1 – Useful Expressions / Pronunciation

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

Evon seqauranatta “How do you do?” or “Hello”. Use this expression when formally meeting someone for the first time.

Aju

Ajú. “Hello” or “Goodbye”. An informal expression upon meeting or parting.

Dentu desqes

Dentú desqesa. “Good morning”. This expression may be used until around midday.

Dentu desus

Dentú desusa. “Good afternoon” or “Good day” (“hello”). This expression may be used from around noon until it gets dark.

Dentu desqou

Dentú desqova. “Good evening”.

Dentu hus

Dentú husa. “Good night”. Use this expression when someone is retiring for the night.

The first greeting of the above pairs are radicals in apposition: i.e., they are behaving as compounds (two words put together to give a third meaning, such as “bookcase”), which, strictly speaking, they are not. The second greeting of the above pairs shows through inflexion their proper grammatical relationship. As such, the first greeting sounds less “formal” than the second; e.g., friends would greet each other with dentu desqes, while an employee, watching his p’s and q’s, might prefer to greet his boss with dentú deqesa. (Compounds and inflexion will be covered in future lessons.)

Evon stadentutta. “Goodbye” or “Good night”. Use this expression when you momentarily leave (morning, afternoon or evening), or to someone when retiring for the night.

Evon peqauranatta. “Goodbye” or “Farewell”. Use this expression when parting from someone for the final time.

Staqainato, Starebiato. “See you later”. (Informal)

Evon staqainatta, Evon starebiatta

“Goodbye”. Use this expression when parting from a meeting, but are likely to meet again.

Evon uza

Iher uza. “Goodbye” [lit. “until the future”]. An informal expression, often used to sign off letters. (Iher uza was coined by Michael Helsem, Taneraic’s first language student.)

Hoje “Yes”

Rah “No”

Ni buneviliratta? “Do you understand?”

(Hoje,) vaneviliratta “(Yes,) I understand.”

(Rah,) rah vaneviliratta “(No,) I do not understand.”

Viqu

Viqú “Please” (when offering or asking something)

Tousueu

Tousuevú “Please” (when formally offering or asking something)

Lesega

Lesegu “Please” (when offering or asking something with the least consideration given to formality)

Asban jalan “Thank you”

Rah, jalanu “No, thank you”

Emovu “Excuse me” (asking permission)

Hamu

Hamú “Sorry” (reluctant to agree to something)

Mauda

Maudu “Sorry” (apologising)

Nu selida? “How are you [going]?”

Seli das [trasi] xayar, asban jalan “[Very] well, thank you.”

Rijuqatqa uher serebiattibu “Pleased to meet you.”

Nun xayarda “That’s fine.”

[Ha] trasi xayar! “Very good!” (emphasis on “very”)

Xayaru trasi! “Very good!”

Nu vayole nun yole nuni … hauyada? “How much is …?” / “How much does … cost?”

THE ALPHABET:

Letters: A B C Cy D E G H I

Name: a be ce cye de e ge he [leisoubi] i / leisoubiyi /

Letters: J L M N O P Q R S

Name: je le me ne o pe qe re se

Letters: Sy T U V X Y Z

Name: sye te u ve xe asleisoubi i / asleisoubiyi / ze

PRONUNCIATION

While it is impossible to learn pronunciation solely from the page, these notes are intended to help you understand how Taneraic words are pronounced.

1. Below are set out many of the letters you have met in the Useful Expressions above. For a more thorough guide to pronunciation, consult Abaq tanerai / Principles of Taneraic. /a/ is pronounced like a in father; /b/ is pronounced like b in bat or dab; /d/ is pronounced like d in dog; /h/ is pronounced like h in hat (even in final position: eg, rah); /j/ is pronounced like s in pleasure; /l/ is pronounced like l in long (but not like l in soul); /o/ is pronounced like French o in donne; /q/ is pronounced like a glottal stop (eg, like Cockney ck in knock-out); /r/ is pronounced like the trilled Italian r in caro; /s/ is pronounced like s in sit; /t/ is pronounced like t in tap or bat; /u/ is pronounced like oo in food; /v/ is pronounced like v in vat; /x/ is pronounced like Scottish ch in loch; /y/ is pronounced like y in yet; /z/ is pronounced like z in zest.

2. Doubled consonants must be pronounced separately: sta/re/biat/ta 3. Syllables: Most syllables begin with a consonant; syllables ending in a vowel are called open; syllables ending in a consonant are called closed. DEN — TU DE — SQES (closed) (open) (open) (closed)

Being able to identify syllables is important for three reasons:

(a) the vowel /e/ and consonant /n/ have a distinct pronunciation change in open and closed syllables:

 

/e/ in closed syllables is pronounced like e in pet: dentu, stadentutta, the second e of desqes, iher

/e/ in open syllables is pronounced like French é in café: desus, desqou, evon, starebiatta, neviliratta, hoje, the first e of desqes

/n/ at the beginning of a syllable is pronounced like n in night: neviliratta

/n/ at the end of a syllable is pronounced like French nasal n in sens: dentu, evon, stadentutta

(The expression evon uza is correctly pronounced without liaison: /evon / uza/; in rapid speech, however, /evonnuza/ may be heard.)

(b) only the twelve consonant clusters /br/, /tr/, /scy/, /sl/, /sm/, /sn/, /sp/, /sq/, /sr/, /st/, /sv/ and /sx/ may also open a syllable (discussing radicals only): de/sqes, sta/den/tut/ta, tra/si

(c) only the seven consonants /b/, /h/, /n/, /q/, /r/, /s/ and /t/ may close a syllable: rah/, e/von/, de/sqes/, i/her/, xa/yar/