#i think it might also have something to do w how similar the different pronunciations are though

[ofpd]

you know im not really seeing a common theme

[spanishskulduggery]

Do you know of any fossil words in Spanish, words that used to be common but fell out of use and are now only preserved in idioms? I tried looking on Google but all the results were English-only examples

I'll try and think of some others but here are the ones that come to mind; and I’m not sure all of these will be what you’re looking for.

si fuere menester = "in the event of" el menester used to be fairly common especially in the Medieval period, where it was another word for "need" or "necessity". Today you only see menester in si fuere menester which is an unusual construction as it is, since fuere is the future subjunctive - which is an obsolete tense - and so it literally means "should it be necessary". This expression only now shows up in contracts and legal contexts normally as "in the event of"

donde fueres haz lo que vieres = "when in Rome... (do as the Romans do)" Again, this is future subjunctive; literally "wherever you go, do what you see".. but in a more obtuse future subjunctive way "wherever you should happen to go, do whatever you may happen to see"

la urdimbre y trama = "warp and weft" The idea of this is related to "weaving", and though this phrase is rather antiquated or particular, it occasionally shows up as something like la urdimbre y trama de la sociedad or something where that's "the fabric of society". It's not the way you say that so much now [el tejido or la tela are more common], but urdir "to warp" was related to working a loom. You still do use tramar but it's not often that you see it related to weaving anymore... tramar is "to plot" or "to hatch a scheme", but you can see how "weaving" would go into "plotting"

so pena de = "under pain of" You don't often see so used in Spanish today, since it's a more direct link to Latin and Italian. And today la pena rarely means "pain" in the physical sense, it usually means "sorrow" or "anguish"... but again in legal cases, so pena de muerte is "under pain/penalty of death"

a diestra y siniestra = "all over the place" This expression literally means "to the right and left". The word diestro/a is still "right-handed" (also means "skillful" or "dexterous"), but siniestro/a used to mean "left-handed"... the idea that the left hand was more evil and "sinister", and "under-handed". In older contexts, siniestro/a means "left-handed", but in modern contexts you say zurdo/a for "left-handed"

al tuntún = "impromptu", "improvise", "on the fly", "by ear" This expression is derived from Latin, ad vultum tuum which is literally "to your face" in Latin. You never see tuntún anymore unless something is done al tuntún but it might be more regional; it just means you're making it up as you go

dormir como un ceporro = "to sleep like a log" Most people today say dormir como un tronco which is the same idea; el ceporro is a variation but it's extremely unusual to see it. Most people will use tronco if they have to

tuerto/a = one-eyed I'm actually not sure if people use tuerto/a still, since there are other ways to say "blind in one eye" or "one-eyed". In older Spanish, tuerto could show up as a "grievance", but in the expression en el reino de ciegos el tuerto es rey is still used sometimes, literally "in the kingdom of blind people, the one-eyed man is the king"

(el) haba = bean [technically haba is feminine] Not common to see el haba used much anymore except in certain contexts, and it's the root of la habichuela "bean". In Spain, sometimes haba is "idiot" so if you see el tonto del haba it's like "the biggest idiot that ever lived"

Vuestra Merced = "Your Lordship/Ladyship" This is the original form of it, but it eventually turned into usted "you" used for polite things. The title was Vuestra Merced and it was how you addressed someone without knowing their title, so it became very polite. In older Spanish you'd abbreviate it as Vd. which eventually became Ud. as the abbreviation for usted. Keep in mind that at a certain point in time, Spanish wrote the U sound as a V, and it followed more of the Latin pronunciation where the V had a softer U/W sound at times. Outside of Spain and works set in older time periods, you're unlikely to use vuestro/a - it even became informal plural "you all" in Spain - but you rarely ever see merced used. Chances are you're only going to see it was vuestra in front of it. But just know that vos has a very different meaning today than it did in the Middle Ages

meter/sembrar cizaña = "to sow discord" You're never going to see cizaña used in any other context unless you happen upon some botanical book. The literal translation is "darnel" which is sometimes called "false wheat"; basically la cizaña looks like trigo "wheat", and it grows close to wheat but it often has a fungus that's poisonous so you need to separate it. The idea behind it is that if you're deliberately planting cizaña you're actively trying to poison someone or make things worse

la celestina = "a go-between, a mediator" This word comes directly from La Celestina a novel written in Spain's Golden Age by Fernando de Rojas. In it there's a woman named Celestina who sets up meetings between women living in convents (who weren't always nuns) and men; acting as a go-between and chaperone for love affairs basically. The term was also la alcahueta but became celestina after the character in the book. Certain characters in literature are considered celestinas like the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet; basically the girl/woman can't risk her reputation so she has her maid or chaperone working to arrange things, and they're often the catalyst for things going wrong. In other contexts, celestina or una alcahueta is a "pimp" or "madame", or sometimes "a gossip"

pardo/a = brown, brownish-gray Today you’re only really going to see pardo/a used with animals. Specifically, el oso pardo is a “grizzly bear”, and pardo/a can be used with horses as “dun”. I don’t know if “grizzly bear” counts as an expression but anyway. In older Spanish pardo/a was another word for “brown” when it came to people too. Today, if you’re describing hair color as “brown/brunette” you’re using castaño which is literally “chestnut”, either castaño claro “light brown” or castaño oscuro “dark brown”. When it comes to things that are brown, the typical word is now marrón or sometimes you see it as color café which is “coffee-colored”

ser un caco = to be a thief Not commonly used as ladrón, ladrona “thief”, but un caco literally means “a Cacus”. Basically, Cacus was a mythological figure who stole some cattle and Hercules killed him. In some places people use un caco to mean “thief” as a euphemism

la Parca = the Grim Reaper Orginally, las Parcas were the Parcae in Roman (originally Greek) mythology. They were the sisters of fate who would measure someone’s life and eventually cut the thread. Today, it’s just one Parca and it’s typically a male figure, skeletal, with a scythe as the “Grim Reaper”, rather than it being a woman with scissors. That’s because during the Plague, people thought of Death as being a skeletal figure that held a scythe, the symbol for “reaping” wheat that was ripe.

manjar de los dioses = “nectar of the gods” / a delicacy el manjar is used in some places in certain contexts but it originally came from Italian as “food” or something “to eat”. Today, manjar is usually a “snack”, or in some cases it’s dulce de leche, but most of the Spanish-speaking world doesn’t use manjar so much. It is sometimes “delicacy”, but in older contexts it was code for “ambrosia”, the thing that the Greek gods couldn’t get enough of. The world manjar still feels very antiquated to me, but when it’s used it’s some kind of good food or eating a lot of food

valer un potosí = “to be worth a fortune” un potosí is pretty antiquated, but it came from the city Potosí in Bolivia which was famous for its silver mines that the conquistadores exploited. There are still some places that will use potosí as “something of great value”, though it’s not so common anymore unless you’re talking about the actual city.

moros y cristianos = “beans and rice” Usually it’s black beans and white rice, though this is literally “Moors and Christians”. You still use cristiano/a today but typically you only use moro/a in a historical sense

Also there’s the expression más sordo/a que una tapia where it means someone is really hard of hearing; literally “as deaf as a garden wall”, but I’ve never seen people use tapia ...only a muro or a cerca as “wall” or “fence”. The idea of tapiar is related to “mortar” and “masonry”

There are also some expressions related to metal and older words for it. For example, saturnino/a is an older word for “gloomy”, though it now refers to “lead-poisoning”. Saturn was linked to “moodiness” in alchemical society, and the symbol for Saturn was the older symbol for “lead”. 

This is similar to how áureo/a is “gold” but also linked to the “sun” because the Sun and gold are linked.

Another is el azogue which is the older word for mercury so it’d be “quicksilver”. You may see azogarse in some texts where it means “to be fidgetty” and it’s related both to mercury-poisoning, and probably to the idea of Mercury/Hermes being the messenger god so always on the move. 

There is also hidalgo/a which doesn’t have quite the same meaning it did originally. Today, hidalgo/a is sort of like “having noble blood”. It literally means “son of something/someone”, where originally in Spain hidalgos were the children of nobles - specifically, it tended to refer to the children of nobles who weren’t the firstborn male. Firstborn sons often got about 2/3 of the money and were expected to run the estates. The second or third or fourth children were usually on their own. It became a running joke that the firstborn became the lord, and the others would either join the army or the clergy. In Cervantes’s time, hidalgos could be among the poorest of society, even poorer than slaves in some cases. They were still “noble” in terms of blood though, and hidalgos couldn’t be tortured by the Inquisition because of it. So they were afforded certain rights, but usually tended to be poor or lower than you’d expect a noble to be. Today it just means “of nobility”, but in Cervantes’s time a hidalgo was the symbol of Spain under the Holy Roman Empire - wealthy and noble and glorious in theory, much poorer in reality.

I'd also add the phrases levar ancla "to raise anchor" or "anchors aweigh/away", where levar is rarely used today aside from nautical terms. Similarly, izar la bandera is "to hoist the flag"... not a lot of chances to use izar if it's not related to "flags" or la vela "a sail"

I also would say errar is less common today in Spanish. It's still used, but you normally say cometer un error "to make a mistake". Still, errar es humano, perdonar es divino "to err is human, to forgive divine". Also errar is weirdly irregular at times, it turns into yerro as present tense yo

And I’m also going to include when la manzana means a “city block”. Today manzana is not rare, it means “apple”. But manzana as a “city block” was originally mansana where it meant a “collection of manses/houses arranged in a block on a grid”. So there’s that. If you ever see manzana used for blocks in a city, it’s technically a separate word

Also depending on context el mar “sea” will be la mar with the feminine article. That’s usually more particular, usually meaning “open water” or deeper waters like alta mar “high seas”. The more poetic or open the water is, the more likely it is to be feminine, and so la mar isn’t quite so antiquated but it’s a little special

[doctorqueensanatomy]

Hi! Saw your post regarding Oscar Isaac's english accent and I have a question.

As a non native English speaker his accent was amazing! May I ask what the accent slips were?

I'd love to know as a linguistics student.

Hope you have an amazing day!

Hiya of course I can! just as a quick disclaimer I'm not a linguistics student nor a professional, I just find accents interesting! My notes on Oscar Isaac's accent shouldn't detract from his oustanding performance and I go on to say how grateful i am for it. nonetheless here are Moon Knight's episode 1 and 2's accent slip-ups with time-stamps and a bit of explanation

disclaimer about my own accent: i'm from a borough in greater west London with working class routes, I'm gen z, and i have family from Yorkshire and Ireland, which are all factors in the way I speak. British accents are incredibly diverse depending on many circumstances. my judgement on Oscar Isaac's accent in Moon Knight shouldn't be taken as gospel as what I hear can be different from someone who has a similar background as Steven Grant in the UK. I never know what to describe my accent as apart from 'very London', so I wouldn't even begin to describe Steven's further than 'very London', which already encompasses so much i could do another post about it. but onwards and upwards.

here's what I noticed from episode 1 and 2 w/ timestamps :-)

episode one

quick Gus mention: i noticed he calls his fish Gus in an almost northern manner? I think this is a result of an American accent and London one mixing. I don't count it as a slip up as the vowel it would usually ('usually' being taken lightly) be is one i also say differently in contexts

5:14 - the way he says 'only' in "only the worthiest would be allowed" struck me as an American pronunciation. perhaps it could pass as a London one but I think only in sarcastic circumstances which wouldn't fit the context

7:17 'that' in "I only wanted to tell you that", personally, sounded more like 'thit'? if that makes sense? it sounded out of place in the otherwise perfect sentence

8:43 "why I try to stay awake at night" maybe it's because he's eating but the 'awake' has a lilt. I'm sorry I can't give more in depth things other than "it sounds like..." or "it feels..." But there are certain intonation away from vowels sounds (which he also mucked up there) that you can just hear? this is a good thing however, as in this scene Steven says "there are stranger things that people do" where Oscar has hit this up and down notion I hear all the time. it's really fun to listen to if you can spot it out. sorta like an iambic pentameter

8:49 directly following the line above he says "no?" which has this nasal quality maybe? this is the best way I can describe it with a broad American quality

21:51 I initially marked down him saying "you sleep alright?" as one but listening back i think I was wrong. I'll leave it here to see what others say...

