Basic Baronh Pronunciation

Learning correct Baronh pronunciation is a tricky business even though its official pronunciation is provided in the form of standard phonetic symbols approved by the International Phonetic Association. It is not so much that Baronh itself is complicated; the voice actors in the anime had rareyly pronounced it appropriately. Thus, the correct way of pronunciation is, in many cases, quite different from what we've seen in the anime.

So, why hadn't they pronounced it properly? This is because a number of Baronh syllables (both vowels and consonants) are either non-existent or unused in Japanese. For example, letter y is supposed to be pronounced as [y] in French. Consider buffet [byfe] in French. (You should notice that [y] in French is not [y] nor [j] in English.) There is no way to write French [y] in Japanese -- rather it is pronounced as [ju] as in "you" instead. Also, take a look at they [ðei]. (Note: let's use ð for voiced 'th' and θ for unvoiced 'th' for convenience) Unfortunately, it is written and read as zei in Japanese. Another example. There is no difference between L and R in Japanese (not in Korean either for that matter).

Now let's take a look at a real example shown in anime. How do you read Ablïarsec? It's the name of the Royal clan. Voice actors pronounce it [aburiaru]. So, official DVD releasess and English fansubs tend to translate it into Abriel. However, the correct pronunciation is [abljars]. The difference in pronunciation is unpleasantly great, and thus you would have good reason to find it clamorous, or even unbearable. In my case, I generally follow the fans' pronunciation -- I hate being singled out. :-) Knowing is one thing, but using it is a different matter. So, I rarely use [abljars]. (When I read through the Abh Imperial Anthem, I tend to follow the correct pronunciation though.)

So far we've seen why it is not so easy to correctly pronounce Baronh, and how it can be "uncool." Nevertheless, Mr. Morioka clearly indicated about how each letter should be pronounced. Throughout the Baronh corner, I will follow his indications, and where there might be a cause for confusion, I'll add in the "well-known" spelling as well.

Then let's start with basic Baronh pronunciation. When you encounter a word written with Ath, the Baronh alphabet, the first thing to do is to decipher the text into Roman alphabet. This can be done with the letter chart on Intro to Baronh(Korean page) or Nonchan's page(English).

After finishing translation, then you pronounce the word under scrutiny according to the pronunciation guide found in the above pages. Simple, isn't it? But wait. There are a couple of notable exceptions: 1) there are cases when syllables become mute, 2) the h irregularity, and 3) diphthongs.

Let's see where the "mute" rules apply.

• Generally, when ec or c is the last syllable in a word, they are muted. For example, saudec(gateway), snaic(peerage) are pronounced as [sɔd] and [snɛ] respectively. Notice that -c and -ec are not pronounced even when the following vowel sound tempts you to. :-)

• Also, when e (not é) appears at the very end of a word, it is rarely pronounced. So, for example, sure(to come) is read as [sur], not [sure] or [surə].

• When r is the last letter in a word and it is preceded by a consonant, it is muted. For example, lamr(the possessive case of lamh) is [lam].

Secondly, when h directly follows a consonant, these two together result in a different phonetic value. Let's refer to the table below.

Lastly, diphthongs. When certain vowel sounds are placed together, their sounds are combined and result in a new vowel or semivowel+vowel sound.

Other than the three cases explained so far, an average English speaker shouldn't have much trouble with reading Baronh. Do not worry too much about which syllable(s) should be stressed. In Japanese, accentuation is not as important as it is in English. The same is true for Baronh. A simple rule of thumb is that the diphthongs and long syllables are usually stressed. Other than that, just follow the feel what you have got from anime. People refer to Japanese the "machine gun language", right? :-) In fact, how accentuation should be applied in Baronh is not wel documented.
Now let's see some examples from the anime.

Word Alphabet Pronunciation Note caricec [karik] A shuttle loaded in a larger ship. ec at the end is mute. cédlairh [kedlɛʀ] A unit that measures distance on planar universe. daïsairé [daisɛre] The imperative form of the verb (daïsaire), "to remove(da) an anchor(ïsaire)". Notice that aï sounds as [ai], while ai sounds as [ɛ]. Lacmhacarh [lakfakaʀ] mh is [f]. The name of the capital of the Abh Empire. üethdagh [wəθdaʒ] 100 meters (üeth = 104, dagh = 1cm). gh at the end is [ʒ] as we've seen in Ghintec. gaftonochec [gaftonoʃ] The imaginary dragon with eight heads found in the crest of the Empire. ch is pronounced as [ʃ], and ec at the end are silent.

Here comes a test. Can you figure out the meaning of the word means in the picture below?

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