Re: Phonology

--- In conlang@y..., Christopher Bates <christopher.bates@N...> wrote:
> Hi All,
>           Recently I've developed language invention (mostly sketches of
> langs while I try to find something that feels right) as a hobby
Whee!  Congratulations!  =)



> but I
> have one major problem. Its this: quite simply, my ability to pronounce
> sounds alien to my own language is really really awful. Since I want to
> actually pronounce any language I make up this leaves me with a real
> problem... either make languages which use the same sounds as english or
> accidentally swallow my tongue and die trying to pronounce other sounds.
There's another possibility:  Use *less* sounds than English.  A
highly restrictive phonology like Hawai'ian's 13-letter alphabet
|a e i o u h k l m n p w '| can make things interesting.

You could also use tones to distinguish syllables, as in Chinese
languages.  That might be even more difficult than learning a foreign
sound or two.  =P



> Does anyone have any advice regarding how to learn to pronounce sounds
> that don't feature in your own native tongue?
There are a few well-known non-English sounds that can be learned
fairly easily, such as /x/ (the raspy sound in Scottish "loch" or
German "ach"), or the front rounded vowels /y 2/.

The most important sound you'll have to master if you don't want to
have "ENGLISH" written all over you language is an alternative to
the English retroflex "r" (/r\`/ in X-SAMPA).  The Spanish-style
alveolar trill or tap /r/ is the most common, though the French-style
uvular /R/ would be even more un-English.  =)

Here are some "recipes" to learn /y/ and /2/:

/y/:  Round your lips as if saying "oo", but instead say "ee" (without
      unrounding the lips!).  That should do the trick.

/2/:  Round your lips as if saying "oh", but instead say "ay" (without
      unrounding the lips, and if possible without the offglide
      towards y or w.

Have fun!



-- Christian Thalmann

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