Triparic Pronunciation
The Alphabet
The Triparic alphabet consists of 29 letters: the standard 26-letter English alphabet plus Æ, Ð, and Þ.
| Letter | Name | Classical Sound | Reformed Sound | Classical Description | Reformed Description | Provisional Choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | ah | /a/ | Like in father. | same | ||
| Æ æ | æsch | /aɪ/ | Like the word aye. | same | ||
| B b | beh | /b/ | Like in ball. | same | ||
| C c | cheh | /c/, /k/, /s/ | /k/ | Like ⟨ch⟩ in church at end of words or before e or i;
like in cell when marked with the cedilla (ç, see below); differently in the multigraphs sch, tsch (see below); elsewhere (before consonants, a, or o) like in cat. |
Like in cap, except in the multigraphs ch and sch (see below).
Never as in cell except when marked with the cedilla (ç); see below. |
as reformed |
| D d | deh | /d/ | Like in dog. | same | ||
| Ð ð | ið | /ð/ | Like ⟨th⟩ in there. | same | ||
| E e | eh | /e/ | Similar to ⟨ay⟩ in may, but less of a diphthong. More like the "pure" ⟨e⟩ in Romance languages. |
same | ||
| F f | if | /f/ | Like in fill. | same | ||
| G g | geh | /g/ | Like in garden. Never as in Gerald. | same | ||
| H h | heh | /h/ | Like in happy. | same | ||
| I i | ih | /j/ or /i/ | When before another vowel, like ⟨y⟩ in yet; otherwise, like in machine. |
same | ||
| J j | jeh | /dʒ/ | Like in jump. Never as in jejeune. | same | ||
| K k | keh | /k/ | Like in kid. | same | ||
| L l | il | /l/ | Like in lamp. | same | ||
| M m | im | /m/ | Like in magic. | same | ||
| N n | in | /n/ | Like in now. | same | ||
| O o | oh | /o/ | Similar to its sound in hope, but less of a diphthong. More like the "pure" ⟨o⟩ in Romance languages. |
same | ||
| P p | peh | /p/ | Like in party. | same | ||
| Q q | quh | /k/ | Like in quick. Note that q stands without a u much more often in Triparic than in English. |
same | ||
| R r | ir | /ɹ/ | Like in red. This is the throaty "r" of American English rather than a trill. |
same | ||
| S s | is | /s/, /z/ | /s/ | As in set except at the ends of words, where it is /z/ like in has, except when doubled (as "ss" or "ß"). | Like in sad. | classical |
| T t | teh | /t/ | Like in top. | same | ||
| Þ þ | þeh | /θ/ | Like ⟨th⟩ in think. | same | ||
| U u | uh | /u/ or /w/ | When before another vowel, like ⟨w⟩ in water; otherwise, like ⟨oo⟩ in goose. |
same | ||
| V v | veh | /v/ | Like in voice. | same | ||
| W w | weh | /w/ | Like in water. | same | ||
| X x | ix | /ks/ | Like in six. | same | ||
| Y y | yeh | /j/ or /i/ | When before another vowel, like in yet; otherwise, like in pretty. |
same | ||
| Z z | zeh | /z/ | Like in zebra. | same | ||
Diacritics
Some letters may be marked with diacritics to produce different sounds. These are not considered separate letters.