22:22 "it was like that when I bought him" except 'baught' sounds like 'bot' which again I think is a blend of Steven's accent with Oscar's slipping in

29:22 "hello?" I've not personally heard a British person say hello like that though if any Brits wish to prove me wrong by all means

33:38 nitpicking again as listening back I'm on the fence but he says "please" and I thought I heard something but again. open to interpretation.

34:58 this one stood out like a thumb to me. "books must have left that part out" except 'that' sounds almost like 'their' in a British accent and 'that' in a southern American one? idkidk

episode two

3:07 "I should go with you" but 'with' has a lilt. Best way I can describe it. it sounds almost too delicate for the sentance considering he might lose his job.

10:35 "bit late for that" the whole sentance sounds mismatched between two contrasting accents. 'late' and 'that' stick out to me. he saves it with the "innit" though

those are all the ones I personally noted! here's a little self indulgent ramble about British accents and why I'm so grateful for this. remember I'm not a professional and these are just my obsevations

the diversity between accents in the UK are very, very vast. we say you can go down the road and someone speaks completely different but its true. accents are also very very class orientated, and we're often (subconsciously through our media and politics) what accents are "good" and what accents are "bad".

working class accents are often seen as "dirty", "uneducated" and "violent" where upper class one's are seen as "proper", "educated" and "polished". not only is it shown within our own society, but you often see it online too. when people mimicked a "British accent" they solely do 2 South-East England accents that caricature the working class and uphold the elites. I think this is why (again, personally) most British people get annoyed when people try to do a "British" accent, because they only ever do a dick van dyke esque cockney one or Queens English one. and when it comes to making fun of our accent, the only ever take the piss out of the working class one.

you mostly see in mainstream media this RP accent, with the occasional cockney or working-class coded one usually attributed to the villain or 'hard man'. a lot of British actors are from high-class families and have high-class accents (not all! there are plenty who aren't. but there is so much nepotism and elitism in the British creative industries)

so hopefully I've shown enough to give you the sense of relief I had when I heard a solid London accent, done of the actors' own volition, that is not entirely upper class and is, in fact, an accurate representation of how people talk. I shed a tear if I'm being honest. not only the accent but the mannerisms of British people: our awkwardness, humour, passive aggression. they were all taken into account and I adore that. just because I'm pointing out these minute details doesn't mean I'm nitpicking the series. I'm so thankful Oscar Isaac decided to do a British accent in this and that he cared. and as I said in my original post, this doesn't even go into detail about the representation within the series culturally and with mental health issues. I won't comment on those because I'm not educated enough nor have experience with these areas, but I am British. and I for one can say that it was fabulous.

i could go on and on about the phrases used, or his mannerisms, or the other British accents within this, but for now I hope you've found this interesting. I'll make another post for the next two or three episodes when I get to them and will ultimately make a masterpost and perhaps a youtube video but currently, it's quarter past 1 and I'm exhausted <3 have a lovely day and stay safe xx

[pumpkinpaix]

anonymous:

I just discovered your mdzs pronunciation stuff and it's super helpful!!! Especially to an english speaker, it's so helpful to hear everything pronounced slowly! Would you ever consider doing more but on Chinese basics? Like tones, or differences between similar sounds? (But please don't feel obligated! Just a suggestion bc I find your pronunciation super helpful :) 

hhhhh the file was too big for tumblr :’) even after I exported it at medium instead of standard quality, so i made a soundcloud after all aha.... it’s downloadable, even!

anyways! chinese school with cyan? :D transcript with helpful links under the cut.

previous chinese pronunciation posts with pinyin if you want to go back review them armed with new knowledge to practice: mdzs names 1, mdzs names 2

rough transcript (brackets indicate things i didn’t say but wanted to add as a note, or laughs lol):

hello everyone! okay, so I’m going to make an attempt to do some basic pinyin, I guess, a basic pinyin post? so the goal is by the end you should be able to hopefully! look at basic pinyin or any pinyin word and get a general sense of how it might sound. this is not comprehensive, and you shouldn’t take it as such,  but i hope you might be able to get a good foundation out of it? I don’t know, just for sort of, a basic general overview.

I’ll use some MDZS words or names or whatever to I guess keep it fun as examples? But the rules should be generally applicable across the board. This is geared towards native English speakers because that’s what I am. I am not a linguist, just a layperson, so I’m going to be explaining like a layperson.

So, this is pinyin with cyan! chinese school with cyan. horrible, I thought i escaped this [laugh] oh, all those horrible saturdays. [all sounds will be read with first tone unless otherwise indicated]

okay, so, I’m going to do the basic vowels first. there are five so it’s: a o e i u ü

so I’ll do that a — oh wait, no there’s six, oh gosh! okay. bad start! so there are SIX basic vowels: a o e i u ü

so i’ll do that one more time: a o e i u ü

so there’s actually a seventh vowel sound, but we can get to that in a minute. it’s not included in the orthography.

so ü is usually the hardest for native english speakers since it doesn’t exist in english, but a friend of mine recently explained it really well. so if you say “ee” just like, “ee” like in creek or something like that, then shape your lips as if you’re saying “oo”.  so if you speak french or german, it might be easier for you, those are just the two languages I’m familiar with. the ü is the same as the ü in german, like in die Tür, in french it’s just like you know, la lune, mur, etc.

basically say “ee” then move your lips until it looks like you’re saying “oo” — eeeeeüüüü or you can do the opposite, you can say “oo” then move your tongue as if it’s saying “ee” so: ooooüüüüüü. ü. and that’s basically it.

so now i’m going to do the initial consonants. that’s all the vowels. but the initial consonants, the consonants, or the consonant sounds that can start words, there are… well there’s not that many, but I’ll go through them really quick. there is an order, and every consonant is associated, every initial consonant is associated with a natural vowel sound and they come in groups. the order that i learned them in is this:

b p m f • d t n l g k h • j q x • z c s zh ch sh r

[repeated slower]

b(o) p(o) m(o) f(o) • d(e) t(e) n(e) l(e) g(e) k(e) h(e) • j(i) q(i) x(i) • z(i) c(i) s(i) zh(i) ch(i) sh(i) r(i)

I think the official one [the official order, i mean] might have the z c s and the zh ch sh r switched, but it doesn’t really matter they’re both in the same group. so you’ll notice that there are only four naturally associated vowels: o e i and ï [not sure if this is technically the right way to write it, but it’s convenient for illustrative purposes here].

so ï is the one that’s with the z c s, zh ch sh r group. I also think this is a pretty hard vowel to pronounce for english speakers, but i don’t really have a handy way of explaining it. i’ll try though!

so for things like the z c s sounds: say “sss” like you would in english. “ssss” then change your lips to the way you say “ee” and then vocalize without moving your tongue. so you can also produce this sound without changing your lip shape, but doing so will kind of force it, or make it easier to find I think. so ssssssi. sssssi. so that was me doing the whole process with saying ssss and then moving my lips and then vocalizing. but i can also do it with my lips rounded. “si”. that’s me with lips rounded, but having the lips wide like that helps i think

[or you can just vocalize “zzzzz” like in “buzz” or “jazz”. that zzzzzz sound gives you the vowel you want. that probably would’ve been an easier way to explain it haha.]

for the zh ch sh r sounds, to get that, you can say “juh” like how you would say j, a j sound in english, so it’s “juh” but dont’ say the “uh” just stick to the “j”. so that’s the zh sound. “zhii” just like hold it. then ch sh r. I don’t know, I think that’s pretty intuitive once you get those.

in terms of the consonants that i think that are difficult, they are d, j q x and z maybe? so i’ll go over them.

so d taps the palate in english, “duh”, “duh”. the d sound, it taps further back on the little bump [on the roof of your mouth] there, but it taps on the teeth in chinese. I think it’s a non-aspirated t sound? so say “tuh” but then instead of having that breath, just take that out. “de”. it’s a non-aspirated t, it taps in the same spot. so that’s the d, the “de” sound.

j q x, it’s the same sort of things, if you stretch your lips, I think i helps to move it into the right space. so instead of “juh” it’s “ji”. “ji”. “ji ji ji ji”. “qi”, “xi”. the q has the “ch” sound, but instead of sitting so far in the front, it sits a little further back [in the mouth]. instead of “ch” which is the ch, it’s “qi”, which is moving further back. and same with “xi”. instead of “sh” it’s “x”. i don’t know if that helps [laugh]. but instead of “sh” it’s “x”. so “xi”.

again, instead of “ch” it’s “q” and instead of “sh” it’s “x” [laugh]

[I forgot to talk about z oops. it’s basically a combination of d and z in english: “dz”. like the end of “hands”. that “dz” sound.]

okay, so, you can start a word with any of the vowels, any of them can be initials, but some of them will change orthography when they’re at the start of a word. so i think it’s pretty intuitive, but a o e all stay the same. but the “i” sound, the i, turns into a y, the “u”, the u, turns into a w, and the “ü”, the ü turns into yu. so “yu”.

okay, so that’s all the initials! that’s it! that’s not too bad.

okay, so now I’m going to start doing the finals, like the ends of words. you can end any word with any of the vowels, but I’m going to include them anyways because it’s in the table. i just copied this table from wikipedia because it’s i think pretty intuitive and clearly stated. they show both how the sound would be written as a full word and how it would be spelled when it was attached to an initial. so basically what i just talked about regarding changing orthography when you start a word with vowels, things like that.

[link to table in wikipedia]

okay starting with the first row, I’m pretty sure this is ï. the i sound that i said was difficult:

[row 1]

so I’m going to do that again. I’m going to do each one twice and then we’re going to move onto the second row.

[row 1 repeated, each sound twice]

okay, now the second row:

[row 2]

so we’re going to do the same thing again, twice each:

[row 2 repeated, each sound twice]

okay, and the third row:

[row 3]

and again, twice each:

[row 3 repeated, each sound twice]

and then the final row:

[row 4]

and then one more time, twice each:

[row 4 repeated, each sound twice]

okay so that’s it, that’s all the finals I think.

so I think -(i)un/yun is probably one of the harder sounds, the -un with the y at the beginning, the -iun? “yun”, with the umlaut. I don’t really know how to explain how to pronounce that one, but you know it’s the… yun [laugh]

okay so a note on u vs ü. when a word begins with j q x or y, and it’s followed by a u, it’s automatically be pronounced as ü even though it will not be marked. so here are some examples.

names like Ā’Yuàn: yuàn. it’s a ü sound automatically, and it’s not marked in the orthography. or Yú Zǐyuān. yú zǐ yuān. same thing. and then with something like in hánguāng-jūn, jūn, the j the “ji” combined with the -un becomes “jun” like the “yun” sound. or Jīn Zixuān. Xuān. Xuān. it’s the ü sound.

so an example of the same final spellings but with different initials. like the yuàn in ā’yuàn — you can see it automatically changes to an ü pronunciation, but spelled the same way the -uan ending, but you have a different starting consonant that’s not one of the exceptions, so “le” — so in luànzàng gǎng. luàn. it’s “u”. luàn. and then for like yú, yú zǐyuān, yú, instead of the ü, in jīn rúlán, rú, rú, it’s the “u” sound, and they’re marked the same way.

okay! yeah that’s pretty much it. that’s like all the basic sounds in chinese, I’m pretty sure. [laugh] it’s not actually that hard. i mean, it’s obviously hard, but there’s not as many sounds as you expect, or it’s less complex than you might think.

so obviously now we have to deal with tones. i know this is the one that everybody finds really scary, but i actually i know it’s easy for me to say because i’m a native speaker, but i actually think they’re very intuitive and easy to hear, as tones go. it’s gonna be fine. anyways, we’re gonna get through it.

here is how i remember tones: I do it with a cadence. and i literally sometimes have to go through this cadence on words when i’m not sure how to identify what tone they are. this is how i learned it, my grandmother taught me this, you know, i mean, it’s very standard, but:

ā á ǎ à

or hummed it’s: ¯ ´ ˇ `

and then I’ll do it again:

ā á ǎ à

¯ ´ ˇ `

so yeah, i really do sing it sometimes when i’m trying to figure out or remember what tone mark goes on something, I go dūh dúh dǔh dùh [laugh] over and over again until i figure it out.

and yeah, that’s it! they’re pretty intuitive, they follow the path of the tone, or the shape of the tone markers. so you can see the ā is flat, the á goes up, the ǎ goes down and then up, ǎ, and then à, the fourth one, just goes down.

so whenever you’re writing a tone mark on a word, they always go on the last vowel UNLESS there’s an a or e present. those always take precedence. I’ll spell out a couple of examples in the text.

