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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | ah | /a/ | Like in father. | ||
| Æ æ | æsch | /aɪ/ | Like the word aye. | ||
| B b | beh | /b/ | Like in ball. | ||
| 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. |
| D d | deh | /d/ | Like in dog. | ||
| Ð ð | ið | /ð/ | Like ⟨th⟩ in there. | ||
| E e | eh | /e/ | Similar to ⟨ay⟩ in may, but less of a diphthong. More like the "pure" ⟨e⟩ in Romance languages. | ||
| F f | if | /f/ | Like in fill. | ||
| G g | geh | /g/ | Like in garden. Never as in Gerald. | ||
| H h | heh | /h/ | Like in happy. | ||
| I i | ih | /j/ or /i/ | When before another vowel, like ⟨y⟩ in yet; otherwise, like in machine. | ||
| J j | jeh | /dʒ/ | Like in jump. Never as in jejeune. | ||
| K k | keh | /k/ | Like in kid. | ||
| L l | il | /l/ | Like in lamp. | ||
| M m | im | /m/ | Like in magic. | ||
| N n | in | /n/ | Like in now. | ||
| O o | oh | /o/ | Similar to its sound in hope, but less of a diphthong. More like the "pure" ⟨o⟩ in Romance languages. | ||
| P p | peh | /p/ | Like in party. | ||
| Q q | quh | /k/ | Like in quick. Note that q stands without a u much more often in Triparic than in English. | ||
| R r | ir | /ɹ/ | Like in red. This is the throaty "r" of American English rather than a trill. | ||
| S s | is | /s/, /z/ | /s/ | As in set except at the ends of words, where it is /z/ like in has. | Like in sad. |
| T t | teh | /t/ | Like in top. | ||
| Þ þ | þeh | /θ/ | Like ⟨th⟩ in think. | ||
| U u | uh | /u/ or /w/ | When before another vowel, like ⟨w⟩ in water; otherwise, like ⟨oo⟩ in goose. | ||
| V v | veh | /v/ | Like in voice. | ||
| W w | weh | /w/ | Like in water. | ||
| X x | ix | /ks/ | Like in six. | ||
| Y y | yeh | /j/ or /i/ | When before another vowel, like in yet; otherwise, like in pretty. | ||
| Z z | zeh | /z/ | Like in zebra. | ||
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ä ä | ah-umlŏt | /eɪ/ | Like ⟨a⟩ in rate.[1] | ||
| Å å | ah-ring | /æ/ | Like ⟨a⟩ in bath. | ||
| Ã ã | ah-tilde | /ə/ | Like ⟨a⟩ in about. | ||
| Ç ç | cheh-çedil | /s/ | Like ⟨c⟩ in certain. | ||
| Î î | (unnamed) | /ɛ̃/ | — | nasal "i" like in French fin | Replaced with i in most words; å in a few |
| 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⟩. |
| 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. |
| Ŏ ŏ | oh-breve | — | /aʊ/ | Not present in Classical Triparik. | Like ⟨ou⟩ in house. |
| 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. |
| Õ õ | oh-tilde | /ɔɪ/ | Like ⟨oy⟩ in boy. | Not present after reforms. | |
| Ô ô | (unnamed) | /o:/ | — | Longer O, as ⟨oa⟩ in English boat | No significant difference from o, so replaced with that |
| Ü ü | uh-umlŏt | /y/ | No good English equivalent. Like in German müssen. Like the vowel i but with rounded lips. | ||
| 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 |
- ↑ This sound was spelled two different ways before the 2016 reform. The other was ê, used in a very few words, the best known being dêm (now däm).
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /χ/ | /tʃ/ | Like in Bach. | Like in champ. |
| dh | /ð/ | — | Like ⟨th⟩ in there. Inconsistently used along with ⟨ð⟩ | Standardized to ⟨ð⟩ in reforms |
| rr | /r/ | — | Trilled R. | Eliminated in reforms |
| sch | /ʃ/ | Like ⟨sh⟩ in ship. | ||
| th | /θ/ | – | Like ⟨th⟩ in think. Inconsistently used along with ⟨þ⟩ | Standardized to ⟨þ⟩ in reforms |
| tsch | /tʃ/ | — | Like ⟨ch⟩ in church. | Eliminated in reforms |
| zh | /ʒ/ | Non-existent before reforms | Like ⟨z⟩ in azure. | |
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.