Translation of Names
ya Caledaravel, 20 Machi 2007
Ujumbe: 39
Lugha: English
Caledaravel (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 1:36:45 asubuhi
I hope this isn't a stupid question.
~Caledaravel
Islander (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 2:30:34 alasiri
erinja (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 2:49:05 alasiri
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 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 3:02:59 alasiri
(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! 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!
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 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 8:18:59 alasiri
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 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 8:43:31 alasiri
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...)
Islander (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 9:01:31 alasiri
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).
pastorant (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 11:45:10 alasiri
So I belted out
Gamarjoba! Ragora khar? გამარჯობა! რაგორა ხარ?
But that's all I know, except maybe a couple of words.! (I'm a good mimic). He started speaking rapid fire Georgian! He sounded so excited that another native was there!
I told him that was all I knew, and he said I spoke Georgian with an Abkhaz accent. I came back the next day and brought him the CD's I learned Georgian from and he said the speaker was Abkhaz! I speak Spanish with a Peruvian accent (because my childhood friends were from Lima) and I learned Russian from a girl from Minsk, so I speak Russian with a Byelorussian accent. I can detect accents easily as well, and I can consciously switch accents if I try.
Foreigners tend to think I'm native when I'm not. Although I think French is easy to pronounce for me, I choose not to pronounce French with a Quebecois accent. Sorry, but I don't like it. I think it's too rough
DesertNaiad (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 20 Machi 2007 11:47:14 alasiri
Islander (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 21 Machi 2007 12:01:14 asubuhi
Foreigners tend to think I'm native when I'm not.I'm fluent enough now that I often get that too when I speak english. Native speaker will comment that I have an accent, but they rarely think it's french. I've heard I sounded spanish a lot, I even heard arabic once!
I choose not to pronounce French with a Quebecois accent.As gifted as you may be, I'll guaranty you if you're not fully integrated into Québec's community, you just cannot fully grasp the dialect and the regional accents. Speaking an "international" french while here will work out much better in this case.
H and ĥ are harder for me than either c or r though. I can't even hear the difference most of the time, yet.Well, since I can't even grasp the english H, you can imagine the fun I'm having here! And I was reading the comparative examples on how to pronouce it in the grammar here and it just confused me even more. The best way for me to reproduce the sound is to try to pronouce a K but inspiring instead of expiring air. It works for the letter alone, but it sure is hard to do a whole word after that!