[EXAMPLES: hào not haò and méi not meí, but jiù]

[laugh]

so i will go over, um… okay, i think my dad’s having a meeting downstairs, so maybe you’ll hear him in the background, but okay, the last thing i will go over a couple of sandhi rules, just a few! this isn’t all of them, i think there might be five? but i’m just going to do the three that are most relevant or the most commonly seen I think, or the ones that I think about that will trip you up most likely, i think, when you’re pronouncing things.

so the one that everybody knows, or the one that everybody teaches first, i think is the two third tones in a row will cause the first third tone to turn into a second tone. so for example, in Yílíng Lǎozǔ. “Láozǔ”. the two characters by themselves are lǎo and zǔ, but because they’re right next to each other, it becomes láo, second tone, “láozǔ”. [NOTE: the pinyin will still be spelled as lǎozǔ. you will just automatically read it aloud as láozǔ] so instead of “lǎo zǔ”, it’s “láozǔ”.

and then, the second thing that a third tone does is that a third tone that is followed by anything that is not a third tone drops to a thing that is called a low tone, I know i said there are only four, but this is… here’s an example. [there is also the soft tone, which is kind of the absence of tone, but I’m not going to talk about it here haha] in liǎnfāng-zūn, jin guangyao’s title.

liǎnfāng-zūn, you can kinda hear it doesn’t really rise again at the liǎn, liǎn, liǎn, by itself it goes down up, like a valley, but when it’s followed by the rest of the title, liǎnfāng-zūn, it just kinda sits at the bottom and then jumps back up. liǎnfāng-zūn, liǎnfāng-zūn, it just kind of sits at the bottom as opposed to coming back up, so it’s still. it still follows the same curve, it just doesn’t quite come back up i think

i actually had to look that one up, because I was like. oh is that real? i hadn’t noticed it.

but the third tone on its own is just the third tone, so for example, in xuē yáng’s courtesy name, xuē chéngměi, měi, you can hear it there, it comes back up—oh birds!

so xuē chéngměi, měi. dǔh. [laugh]

[LOL I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE THIRD SANDHI RULE I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT. you can read about it in the link to sandhi rules i’m going to post at the end of the post.]

so yeah, that’s pretty much it actually! hooray! I’m sure, I mean, chinese is a whole language, so it’s complicated, this won’t really get you to a point where you can read pinyin entirely, but i think those are like the basic rules that i use when i’m reading pinyin, but of course, i’ve been reading pinyin for a really long time, that was the primary way i engaged with chinese text for many many years because i was illiterate! i’m still pretty illiterate, but that’s okay. i’m getting better! but yeah, so like i said, this isn’t comprehensive. if it was horribly confusing, if there was stuff in it that just didn’t make any sense, you can ask me questions! I will try to answer them. my brother’s coming home today, and i’ve been using his desk to record because his room has been empty, so i’ll have to figure out something else. but for now, um, yeah!

okay, bye. :)

/end transcript

okay!! so here are the promised links:

tone sandhi rules

very useful interactive table where you can click on sounds to hear them read aloud! (linked to me by @nerd-bastard​ thank you so much!)

obviously the wikipedia page is very good, though it’s a little dense

@tonyglowheart​ sent me a thread of someone reading out mxtx names on twitter here! the reader has a different accent than i do (they say they sound like they’re from the northern mainland. i would guess my accent is probably closer to something near shanghai? since I learned pronunciation from my grandmother, and then of course tempered by my american upbringing)

I would probably recommend going back to the other pronunciation posts I made to see a variation of sounds written out with different tones? i feel like that would be helpful!

anyways WOO thanks for your patience, it’s been a minute. brain’s doing kinda oomf these days, but we’re gonna make it :’) state of the world is. something.

normally i would just link my ko-fi here, but this time, i’m going to say check out my donations tag or do your own research into someplace more in need to put your money instead. :)

[catspluscrows]

ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴍᴇ ꜱᴛᴜᴅʏ? | ʜ. ʏᴀᴄʜɪ x ꜰ. ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Pairing: Hitoka Yachi x Female Reader (Daichi x Sugawara is also there) 

Request: Yes  >No 

Warnings: This is a girl x girl. If you do not like it, leave. 

Category: A little angst but mostly fluff

Note(s): Yes, I do feel like Sugawara is the type to say things to somewhat pressure his lover (Daichi) into doing stuff. Like “Oikawa and Iwaizumi finally got married. I wonder when we will get married. Hopefully in this life Daichi,” and you can quote me on that. 

**This is taken from my Quotev, as this is my writing. Haikyuu characters do not belong to me, however, this writing does. Do not repost without my permission please. 

* * * * *

        “She’s just so adorable and my brain turns to mush whenever I see her and-” 

        There you go again. Making up excuses as to why you can’t tell your honest feelings to your friend and co-manager. Here you go speaking with doubt like you've been doing for the past week.

        To be completely honest, Hinata was sick of hearing all of this. Hinata, unamused by you feeding him excuses, says “If you love her you need to tell her!” It sounded much more dramatic than what you thought was necessary but you don’t say anything. Your mouth only closes in silence, knowing he’s right. 

                You’ve been lucky so far. No boys have been able to swoon Karasuno’s latest new manager but you were worried they just might. Though she’s been getting more and more pests trying to get closer to her since she accepted the manager position. You were in a similar position but you had your sights set on her despite the overwhelming chance she won’t feel the same. 

                “Why can’t you tell her Y/n-chan?” Hinata asks as he gathers his belongings. You’ll be heading to the gym as soon as this period ends. “Are you scared? You’re never scared!” The ginger says confidently. In the several years he’s known you he’s never seen you back out of anything before. Even when you developed a crush on him years ago, you told him without hesitation. In response he smiled and told you he didn’t feel the same and you got over it. Without even running away from him during the process. 

                Hinata would describe you with one six letter word: strong. 

                You’re the strongest person he knows. The way you stand your ground no matter where you are, who you face. It’s the thing he admires most about you. 

                Not even Ushijima made you back down. When you, Kageyama, and him bumped into him for the first time you didn’t back down. You challenged him with your gaze and Hinata could swear the 6’2 ace was uneasy from your intensity. 

                So how can a girl 4’11 make you lose all confidence? 

                “Hinata-chan, you don’t understand.” Pushing your books into your bag, you sigh. “I’m not scared.” 

                “Then why can’t you just say, “I love you” to her?” 

                Gripping the straps of your bag tightly, you stare at the balls of paper at the bottom. You attempted to write your feelings to only waste notebook paper and hours of sleep. Saying them wasn’t a success either, as you’d always be interrupted by the team or your own mistakes. Nothing seemed to work. It was like the world itself was trying to discourage you. 

                “I just can’t! Okay?!” Frustration controls you as your voice raises. Luckily most students were already racing out of the classroom. 

                Hinata stopped moving at the shrill noise leaving you. He only stood still, shocked. Another thing he’s never seen from you: shouting. Even when he had gotten you sick by not cooking his cookies all the way you hadn’t yelled. Back when he was pushing you on the swings and you fell off and broke your nose you didn’t even cry. All you asked for was a band-aid and a hug. 

                Now he looks at you stunned and though he hates to acknowledge it, hurt. He’s hurt you’re letting your feelings stop you from being yourself. He’s hurt you’re taking the stress of being unable to say something out on him. 

                “Hinata, I’m sorry-” 

                “I’m going to practice.” The male only says as you reach out to him. Instead of him grabbing your hand like normal, he runs. 

                Hinata ran from you. 

                In that moment you can almost feel your heart shatter at seeing him like that. Tugging your bag off the back of your chair and throwing it over your shoulder, you sprint after him. 

                You have to fix this. 

* * * * *

                “What’s wrong with Hinata?” Kageyama asked you when you ran into the gym with heavy pants. “Not like a care!” He quickly adds as you throw your bag into the corner of the gym. A yell from Sugawara courses out about you not throwing things around that aren't volleyball. You ignore all of their chatter, focused on Yachi. 

                Once you reach her you see she’s filling water bottles next to Kiyoko. Her and Kiyoko had just finished talking about something that left Yachi’s cheeks a pale pink. That only further your own nerves, wondering what they said while also thinking she looks more adorable than normal. 

                “Yachi!” You yell, hoping volume can mimic confidence. 

                “Y/n-chan?” She asks a little confused, thinking you weren’t coming today after what Hinata had grumbled upon entering the gym. 

                Gulping, you shout, “Help me study?!” 

                By now the entire gym was watching as your screaming was hard to ignore. Some with amusement like Nishinoya and Tanaka, while others with a groan like Tsukishima. 

                Though a certain pair of eyes pierced into your skin. 

                “W-what?” The blonde questions nervously. “Tutor y-you?” Nodding aggressively, Hinata looks away with a disappointed exhale. Here he was thinking you’d finally do it. 

                “Please,” You add politely. Now some of the eyes were back to practice but a lot were still trying to find out what’s happening between their young managers. 

                Yachi looks down sadly. “I...can’t.” She finally says and you feel your heart drop to your stomach. At seeing your crushed expression Yachi frowns. “With tutoring Kageyama and Hinata and being a manage-” 

                “No! It’s okay!” Quickly you cut her off, as hearing her reasons will only make you sadder. She stops talking at you shaking your hands in front of her. Not before muttering another ‘I’m sorry’. To respond you smile and say, “No sweat. Let me help you with the water bottles.” ‘

                “Thank you.”

* * * * *

                That day you decide to stay late. When Daichi notices you putting away the ball bin instead of Sugawara he decides to ask if you’re doing alright. 

                “You seem a little off, are you alright Y/n-chan?” Shaking your head, Daichi takes that as an invite. He takes a seat against the wall and you join him once you lock the storage closet. “What’s wrong?” 

                “I’m gay and not okay.” 

                Daichi may have never heard something so relatable before. Instead of saying what he was thinking “Oh same,” he says, “Can I help you with that...or?” 

                “The world doesn’t want me to be with Yachi.” You exhale while leaning against Daichi. In your eyes he was like a brother you didn’t have so it wasn’t weird when he patted your head with a chuckle. Though it did confuse you. “What’s so funny about my lesbian problems?” 

                “The world?” He asks through a laugh. “The world made Hinata short but he still plays as a middle blocker.” The captain mentions your orange haired friend making you look down. He was already handicapped by his height when he began his volleyball journey. And still he moves forward. 

                He’s so much stronger than you. 

                “The world kind of sucks sometimes.” Daichi admits. “But the world is also amazing too. The world let you meet Yachi, right?” He asks and you nod, smiling. 

                Getting up, you grin. “Thanks Dadchi! I know what I need to do!” You take off before he can question your pronunciation of his name. 

                Sprinting past the boys walking home, you hope you can catch up to Yachi before she’s gone. The crazy stares from the boys you pass don’t faze you. Nothing does as you run as fast as you possibly can, wanting nothing more than to tell Yachi your feelings before you combust. 

                “Yachi!” Once again you’re screaming her name. She looks back to see you, hands on your knees while pants escape your mouth. Not much different from you bolting into the gym earlier. 

                “Y/n?” 

                This time you speak without hesitation. What was there to hesitate about? You know how you feel. It doesn’t matter if you say it with a stutter or all the confidence in the world if she refutes you. 

                “I love you.”

                It’s such a cliche feeling you have. Like the world has stopped in anticipation for her answer. In reality a train buzzes by and the sky darkens, proving you aren’t special enough to be singled out by the world itself. 

                Yachi doesn’t say anything. Inside it kills you but you only rise to your full height, trying to keep the straight look on your face. 

                “I love you.” Again you tell her. There’s an obvious blush on her face that you can see through the pitch black of the night. The lamp post flickers erratically, allowing you to only sometimes see her wide eyes and parted lips. 

