Pronunciation of Liturgical/theological Arabic, Greek, and Russian words

[MariaRegina]

We have a problem in English with loan words in Orthodoxy (especially those liturgical and theological words which are Arabic, Greek and Russian in origin). I have made stupid mistakes, and I'm still learning correct pronunciations. However, we can sin by offending others with our silly mispronunciations: those unknown sins. I have heard of horrendous liturgical errors caused by the mispronunciations of new deacons: "Master, bless the horses" when translated from the Arabic. People had a hard time focusing on the Divine Liturgy, so yes, God wasn't glorified by that error, but we humans do laugh at the diversion it caused.

Since some of us here in TAW are familiar with the International Phonetic Association's Alphabet commonly referred to as the IPA, I thought it would be great to start a thread and have a listing of words we use along with the correct pronounciation given in the IPA.

Alphabetical Index of borrowed words and phrases with their suggested pronunciation:

A.ka.thist - post 2
Christos Anesti - Alithos Anesti
Compline
Con.de.scen.sion < latin 'to condescend' [ ʺkɔn dɪ ʹsɛn ʃən ] cf. post 3
Epitaphios
Kenosis
Kontakion
Parakleisis
Pre.lest - [ 'prjɛ ljɛst] < Russian cf. posts 4, 6
Troparion

[MariaRegina]

A.KA.THIST akathist

Let's start with the word AKATHIST,
(which some Churches refer to as Acathist).

First, the Greek word is ΑΚΑΘΙΣΤΟΣ, which is transliterated as Akathistos

The /a/ would be approximately the vowel used in font /fant/

The /k/ is our hard 'c' English sound as in cat.

The /θ/ is found in thin.

The /i/ is pronounced as in beet.

The /s/ is pronounced as in sat.

Finally, the /t/ - would it be a dentalized /t/ like the Spanish use, or is it an alveolar /t/?

Secondly, in what syllable does the accent fall: the first, second, or the third?

The accent in IPA would be indicated by using ['] in front of the accented syllable.

A.KA.THIST [a ka θist]

[MariaRegina]

Please list any other words that have difficult pronunciations, even if they are English words like 'condescension,' which is a word borrowed from the Latin.

con de scen sion < latin 'to condescend' [ ʺkɔn dɪ ʹsɛn ʃən ]
To descend to the level of one considered inferior (American Heritage College Dictionary (2002) p. 298)

/ ɔ / = the open o which is pronounced like the short 'o' in pot

/ ɪ / = the short i which is pronounced in words such as bit.

/ ɛ / = the vowel heard in bed and bet.

/ ə / = the schwa, a mid central vowel as found in the first sound of the word about

/ ʃ / = the 'sh' sound as in shop and sure.

Note: the 'sh' sound is not an /f/ sound; however, for some reason in my computer it looks like one. There shouldn't be that little line in the middle at all.

[Happy Orthodox]

Good idea, Aria!

I could add some Russian words that are mispronounced.

Prelest (prideful illusion, believing in high spirituality of self)

is pronounced as pre-lest. Both "e" are read as in bed or bred. Accent on the first vowel. (Sorry, I'm not familiar with IPA, and besides, my machine doesn't encode it).

Podvig -- pod-vig. "Pod" is like in "pot", and "vig" is like in "vigorous". Podvig is a spiritual feat, exploit, effort (might be a life-long effort as well as a short-term feat).

[ThePilgrim]

Good idea, Aria!

I could add some Russian words that are mispronounced.

Prelest (prideful illusion, believing in high spirituality of self)

is pronounced as pre-lest. Both "e" are read as in bed or bred. Accent on the first vowel. (Sorry, I'm not familiar with IPA, and besides, my machine doesn't encode it).

Podvig -- pod-vig. "Pod" is like in "pot", and "vig" is like in "vigorous". Podvig is a spiritual feat, exploit, effort (might be a life-long effort as well as a short-term feat).
Ты из России?

