^CAPITRO 2 (DU)   Parto 1

PRONUNCIATION : PRONONCO

The pronunciation of Esperanto is extremely easy but unfortunately, as for all other languages, difficult to explain in print. One could use terms such as plosives, fricatives, nasals, gutturals etc. but these may well confuse the reader (and most certainly would confuse the author!)
The only way to learn spoken Esperanto is to listen to an expert Esperantist talking and then to try to engage in a conversation. The best ways of doing this are considered later in the chapter but in the meantime we must at least indicate how Esperanto sounds.
In this chapter we have added sounds (in the .wav format) to help with the pronunciation. The links are labelled Sample Sound and will generate the sound if your computer is correctly set up (with Sound card etc). These are provisional sounds and will be replaced when I have set up my computer so that I can record them myself.


Esperanto ASAP- Chapter 2(1)
 
(1). The Esperanto Alphabet

The Esperanto alphabet contains 28 letters- the normal 5 vowels a e i o u and 23 consonants. The complete alphabet reads :


alphabet
Readers will notice :
(a).There are no letters q w x and y.
(b).Six letters (                                        and û )

carry accents (supersignoj). These are not modified versions of the unaccented letters but separate letters in their own right. In an alphabetical listing the accented letter always follows the unaccented one. Notice that the  carries a hook whilst the others have circumflexes (^)

Unfortunately it is difficult to produce these signs on the Web (see earlier explanation).

We will use the system of printing the ^ sign before the letter e.g. ^c . I would much prefer to use the correct accented letter but this is simply not possible and still be legible to all. It is possible to produce a circumflexed U (rather than a 'hooked' U)- and I shall also use this (Û and û).

2). Vowels (Vokaloj)

The five Esperanto vowels, as with all letters in the language, each have one sound and one sound only. Zamenhof recommended learners to try and imitate the vowel sounds in Italian.



^g
^c
^j
As in the English : father,car
As in the English: there, let
As in the English: me, machine
As in the English : go, no
As in the English : too, doom
Click the letter to hear the sound
When spelling out a word, the names of the vowels in Esperanto are exactly the same as their sounds (i.e. ah, eh, ee, oh and oo in English)

3). Consonants (Konsonantoj)

The following are pronounced exactly as in E :

b d f k l m n p t v z

The others (particularly the c) need more care.

C: As ts-in English: nets, tsetse fly (Sample sound: 
^C: As ch- in English : church, chap (Sample sound :
G, ^G English has two types of g : hard (go,get) and soft (George, gem). In Esperanto g is hard, (Sample sound:         
and ^g soft (Sample sound:
H: As in English happy,holiday but never dropped- always clear. Sample sound:
^H: As in German JS Bach or the Scottish Loch (A guttural sound). Very rare in Esperanto. (Sample sound:
J,^J: Three common types of j occur in English, German and French.
English : jam, Jim. Same as soft g. Esperanto : ^G (Sample sound)
German : Jawohl! Same as y in English Yes. Esperanto J (Sample sound)
French : Je suis. Same as s in English pleasure. Esperanto : ^J (Sample sound)
R: Much more pronounced than in English English. Trilled as in Scottish or Welsh English. It is better to overemphasize at first by really rolling it! (Sample sound:
S: As s- in English in so, gas (Never the z sound as in rose) (Sample sound:
^S: As sh- in English in shall, should. (Sample sound:
Û : Only normally found in diphthongs (see later). On those very few (one or two!) occasions when it is on its own it sounds as the English w e.g. in the electrical power unit ûato (watt). (Sample sound:

(p)When spelling out a word in Esperanto the vowels are named as their sounds and consonants are named as bo-, co-, do- etc. Hence hundo is ho-oo-no-do-oh.


4). Diphthongs (Diftongoj )

aû: As -ow in English cow, now. Sample Sound:
eû: As -ayw in English wayward (Basically the 'eh + oo' combination) .Sample Sound:
aj : As English eye or in pie. Sample Sound:
ej: As -ey in English they or -ei in vein. Sample sound:
oj: As -oy in English boy , toy. (Sample Sound:
uj: As -ui in E ruin or in Chop Suey.  Sample Sound:

5). General Rules of Pronunciation

First and foremost remember that every letter is pronounced and always as stated previously. The stress is always on the penultimate syllable of the word. Words are not run into each other but a slight gap is always left between words.

Thus familio is pronounced fah-mee-LEE-oh with the stress on the last syllable but one. Be careful if a word looks very similar to an English word. The pronunciation must follow the rules of Esperanto.
Thus birdo is pronounced not to sound like the English bird but bEER-doh (Sample Sound:                             ) and filmo is not as English film but as fEEL-moh.


6). How to become a fluent Esperanto speaker

Certainly the last notes are inadequate for this purpose. One must practise listening and speaking to other Esperantists (preferably non-English speaking).