                Waiting for a response is killing you. 

                “I n-need to go.” 

                You watch her begin running, wanting to get to her train so she can go home and calm down her racing heart. You do the opposite and just stand there. Only your mind is racing now. Your heart has nearly stopped at those words. 

                Have you been rejected? Does she never want to see you again?

                Doubt spirals inside your mind as you finally start walking again. You’ve gotten so focused on finding Yachi you lost your way, not knowing where you are and which way to go. Though it hardly mattered anyway. Your body and heart were sore. All of you felt like it needed a break. 

                A break is of course not what it gets when you hear a familiar voice. “I guess I know why you didn’t want to tell her now.” It was Hinata coming from the opposite side that Yachi ran off to. “I’m sorry I pressured you.” 

                “I’m sorry I yelled at you.” 

                He takes a seat next to you, setting his bike next to the short wall you were seated on. Letting his legs dangle forward, Hinata takes a glance at your face. 

                Eyes shut, mouth pressed into a flat line, eyebrows knitted down. You were trying to keep your composure. To not completely break down in front of your childhood best friend. 

                Trying to stay strong. 

                “You can cry.” Hinata finally says once your eyelid twitches. “That doesn’t make you any less strong, you know that right?” When you don’t reply Hinata moves to wrap his arms around you. The gesture is kind but it breaks you. Hinata feels something cold fall on his shoulder, dampening the fabric. 

                “I knew she wouldn’t like me.” You speak through your tears. “I don’t know why I’m such an idiot. Thinking she’d possibly like a girl like me,” Your fingernails dig into Hinata’s thigh as you grip onto him. He bites his lip to not focus on the sting from your nails in his leg. “I’m a damn fool.” 

                After that insult Hinata pulls away from you, grabbing your hands to slap yourself with them. You can’t get mad at him if he slaps you with your own limp hands. 

                “Don’t talk about yourself like that!” 

                You stare at him in shock, not expecting him to raise his voice at you. After a couple seconds you look down again, tears still falling onto the ground between your feet. “How else am I supposed to speak?” You ask, sadness laced with each word. “Yachi doesn’t love me. How am I supposed to feel?” 

                “I don’t know.” Hinata replies honestly. “But don’t beat yourself up about it.” He stands up, jumping onto the wall so he’s taller than you. “If I beat myself up about every time I’m blocked I’d only feel sad and not improve. Sadness makes you stronger!” Hinata tells you with a smile. “And you’re already the strongest person I know!” 

                You cry harder at the compliment as you don’t feel strong now. A minute passes of you sobbing and Hinata sitting by you, holding your hand. Once a couple more pass you feel a lot different. Like his words just needed a couple minutes to soak into your hurt body. 

                As you get up you tell Hinata, “Thank you so much.” 

* * * * * 

        Walking into practice is awkward the next day. Practice is awkward for those who have no idea why Kiyoko is making an effort to keep you and Yachi separated. Practice is especially awkward for those who are missing context. 

        “I’m fine.” You lie with a grin. “I don’t need you two to try and keep me away from Yachi.” 

        Kiyoko and Hinata look at each other before both shaking their heads. “You’re only saying this because you’re in too much pain to admit to it!” The ginger excuses while Kiyoko says something to practically agree. 

        “I think this is for the best.” 

        “No!” You shout but they’re back to being your body guards, keeping you several paces from Yachi. All you want to do is actually talk to her, make sure she doesn’t like you. Closure was the best thing. 

        Tsukishima looks over Hinata as he talks to Yachi, allowing you to walk into the storage room to get something with a roll of your eyes. This is ridiculous and Tsukishima knew it too. “What are those idiots doing?” 

        “Don’t know.” Kageyama said while drinking water. He’d notice the tension too and it’s suffocating him more with every set. 

        “I heard Y/n likes Yachi and Yachi doesn’t like her back.” Yamaguchi says between small sips of water. It seems like Yamaguchi always knew the drama on court and off of it. 

        The two boys look at him as he innocently drinks water. Who knew Yamaguchi was that kind of gossiper?

        “Interesting.” Tsukishima said while setting down his water bottle. 

        Kageyama, doing the same, only groans. “I just want to play volleyball.” 

        “No. It’s interesting because Yachi likes Y/n.” Tsukishima explains and Kageyama stops in his tracks. Seems like this drama attracted his attention after all. 

        “What? How do you know?” Kageyama asks, doubting the blonde. 

        Yamaguchi takes his water bottle out of his mouth to say, “Because Yachi just asked Y/n to talk to her outside.” 

        “Oh shit.” Kageyama mutters while still trying to deny he’s not enticed in this newly learned drama. 

        “This can’t end well.” Yamaguchi pipes in. 

        “Unless it can.” 

* * * * *

        “I’m sorry for not giving you a clear answer.” Yachi begins quietly. “I’m a little nervous.” 

        Nervous? That word got your hopes up more than it should. But...maybe she does actually like you back? This may just be a misunderstanding. And here you are getting your hopes sky high. 

        “I can actually help you study. If you still want me to.” The girl speaks and your heart stills. Of course it’s about you asking for homework help. Not about your love confession. “I lied when I said I couldn’t before. Because I was scared to be alone with you for so long.” 

        No! Does that mean she sees you as intimidating? Sure, you know you’re a bit passionate and loud at times, but that doesn’t make you scary? Having her be frightened by you is worse than her not loving you! 

`“I was scared, because I-I love you too.” 

        The oxygen in your lungs seems to be ripped away as you see her face blossom into a deep red. Crimson like your own cheeks, she looks up to see your reaction. 

        From you she gets a dopey smile and a pink face. From Hinata, however, she sees you get jumped on by the middle blocker. 

        “Finally! Yes!” The boy cheers as he holds his body on your back. With his arms on your shoulder and his laughter in your ear, he celebrates your feelings for Yachi being reciprocated. 

        “Would you look at that,” Sugawara says with a hand on his hip. “Those two finally got together.” He says while looking at you holding hands with Yachi, Hinata squealing in happiness. “I wonder when a certain someone will finally ask me out.” The male begins and Daichi feels himself shiver, knowing he’s waiting for them to be an official couple like you and Yachi. 

        Asahi sets a hand on Sugawara’s shoulder. “Daichi can ask you to marry him tomorrow. I don’t think my heart can handle all this in one day. Especially when the those two are so cute together!" 

        The three first years watch as you and Yachi walk towards them with your hands intertwined, smiles on all three of your faces. Hinata is smirking because you at last told each other your feelings. 

        Yourself and Yachi smiling because she'll be doing more than just helping you study now. 

[yaboyspodcastpalace]

For the character asks: Jon, Peter Lukas, Annabelle Cane? (giving multiple suggestions so you can pick one in case you get the same character twice in different asks)

very kind of you to assume i get many asks :') THANKS ill do all of them u_u

[Send me a character and i'll tell you...]

(under the cut bc i love talking and this got long lmao)

Jon

First impression

he's a uptight prick with obvious favoritism for sasha and tim and i love him so! much!!!!!!

Impression now

my poor little mew mew hm................I've got a complicated relationship w/ jon bc i love him a lot, but i loved s1 him the most, and literally everything else just makes me really, brutally, sad ;_; The way he tries so desperately to cling to his humanity and how other characters just call him by the title imposed to him makes me wanna cry

...also he just cares so much ;_; i cry

Favorite moment

probably his interactions with georgie at the beginning of season 3!!! From s5 id say when he killed not!sasha, it felt vindictive ù_ú

Idea for a story

Dhfhdh im p basic when it comes to him ngl, either jon/tim/sasha friends to lovers or jon and desolation!tim or *something*!sasha trying to stay as human as possible, together 😔 (or just any of them living and coping together in s4 n s5)

Unpopular opinion

Im just not a fan of monster jon, at all! He's not the type of character that i enjoy seeing having a corruption arc unfortunately!! It just hurts!!! (and this Is from someone that Loves corruption arcs!!!)

Also i really hate moth jon imagery??? For not particular reason, moths are pretty, but i still hate it u_u AND THE ASSOCIATION OF GREEN W/ JON (or the beholding in general!) I CANNOT STAND IT!! i know its bc of the tma logo but guess what! Its wrong! Purple jon rights!!!

ALSO ALSO the so called pining he had for martin just.... didnt felt like that at all! i have Many feelings abt this!

Favorite relationship

either georgie in s3, or sasha!!! i love how he always praises sasha in her research in s1 and even thought he's at his driest & sharp Trying-To-Project-Professionalism-And-Skepticism she still rolls into his office, interrupts him mid statement to banter w/ him abt pronunciation n stuff and its just Normal, like that speaks volumes of how comfortable they felt around each other! they were friends gdi! the moment he realizes she died and then everytime the not!them mocks him w/ her death makes me wanna break smth q_q

im not even gonna mention tim bc even though i love their relationship It 👏 makes me👏 very 👏 sad 👏

non shippy and also staying strictly canon, i love his relationship with melanie!

Favorite headcanon

sometimes i think abt that one hc that hes really good with arcade games bc he lived near the coast and i smile bc thats cute :) also hes a trans man 💙💗🤍💗💙

Peter

First impression

Mystery evil captain man!!! Fog?? I LOVE him :)

Impression now

I STILL LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!! Hes an asshole and has a lovely voice and smile and hes not, hes not Dumb but also he's far from the whooooa evil lonely influence he think he is (played like a cheap fiddle). He also makes me sad in ways i cannot and wont describe, and its a shame that he died cuz he was the best part of season 4 😔 rip you beautiful bastard man i still miss you </3

Favorite moment

"It has blood on it" "thats Leitner's too :D". Also when martin was angry abt idk, breekon? Jon going into the coffin? Cant remember, but peter was like I said id protect the institute, that guys not my problem ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Idea for a story

dfgdfg i have..... a petermart story that dealt with the different flavor of loneliness they both had, half smut half genuine meta of both of them and theorization on the branching of an Entity & how their powers manifested in other people...

basically, peter thinks hes hot shit when it comes to loneliness but gets overwhelmed when martin accidentally projects his feelings abt *fic's plot stuff* on him, its fun stuff!

Unpopular opinion

people either paint him like an absolute devil or an incompetent idiot and hes neither of them! hes an asshole who loves being an asshole but far from the worst monster in the show and he tried to do a clever scheme TWICE on his life and 1. while it was established that any of the rituals wouldnt work singularly the Silence was still a pretty clever attempt if it weren't for gertrude! and 2. well... he tried to manipulate someone petty and formerly supposed to be a web avatar, again not his fault, cant call him stupid for trying dfgdfg

i Do think hes kinda pathetic in some sense considering his backstory, but more out of personal pity than anything else

Favorite relationship

Canonically speaking him and martin! The pull and push of them was The best thing about season 4! Peter being a quite dangerous avatar and martin, beautiful and scared and kinda feisty, confronting him every chance he gets, peter doing his best to manipulate him and martin letting him believe hes succeeding (even thought, he is, partly). They're fascinating characters to have side by side

Favorite headcanon

Partly canonically speaking him and mikaele salesa :) they do bets together! They're lonely sea men! What else could you possibly want?

Also non shippy i like thinking abt peter's and simon's relationship but thats entirely non canon ♡

Diversity wins! The heir of the lonely is a gay man!