[rusmeister]

Ты из России?
Many of us are from Russia (Even if we're only Americans who live there).
Actually, I hear podvig as PODE-vig (rhymes with mode)
Also, the Russian "e" has a "y" sound before it. Thus, the pronunciation of "nyet", although in Russian it is spelled HET. So Elena is actually pronounced 'Ye-LYE-na' and so on. And prelest - PRYE-lyest.
I'm not sure IPA is best for a number of people here. It needs to be explained over and over and kind of assumes knowledge of its more-or-less European standards, particularly as relates to vowels. You do need a standard system, though.
I don't know which Russian words are used in America, but would be glad to help - 'specially as I learned Russian from scratch as an adult (hold a BA and an MA), and totally relate to monolingual Americans (having grown up as one).

[MariaRegina]

Most computers have the font called Lucida Sans Unicode. This has most of the symbols and diacritics needed for the IPA. That is what I am using and it is compatible with CF.


Below, I posted an excellent poem for learning the IPA vowels primarily.

I have enlarged it so that you can see the IPA symbols more clearly. I am using lucida sans unicode for the characters.

I Take It You Already Know …

Of tough [tuf] and bough [baʊ] and cough [kɔf] and dough [doʊ].
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough [hɪkʌp], thorough [θʌro], laugh [læf], and through [θru].

Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.
Beware of heard [hɝd], a dreadful word
That looks like beard [bɪɝd] and sounds like bird [bɝd].

And dead [dɛd] – it’s said like bed [bɛd], not bead [bid].
For goodness sake, don’t call it deed [did]!
Watch out for meat [mit] and great [gret] and threat [θrɛt].
They rhyme with suite [swit] and straight [streɪt] and debt [dɛt].

A moth [mɔθ] is not a moth [mɔθ] in mother [mʌðɚ],
Nor both [boθ] in bother [baðɚ], broth [brɔθ] in brother [brʌðɚ] .
And here [hɪr] is not a match for there [ðɛr],
Nor dear [dɪr] and fear [fɪr] for pear [pɛr] and bear [bɛr].

And then there’s dose [dos] and rose [ro:z] and lose [lu:z].
Just look them up – and goose [gu:s] and choose [tʃu:s].
And cork [kɔrk] and work [wɝk] and card [kard] and ward [wɔrd].
And font [fant] and front [frʌt] and word [wɝd] and sword [sɔrd].

And do [du] and go [goʊ], then thwart [θwɔrt] and cart [kart].
Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start.

A dreadful language? Man alive,
I’d mastered it when I was five!

-- Anonymous

[MariaRegina]

Here are some sounds and names of the IPA symbols.

FRONT VOWELS

i is found in beet
ɪ is found in bit
e is found in great
ɛ is found in bet - the Greek epsilon
æ is called ash (sounds like it too)

CENTRAL VOWELS

a is like the Spanish 'a'. Very British sounding.
ʌ is called a wedge as in cut - the uh sound.
ə is the unstressed version of the wedge called the schwa. It looks like an upside down 'e'.
ɚ is called schwar and is unstressed as in -er of father
ɝ is the stressed schwar as found in bird

BACK VOWELS

u is the sound found in boo /bu/ and you = /ju/
ʊ is the sound found in book - Greek letter upsilon
o is the sound found in no.
ɔ is called the open 'o' like in cough
ɑ is the back bottom vowel found in father.

