Any one done a phonetic dictionary

[rakel_wolf]

Kaltxì friends

Has any one done a phonetic dictonary because it is easy to show how these words should be pronounced.
for those who dont know what i mean a dictionary where it has the word
e.g You

and then in brackets how it sounds

e.g u or yoo

so we get something looking like this

You (yoo or u)

Irayo

Matt

[Eight]

Taronyu's dictionary has the IPA for all words.

You can find it in his signature, or I think it's in the useful documents for beginners sticky in the beginner's forum.

[rakel_wolf]

IPA ?


Maìtt

[omängum fra'uti]

IPA is an unambiguous way to transcribe pronunciations in a language independent manner.

However, a phonetic dictionary is not as useful in Na'vi as it is in English.  There is no pronunciation ambiguity in the spelling of a word.  Letters & digraphs are pronounced exactly the same in every single word they appear in - so the transcription from word to IPA is pretty much just a 1:1 replacement of sounds.  There are no silent letters, no odd rules with exceptions, no similar sounding words spelled differently or different sounding words spelled similarly.

[Eight]

IPA ?

Ah right, I getcha now. Knowing you're not familiar with IPA makes the request easier to understand.

So  you're wondering if anyone has done a dictionary where the words are spelled using English "equivalents" to guide pronunciation? Haven't seen one, but it isn't the worst idea.

[rakel_wolf]

so is the words basicly spelled like they sound so
ye'rìn (soon) pronounced yee-rin ?

[omängum fra'uti]

They are spelled like they are pronounced within the phonetics of Na'vi.  The "e" in Na'vi is more like the e in "bet" than the e in "bee".  There are a few articles about pronunciation in Na'vi.  The "rìn" part would sound about like that, except that the "r" in Na'vi is pronounced as an alveolar flap.

To be more specific, every letter in a Na'vi word is pronounced, and every letter has one and exactly one correct pronunciation.  (Excepting digraphs like ng, ts, px, tx, and kx, which you count as one letter in that sense - each produces a single sound and always produces that sound.  It's an easy exception in most cases because g and x never appear on their own.)  So once you know the correct pronunciation of each letter, you should be able to look at any Na'vi word and know how it should be pronounced.

[Taronyu]

IPA ?

Ah right, I getcha now. Knowing you're not familiar with IPA makes the request easier to understand.

So  you're wondering if anyone has done a dictionary where the words are spelled using English "equivalents" to guide pronunciation? Haven't seen one, but it isn't the worst idea.

Considering that this is an international forum, and that that means that English is certainly not pronounced the same by everyone who is going to read this, I actually think that this is a pretty bad idea. That's why IPA is so useful. It's not ambiguous, and, if learned correctly, cannot be misunderstood.

There's also an audio dictionary. That's not so bad.

[Eight]

Considering that this is an international forum, and that that means that English is certainly not pronounced the same by everyone who is going to read this, I actually think that this is a pretty bad idea.

I didn't say it wasn't bad, I said it wasn't the worst.

I've had plenty worse ideas than that - I just usually manage to avoid posting them on the internet before I realise the error of my ways.

[rakel_wolf]

in the english language there is a standardised way to say a word ie b-u-k for book although some people say book b-ou-k that is actually wrong because of the accent phonetics show you what sound to make its the most simple and easyest way to understand how to pronounce a word its what they use for kids with diffeculty reading and pronouncing there letters and words its a recognised way of teaching people to pronounce words

[Kiliyä]

Standardised for whom?  Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans all speak English, but there is so much variation between them that sometimes words are unrecognisable.  Even within the USA or UK, there is huge variation.  It's like trying to standarise spelling!

[Eight]

Standardised for whom? 

I'm assuming those teaching materials use RP (Received Pronunciation or Queen's English if you like) as a standard. However, I have my doubts as to how well using RP English to tell people how to pronounce Na'vi will work unless you already speak proper like wot I do.

[Eight]

ye'rìn (soon) pronounced yee-rin ?

Btw... ye'rìn... the e is a kind of longer ehh not an ee, and the r is not an r that we really use much in English. Certainly not at the start of a word like rin would imply.

