The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Part 3

(_g_). H is a guttural aspirate similar to the Spanish J as heard in _mujer_ (a woman), or like the Scotch _ch_ in "loch," or the Irish _gh_ in "lough." If the learner cannot catch this sound it will be sufficient to aspirate the character strongly, as if it were a double letter _hH_, laying stress on the last H.

(_h_). S _never_ has the sound of Z, as it has in the English words "rose, has, was," etc.

(_i_). j, the small letter, does not require the dot in addition to the circ.u.mflex.

(_j_). U is a consonant, and is used in the combinations AU and EU (see par. 10).

8. Vowels.--There are no _short_ vowels in Esperanto, as heard in the words bat, bet, bit, pot, but. All vowels should be of _medium_ length, but it is well to begin by sounding them _long_ (see note, page 12).

9. The vowel A is sounded like "ah!" or the _a_ in "father"; I like _ee_ in "seen"; U like _oo_ in "fool."

As regards the vowels E and O, we have no words in English exactly expressing their true sounds. The correct sound of E is something midway between the vowels heard in "bale" and "bell," and that of O something midway between those heard in "dole" and "doll," viz., "eh!" (cut short) and "oh!" (cut short), but without the _prolonged_ sound heard in these words. In the vowel E there should be no trace of the _ee_ sound heard in "cake"; its true sound is much nearer to the _e_ in "bell." The vowel O approaches to the sound of _o_ in "for," or of _aw_ in "law."

In the scheme of p.r.o.nunciation (par. 19) we have therefore used _ah_ for A; _eh_ for E; _ee_ for I; _o_ for O; _oo_ for U.

N.B.--Do not clip or drag the vowels.

10. Combinations, Vowel and Consonant.--The following 6 combinations resemble diphthongs, but are not so, since a diphthong consists of 2 _vowels_ and _j_ and _u_ are both consonants:--

AJ p.r.o.nounced _ahye_ or _i_ something like _ai_ in aisle.

AU p.r.o.nounced _ahoo_ or _ow_ something like _ow_ in cow.

EJ p.r.o.nounced _ehye_ or _ae_ something like _aye_ in c_aye_nne.

EU p.r.o.nounced _ehoo_ or _ew_ something like _ayw_ in w_ayw_ard.

OJ p.r.o.nounced _oye_ or _oi_ something like _oy_ in joy.

UJ p.r.o.nounced _ooye_ or _ooe_ something like _uj_ in Hallel_uj_ah.

It will be observed that if these double sounds be rapidly made the p.r.o.nunciation will resemble the English words given, but remember they are each p.r.o.nounced as one syllable, so the examples "cayenne,"

"wayward," "Hallelujah," are not strictly correct. AJ, EJ, OJ, UJ, resemble the sound heard in the French words "paille," "oseille,"

"boyard," "fouille," and AU is heard in the German word "Haus."

N.B.--It is difficult to explain the exact sound of EU. p.r.o.nounce our word "_ewe_," and then give the sound of _eh_ (cut short) to the first letter, thus _ehwe_, p.r.o.nouncing the word as _one_ syllable. In the scheme of p.r.o.nunciation at page 10 we have given it as _ehw_. It occurs very rarely.

11. Combinations of Consonants.--There are a few which do not occur in English, and the attention of the student is therefore called to the following:--

12. GV, KN KV, SV. When these letters commence a word, both must be clearly p.r.o.nounced.

13. S, being the same as our Sh, must be distinctly p.r.o.nounced, when followed by one or two consonants. Sm = shm, Sn = shn, Sp = shp, St = sht, Str = shtr, Sv = shv. If the _sh_ sound be not clearly given, mistakes might occur in a few words, as, for instance, Stupo is a _step_ (of a ladder), but Stupo is _tow_; Stalo is _steel_, but Stalo a _stall_.

14. SC. This combination may at first be found difficult, especially when it commences a word, since it represents STS, which, with a following vowel, form but one syllable. There are very few words commencing with SC, viz.:--The five given in the list of words (par.

19) and their derivatives, the word scii (_to know_) being the only one in common use. First the sound of S has to be given, then T, and lastly S. Since every letter has to be sounded, it is not sufficient to p.r.o.nounce scii as _tsee-e_, for then the initial S is omitted; we must therefore mentally p.r.o.nounce it _estsee-e_, the "_es_" being uttered very rapidly (as if it were merely a short sibilant) before the voice reaches the TS, on which the stress is made. When SC is not preceded by a comma or other stop, or is in the middle of a word, the p.r.o.nunciation can be easily effected by joining the sound of the preceding letter to the S. Thus mi scias = _I know_ can be p.r.o.nounced _meest-see-ahs_. Mi vidis brunan sciuron = _I saw a brown squirrel_--_mee-vee-dees broo-nahnst-see-oo-ron_. But when the preceding word ends in S, the full sound of both of the letters S must be given, as mi havas sciuron = _I have a squirrel_--_mee hahvahs (e)stsee-oo-ron_ (the initial _e_ very short to help to give the sound of the first _s_) . [By repeating the sentence: "You at least see as well as I do," and then detaching the words "least see,"

the student will readily arrive at the proper p.r.o.nunciation of "sc"

in "Li scias."]