DIPTHONGS
/ɔɪ/ boy
/aɪ/ buy
/aʊ/ bow

Monophthongs:
/eɪ/ bait
/oʊ/ boat

CONSONANTS

Interdental fricatives
θ is called theta found in thin
ð is called eth and is found in that

Alveopalatal fricatives
ʃ the sh sound as in shoot
ʒ the French sound as in leisure

Alveopalatal affricates - stop + fricative
ʧ the ch sound as in church
ʤ the j sound as in judge

The central liquid sound
r is a trilled /r/ as in the Spanish word 'perro'
ɹ is the /r/ sound we hear in English as in rat
[Note: In English transcriptions, we tend to use the /r/ instead of the inverted /ɹ /
only because it's faster to use.] :)

The rest of the consonants you already know.
b as in bat
d as in dog
f as in fat
g as in go
h as in hat
k as in cat [kæt]
l as in late
m as in man
n as in noun
p as in peat
kw as in quake [kweɪk]
r as in rat (we are lazy, so we don't use the upside down r as we should)
s as in sat and celery
t as in tea
v as in vat
w as in we
ɛks as in extra [ɛkstrə]
j as in you [ju]
z as in zebra

[rusmeister]

Sure, that sort of thing works fine for linguists like me. I constantly bump into a similar system used for ESL students. But I'm not sure the average Joe will want to spend time deciphering it.
Oh, and the vowels show as blank squares in html - have to copy + paste to Word to see them.

[MariaRegina]

Sure, that sort of thing works fine for linguists like me. I constantly bump into a similar system used for ESL students. But I'm not sure the average Joe will want to spend time deciphering it.
Oh, and the vowels show as blank squares in html - have to copy + paste to Word to see them.

That's strange. Maybe you shouldn't be viewing in HTML. How many others see boxes?

I am using Linux with Firefox.

[MariaRegina]

Sure, that sort of thing works fine for linguists like me. I constantly bump into a similar system used for ESL students. But I'm not sure the average Joe will want to spend time deciphering it.
Oh, and the vowels show as blank squares in html - have to copy + paste to Word to see them.

Many colleges are making an introductory class in Linguistics with IPA instruction mandatory for certain majors: education, liberal studies, English, Speech Pathology, Linguistics, computer science, etc. I think it should be mandatory for all college students.

[MariaRegina]

Greek has the 'gamma', which English doesn't. Therefore, gamma is often rendered as /g/ in English.

The Greek letter gamma is a voiced velar fricative, but the English /g/ is a voiced velar obstruent.

If you pronounce the /g/ but let air flow continuously without any blockage, then you are probably approximating the gamma sound.

[eoe]

The Greek letter gamma is a voiced velar fricative, but the English /g/ is a voiced velar obstruent.

If you pronounce the /g/ but let air flow continuously without any blockage, then you are probably approximating the gamma sound.
in other words it is like a y with a slight gurgle in the back of the throat. LISTEN HERE. (http://www.anotek.com/LET_G.MP3)
Here kitty kitty.... Cat in Greek starts with gamma and sounds like THIS. (http://www.anotek.com/GATA.MP3)

unless of course you have one of the consonant pairs. gamma gamma is pronounced more like a g than a gurgledy y. Ni-gamma is pronounced like ng like England.

delta is pronounced th like those (http://www.anotek.com/LET_D.MP3) - it isn't "doxa patri" it is "thoxa patri".

To get a "d" sound? easy use ni-taf. nt = d

and they say Latin is hard....

[MariaRegina]

I thought that the delta in /doxa/ is actually a dentalized /d/ like the Spanish todos.

[Annoula]

First, the Greek word is ΑΚΑΘΙΣΤΟΣ, which is transliterated as Akathistos


hi Aria!

i am not sure you if you mentioned that, so i pop in!

Ακάθιστος = α + κάθισμα = no - sit = i don't sit down.

:)

[theoforos]

Secondly, in what syllable does the accent fall: the first, second, or the third?

The accent in IPA would be indicated by using ['] in front of the accented syllable.


A.KA.THIST [a ka θist]

In Russian it's on the second syllable: акАфист i.e. [a'kafist]

[Pravoslavnii]

Privet vsem Russko-govoryashim. :)

I don't know if it's a good idea Aria to pronounce Russian / Greek / Arabic words in the right pronounciation in American language. It will be confusing for the listeners and it's almost impossible for a foreigner to correctly pronounce in Greek or Russian. Especially when it's explained on the internet.