Alphabet and Pronunciation

 

The Pilovese language uses the Latin alphabet with 18 consonants and 5 vowels. The letters k, w, and y are not indigenous to Pilovese and appear only as parts of foreign words. As such they would be pronounced as /k/, /v/, and /y/ respectively.
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This website uses X-SAMPA to inidicate pronunciation. More information is available from Wikipedia

 

Consonants

Letter
Name
Sound
 Special Considerations
B,b
[be]
/b/
  
C,c
[tse]
/k/ or /ts/
  1. When followed by a, o or u the sound is /k/ (hard)
  2. When followed by e or i the sound is /ts/
D,d
[de]
/d/
  
F,f
[Ef]
/f/
  
G,g
[ge]
/g/ or /dz/
  1. When followed by a, o or u the sound is /g/ (hard)
  2. When followed by e or i the sound is /dz/
H,h

[aZ]
ø
  
J,j
[Zod]
/Z/
  
L.l
[El]
/l/
  
M,m
[Em]
/m/
  
N,n
[En]
/n/
  
P,p
[pe]
/p/
  
Q,q
[ku]
/k/
 This letter is always followed by u
R,r
[E4]
/4/
  
S,s
[Es]
/s/
  
T,t
[te]
/t/
  
V,v
[ve]
/v/
  
X,x
[iks]
/ks/
 This letter normally does not appear at the beginning of a word
Z,z
[zEt]
/z/
  

 

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Digraphs

Digraph Sound Notes
Ch, ch
/k/
 Preserves hard sound before "e", "i"
Cs, cs
/ts/
 Preserves soft sound before "a", "o", "u" and at the end of a word
Gh, gh
/g/
 Preserves hard sound before "e", "i"
Gs, gs
/dz/
 Preserves soft sound before "a", "o", "u" and at the end of a word
Lh, lh
/lj/
  
Mh, mh
/mj/
  
Nh, nh
/nj/
  

 

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Vowels

Letter Name Sound Notes
A, a
[a]
/a/
  
E, e
[e]
/e/
 in open syllables
/E/
 in closed syllables
I, i
[i]
/i/
 in open syllables
/I/
 in closed syllables
O, o
[o]
/o/
 in open syllables
/Q/
 in closed syllables
U, u
[y]
/y/
  

 

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Diphthongs

Diphthong Sound
Aou, aou
/aw/
Ou, ou
/u/

 

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Additional Considerations

cu and gu and qu

If cu or gu are followed by a vowel the u is not pronounced, but the sound of the consonant remains hard as if it were followed by an h (See digraphs, above). If no vowel follows they are pronounced as /cy/ and /gy/ respectively. The combination qu is always follwed by a vowel and thus always pronounced as /k/.

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Syllabification

In order to master pronunciation of Pilovese, one must be able to divide a word properly into syllables. There are two types of syllables: open and closed. Below is an illustration of both open and closed syllables where "V" indicates a vowel or diphthong and "C" indicates a consonant or digraph.

Open Syllable: V or VC or CV

Closed Syllable: CVC

In order to divide a word into syllables, begin at the end of the word and separate the syllables by working backward. In the word "cinis" below, there an open and a closed syllable. A period divides them.

ci.nis

In the words "ria" and "aoura" below there are two open syllables divided by a period

ri.a

aou.ra

In the word "cantan" there are two closed syllables divided by a period.

can.tan

While the digraphs are constituent parts of the Pilovese alphabet, other consonants will combine simlar to digraphs for the purpose of syllabification. The word "boumblan" is comprised of two closed syllables again divided by a period. The combination "bl" functions as a digraph in this example.

boum.blan

 

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