18. Beginners should read aloud daily; at first slowly and slightly exaggerating the sounds, making free use of the organs of speech. It will then be found that in more rapid utterance the exaggeration will gradually disappear, and a good, bold, free pronunciation be attained. (See "Hints to Learners," page 363.)
19. It is advisable that the student, before proceeding to the grammar, should get a thorough knowledge of the sounds of letters, syllables, and words; he should, therefore, read over the following list of words, which gives most of the combinations of sounds in the language. The italics denote where the tonic accent falls.
SCHEME OF PRONUNCIATION.
| Esperanto Letter. | |
|---|---|
| A = | ah is used to represent the a in father. |
| E = | eh (see par. 9). |
| I = | ee is used to represent the ee in seen. |
| O = | o (see par. 9). |
| U = | oo is used to represent the oo in fool. |
| Ŭ = | w is used to represent the w in wet. |
| G = | g is used to represent the g in go. |
| Ĝ = | dj is used to represent the g in George. |
| Ĥ = | hH is used to represent a very strong guttural aspirate |
| J = | y is used to represent the y in yes. |
| Ĵ = | zh is used to represent the s in pleasure. |
| Esperanto. | Pronunciation. | English. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | abato | ah-bah-to | abbot. |
| a-a | la afero | lah ah-feh-ro | the affair. |
| a-e | aero | ah-eh-ro | air. |
| a-i | trairi | trah-ee-ree | to traverse. |
| balai | bah-lah-ee | to sweep. | |
| aj | ajlo | ahy-lo (sound "y" short, | |
| as ye) (dissyllable) | garlic. | ||
| krajono | krah-yo-no | pencil. | |
| majesta | mah-yehs-tah | majestic. | |
| ajn | ahyn (sound "y" short, | ||
| as ye) (monosyllable) | ever. | ||
| palaj | pah-lahy (sound "y" short, | ||
| as ye) (dissyllable) | pale (adj., pl.) | ||
| a-o | la ondo | lah on-do | the wave. |
| a-u | la ungo | lah oon-go | the nail. |
| aŭ | laŭdo | lahw-do | praise. |
| antaŭ | ahn-tahw | before. | |
| hodiaŭ | ho-dee-ahw | to-day. | |
| B | Biblio | Bee-blee-o | Bible. |
| C | cent | tsehnt | hundred. |
| citi | tsee-tee |
to
|