Re: Eärendil, Isengard etc...

Quoting Christian Thalmann <cinga@...>:

> --- In conlang@y..., Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg.rhiemeier@N...> wrote:
> > Matthew Kehrt <matrix14@H...> wrote:
> >
> > > On a related note, how is 'á' supposed to be pronounced in
> > > Sindarin? I thought it was /e/, but it seems that that is
> > > how 'e' is pronounced. Are they the same?
> >
> > No.  'á' is simply /a:/ (long /a/), not /e/ or anything else.
> > Why should it be /e/?  Escapes me.
>
> It seems that Americans call the diphtong /eI/ a "long a"
> because it's the "regular" pronunciation of written {a} in a
> stressed open syllable. Also, it evolved (devolved?) from an
> Old English /a:/.
All true, but it's hardly an _American_ problem.  This is
the way that all Anglophone cultures have taught English
orthography for hundreds of years, and one is just as likely
to see a Canadian, or a Briton, making the same mistake as
an American.

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier <trwier@...> <http://home.uchicago.edu/~trwier>

             "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
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