Pronunciation Flashcards
(31 cards)
A / Á / Â
Always long, as in ‘father’, never pronounce it short like the English ‘hat’
E / É / Ê
This is always like the e in ‘fed’ or ‘head’, never ‘feet’
I / Í / Î
If it starts a word it is a ‘y’ sound as in ‘yes’ (apart from im and i as these words are too short). An ‘i’ without an accent is pronounced short, as in ‘sick’, or ‘hit’. An accented ‘i’ is a long ‘ee’ sound, like the ‘i’ in ‘machine’
O / Ó / Ô
A short o is like the ‘o’ in ‘dog’ or ‘lot’. An accented o should be pronounced like the O in ‘snow’, ‘oh’
U / Ú / Û
Pronounce this like the ‘oo’ in ‘tool’
Y / Ý / Ŷ
This should be pronounced like a rounder version of a ‘u’, as in the French ‘lune’
C
This is always hard as in ‘kite’, never soft like the English ‘cent’
F
Beginning of word; soft as in ‘father’. Anywhere else in the word; a ‘v’ as in ‘verge’
G
Always hard, as in ‘get’, never soft like the word ‘edge’
I
As mentioned above, it becomes a ‘y’ as in ‘yacht’ if before a vowel or starting a word
L
Clear as in ‘let’ or ‘leaf’, never ‘dark L’ as in British English ‘bottle’
R
Trilled at the front of the mouth, as in Spanish
CH
Never as in ‘church’, always as in ‘loch’ or ‘bach’ from Scots/German
DH
The voiced ‘th’ sound as in ‘these’, or ‘those’
HW
The older British English pronunciation of ‘white’, or with a slight breath before the ‘w’ as if the letters WH in ‘white’ were reversed
LH
The Welsh LL sound. For an approximation, pronounce this as if the letters were reversed and written HL
NG
At the beginning or end of a word, as in the English ‘ring’ or ‘sing’, otherwise as in ‘finger’
PH
An ‘f’ sound as in ‘phonic’ or ‘phone’
RH
At the beginning of words only: This is what’s known as a voiceless trilled R (for a rough guide pronounce it as if the H and trilled R were reversed, it should sound quite breathy with a slight trill)
TH
A soft ‘th’ as in ‘thing’ or ‘thick’ - see below for further information
W
At the end of a word you have two options for pronunciation. The Elves pronounced this like a W in ‘woe’, ‘wight’, but this is very difficult for a Man to replicate as you have to be exceptionally careful not to add in a ‘schwa’ (the vowel sound of the ER in ‘butter’, ‘brother’, or the AR in ‘wizard’).
The Gondorians pronounced a final W like a Sindarin U.
Anywhere else in a word a W should be pronounced as in ‘wet’ or ‘woe’
AI
Like the ‘i’ in ‘fine’ or ‘light’, not like the ‘ai’ in the word ‘straight’
AE
Same as for AI, the ‘i’ in ‘fine’ or ‘bright
AU
Pronounce like the ‘ou’ in ‘loud’ or the ‘ow’ in ‘now’
