Messages: 42
Language: English
Caledaravel (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 1:36:45 AM
I hope this isn't a stupid question.

~Caledaravel
Islander (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 2:30:34 PM
erinja (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 2:49:05 PM
So "Ethan" might be "Etano".
"Jonathan" might be "Jonatano"
(both of those names, interestingly, have their Esperanto versions close to Hebrew versions - "Eitan" and "Yonatan")
Not sure what would be done with a voiced th though, maybe a Z? Some Welsh names have that sound but I don't know what they are in Esperanto.
(Btw, Islander - the h in Catherine is not mute in English, the th is pronounced like the th in "math")
Islander (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 3:02:59 PM
(Btw, Islander - the h in Catherine is not mute in English, the th is pronounce like the th in "math")That's probably because I'm a french speaker, but I don't pronouced the H in math either!

Not sure what would be done with a voiced th though, maybe a Z?As with the provided examples and as it appears to do in Romance based laguages, I beleive it would simply become mute and therefore non-existent in Esperanto.
erinja (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 8:18:59 PM
Islander: I have to admit the TH is a complete non-sense for french speaker and a nightmare trying to do it. I still remember grade school were the teacher had us practicing this for days.. No, no... from the tip of your tongue like this: Zzzza... No, more like Dhha, Zlea, vloa, no, no... Aaargh!Have you got it now? The best "trick" I ever heard is that you have to put your tongue *between* your teeth, lightly close your teeth around your tongue and blow. Without sticking your tongue between your teeth you will almost certainly not get it.
Islander (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 8:43:31 PM
Have you got it now?Not really and I'm not really trying much anyway. It ends up just being an accent and most people find it cute (unless the word "third" needs to be used... lots of fun on that one...)
Alex Stephen (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 8:48:26 PM

Islander (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 9:01:31 PM
I don't understand...why is it so hard to pronounce...As a toddler grows and practice a specific language, it's throat, mouth and tongue adapt to ease the sounds used in that language. Once you reach pre-teens, that gets set and it becomes harder and harder to do certain sounds your not used to, and as there is no comparable sounds in french, that's hard for us. Just as much as certain German or Arabic sounds may be for english speakers.
I'm sure you have seen some movies with french people speaking english: "Ziss iss haw zey speek" (and that's not an holywood cliché).
Alex Stephen (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 9:12:48 PM
Islander:I see now.
I'm sure you have seen some movies with french people speaking english: "Ziss iss haw zey speek" (and that's not an holywood cliché).

Only thing i'm mad about is having to roll my "r"s...is this required? cause i certainly cannot do that.

Novico Dektri (User's profile) March 20, 2007, 9:38:40 PM
Some people have suggested (although I don't reccomend it), that in some situations you can fake rolling an r by using 'd' instead. This perhaps will go unnoticed in some cases, but cannot be used with dipthongs like the 'pr' in 'prava'. I believe that you should simply prononce your r's the best you can, and no one will car eone way or another.