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Kwishura

Pronounciation problem

ca, kivuye

Ubutumwa 4

ururimi: English

caje3 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 15 Nyandagaro 2016 01:22:32

I've recently begun learning Esperanto and have been having some pronunciation issues. I can't do the alveolar trill at all, but can do the alveolar tap for some words (rapide, patro, laboras...) but not others (pur, parko, varma...) I'm going to keep practicing, but if I don't learn how to do it, would it be better to be consistent and just pronounce all words with an English style r, or go half and half? Which would be more legible?

sudanglo (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 15 Nyandagaro 2016 10:26:49

There is definitely a hierarchy in the various national accents in Esperanto. The flapped alveolar 'r' (like a trilled 'r' only of shorter duration) is the most desirable pronunciation..

I wouldn't worry in the first instance about doing a trill that is too long. This will easily get reduced with practice.

And I would definitely say that it is better to persist with this, even if you can currently only do it in some words. Better that than falling back to exclusively using an English 'r' sound.

erinja (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 17 Nyandagaro 2016 22:51:47

Can you pronounce a d? I have found that pronouncing the r as a d can be a useful intermediate step for those who find it hard to get the pronunciation of r right.

RiotNrrd (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 18 Nyandagaro 2016 17:16:16

I can't trill my r's at all. So I don't. Problem solved.

If people can't understand a particular word I say because I've mangled it beyond comprehensibility, they can always ask me to spell it out for them. So far that has never happened.

Try for the trill - it is the recommended pronunciation, after all - but if you can't make it don't let it discourage you or stress you out. Lots of people manage just fine without it.

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