Also I think as every rich household(?) the lukases had many paintings and peter as a kid saw the ones w/ sailing ships and imagined sailing far far away from his family. That and seaman aesthetic fucks, which is why he always has the same vibe going on as an adult. He does Not know half of the things he'd need to know to have a ship though but hey he's rich and thats all he needs

Annabelle

First impression

thats a horrible psychological experiment they're making there D:

Impression now

THATS STILL A HORRIBLE EXPERIMENT AND ANNABELLE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER............. idk! she makes me sad in the same way jon (and to a degree, peter) does! to be a living puppet for the thing that traumatized you as a kid and that later kinda killed you / is the only thing keeping you alive, to be devoted to it scrambling to believe in a higher reason for all of it to happen bc to believe otherwise is............. anyway. i love her, and i feel so so sorry for her

Favorite moment

her "maybe ive never been to the beach" at the end of ehr statement (that i fully believe its bullshit but, yknow, i love that she adds that), most of her convos with martin, her "i told you this might happen" "you did, you did" with mikaele

Idea for a story

i think a lot about her having conversations w/ either mikaele (platonically) or sasha (shippy) and their different points of views and treat with her making her doubt the web a bit

Unpopular opinion

listen, listen, i know it sounds like im woobifying her i Know it but reading the scraps of her story how can i Not feel sorry for her? when the story framed her very similar to jon? the supernatural childhood encounter that gave them arachnophobia and the subsequential joining with an Entity against her will? the fact that both the story and the fans treat her like a spider woman always sat very very bad to me, and the fact that the story itself always framed her like a villain (considering All The Other Characters that get the benefit of the doubt) was extremely disappointing

Favorite relationship

her and mikaele!!!!!!! wish we could have seen more scenes of just the two of them!!!!!! *singing* he is her daaaaaad, hes her dad! boogie boogie boogie! (ok no but like... their offscreen friendship is my favorite thing of season 5 ;_;)

Favorite headcanon

Sigh i dont know...i still think she's scared of spiders which make her current existence harder but thats a sadcanon :/ umm...... i love the idea of mikaele and her cooking together from time to time! Mikaele showing her some plates he used to eat as a kid as he talks stories about his life :) and she listens and sometimes tells a story of her own! its been so long since he had a quasy normal conversation! its weird yet nice!

[arigatogatos]

Making the Draenei Language - Part 2

Part 1 | Part 3

First off, thanks to all the people who’ve expressed interest in this project! It makes me super happy that people think what I’m doing is interesting :D

Anyway, last time I went through and got a basic idea of the structure of the language, this time we’re diving into WHAT 👏 THAT👏 MOUTH👏 DO (and also spelling)

... and by that I of course mean phonetics (the study of the sounds produced in speech), phonology (the study of which sounds differentiate meaning) and phonotactics (how sounds are put together).

Phonetics and Phonology

Before we can even consider choosing some sounds for the language lets take a moment to consider those TEEF! 

Taking my main boy Aegagrus (drawn by the wonderful @rurukatt, definitely didn’t put this in here cuz I still love this pic) as a model for my headcanon of Draenei teeth, we can see how those might get in the way of some sounds... but just like, specifically [f] and [v] (sounds in square brackets represent sounds not the letters, to hear what they sound like go here!) Both of those sounds involve making the same shape with your mouth - touching your bottom lip to your top teeth, but when you got some real long or pointy teeth, that might be a little bit hard to do! (or an accident waiting to happen if they’re sharp enough)

There’s only a small problem with this though, we have some canon words that use these sounds e.g “Pheta vi acahaci” - Light give me strength. I’m gonna explain this away by saying that we’re dealing with an approximate transcription using the Latin alphabet and English spelling conventions, which definitely wasn't designed to write down languages outside of well.. ideally Latin. I mean there’s a reason why English spelling is the way it is and one of those reasons comes down to using an alphabet too small for the number of sounds in the language. 

Tangent aside, this means those two sounds are probably something like [ɸ] (again click here to hear these) for f and [β~ʋ] for v. These are sounds similar to [f] and [v] but they don’t involve teeth touching lips, check, and they’re probably what human transcribers misheard as [f] and [v]. 

Going through the other transcriptions in the data and making some guesses as to what they could be, we end up with something like this:

and huh that seems familiar... wait a second!

Yeah that’s just Hebrew without voiced fricatives, affricates or the sound [j] (the ‘y’ sound in English), and a bonus rhotic. I mean that’s probably to be expected as Draenei are heavily coded to be Jewish (a good post on that), so it makes sense that the sounds are also similar. It’s a shame to have such quote-unquote normal sounds (the th sound [θ] in ”thin” and “ether” is only in 4% of the worlds languages!) but that’s what you get when English devs make a game for a western audience, you get... ~~the fantasy accent~~ a.k.a discount slavic/germanic accents. 

By the way [r] is the ‘trilled’ or ‘rolled’ r and [ɾ] is a ‘tapped’ r like in Spanish "por favor”.

Also, as another side note, this sound [ʔ] - the glottal stop is present in English too but you probably don’t recognise that it’s there. It’s the ‘-’ break in between “uh-oh”, and its also present in some dialects of American and British English where the [t] in words like “bottle” (bo’el) and “water” (wa’er) are replaced with the glottal stop.

Anyway, onto vowels! And yet again we come back to the problems of English spellings. English has approximately... too many vowels. In my dialect of Australian Standard English there’s up to 20 different vowel sounds depending on how you count. I mean all things considered we've done pretty well with the 5 vowel symbols we've got but good luck trying to accurately represent all this:

(not to mention the diphthongs) with just a e i o u. Most languages only have ~5 vowels so that’s about what I’m looking for. Taking into consideration all the English wackiness in spelling, we end up with what I think are 7 vowels (the pronunciation examples are definitely not gonna be spot on due to regional differences, learn the IPA its good):

[i] - meat, me, three, e-mail

[ʊ] - (short though) good, should, wood

[ʊ:] - (same as above but long)

[e] - bed, head, red

[ɔ~o] - (somewhere between the vowels in) bought, bot (those of you with the cot-caught merger are having real fun now)

[ɐ] - (this one is really only in Australian English) but, strut, bud

[ɐ:] - (same as above but long) bard, palm, start, hard

The two vowels with long forms are the interesting ones. All throughout the canon text we see ‘aa’ and ‘uu’ popping up again and again in things like “Maraad”, “Sayaad”, “Enkaat”, “Vaard”, “Tuurem” and “Krokuun”. Now this could just be stylistic choices made by the dev team to make the language seem more ~exotic~ but I think that it is definitely a case of phonemic vowel length. That’s where distinctions in words are made by elongating a vowel - something Latin had. But it’s not to be confused with what English calls ‘long vowels’, which are really the leftovers from actual vowel length after everyone in 1500 decided to pronounce every vowel just... completely different for some reason. The Great Vowel Shift is an interesting read). Anyway, it makes these double letters make sense, and is way more interesting than random double vowels. It’s also interesting that it’s not perfectly symmetric either, not all the vowels have this distinction, which is cool and perfectly natural for languages to do! 

What is weird is that  [ɔ~o] doesn’t have this feature, because in our vowel system, it’s almost directly in the middle of our two long/short vowels so it would probably assimilate and end up doing the same thing! So, going off that I’m going to simulate the beginning of language evolution, where the [ɔ~o] sounds is in the process of diverging into [o:] (oar, caught, thought) when it’s followed by ‘r, t, d, k or g’ and [ɔ] (lot, pot) everywhere else.

So, now we have the sounds for our language, how are they used? (dw hardcore conlanging people, I’ve worked out the rest of the allomorphy rules for the consonants but this post is already loooong)

Phonotactics

Phonotactics is largely about how syllables are formed and what sounds are allowed where. In an effort to try and not make the language *too* similar to English I want these rules to differ from English. Luckily, that’d really easy to do because yet again, English is a statistically weird language! 

Syllables are divided into 3 parts - The onset, The nucleus and the Coda. For simplicities sake this corresponds to the consonants before the vowel, the vowel, and the consonants after the vowel. English lets wayyyyy too many consonants on either side ending up with abominations like “strengths” having 3 sounds before the nucleus and 3 after, or crimes against god like “twelfths” with 4 sounds after the coda.

Draenei on the other hand seems to be at most (C)(L)V(C). The brackets mean a sound is optional, C’s being consonants, L being ‘liquids’ like [l] and [r] (and [ʋ]) and V of course being vowels. Now going through the data (plus some creative input) we end up with some rules as to what can go where...

but we’ll leave the details of that for the final documentation and head onto...

Spelling! Everyone’s favourite...

There have been countless forum posts about how to pronounce ‘Draenei’ and even between developers at different panels there doesn't seem to be a consensus. This is probably due to the inconsistent spellings used throughout the lexicon so far - draenei and auchenai rhyme (I think) but they’re spelt with different endings! 

With the language I have a few main goals

- Make it match as closely as reasonable with canon and common interpretations - Have the spelling be consistent (same letters should always produce the same sound) - In line with the first one, keep as much of the spelling the same as possible - Make it as alien as possible within reason (sadly phonetics and phonology will not be the place to do that)

So coming to a word like “Draenei”, I have to break at least one thingon that list. Personally I want it to be pronounced [drɐ.naɪ] (druh-nai). So, to be consistent with the sounds from before it should be spelt ‘Dranai’ but that definitely won’t do, or I could keep the spelling and pronounce it literally [drɐ.e.ne.i] (druh-eh-ne-ey to give a rough guide for that), which is... equally bad. 

The compromise I'm going with is keeping the spelling of Draenei but making the [aɪ] (ai) sound spelt ‘ei’ across the language. Meaning is gonna be Auchenei. Well, not really because there’s still a bunch of other spellings that need standardising.

the ‘ch’ in “Auchenei” is pronounced with a [k], so is the ‘c’ in “Dioniss aca”. Going through and standardising things like ‘ph’ -> ‘f’, ‘ch’ -> ‘k’ or ‘sh’ depending and rewriting vowels to match the phonology we end up with something that preserves most of the identity and look of the language but just makes more sense! Aukenei would then be the spelling I’m using in the lexicon, probably with a little note for the canon spelling.

So, from now on I'm going to be using the reformed spelling TM, which hopefully will mean anyone attempting to speak this language will have an easier time getting what I'm envisioning, cuz everything is now consistant.

That about does it for this post. Yet again if you made it all the way to the bottom, congratulations! Hopefully the next posts will be a bit more interesting (I’m so fucking pumped for how the culture will impact the grammar and vocabulary holy shit) but I gotta get this one out of the way.

Next time, we’ll be doing word-building - the morphology of the language, Thanks for reading!

[eng-hypnosismic]

[TL] The Blazing-Hot Bond of the Yamada Brothers This Summer! (Interview w/ KimuSuba)

The first part of our interviews with the cast of “Hypnosis Mic,” is with the project’s poster boy Yamada Ichiro, as portrayed by Kimura Subaru-san! The representative of Ikebukuro Division, and eldest son of the Yamada household, told us everything we needed to know about “Hypnosis Mic.” The extra bit about how the Yamada household spends their summer is a must-read. ♪

—Yamada Ichiro is here, amazing! So, what is your appeal?

First off, the most obvious part would be that he’s the leader of Ikebukuro Division. “Buster Bros!!!” is made up of the three brothers of the Yamada household, so as the eldest son, he has the character of an older brother; a strong rapper that brings his little brothers together. He’s full of brotherly love and puts his brothers first and foremost, that’s Ichiro’s appeal.

—Ichiro is the eldest son of the Yamada household, with a pair of younger brothers. Do you empathize with that at all?

Since I have a little sister, when I saw them bickering, in my head I’d be like “I feel you!!!”. It really makes me smile. Us Kimura siblings are very close even though we fight sometimes, very similar to the brothers; but it’s still different between having a sister and having a brother. I wanted a little brother too. Three brothers is nice, isn’t it!

—How did you encounter “Hypnosis Mic?”

Thankfully, I was the first to receive their offer. Producer Hirano Souichiro himself came to my agency to explain the project. Even though neither the names nor visuals of the characters had been decided on yet, I told him, “Of course I’ll do it!”

—What an enthusiastic reply! (laughs) From that point on, what was your impression when Yamada Ichiro’s visuals and personality were decided upon?

I thought, “He’s handsome, isn’t he!” (laughs). When there were only summary notes on his character, he was more of a reckless yankee, a delinquent, someone like that… So I had that kind of image in my head, but Ichiro was so much cooler than I expected. I was surprised. So I thought, “I see, he really does appeal to women!” (laughs).

—His name has an impact, doesn’t it?

It’s a totally unmistakable name. There are always character names in manga or anime with kanjis that you don’t know how to read when you first saw them. Eventually you even learn to write those words with pronunciations that are difficult to look up and memorize...that’s how it usually goes right? And then there’s “Yamada Ichiro” which you see a lot on examples of governmental forms (laughs). On the other hand, in terms of the divisions’ naming schemes, Ikebukuro has names that very easily convey that they’re brothers. All three of them also have the mismatched eye visual. With all that sense of unity, it certainly feels as though the team is a step ahead of the other Divisions.

