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). | ||
| ph | /f/ | As in most modern European languages. | same | ||
| 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 very few 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.
- Note that the digraph gn is a cluster (representing the consonant n followed by the consonant y); the letter x is also a cluster (representing k followed by s).
- But the multigraphs ch, dh, ph, sch, th are single consonants and are not clusters by themselves.
- 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.
As noted, there are very few exceptions, but not none. Those exceptions must be simply memorized.
Examples
In these examples, the primary stress syllable is in ALL CAPS; secondary stress syllables are in italics.
- anjameur
- There is a cluster, nj, so the vowel before that cluster is stressed. AN-ja-meur.
- burgogna
- There is a cluster, gn (which is two consonant sounds: n-y), so the vowel before that cluster is stressed. bur-GO-gna.
- cançellär
- There is a cluster, nç, so the vowel before it is stressed. CAN-çel-lär. The pair ll is not two different consonants and thus does not move the stress.
- çivilanskaf
- The word has two derivational suffixes, -an, -skaf, and so its root is çivil, which has no consonant clusters, and therefore the penultimate vowel is stressed: ÇI-vil. The whole word is then ÇI-vil-an-skaf.
- comensãj
- The word has a derivational suffix, -ãj, and so its root is comens, which has a consonant cluster ns, and therefore the vowel before that cluster is stressed: co-MENS. The whole word is then co-MENS-ãj.
- diplomerie
- By the rules, this word should be stressed on the first syllable (because it is followed by the cluster pl) but this word is a very rare exception to be memorized: it is stressed di-PLO-me-rie.
- kønigzjõnt
- This is a compound word. The second word, jõnt, is a monosyllable and poses no problem. The first word, kønigz, has no clusters (if one removes the possessive derivational suffix -z) and therefore is accented on the penultimate vowel, KØ-nigz. The whole word then is KØ-nigz-JÕNT.
- östragenstanz
- This is a compound word. The first word, ös, is a monosyllable and poses no problem. The second word, when the derivational -stanz and infinitive -en are removed is just the monosyllable trag, so the whole word is ÖS-TRAG-en-stanz.
- provåntzes
- Without the plural -es, this word has two clusters, pr and ntz; the vowel before the last of these is stressed, so it is pro-VÅNTZ-es.
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.