15. KZ. In p.r.o.nouncing this combination, do not follow the English p.r.o.nunciation of words like "exempt," etc., which our dictionaries give as "egzempt." Be careful not to turn the K into G in such words as ekzemplo = _example_, ekzameni = _to examine_. The full sound should be given to every letter in the three syllables, ek-zem-plo.

16. p.r.o.nunciation of Words.--Every vowel and consonant in a word is p.r.o.nounced distinctly, and the sound never varies, whether the letters are initial, medial, or final; _there is no mute letter in Esperanto_. Each syllable must be distinct, and it must be remembered that when two vowels come together, such as ai, ae, ee, ii, oi, etc., or two similar consonants, as kk, ll, mm, etc., each letter always belongs to a different syllable, and must be given its full sound.

17. Tonic Accent.--The stress of the voice, or the tonic accent, is always on the _penultimate_ (last syllable but one). Even in words of two syllables the tonic accent must be strongly perceived in the first syllable. The euphony and beauty of the language would in a great measure be destroyed by non-observance of this rule.

(_a_). In compound words, as in others, the accent must very distinctly fall on the penultimate of the _whole_ word; but when a compound word consists of four syllables, or more, the _meaning_ of the prefixed word, or words, may be shown by laying a certain stress on those syllables which would be accented if they were complete independent words. It will be noticed how much easier it is to grasp the meaning of a prefixed word if a slight stress of the voice be given to that syllable on which we are accustomed to hear the accent fall when the word stands alone, as:--_Du_-be-_ni_-gra = Blackish.

_An_-tau-_vi_-di = To foresee. _Gas_-o-_me_-tro = Gasometer.

Arm-_il_-far-_ist_-o = Gunsmith. Gar-_den_-la-bor-_ad_-o = Gardening.

_In_-ter-ri-_lat_-o = Intercourse. _Sen_-la-_bor_-of-_ic_-o = Sinecure.

Le-_ter_-pa-_per_-o = Note-paper.

18. Beginners should read aloud daily; at first slowly and slightly exaggerating the sounds, making free use of the organs of speech. It will then be found that in more rapid utterance the exaggeration will gradually disappear, and a good, bold, free p.r.o.nunciation be attained. (See "Hints to Learners," page 363.)

19. It is advisable that the student, before proceeding to the grammar, should get a thorough knowledge of the sounds of letters, syllables, and words; he should, therefore, read over the following list of words, which gives most of the combinations of sounds in the language. The italics denote where the tonic accent falls.

SCHEME OF p.r.o.nUNCIATION.

Esperanto Letter.

A = _ah_ is used to represent the _a_ in _father_.

E = _eh_ (see par. 9).

I = _ee_ is used to represent the _ee_ in _seen_.

O = _o_ (see par. 9).

U = _oo_ is used to represent the _oo_ in _fool_.

U = _w_ is used to represent the _w_ in _wet_.

G = _g_ is used to represent the _g_ in _go_.

G = _dj_ is used to represent the _g_ in _George_.

H = _hH_ is used to represent a very strong guttural aspirate J = _y_ is used to represent the _y_ in _yes_.

J = _zh_ is used to represent the _s_ in _pleasure_.

Esperanto. p.r.o.nunciation. English.

A abato ah-_bah_-to abbot.

a-a la afero lah ah-_feh_-ro the affair.

a-e aero ah-_eh_-ro air.

a-i trairi trah-_ee_-ree to traverse.

balai bah-_lah_-ee to sweep.

aj ajlo _ahy_-lo (sound "y" short, as ye) (dissyllable) garlic.

krajono krah-_yo_-no pencil.

majesta mah-_yehs_-tah majestic.

ajn _ahyn_ (sound "y" short, as ye) (monosyllable) ever.

palaj _pah_-lahy (sound "y" short, as ye) (dissyllable) pale (adj., pl.) a-o la ondo lah _on_-do the wave.

a-u la ungo lah _oon_-go the nail.

au laudo _lahw_-do praise.

antau _ahn_-tahw before.

hodiau ho-_dee_-ahw to-day.

B Biblio Bee-_blee_-o Bible.

C cent _tsehnt_ hundred.

citi _tsee_-tee to cite, quote.

colo _tso_-lo inch.

paco _pah_-tso peace.

pacienco pah-tsee-_ehn_-tso patience.

oficiro o-fee-_tsee_-ro officer.