|
Home
Babel Text
Etymologies
Irregular Verbs
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
English-Romana
Romana-English
Texts
| |
The first lesson will teach you the basics of Romana. This is the alphabet
and pronunciation.
The Alphabet (L'Alfabeto Romano)
The alphabet is the same as the English alphabet. Below, each letter of the
alphabet is explained in detail. The rules are for American English
pronunciation.
| Letter |
Name in Romana |
Pronunciation Rules |
| A |
a |
Like in the English words "father", "start" and
"hall". |
| B |
be |
Like in English "book". |
| C |
ce |
- Before "e" or "i", it is pronounced like in "chart" or "chicken"
- Before any other vowel, it is pronounced like "kind"
- In the case of "ch" + e/i, it's always pronounced like "kind"
|
| D |
de |
As in "door". |
| E |
e |
As in "get", "pet", "lend", "men", or
"stare", "flare", "care". |
| F |
ef |
As in "foot". |
| G |
ge |
- Before "e" or "i", it is pronounced like in "jack" or "gentle"
- Before any other vowel, it is pronounced like "good"
- In the case of "gh" + e/i, it's always pronounced like "good"
|
| H |
acia |
Pronounced as in English "have". Rarely
used. |
| I |
i |
Can be a vowel as in "feet", "seat",
"see", and "free", or a consonant as in "say", "hey", and "you". |
| J |
gi |
Never used. |
| K |
ka |
Never used. |
| L |
el |
As in "lamp". |
| M |
em |
As in "man". |
| N |
en |
As in "never". |
| O |
o |
As in "hold", "told", "bold", or "core",
"more", "soar". |
| P |
pe |
As in "pig". |
| Q |
cu |
As in "quick". |
| R |
er |
A rolled R like Italian or Spanish. |
| S |
es |
As in "see" or "sight".
If it is between two vowels, the sound changes to "z" as in "laser". |
| T |
te |
As in "time". |
| U |
u |
As in "soon", "cool".
Can also be a consonant as in "work". |
| V |
ve |
As in "vendor". |
| W |
duplo ve |
Never used. |
| X |
ix |
As in "example" or "extreme".
Has the pronunciation of either "ks" or "gz", as in English. |
| Y |
i greco |
Never used. |
| Z |
zeta |
At the beginning of word, "z" as in "zoo".
Otherwise, "dz" as in "Zurich" or "Tsar". |
Note that every letter is always pronounced with the above rules.
Letter Combinations
| Diphthong |
Pronunciation |
| ai |
"ay" as in "side" |
| au |
"aw" as in "wow" |
| ea |
"ea" as in "sand" |
| ei |
"ey" as in "they" |
| ia |
"ya" as in "yacht" |
| ie |
"ye" as in "yes" |
| io |
"yo" as in "your" |
| iu |
"yu" as in "you" |
| ii |
"yi" as in "yield" |
| oa |
"wa" as in "walk" |
| oi |
"oy" as in "ahoy" or "boy" |
| ou |
"ow" as in "crow" or "though" |
| ua |
"wa" as in "walk" |
| ue |
"we" as in "went" |
| ui |
"wi" as in "wind" or "uy" as in "booya" |
| uo |
"wo" as in "woe" |
All other vowel combinations are usually pronounced as separate vowels. (Each
vowel makes up a syllable)
Practice
Try pronouncing these words. (NOTE: From now on, syllable stress will be
indicated by a bold letter.)
| Word |
Meaning |
| casa |
house |
| ucela |
bird |
| nazione |
nation |
| citate |
city |
| vintotimo |
twenty-eighth |
| merigia |
noon |
| dia |
day |
| benveniti |
welcome |
| aero |
air |
| pomerigia |
afternoon |
| megio |
middle |
| nocte |
night |
Finally, try out this sentence:
L'aero este mai puro in la nocte che in la dia.
Translation: The air is clearer during the night than during the day.
Next Lesson >
|