This can be achieved in several ways :
(a).By cassettes and radio.
A very good way of learning to understand spoken Esperanto is from a prerecorded cassette or compact disc. This can be listened to time and time again. Several good possibilities exist (all available from the Esperanto Centre (EC)*).
(*By normal post send to the Esperanto-Asocio of Britio, Wedgwood Memorial College, Barlaston, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST12 9DG, Great Britain)
EAB Pronunciation CD (£3.50 including postage)
Jen Nia Mondo Two learning books and two cassettes of the dialogues. Highly recommended. This has now been trasferred to CD and cab be obtained for £13.80 (Lessons 1-12) and again £13.80 (Lessons 13-25). Both sets cost £25.
Teach Yourself Esperanto Cassette to accompany the text book
Liza kaj Paûlo Learning book with cassette

Also available are many works of literature both original and translated. However, they are probably too difficult for beginners. (Many are obtainable from Ben Gosling for members of EAB. Ask for the catalogue of the Bendoteko (Tape Library).

One good video cassette is also available viz. 'Esperanto' by R.Dobrzynski (Warsaw 1987; 60 minutes @ 75 Guilders from UEA . (Nieuwe Binnenweg 176, NL-3015 BJ Rotterdam, Netherlands).
Ot is possible to hire out videos at £5 for 14 days from Rainy Day Esperanto Videolibrary (4, Apple Tree Close, East Ardsley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF3 2JE).

Also highly recommended is a CD Rom EspeRom produced by the German Esperanto Association- but rather difficult to get hold of.
Another CDRom called 'Language for the 21st Century' gives the personal views on the language of Dr Paul Gubbins and Paul Hewitt. £10.

Although there are several radio stations which broadcast fairly regularly in Esperanto, they suffer from two disadvantages for beginners - the poor reception usually available in Great Britain and the fact that they use expert speakers who speak too quickly for beginners. Nevertheless the following stations are available. (It should be remembered that the position changes frequently and so may no longer function).


Radio Austria Saturdays and Sundays at 21.00 on 6.155mHz))
Radio Poland Daily at 15.00 GMT (41.26m/7270 kHz or 41.18m/7285kHz), repeated at 18.00 (41.18m/7285KHz). Also daily on satellite TV at 19.00 GMT (Eutelsat II F-3 11.474 GHz/ horizontal polarization/ subcarrier 7.38mHz )- repeated the next day at 08.30 and 10.00. (Details from EAB Update No.23 (Oct.2003)
Radio Vatican Saturdays at 21.00 (11.755 mHz)
Radio China Daily at 21.00 (11.810mHz, 11.730mHz and 9.975mHz)

Radio Austria International is particularly popular. In 1999 28.7% of its contacts were in Esperanto - only behind German and ahead of the figures for English, Spanish or French.

WRN relays Polish Radio via the Astra Satellite and a daily 5 minute news bulletin in Esperanto is broadcast at 18.25 (British Wintertime), 17.25 (British Summertime). It should be possible for those with Sky TV to retune a vacant channel to receive these broadcasts (which, unlike short wave radio, are crystal clear.) The following data worked perfectly on my system : Frequency 11.538 GHz; Audio 7.38 MHz (both channels); LNB Polarity : V; De-Emphasis : NRS
Radio Poland has now been broadcasting for 41 years in Esperanto. (http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia



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In 2002 Polish Radio signed a contract with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which gave just three languages privileged status for overseas broadcasting viz. English, German and Esperanto. Removed from the previous list were Lithuanian, Czech and Slovak and kept but in a lower (less financially supported) status were Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian.

Also audible from time to time are Radio Estonia, Rome Radio, Radio Toulouse and even Radio Peking and Radio Havana. Unfortunately the BBC has always shown unbelievable bias against Eo and a snowball in Hell is more likely than a teaching programme from them about the language.

RAI (Rome Radio) now (April 2001) broadcasts Saturdays 20.00-20.20 GMT on 5955 kHz (50.38m) and 7290 kHz (41.15m). Details from Esperanto, Radio Roma, Casella Postale 320, I-10010 Roma RM, Italy

Update details about Esperanto broadcasts is found on the World Wide Web at http://osiek.org/aera/frekvint

It is now possible to receive radio through the internet (if you have the program Real Audio loaded). Details about the Korean service can be found at http://esperanto-radio.net

Another possibility for those who have Amateur Radio is to talk to Esperantists in the International League of Esperantist Radio-Amateurs! (Information from Lenio Marobin, 60 Tudor Court, London, N1 4NU Telephone: 0171 249 4737)


C
^C
G
^G
^H
^G
J
^J
R
S
^S
Û
H
Sample sound : AÛ
EÛ
AJ
EJ
OJ
UJ
Birdo