What would you use for the alveolar flap? R in standard English is an approximant btw.
Edit: looked this up for you: IPA [ɾ] (Na'vi r) is an allophone of /t/ and /d/ in unstressed syllables in North American English and Australian English.

I'm certainly interested in seeing what you come up with despite the problems.

[rakel_wolf]

well queens english is the correct way to say it but other people like my self do use slang or in different accents this is bound to happen to na vi it does with every language but phonetic still shows how it is ment to be pronounce properly thats is if my method of translation is right but it seems to be so far

Kaltxi - Kalt-ihh

[kewnya txamew'itan]

IPA is an unambiguous way to transcribe pronunciations in a language independent manner.

However, a phonetic dictionary is not as useful in Na'vi as it is in English.  There is no pronunciation ambiguity in the spelling of a word.  Letters & digraphs are pronounced exactly the same in every single word they appear in - so the transcription from word to IPA is pretty much just a 1:1 replacement of sounds.  There are no silent letters, no odd rules with exceptions, no similar sounding words spelled differently or different sounding words spelled similarly.

It's unambiguous apart from syllable breaks (mawey could be ma.wey or maw.ey).

Standardised for whom?

I'm assuming those teaching materials use RP (Received Pronunciation or Queen's English if you like) as a standard. However, I have my doubts as to how well using RP English to tell people how to pronounce Na'vi will work unless you already speak proper like wot I do.

RP's only considered correct in the UK and possibly SA, Australia, NZ and the other former colonies. In America pronounciation is all done based on GA (general American), or at least, that's what wikipedia seems to show.

[Eight]

RP's only considered correct in the UK and possibly SA, Australia, NZ and the other former colonies. In America pronounciation is all done based on GA (general American), or at least, that's what wikipedia seems to show.

That would make sense. Traditionally, RP was used as the standard across the globe but times change and in general , language teaching shifted towards teaching people to speak how others speak, not how the BBC/Queen used to think they should. The notions of correctness have in many ways been abandoned.

I'm probably wrong, but I think the only place where RP is really still taught is India. UK schools don't make much effort with it anymore either.

If I see instructions based on General American I just put on my best John Wayne accent and give it a go. The only more modern impression I can do is Miley Cyrus... so neither really help with languages.

This is why I love IPA.

[rakel_wolf]

no queens english is RIGHT because USA NZ and AU variations are not correct because or different words and how the language has evolved for them any why so negative about it

[kewnya txamew'itan]

no queens english is RIGHT because USA NZ and AU variations are not correct because or different words and how the language has evolved for them any why so negative about it

Queen's English is considered correct in Britain but not in many of the former colonies or the US because, as you say, their language has evolved separately and, for some of them can be considered different enough to potentially be different dialects (stereotypical African-American English, Caribbean English and Indian English all have grammar and syntax that is slightly different from British English's).

I'm not being negative, just realistic when I say that using simple phonetic spelling is not unambiguous because people from different people around the world view different pronunciation as correct and so you can't make it work.

I'm probably wrong, but I think the only place where RP is really still taught is India. UK schools don't make much effort with it anymore either.

It's taught in India? From the call centres we get sent to in England you wouldn't know it . Also, here in England, they at least attempt to teach Queen's English (not that they often get very far with that).

[Eight]

It's taught in India? From the call centres we get sent to in England you wouldn't know it.

Hahaha.

Also, here in England, they at least attempt to teach Queen's English (not that they often get very far with that).

I haven't seen any English language / literature school materials for a while which really make much effort with RP anymore. Though they obviously don't tend to actively encourage slang and dialectal forms that much either. But I'm not a teacher, and there's a lot of variety in schools depending once you go above the basic curriculum.

When my mum was at school, learning RP *was* pretty much the entire English language course.

However, it's a long time since you couldn't get on the BBC if you had any kind of accent, and since universities didn't want you unless you spoke the Queen's.

BTW I'm English too.

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Ok. Are you in school atm or not?

RP certainly isn't taught any more but in my experience Queen's English is.