—The four Divisions of Ikebukuro, Yokohama, Shibuya, and Shinjuku have been introduced, but what makes Ikebukuro Division number one?

It’s definitely the fact that they’re brothers. The other teams might be good friends, but they don’t have the same harmony that comes from living under the same roof. The kind of trust you develop day after day, year after year since birth can’t be beat by the other Divisions. Since the three of them are all teenagers, their futures are promising. The members of Yokohama’s “MAD TRIGGER CREW” are the strongest, no? Since they’re already the strongest, I think it’d be hard to be even stronger, but for “Buster Bros!!!”, even if they lose once, they have tons of possibilities to become much stronger!

—Please tell us your favorite out of Ikebukuro Division’s music.

“IKEBUKURO WEST GAME PARK.” It was the first song sung with three people, and with a strong sense of brotherhood, it was very fun to sing. On the other hand, the most difficult was “WAR WAR WAR,” which is on the same CD. There was actually a bit of a miscommunication, walking into the studio to record it, I thought we were doing a different song but it was “WAR WAR WAR”...　Although it was my first time seeing it, after listening to it several times I somehow managed to record it… Actually, it was a “WAR WAR WAR” that I really struggled with (laughs).

—Do any of the other Divisions have a song you’d like to sing, a favorite song?

From the Division Battle CD again, “Yokohama Walker.” I really love it, it’s so cool. It’s very “MAD TRIGGER CREW” and Yokohama-esque, a particularly cool type of hip hop that suits them quite well. Even a pro rapper would be jealous of such a cool song. But since each Division has their own team color, it’s not a song Ikebukuro can sing! I’m jealous! If I had to pick from the Division CDs, it’d be Yumeno Gentaro’s “Scenario Liar,” the poetry of which I like, or Iruma Juto’s “Bayside Smoking Blues,” which is stylish. Kannonzaka Doppo’s “Tigridia” seems to be a little difficult, huh… Everyone’s songs are different, so the four CDs provide an easy introduction into different styles within hip hop.

—Kimura-san, which character in particular are you interested in?

From Ichiro’s recounts, there are some entanglements between Ramuda and Jakurai-sensei. They’re ex-members of the same team, “THE Dirty Dawg.” Samatoki is, too, but we haven’t expanded upon that yet. Ichiro trusts Jakurai-sensei, and, though he keeps a distance with Ramuda, he doesn’t dislike him. So I think Ichiro is most interested in the ex-Dirty Dawg members. For myself, I’m interested in Dice because at such a young age he’s become such a reckless gambler (laughs). I don’t have any friends who are of that type, so it’s nice to meet someone different. It would be interesting if we get along well.

—Speaking of which, Kimura-san, is there any character you’d like to become friends with?

Everyone is so unique, and I think the brothers of the Yamada household are particularly nice… Ramuda is fluffy-feeling, but at the same time you could say he’s prickly; he’s a guy like Pop Rocks candy. That being the case, I don’t think he’d hide his true feelings. Seems like he’s fun to be around.

—Then, Kimura-san, who would you rap battle against yourself?

Anyone is OK! I want to have a rap battle with the whole cast! (laughs)

—One could say that your character Yamada Ichiro is the poster boy of the work, but did you ever consult the cast on anything for your rap?

Occasionally. Back then, I had discussions related to singing and things like getting the feel for the rhythm and flow. My freestyle, too, wasn’t quite up to par, so I’d ask for advice like “What kind of CD should I be listening to?” The three members of Ikebukuro, Ishiya-kun, Amasaki-kun, and myself have a group chat on LINE where we recommend each other music.

—Kimura-san, what would you do if you came into possession of a Hypnosis Mic?

Eh—what would I do? I guess I have no choice but to rap, but the actual thought of using it is a little frightening. Especially since it tampers with your opponent’s psyche… I’d display it in a glass case. That way, on the off chance I need it, I can get it (laughs).

—From here, “Hypnosis Mic” is spreading in a variety of ways, so please tell us what you would like to try to do with it in the future.

First of all, I’m happy that it’s made it this far. Secondly, I want more people to properly learn about “Hypnosis Mic,” and attend the live shows. Listening to the CDs is fine as well, but nothing compares to the raw sound you get from lives, which is why I’d really like to perform more of them. Aside from the live in August, it’d be nice to perform at a live house in Ikebukuro, Yokohama, Shibuya, and Shinjuku...something like that would be a dream come true. It’d be interesting to have additional Divisions and groups too.

—What kind of Division would you like to see?

As far as rap culture is concerned, Osaka already has promising rappers, Okinawa holds rap music close to home, and Yamanashi has a few hot rappers, as well. I’d be happy to see a Yamanashi Division! That fires me up! For the addition of a new team, they’d like Ikebukuro at first and later come to be fans of other teams, and I’d be happy to see “Hypnosis Mic” grow bigger! No matter what kind of Division comes about, I want it!

—Lastly, please give a message to the fans of Ikebukuro Division.

The three brothers of the Yamada household are overcoming hardships every day, so we would like for people to heal us just for a little bit… That’s why I’d like to call the people who cheer for “Buster Bros!!!” “family.” Please support “Buster Bros!!!” and join the household! Let’s become a family together! The Yamada brothers are in your care!

Q. Speaking of summer sweets in the Yamada house…?

It seems like the Yamada household eats milk jelly. Especially when paired with oranges. But, I, myself, like milk jelly so that's saying a lot (laughs). We still don’t have any scenes of the Yamadas cooking, but I believe Saburo would have made it for Ichiro to eat. At first, he made it because he liked it, but then he made it because Ichiro liked it...what do you think of that? On the other hand, I feel like Saburo would make way too many and get tired of it after having a little, and get into pudding instead (laughs). I think the three of them would have their own ways of eating pudding, too. Saburo is the type to eat top-down like normal and eat the caramel last, while Ichiro goes bottom-up and eats the caramel first. Jiro likes to mix his pudding. I’m sure of that. Rather than milk jelly or pudding, Jiro likes red bean paste donuts more. Something like that. In the summer they use a machine to make shaved ice, but they fight over whether to use strawberry, melon, or Blue Hawaii syrup for so long that the ice melts, and they have to resort to eating milk jelly (laughs).

[casper-has-a-cat]

i have a lot of thoughts about bts’s new album

and yeah this is not at all related to the purpose of my blog’s existence but i feel the need to share anyways so apologies but here we go:

intro: persona: 

actually i don’t have too many thoughts about this specific song?  i mean it sounds lit and all, but honestly i don’t have enough knowledge of rap to comment on the quality.  

the lyrics are interesting and the music video’s dope, rm is wonderfully raw and brave as hell with his words and he looks beautiful with white hair but that’s about all i’ve got for this one lol

also just the lyrics are genius and kinda speak for themselves?  and i’m sure i’m missing a lot of nuances because i don’t speak korean so gonna just leave it at that

boy with luv: 

not my favorite at the moment (i always say this with bts songs because they tend to grow on me the more i listen to them)

the music video really intrigues me?  

i’m curious about the role time plays in it, what with the ticking clock at the beginning and the time markers w/ the ticket booth and the clocks throughout the song.  also, sometimes it’s night and sometimes it’s daytime, idk, it gives off almost dream-like vibes?  the colors give it a very surreal feeling, too, not to mention the set changes/transitions.  

also, obviously am intrigued by the singing in the rain references, but not really sure what to do with any of it yet!

i love that they put their album titles on the neon signs, very clever

it seems like there’s a lot of references to older choreography but i’m not a dancer so could be wrong!

the lyrics are a cool progression in terms of showing how they’ve matured over time!  could relate to the time references in the mv

there are a lot of roses in the mv?  don’t really know what to do with that tbh but i’m sure it means something lol

suga’s lisp is so prominent in his rap and i love it.  and what is he doing with that piano ???

mikrokosmos: 

okay here we go 

this song murders me.  and i don't know why someone please help???  i normally am not a fan of super upbeat songs and this one is honestly straight up corny but???  i thought answer: love myself was as preppy as it could get for me without being sickening but apparently i was wrong???  anyway, mikrokosmos is the song i can’t stop listening to.  

the beginning is so beautiful, i don’t know why but their voices just seem to blend so well with the instruments... 

j-hope straight up sounds like an angel, and just the transitions from one voice the next are so good

ALSO i noticed that all 7 of them have lines before the first chorus which feels like it has to be intentional

listening to this song, i noticed that all of the vocalists seem to be more versatile now, their voices blend a lot more than they did in the past and they sound more similar to one another (at times) which shows not that they’re losing individuality but that they’re able to modify their vocals more effectively, so that’s dope

i love when suga says “one” don’t ask me why it’s just good (actually i think it’s the timing of it that gets me)

the harmonies in this song wow

particularly v and jimin at the end, i love their voices together???  they’re so different at a fundamental level but they sound so good

ummmm that high note at the end???  oof

anyway i’m really curious what other people think of this song because i thought i’d be sick of it by now but here we are

one more thing: i love that the lyrics define the symbolism of light, that’s poetry my dudes

and even though it’s cheesy i do love the sentiment they express, where being with someone you love can make everything seem more beautiful, in both a literal and metaphorical sense

make it right:

every time j-hope sings i ascend to heaven?

really like the transition from j-hope to rm

and then the transition from rm to jimin’s “baby i know”

i love jin’s low notes

another song with a lot of very nice harmonies

suga shut up

honestly though his verse is so much

the desert and sea lines (jimin and suga) are a fun punch in the stomach

jimin’s vocals are killer, his voice just fits this song perfectly

home:

more references to sea can they stop murdering me plz

“big house, big cars, big rings” big oof honestly this whole album is bts beating me up i guess

this song makes me sad, really

more good harmonies

the sea metaphor is so good because they’re talking about how hard it is to maintain a sea when it keeps turning back into a desert, and maybe it was a mirage all along and fame is so hard to maintain, it’s so much effort, and what they really want here is not an ocean but a home and you can’t have both it’s so???  sad and true ouch

jamais vu:

cool, cool, cool i absolutely love that these three have a song

the “who am i” question is back from rm’s intro?

j-hope’s vocals cleanse my soul

this is totally just the but the chorus kind of grates on me (again, could change the more i listen to the song?)

i don’t really know what to do with the lyrics?  i think maybe the repetitiveness of the song is what bugs me and it maybe is meant to mirror the lyrics which would be pretty neat if that’s the case

mentioning the harmonies at this point seems unnecessary but bts’s harmonies just continue to astound me

dionysus

oh yikes

honestly i don’t have the mental capacity to process this song in one weekend

the j-hope vibes are strong imo, super intense, a lot going on, possibly the most pump-up song i’ve ever heard, catchy as hell

jin’s low notes???  😲

harmonies... again lol

the distortion effects on their voices are cool!

jin just.  straight up screaming at the end?  wild

should like this song more than i do (and i might in the future) but as for now, to be honest, it overwhelms me

i’ll probably like it more after i’ve listened to it for like... 2 years lol

every time i listen through it once i feel like i’ve listened to 5 songs

do they plan to sing this in concert because if so ??? rip jin’s voice i guess???  #concerned (jk i’m sure if it’s dangerous to his voice they just wouldn’t have him sing those parts live but still, his lines in this song are absolutely wild)

some extra thoughts: 

as i mentioned before, i don’t know much about rap, and also i don’t speak korean, sooo i’m saying this with zero authority, but one thought that i had almost immediately is that suga’s rap has a totally different feel?  curious if anyone else feels the same, but it seems like his pronunciation is a lot more clear now than it normally is.  he’s still slaying as always if you ask me, it just has a different feel than i’m used to from him!

there’s a whole lot of desert/sea references in this album and every single one of them is a punch in the stomach

i don’t ship but i’m such a massive sucker for vmin harmonies their voices sound so incredibly good together

ANYWAY this is stupid long, if you read this far i’m sorry for stealing so much of your time but also would love to know your thoughts!!!

