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good online pronounciation guides

The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
edited January 2007 in Strut Central
I will have a radio show in the near future and I plan on playing a lot of foreign records. As I was looking at my records and the song titles, I realized I am going to sound like an idiot trying to read off a Kati Kovacs title. Specifically, Portugese and Hungarian are my achillies heels (I dont know the rules for "G" in Portugese, when it is hard(no ayo) and when it is "Zhuh") I plan on applying what I know of Polish pronounciation to Hungarian, but I could be totally off...can anyone recommend good online guides? thanks in advance...

  Comments

  • blackquariusblackquarius 73 Posts
    My guide to Portuguese:
    parts with * at end only apply to Brazilian Portuguese


    A- ah like in Father
    at end of word, like the [E] in "er"
    at end of word, [ah] like in Father*
    ??- try to say the [a] like in "cat" with your mouth closed. then open your mouth- it should NOT sound exactly like the English [a] in "cat"
    B- same as english
    C- before A, O, U, or at begginning of word: like the English K
    elsewhere: like an English S
    ??- (C with cedilla)- always like English S
    CH- like the [sh] in show
    D- at beginning of word: like English D
    in the middle of word or before a vowel: like English D OR J
    as in the word "De": like English J*
    E- like the E in "Egg"
    at end of word: like [ee] in "feet"
    alone, in the word "e": like the [ee] in "feet"
    ??- like the E in "egg"
    F- same as English
    G is pronounced like [zh] when followed by an E or I-
    example: gente (zhayng-chee)
    biologia (bee-oh-loh-zhee-ah)
    and is prounounced like the G in Get anywhere else:
    example: gato (gah-too)
    guia (gee-ah)
    H- at beginning of word: always silent
    after a consonant, like the Y "yes"
    I- like the [ee] in "keep"
    J- like the S in the word "treasure" [zh]
    K- same as English
    L- like English
    at end of word, [oo] like in "food"
    M- like english
    at end of word, sort of like the [ng] in "sing"
    N- like English
    at end of word, sort of like th [ng] in "sing"
    NH- [ny], like the Spanish ??
    O- usually like the O in "low"
    ??- try saying the [a] like in "Father" with your mouth closed, then open your
    mouth. it should NOT sound exactly like the [a] in "father".
    ??- same as O
    P- like English
    Q- like English, though not in native Portuguese words
    R- at beginning or end of words- like English [H]
    in middle of word- strong [H]
    after consonant or in unaccented syllable- like English [D]
    at end of word- never pronounced
    RR- strongly trilled/rolled
    like strong [H]*
    S- same as English
    at end of word- like English [Z]
    T- soft, unaspirated T
    before an E or I- like the [ch] in "church"
    U- [oo] like in "mood"
    V- same as english
    W- never in native portuguese, but pronounced like [v]
    X- usually like [sh] in "cash"
    sometimes like [s]
    sometimes like [ks]
    Y- like english, though not in native portuguese words
    Z- like English
    ------------------------------------------------

    No, I did not copy and paste this; I can speak many languages.
    The nasal vowels take a while to do perfectly. They are [??], [??], [em], [en].


    Oh yeah- it won't be a good idea to apply Polish pronunciation to Hungarian- Hungarian is finno-ugric. The only language Hungarian is even similar to is Finnish- and thats barely!
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    My guide to Portuguese:
    parts with * at end only apply to Brazilian Portuguese


    A- ah like in Father
    at end of word, like the [E] in "er"
    at end of word, [ah] like in Father*
    ??- try to say the [a] like in "cat" with your mouth closed. then open your mouth- it should NOT sound exactly like the English [a] in "cat"
    B- same as english
    C- before A, O, U, or at begginning of word: like the English K
    elsewhere: like an English S
    ??- (C with cedilla)- always like English S
    CH- like the [sh] in show
    D- at beginning of word: like English D
    in the middle of word or before a vowel: like English D OR J
    as in the word "De": like English J*
    E- like the E in "Egg"
    at end of word: like [ee] in "feet"
    alone, in the word "e": like the [ee] in "feet"
    ??- like the E in "egg"
    F- same as English
    G is pronounced like [zh] when followed by an E or I-
    example: gente (zhayng-chee)
    biologia (bee-oh-loh-zhee-ah)
    and is prounounced like the G in Get anywhere else:
    example: gato (gah-too)
    guia (gee-ah)
    H- at beginning of word: always silent
    after a consonant, like the Y "yes"
    I- like the [ee] in "keep"
    J- like the S in the word "treasure" [zh]
    K- same as English
    L- like English
    at end of word, [oo] like in "food"
    M- like english
    at end of word, sort of like the [ng] in "sing"
    N- like English
    at end of word, sort of like th [ng] in "sing"
    NH- [ny], like the Spanish ??
    O- usually like the O in "low"
    ??- try saying the [a] like in "Father" with your mouth closed, then open your
    mouth. it should NOT sound exactly like the [a] in "father".
    ??- same as O
    P- like English
    Q- like English, though not in native Portuguese words
    R- at beginning or end of words- like English [H]
    in middle of word- strong [H]
    after consonant or in unaccented syllable- like English [D]
    at end of word- never pronounced
    RR- strongly trilled/rolled
    like strong [H]*
    S- same as English
    at end of word- like English [Z]
    T- soft, unaspirated T
    before an E or I- like the [ch] in "church"
    U- [oo] like in "mood"
    V- same as english
    W- never in native portuguese, but pronounced like [v]
    X- usually like [sh] in "cash"
    sometimes like [s]
    sometimes like [ks]
    Y- like english, though not in native portuguese words
    Z- like English
    ------------------------------------------------

    No, I did not copy and paste this; I can speak many languages.
    The nasal vowels take a while to do perfectly. They are [??], [??], [em], [en].


    Oh yeah- it won't be a good idea to apply Polish pronunciation to Hungarian- Hungarian is finno-ugric. The only language Hungarian is even similar to is Finnish- and thats barely!

    thank you!!!!!!!
  • hertzhoghertzhog 865 Posts
    Here's a few tips for Hungarian, certain consonants are the hardest:

    Sz -- "see" (but short)
    S -- shh" (but short)
    Cs -- CHock
    C -- see with some "t" mixed in (like you tried to say "tsee" (but dropped the vowels out)
    Z - the same as in English
    Zs - like shh but with some z mixed in

    Vowels are short unless they have an accent on them. The vowel "e" is always pronunciated like the English "a" in "ass" (but short), if it has an accent mark on it (to make it "long"), it's more like the English "e" in "then" if you awkwardly prolonged the vowel.

    So let's try this:

    Kati Kov??cs. Ka ("polKA") ti (as in "TIck") Ko ("COca" but don't round the vowel) v??cs (like "watch" but with a "v")

    Sarolta Zalatnai - Sa ("SHArk") rol ("roll" but with a hard "R" and don't round the vowel") ta ("minolTA") Za ("browZA" (as in an Australian saying "browser")) lat ("lutt") na ("NUt") i ("e" but short)


    Not too scientifical, huh?
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Wow.. I've been doing alot of brazillian covers lately this is going to help me alot, especially with ??guas de Mar??o Thank you.

    - spidey
  • blackquariusblackquarius 73 Posts
    Another thing to remember: in parts of Portugual and Brazil, [S] at the end of a word is prounounced like a mixture of [sh] and [zh].
    Also, sometimes O at the end of a word is prounounced like the [oo] in "mood"

    If you need any help pronouncing words PM me....
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