| Glyphs | Name | Classical Sound | Reformed Sound | Classical Description | Reformed Description | Provisional Choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ä ä | ah-umlŏt | /eɪ/ | Like ⟨a⟩ in rate. | same | ||
| Å å | ah-ring | /æ/ | Like ⟨a⟩ in bath. | same | ||
| Ã ã | ah-tilde | /ə/ | Like ⟨a⟩ in about. | same | ||
| Ç ç | cheh-çedil | /s/ | Like ⟨c⟩ in certain. | same | ||
| Ê ê | (unnamed) | /e:/ | — | Longer ⟨e⟩ | Replaced consistently with ä | reformed |
| Î î | (unnamed) | /ɛ̃/ | — | nasal "i" like in French fin | Replaced with i in most words; å in a few | same as reformed; maybe a few more cases of å |
| Ñ ñ | in-tilde | /ñ/ | — | Palatalized "n" like ⟨ny⟩ in English canyon | Very rare. The diacritic was eliminated; where the sound was kept, spelled ⟨ny⟩. | gn |
| Ö ö | oh-umlŏt | /aʊ/ | /œ/ | Like ⟨ou⟩ in house. | No good English equivalent. Like in German Göttin. An approximation is the ⟨e⟩ in the syllable er. |
Classical |
| Ŏ ŏ | oh-breve | — | /aʊ/ | Not present in Classical Triparik. | Like ⟨ou⟩ in house. | Classical
(i.e. none) |
| Ø ø | oh-schmiss | /œ/ | /ɔɪ/ | No good English equivalent. Like in German Göttin. An approximation is the ⟨e⟩ in the syllable er. |
Like ⟨oy⟩ in boy. | Classical |
| Õ õ | oh-tilde | /ɔɪ/ | Like ⟨oy⟩ in boy. | Not present after reforms. | Classical | |
| Ô ô | (unnamed) | /o:/ | — | Longer ⟨e⟩, as ⟨oa⟩ in English boat | No significant difference from o, so replaced with that | reformed |
| Ü ü | uh-umlŏt | /y/ | No good English equivalent. Like in German müssen. Like the vowel i but with rounded lips. |
same | ||
| Û û | (unnamed) | /õ/, /œ̃/ | — | The website claimed it was like in French "non" (/õ/),
but in practice it was more like in French "brun" (/œ̃/) |
Approximated with ã, so replaced with that | reformed |
Multigraphs
Finally, there are a few cases where a combination of letters is pronounced as a single phoneme.
| Multigraph | Classical Sound | Reformed Sound | Classical Description | Reformed Description | Provisional choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /χ/ | /tʃ/ | Like in Bach. | Like in champ. | reformed |
| dh | /ð/ | — | Like ⟨th⟩ in there. Inconsistently used along with ⟨ð⟩ | Standardized to ⟨ð⟩ in reforms | reformed |
| gn | — | — | Adding for the ny in canyon sound (replacing Classical ñ). | ||
| rr | /r/ | — | Trilled R. | Eliminated in reforms | |
| sch | /ʃ/ | Like ⟨sh⟩ in ship. | same | ||
| ss / ß | /s/ | In Classical, the sound /s/ or /s:/ was inconsistently written as ⟨ss⟩ or ⟨ß⟩.
Reforms standardized this to ⟨ss⟩ only. |
reformed | ||
| th | /θ/ | – | Like ⟨th⟩ in think. Inconsistently used along with ⟨þ⟩ | Standardized to ⟨þ⟩ in reforms | reformed |
| tsch | /tʃ/ | — | Like ⟨ch⟩ in church. | Eliminated in reforms | reformed |
| zh | /ʒ/ | Non-existent before reforms | Like ⟨z⟩ in azure. | Replaced throughout with ⟨j⟩ which remains /dʒ/ | |
Stress
Triparic has stressed syllables. One syllable in each word (or each component, in a compound word) is the primary stressed one. Secondary stresses alternate from there; in other words, if the word has four syllables and the second has the stress, then the fourth has a secondary stress since there's an unstressed one (the third) between them. If the third syllable got the primary stress, then the first syllable would get the secondary stress, and so on.
The rule for determining the primary stressed syllable is a bit complicated, but is pretty regularly applied – there are almost no exceptions. The rule is thus:
- In an inflected verb with a tense or mood syllable (the -i- of the present subjunctive or the -ad-, -ar, -id-, or -ir- of the past or future), the tense/mood syllable receives the primary stress.
- In any other word (including inflected verbs without a tense/mood syllable):
- First, find the actual "root" of the word. To do this, treat the word as if various derivational and inflectional suffixes are not present. Those suffixes are:
- plural markers for nouns and adjectives (-s, -es);
- infinitive markers for verbs (-er, -en);
- derivational suffixes (-ãj, -an, -ie, -skaf, -stanz)
- Now, if in the root word there is a consonant cluster, meaning two or more different consonants not separated by a vowel, the last vowel preceding such a cluster receives the stress.
- But if in the root word there is no such consonant cluster, then the penultimate vowel of the root word receives the stress.
- First, find the actual "root" of the word. To do this, treat the word as if various derivational and inflectional suffixes are not present. Those suffixes are:
- In compound words, each separate standalone word is accented as it would be alone.
Examples
anjameur
burgogna
cançellär
çivilanskaf
comensãj
diplomerie
kønigzjõnt
östragenstanz
provåntzes
Key to Phonetics Symbols
Something written in ⟨angle brackets⟩ is one or more graphemes; that is, it represents something written. Something written in /slashes/ is one or more phonemes; that is, it represents the units of sound that speakers break their language down into. These are most properly written in the International Phonetic Alphabet.