[lostboysuga]

The Way He Speaks (oneshot)

• also published on:

wattpad - gingerbreadsuga

ao3 - lostboysuga

• 2.6k words

--

Yoongi walked into the studio, his eyes tired from days and days of straight working on songs at the most ridiculous time of night. You'd think he didn't sleep ever, but he did, but only in the studio. It was his home, it was the place he dreamed, and then wrote down ideas for songs based on his dreams. It was the place he felt safe, comforted by the sounds of soft beats, the place where he truly fell in love with music. It was also the place he met Hoseok and Namjoon. (J-Hope and RM respectively.

There was a knock on the door and Yoongi replied, “C- come i- in.” The door slowly opened and Namjoon appeared in the doorway. Yoongi was happy to see the younger male because he’d just had a brilliant idea and came right to the studio to write it down and try to work on the beat for it as well. Yoongi gestured to the couch, asking Namjoon to sit and listen.

Yoongi played the loop for him and Namjoon bopped his head to the beat throughout. Yoongis small smile grew larger toward the end of the beat for the chorus as he knew Namjoon really liked it based on his expression.

“W- what did y- you t- think?” Yoongi asked, pausing the beat where he’d last edited it.

“That was really good, Yoongi. It’s a little plain though, is there a reason for that. It also seems a little serious? Is this a serious song you’re working on?”

Yoongi made an interesting face and said, “S- sorta.” He motioned Namjoon over to him, and pulled up the lyrics he’d brainstormed and edited slightly.

I know you’re hesitating

Because even if you tell the truth, it’ll come back as scars

I won’t say clichéd things like “have strength”

I’ll just listen to you, listen

What did I tell you?

I told you you’d overcome

You didn’t believe (really)

Will we be able to overcome?

This miracle

Did we make it?

...

It was his lament to everyone who’d ever gone through something similar to him. Bullying, constant teasing because he couldn’t speak with confidence the way everyone else could. Because he couldn’t go to the front of the classroom without fainting, because he couldn’t handle all their stares. This was to all those kids who experienced those same feelings.

“So it is serious, just as I thought. Nothing but to be expected from the ‘Oh So Serious Yoongi’."

“I’m n- not th- that s- seri- serious.”

“Oh sure you are. Always with that straight face, trying not to be rude, but always having a head swirling with ideas. Whenever someone asks you a question, it’s always a short answer. You’re pretty serious, man.” Yoongi let out a breathy laugh. Namjoon knew all about his stuttering problem, more so than Hosoek did or ever could.

“A- anyw- way. W- when’s our n- next g- gig?”

“Tomorrow night. Why?” Yoongi gave Namjoon a sly look and Namjoon knew exactly what that look meant. “Yoongi you know you’ll be dead tired, even though I’m pretty sure you already are dead tired. You can’t perform this tomorrow night, it’s not enough time.” Yoongi simply chuckled evilly and turned around to face the laptop. He ripped his notebook out from his bag that was next to the desk, and began typing away, saying lyrics in different ways to see which way flowed best with the loop.

Namjoon sighed and left, quietly shutting the door behind him and sighing once more. “Please be okay, Yoongi.”

«❦»

It was Friday night and tonight was the night Yoongi would perform his new solo song that would hopefully be on the new album. Namjoon and Hoseok were really worried though. Namjoon went into the studio this morning to try to look for something he’d forgotten, and Yoongi was still sitting there as though he hadn’t moved or even blinked since the night before.

Tonight, he looked like death, and the two younger members could tell. They wanted their manager to tell Yoongi to just go home and sleep and that they’d be fine without him, but Yoongi wouldn’t take it. He’d never missed a show, and was very diligent about that. No matter what was wrong, he attended every show and performed like it was the last he’d ever do. But tonight might be different. There was 15 minutes until the start of the show and the music was blasting throughout the venue, but Yoongi was still sound asleep on the couch backstage.

“He’s worked so hard for tonight. Can’t we just let him do this last show and then force him to go home and really sleep? Maybe even lock up the studio so he’ll actually sleep?” Hoseok tried to reason with Namjoon, and eventually he finally gave in. Only on the condition that he’d be escorted home immediately after the show.

Namjoon leaned down to wake up Yoongi, and the older male woke up almost instantly. “D- did I m- miss it?”

“No, we’ve got 10 minutes until we start. You might wanna get changed and grab your mic.” Namjoon said, looking up and down at Yoongis flannel and joggers. Yoongi quickly got up and went to grab an outfit consisting of his usual black and blue hoodie, black jeans, and black boots. Most of the fans liked this outfit on him, but others always wanted him to wear brighter colors. Either way, he wore what he wanted to wear, and went out on stage with his two best friends.

That night, during the show, Yoongi almost passed out on stage several times, but played it off as though he was completely fine. The only highlight for Yoongi, besides almost passing out in front of 600 people, was that everyone seemed to love his new song that he worked so hard on for almost 2 days straight. And there was also this very cute stranger who had the loveliest voice. They were performing a cover of a song, and Namjoon handed the mic to a crowd member, and Yoongi stopped dead in his tracks, looking over at the absolutely ethereal voice. It was a boy about college age, maybe a few years younger than Yoongi, and wow. He was just as beautiful as his voice.

There was a small meet-and-greet outside of the venue after the concert and that same boy was there, with a copy of their newest EP, and he wanted a signature from all the members. Hoseok and Namjoon were happy to sign it, but when the fan got to Yoongi, he stared straight into the younger males eyes. He saw the stars shining in them, like little sprinkles across a cupcake, they were strewn all across his eyes. But they were so beautiful. That was the only word he could use to describe this boy, was beautiful. He even made the mistake of saying it out loud.

“You’re beautiful.” He said, not realizing he’d said it out loud until Namjoon and Hoseok had started laughing at him, and the fans ears turned pink along with his cheeks.

“T- thank you… I love your songs by the way.”

“T- thanks…” Yoongi blushed more than the younger boy, but then he realized something. He took out his notepad from his back pocket, writing a few words down and ripping it out, handing it to the boy, upside down.

Hey so I’m writing a new song, would you mind featuring on it for vocals? You have a lovely voice. Here’s my number: xxx-xxx-xxxx

“Is this your way of asking me out?” The boy chuckled, and put the note in his pocket. “If so, sure. My name’s Taehyung, by the way.”

And that was where it all started for Yoongi.

Taehyung came over to the studio a couple days later, after calling Yoongi the day after the show. Unfortunately, Yoongi was asleep for once and didn’t hear his phone go off, but he quickly got back to Taehyung as soon as he woke up. They went over things about Yoongis style of producing and writing music over text shortly after Yoongi replied back to Taehyungs voicemail.

He liked to mostly work alone, making almost the whole song and beat, before presenting it to anyone else. Taehyung said he was fine with this, and that he’d come over whenever Yoongi was ready. Now, in the studio, Taehyung was being played the demo track, lyrics already recorded and beat polished all pretty with a bow on top. Taehyung really appreciated all that Yoongi was doing for him in terms of allowing him to finally show off his talents somewhere other than Instagram and Twitter.

But today was the day of recording, and Yoongi was absolutely entranced by Taehyungs heavenly voice. They recorded the same chorus parts and adlibs a few times with different inflections and pronunciation each time, then it was Yoongis turn. Compared to Taehyung, Yoongis voice sounded more like petrichor, which was still pleasant, but in a way all of its own. Taehyung couldn’t help but stare with admiration to the boy he’d been idolizing for years.

As Yoongi finished, he looked over at Taehyung, taking off his headphones and saying, “W- what? D- did I do s- some- something w- wrong?”

“No, I just love the way your voice sounds.”

“I l- like yours t- too.” For some reason, Yoongi hated his voice a little less whenever Taehyung complimented it, saying it was nice or soothing. For some reason, Yoongi felt a little less nervous around Taehyung, like he didn’t have to make up anything. Like he could just be himself.

“How come you stutter so much? You don’t have to answer, but as a fan I’ve always been curious.”

“I- I’ve always st- st- stuttered. I d- don’t kn- know w- why.”

“I think it’s kinda cute.” Taehyung smiled and giggled softly.

“Thanks…” Yoongi replied, walking over to his laptop, and beginning to edit. Taehyung waited a few minutes before he spoke again, somewhat scared he’d offended Yoongi in some way.

“Can I play some music?”

“As l- long as it’s n- not trash.”

“Aye-aye, captain!” He turned his phone and hooked it up to the bluetooth speaker in the studio, playing soft pop and underground acoustic artists. Underground artists were Taehyungs favorite, despite liking Yoongis rap trio. But they still counted as underground because they weren’t technically signed with anyone yet, and they paid for their studio themselves after years and years of saving.

“I l- like this. It’s n- nice."

“Thanks.” Taehyung winked, but Yoongi wasn't looking in order to see it. Taehyung smiled anyway, and went back to his phone.

Taehyung stayed there for a few hours just listening to music, occasionally stopping to hear Yoongi mumble lyrics to himself. Eventually it was getting dark and he had to get home. “I'll see you later, Yoongi. Thanks for asking me to do this.”

Yoongi simply nodded and mumbled a word or two. Taehyung wasn't offended because he knew Yoongi was in the zone, and probably wouldn't want to be bothered until he was done. He walked home and thought about how lucky he must be, after being a fan for so long and trying to get noticed by the members, now he was working with one of them on a track. How did this happen again?

This process continued for the next few weeks, as Yoongi was a bit of a perfectionist, but also because he was trying to get normal hours of sleep on a daily basis.

Taehyung knocked on the door and Yoongi got up to open the door. Taehyung smiled and said, “I brought food!” Yoongi smiled and looked down on his stomach, feeling it growl a bit at the smell of food.

“T- thanks. I didn't e- eat t- this mor- morning.” He said, sitting down on the couch next to Taehyung. Their hands brushed slightly as they both reached for the bag. Taehyung quickly withdrew his hand, but Yoongi stayed there for a second, feeling Taehyungs lingering touch.

Yoongi finally snapped out of it when he felt Taehyungs hand on his again, but this time, Taehyung intertwined their fingers together.

“I like you."

“W- what?” Yoongi couldn’t even comprehend what Taehyung had just said, but he tried to ignore it, pulling his hand away.

“Nothing.” Taehyung sighed, knowing he’d just said it out of nowhere and there really were no feelings behind it. But Yoongi didn’t know that. He thought Taehyung really meant it. He didn’t know what to do. He got up and saved his progress with the song and put his laptop in his bag and his notebook as well, leaving the studio, with Taehyung looking very confused and slightly upset.

«❦»

Days passed and Taehyung still hadn't heard from Yoongi. He was beginning to get worried. He tried going to the studio again, but every time he did, it wasn't Yoongi that answered. It was either Namjoon or Hoseok saying that Yoongi was “at home” or “out with a friend” or “visiting family”. Taehyung began to get the feeling that Yoongi didn't want him around.

One day, Yoongi is finally back at the studio, and working on something a little different this time. Taehyung raised his hand to knock on the door, but he wanted to listen before he made everything worse. It sounded a little more upbeat than most of his songs. It also sounded like there was mostly vocals in the song. It was obviously the demo, because it sounded like he couldn't hit them.

Taehyung then realized Yoongi had accidentally left the door open, so he let himself in as quietly as he could. Before he closed the door he said, “Sounds like it needs some better vocals.”

Yoongis head shot around to look at Taehyung. He wasn't expecting anyone besides Namjoon and Hoseok. “T- Taehyung. W- what a- are you do- doing h- here?”

“Listen Yoongi. I know what I said and did was inappropriate, but you don't have to push me away. I missed you, I missed working with you until late at night. I miss playing my favorite bands for you and you complimenting them and their lyrics.” He paused as he realized there were tears falling down his cheeks. “I miss you.”

Yoongi stood from his chair and walked up to Taehyung, not even missing a beat, he gently placed his lips onto the younger males. “I missed you, too.” They shared a long embrace and kissed once more, this time Taehyung expected it and kissed back.

“I'm so sorry, Yoongi.”

“I- it's alright.”

“You wanna record that new song you're working on?”

“Sure."

Taehyung smiled and put on the headphones and began singing. Yoongi fell in love, note after note. Line after line. He just couldn't resist Taehyung voice, personality, music taste, everything. He loved Taehyung, it was true and he couldn't deny.

