View source for Spelling and pronunciation of Slevan

The Slevan alphabet consists of the following letters:

{| cellpadding="3" style="border: 1px #aaa solid; background: #fc9"
!a á b c ch cz d dj dz dzs e é f g h i í j k l lj m n nj o ó p r s sz t tj u ú v y ý z zs
|}

The letters '''b d f h k m n p t z''' have approximately the same pronunciation as in English.

The pronunciation of the other letters is as follows:

=== Vowels ===

In general the vowels have the same pronunciation as in Italian or Spanish. Native speakers of English should note the following:

{| cellpadding="3" style="border: 1px #aaa solid; background: #cfc" 
|valign="top"|'''a'''
|valign="top" width=50|{{IPA|[a]}}
|valign="top"|as in English ''father'', but shorter.
|-
|valign="top"|'''e'''
|valign="top"|{{IPA|[ɛ]}}
|valign="top"|as in English ''dress''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''i'''
|valign="top"|{{IPA|[i]}}
|valign="top"|as in English ''machine'', but shorter.
|-
|valign="top"|'''o'''
|valign="top"|{{IPA|[o]}}
|valign="top"|as in English ''north'', but shorter.
|-
|valign="top"|'''u'''
|valign="top"|{{IPA|[u]}}
|valign="top"|as in English ''brute'', but shorter.
|-
|valign="top"|'''y'''
|valign="top"|{{IPA|[ɨ]}}
|valign="top"|is usually pronounced the same as '''i''', but in some dialects '''y''' is pronounced similarly to English ''i'' in ''kit'', though darker. Polish ''ryba'' or Russian ''рыба'' has the exact sound.
|}

=== Vowel length ===

Vowels with an acute accent above ('''á é í ó ú ý''') are in general pronounced the same as the vowels without such a mark, but longer. The exceptions are '''é''' and '''ó''', which for many speakers -- perhaps a majority, although this pronunciation is not considered part of the standard language -- are pronounced as rising diphthongs {{IPA|[iɛ]}} and {{IPA|[uo]}}, similar to ''ye'' in English ''yes'' and ''wa'' in English ''want'' respectively. In the pronunciation of these speakers the spellings '''é''' and '''je''' are pronounced the same.

Slvanjec vowel length does usually ''not'' reflect Latin vowel length, which was lost in [[Wikipedia:Vulgar Latin|Vulgar Latin]],
but was caused by the loss of a short ''ĭ'' or ''ŭ'' in the following syllable, hence the long vowels in the final syllable of the nominative/accusative of most second declension nouns.

There is a number of loanwords that have long vowels adopted from the pronunciation of other languages, e.g. '''táler''' 'dollar' from German ''Taler'', or '''skóla''' from the Renaissance pronunciation of Latin.

== Stress ==

The word stress in Slevan always falls on the first syllable of the word. It should be carefully noted that the acute accent mark does ''not'' indicate stress, but vowel length.

== Consonants ==

The consonant letters and digraphs that differ from English are as follows:

{| cellpadding="3" style="border: 1px #aaa solid; background: #cfc" 
|valign="top"|'''c'''
|valign="top" width=60|[ts]
|valign="top"|is in all positions pronounced like the ''tz'' in English ''waltz''. English speakers should take special care to preserve this pronunciation also at the beginning of words, e.g. in '''cék''' 'blind'.
|-
|valign="top"|'''ch'''
|valign="top"|[χ] or [x]
|valign="top"|is pronounced as in Scots ''loch'' or in German ''Bach'', or in the English interjection ''yech''. It is not a very frequent sound in Slevan.
|-
|valign="top"|'''cz'''
|valign="top"|[tʃ]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like the English ''ch'' in ''church''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''dj'''
|valign="top"|[ɟ]
|valign="top"|is pronounced approximately like the ''di'' in English ''medium''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''dz'''
|valign="top"|[dz]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like the ''ds'' in English ''beds''. It is an infrequent sound in Slevan, having mostly been replaced by simple '''z'''.  As with '''c''' English speakers should take care to preserve the correct pronunciation at the beginning of words.
|-
|valign="top"|'''dzs'''
|valign="top"|[dʒ]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like ''j'' or ''dg'' in English ''judge''.  It is an infrequent sound in Slevan, having mostly been replaced by simple '''zs'''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''g'''
|valign="top"|[ɡ]
|valign="top"|is always hard, like in English ''go'' or ''get'', never soft like in English ''gem'', e.g. '''gezél''' 'yourneyman'. The '''g''' sound isn't very frequent in Slevan, since it is found only in loan words.
|-
|valign="top"|'''j'''
|valign="top"|[j]
|valign="top"|has the sound of the English consonantal ''y'' in ''you, yet, yard''. The English sound of ''j'' in ''judge'' is written '''dzs''' in Slevan, but this combination has in most cases been replaced by the simple '''zs'''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''l'''
|valign="top"|[ɫ]
|valign="top"|at the beginning of a word before the vowels '''a á o ó u ú y ý''' has the dark sound of ''l'' in English ''loll''. Before the vowels '''e é i í''' or before '''dj nj tj''' the letter '''l''' is pronounced like the ''li'' in English ''million'', i.e. the same as Slevan '''lj'''. Before other consonants or at the end of a word many speakers pronounce '''l''' like an English ''w'', but this pronunciation is not considered part of the standard language.
|-
|valign="top"|'''lj'''
|valign="top"|[ʎ]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like the ''li'' in English ''million''. Some speakers tend to pronounce '''lj''' as a simple (Slevan) '''j''' in some positions, but this is not considered part of the standard language.
|-
|valign="top"|'''nj'''
|valign="top"|[ɲ]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like the ''ny'' in English ''canyon'', or more exactly like the ''ñ'' in Spanish ''cañón'' !
|-
|valign="top"|'''r'''
|valign="top"|[r]
|valign="top"|is a rolled sound like in Italian or Spanish ''carro''. Note that Slevan '''r''' is never silent as in British English.
|-
|valign="top"|'''s'''
|valign="top"|[s]
|valign="top"|is always pronounced voiceless like in English '''sit, miss''', never voiced, like ''z''. When a voiced ''s'' occurs in loanwords it is replaced by '''z''', e.g. in '''prezident'''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''sz'''
|valign="top"|[ʃ]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like the English ''sh'' in '''ship'''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''tj'''
|valign="top"|[c]
|valign="top"|is pronounced approximately like the ''te'' in the English word ''meteor''.
|-
|valign="top"|'''v'''
|valign="top"|[v] or [w]
|valign="top"|is pronounced like in English, but before another consonant or at the end of a word many speakers pronounce '''v''' like an English ''w''. Unlike the similar pronunciation of '''l''' this is accepted as part of the standard language. 
|-
|valign="top"|'''zs'''
|valign="top"|[ʒ]
|valign="top"|has the sound of ''z'' in English ''azure'' or of ''j'' in French ''jour''. Cf. '''j'''.
|}

The letters ''q'' and ''x'' are never used in Slevan. They are always replaced by '''k''' and '''ks''' respectively,

e.g. '''kvarc''' 'quartz' and '''tekst'''.

== Syllabic liquids ==

The letters '''l''' and '''r''' can in Slevan form a syllable of their own without a supporting vowel, e.g. '''slván''' 'Slevan man', '''blb''' 'onion', '''dzrn''' 'diurnal span, date', '''krce''' 'cross'.

A native Slevan speaker would never confuse '''tj''' with '''cz''' or '''dj''' with '''dzs''', but Slevans are rather used to speakers of German or Romany confusing these pairs of sounds.

[[Category:Slevan]]
[[Category:Romance conlangs]]