If you can think of an English word with au sound, please submit it.
aul old
baul bowl
kaul cold
aul baul a kaul suup
old bowl of cold soup

ia

laka/as in
simian
bestial
triage
diam damn
niam eat
gial girl
gias gas
diam gial no niam get gias
damn girls who don't eat get gas

yaa

iaa
3 vowels come together so the i is converted to a y to avoid vowil bonggl
laka/as in
Iago
Guiana
Piarco
tiara
gyaadn garden
kyaa carry
kyaar car
nyaamps useless person
pyaa-pyaa weak
di gyaadna kyaa wan pyaa-pyaa nyaamps ina kyaar
the gardener carried a weak worthless person in a car

ie

laka/as in
Daniel
Gabriel
pied (French)
ie hear
iet eight
bied bathe, beard
mien main
ie di bied man a hiet mien lien no bied
hear the bearded man at eight main lane doesn't bathe

io

laka/as in
Dior
fjord
kiosk
vitriol
Lio Leo
pio pure, solely
Lio chat pio fuulinis a Rio Byuuno
Leo spoke pure foolishness in Rio Bueno

yuu

iuu
3 vowels come together so the i is converted to a y to avoid vowil bonggl
laka/as in
duty
beauty
feud
fyuu few
dyuu due
byuuti beauty
myuuzik music
fyuu gi dyuu tu byuuti a pyuuriti a myuuzik
few give due to beauty of purity in music

ou

laka/as in
round
bough/bow
mouth
bou bough, bow
dout doubt
lou allow
sout south
ou nou touzn broun kou roun sout nou
how now thousand brown cows around south now

owa

oua
3 vowels come together so the u is converted to a w to avoid vowil bonggl
laka/as in
our
power
flower
howa hour
powa power
flowa flour,flower
towa tower
wa howa di flowa powa a-go sowa
what hour the flower power will sour

owi

oui
3 vowels come together so the u is converted to a w to avoid vowil bonggl
laka/as in
towel
Powell
vowel
towil towel
vowil vowel
kowich cow-itch
Powil Powell
gi Powil wah towil fi di kowich
give Powell a towel for the cow-itch

uo

laka/as in
duo
Kuomintang
duo door, though
shuo show
uol hole, whole
suop soap
duo briizbluo no gruo mi naa shuo mi uol tuo
though hurricane doesn't grow i'm not showing my whole toe

oer

laka/as in
burn
earn
firm
poerl pearl
koerl curl
bloertniit interjection
voerjan version
wa bloertniit poerpos pah oert daa voerjan a koerl gat
what *@! purpose on earth has that version of curl
 
KANSONANT
Consonants

ch

ch pronouns "chii"
a di ongl taim c yuuz
ch pronounced "chii"
is the only time c is used
cho expression of exasperation
choch church
chuocho chayote squash, christophene
chuu-chuu really

k

k riplies c
iina aal ada hinstans
k replaces c
in all other instances
kak cock
kech catch
kuul cool
kukumba cucumber

kw

kw riplies qu
ku/kw replaces qu
kuik quick
kwaat quart
kwayat quiet
kuint squint, blink
kwiin queen

w

w kambinieshan
w combinations
bwai boy
bwail boil
pwail spoil
gwaih/gweih going to
igwaana iguana
swiit sweet, suite

h

aspiret (apshanal, indikiet bai haitalik)
put bifuo wod taat wid vowil espeshal wen di wod bifuo hen wid vowil
aspirate (optional, indicated by italics)
placed before words beginning with vowels especially when the preceding word ends with a vowel
di ruod eba kyaah don fix
forever to get the road fixed
enibadi heba si mi chrayal give me a break
faib uonian five onions
aaf poun a huonian half pound onions

h

niezalizieshan
a som vowil (ah, eh, ih, oh, uh)
nasalization
of some vowels
deh they
kiah can
kyaah cannot
duoh don't
pah on, upon
iih? interrogative
deh kiah duoh bada koh-koh put guotmout pah ih praaspek
they shouldn't bother to come and blight his prospects

 

 

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