As Taehyung finished the song, he asked, “Who did you write this for?”

Yoongi smiled and replied, “You.”

On the desk was a little notebook with the lyrics to the song, and a little doodle of Taehyung.

You’re the sun that rose again in my life

A reincarnation of my childhood dreams

I don’t know what these emotions are

Am I still dreaming?

There��s a green oasis in a desert

A priori deep inside of me

I’m so happy, I can’t breathe

My surroundings are getting more and more transparent

I hear the ocean from far away

Across the dream, past the woods

I’m going to the place that’s getting clearer

Take my hands now

You are the cause of my euphoria

“You m- make me ha- happy, Taehyung.”

“Yoongi, I love you.”

“I lo- love you t- too, Tae- Taehyung.”

END.

[spanishskulduggery]

how would you say a plural amount of letters? like in english you would say “two K’s” (kays) or “three S’s” (esses), how would you write it in spanish and how would you pronounce it?

Just a warning this kind of goes all over the place because of a lot of grammatical minutiae, but the simple answer:

la K / la ka = the letter K(las) dos kas = the two K’s

la S / la ese = the letter S(las) tres eses = the three S’s

You sometimes see it a letter written by itself or as its pronunciation (la K or la ka in singular), but in plural it’s usually its pronunciation (las kas)

So like…

Hay dos kas en “jackknife”. = There are two K’s in “jackknife”.

“Necessity” tiene dos eses. = “Necessity” has two S’s.

Most of the letters will have a kind of -s sound tacked onto their pronounciation and that will get you the plural of that sound.

There are exceptions… the vowels + X

La a [the letter A] => Las aes [the A’s]

La e [the letter E] => Las es / Las ees [the E’s]

La o [the letter O] => Las oes [the O’s]

La u [the letter U] => Las úes [U’s]

La i (latina) [the letter I] => Las íes (latinas) [I’s]La i (griega) [the letter Y] => Las íes (griegas) [Y’s]

La equis [the letter X] => Las equis [X’s]

With U and I, it’s because you’re preserving the U and I sound so they take on an accent mark to fully pronounce it…. basically because when U+E and I+E are put together, they blend, so the accent mark adds a hiatus. With A+E and O+E, the hiatus is already there so you don’t mix the sound.

It’s really just to keep you from saying something like “the oohs” and “the ees” which could be confusing.

Saying “aes” is kind of like “a-es”, and “oes” is like “o-es” because of the hiatus.

And with E you get two options “es” and “ees”… typically I hear las es with a long EH sound for multiple E’s or people putting la letra E just to be very clear.

And X [equis] already ends in S, so you don’t have to add an additional thing and make it “equises” or something. If you see something like “XXX” it’s commonly pronounced as (las) tres equis 

Additional note: Q is frequently written as either la q, or la qu or la cu. In plural I think I’ve only seen las qus and las cus. 

———————————————————————–

Onto the confusing part - and I can’t stress enough how regional this all can be, so please let me know if I make any mistakes here, native speakers.

This might be a little difficult to explain completely well because I’m not using IPA here. I’ll try and be as clear as possible but just know that I’m using the Spanish pronunciations of things and how they’d write or approximate it.

First, all letters in the alphabet are feminine probably because la letra “letter” is feminine, so there’s that rule first.

Second this is generally how the letters are pronounced or said in Spanish and I need to point out some things because there’s a lot actually here that won’t make sense if I don’t:

A - (a)*

B - (be / be grande)****

C - (ce)CH - (che)**

D - (de)

E - (e)*

F - (efe)

G - (ge)

H - (hache) [although I did learn it as la ache]

I - (i / i latina)*

J - (jota)

K - (ka)

L - (ele)

LL - (elle)

M - (eme)

N - (ene)

Ñ - (eñe)

O - (o)*

P - (pe)

Q - (cu)

R - (ere / erre)***

RR - (erre / erre doble, doble erre)***

S - (ese)

T - (te)

U - (u)*

V - (uve / V corta / V chica)****

W - (doble u / doble uve / uve doble)

X - (equis)

Y - (i / i griega)*

Z - (zeta)

So now the little bits of explanations begin:

* The vowels - All of the vowels [A / E / I / O / U, and Y] are usually written with their pronunciations like I did above. In Spanish, most Spanish speakers know how “A” is pronounced but for the sake of non-native speakers:

A is pronounced like “ah”

E is pronounced like “eh”

I is pronounced like “ee”

O is pronounced like “oh”

U is pronounced like “ooh”

Y is pronounced like “ee”

With i and y it’s common to differentiate them as i latina [I] and i/y griega [Y]… The letter [I] is i latina being “Latin I” because it comes from the Latin alphabet, and because the letter [Y] comes from Greek it’s griega. They are pronounced the same “ee” like a long E song in English.

So say you were spelling out a word like yanqui “yankee / someone from the US” you would spell it Y-A-N-Q-U-I [i griega - a - ene - cu - u - i latina] in a way that tells you that Y and I are different letters.

** - CH. The letter “CH” which is pronounced like che or “chay” in English is not technically a letter in Spanish anymore, but it might show up in some dictionaries as its own section. 

*** - R and RR. I’ve seen R written as ere and erre before. And while RR is not its own letter (anymore, but in some places it is considered its own), I’ve seen it as erre or erre doble [double R]. I was taught ere [R] and erre [RR] but I understand why that’s not totally great for everyone depending on your own pronunciation; I personally recommend saying erre [R] and doble erre [RR] if you mean RR because it makes it very clear you’re talking about a double letter.

If you were saying multiple RR’s, you’d most commonly see erres dobles.

**** This one is really its own issue but B and V have similar pronunciations in a lot of things. Just suffice it to say it’s its own issue. 

For our purposes, it’s normally pronounced be [”bay”] and uve [”oo-vay”]. Otherwise, you’ll see B as B grande or B larga which mean “big/long B”… and you might see V as V corta or V chica which is “short/small V”

Another common way to differentiate it is to say B de burro “B as in burro [donkey]”, and V de vaca “V as in vaca [cow]”…….. that’s kind of like the equivalent of “B as in boy” and “V as in Victor” in English.

Side Note: It should go without saying but ele is pronounced “el-ay”, and elle is pronounced “ey-yay”… because LL has a strong Y sound. 

Side Note 2: Similarly ge is pronounced like “hay”, and jota for “J” is pronounced “ho-ta” 

Side Note 3: Ñ or eñe is pronounced “en-yay”

So moving on, just note that the letters are feminine, and normally you’re going to say la and then las for plural.

When doing plural, you usually have to add a -S sound to it. That’s mostly easy for the consonants, minus X so you don’t really have to worry too much.

I typically see the letters sort of spelled out so for example: hacer eses which is literally “to make S’s” is another expression for “to spin around” or “to spin out” is typically written as eses 

You might see something like la m but then you might see las emes for “M’s”… I think that might just be for the sake of convenience. But you might also see la ache instead of la h… or la jota instead of la j.

It’s more acceptable when it seems to be a whole different word, kind of like la equis vs la x which I think both make sense. 

I typically capitalize it if I’m going to write it as a singular letter because I think that is a little easier to understand when reading, but that is probably just me.

Additional Note: There are some abbreviations where Spanish pronounces them a bit differently; they’re normally treated as loanwords. 

These are different from Spanish abbreviations:

FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation]In Spanish el FBI is pronounced like el Efe-Be-I sort of how you’d expect

CIA [Central Intelligence Agency]In Spanish this is la CIA which is pronounced la Si-A, rather than pronouncing each letter individually

KO / K.O. [knockout]In Spanish this is normally el KO which is pronounced el ka-o the way you’d pronounce K + O. In some places you’ll hear el knockout with voz inglesa but in some places they use estar KO to mean either “to be unconscious” or “to be dead tired” 

OK / okayIn Spanish estar OK or OK/okay sounds just like English “o-kay”, and it’s pretty directly adapted from English

OVNI [el objeto volador no identificado] In Spanish el OVNI or el ovni is the direct translation of “UFO” or “Unidentified Flying Object”. You pronounce it “ov-ni”, rather than pronouncing every single letter

There are other expressions like this. The one I mentioned above “XXX” in English is “triple X” or “X-X-X” but in Spanish it’s tres equis and is a synonym for “pornographic” in some contexts

There’s some variations with Spanish abbreviations.

Some are like when you might see Los EEUU / Los EE.UU in writing, but you’d hear it as Los Estados Unidos “the United States” rather than hearing it all pronounced.

So it really depends on the actual word/abbreviation in question.

[the-caravan-languages]

Lesson 1 + 2: alphabets

Welcome to the first Farsi/Persian lesson! We’re gonna be kicking it off with the script and spending a good bit of time on that. Throughout there’ll be a lot of example words to demonstrate the script: don’t feel obligated to memorize any of these yet, but you can pick some of the important ones and try to learn them as you go. Also, note any pronunciation approximations I give will be according to American English, not British English. Anyways, onto the actual lesson.

While we tend to use the term “alphabet” to refer to any system of writing, it also has a more specific meaning, which is a system in which both consonant and vowel sounds are written with separate individual letters. Persian, however, is an abjad, a writing system vowels are either not written at all or optionally indicated. That would be a pure abjad, one where all vowels truly could be left out. However, all abjads in use today are impure abjads, meaning that there are some vowels that must be indicated. 

There are 2 more things to know about the Persian script: it is written right to left rather than left to right, and letters connect with each other much like English cursive.

To start off, we’re going to learn the first 5 letters. Here are those letters in alphabetical order:

 ا ب پ ت ث

We’re going to begin with the second letter of the alphabet, ب, called “beh” /be/.  It makes the same sound as the English letter “b”. 

And now, the first letter of the alphabet:  ا, called “alef” /ælef/. This generally makes the sound â /ɒ/, much like the “a” in “father”

 Since we have our first consonant and our first vowel, we can combine them together and make a syllable.

 So, ب + ا gives you this:با

Remember how I said Persian works like English cursive? The form that I just taught you for those 2 letters is called isolated form, referring to the letter standing alone. 

There are 3 more forms, however: the initial form (coming at the beginning of a word), the medial form (coming in the middle), and the final form (coming at the end).

 In the word above, we only see the initial and final forms on display: ب has the initial form بـ, and ا has the final form ـا. 

Combine them together, you get با bâ, which means “with”.

Now it’s time for your third letter of the alphabet, پ “peh” /pe/. This is pronounced just like the English “p”, and is very similar to the previous letter except that it has 3 dots at the bottom instead of one. 

This goes for all its forms, too; the only difference between the various forms is that پ has 3 dots. So, this means that combining پ and ا gives you پا pâ “foot”. 

Then there’s the third letter, ت teh /te/, which makes the sound “t”. By now you’ve probably noticed a pattern, and have assumed that this letter has the exact same forms as the previous two besides the number and location of the dots. That’s actually correct by the way, I wasn’t trying to lead up to some sarcastic surprise reveal. So yeah, your example word is تا tâ “until”. 

Then you have ث “seh” /se/, making the “s” sound.* You get the drill by now, and the word ثا doesn’t exist.

Now, what if I told you I could teach you 3 more vowels without showing you another letter? You may think I’m crazy, but let’s go back to what I said about vowels being optional: some vowels, such as alef which I showed you above, are mandatory. 

You can’t just write ت and hope people read it as tâ “until”. The vowels that are optional are indicated by diacritics rather than by separate letters, and I’m going to teach you the 3 main ones.First, there’s the diacritic representing the “a” in the word “bat” (/æ/). It’s written like so, as a horizontal line slanted to the top-right above the letter:بَThis is read as “ba” /æ/, which isn’t a word. But we can actually make a word if we put this together with what we just learned! 

Now that you know this vowel marker, you can read the word for “fever”:تَب

There are 2 more of these vowel diacritics I want to teach, representing the sounds “e” in “bed” and something similar to the sound “o” in “toe” respectively (with the “something similar” part: if you say the word “toe” to yourself, you’ll notice that there are actually 2 vowel sounds. 

In Persian, however, this “o” sound doesn’t glide into another vowel at all).بِ بُ(In case it isn’t clear: the one below the ب is “e”, the weird squiggly one above is “o”) Now that you know these all, there’s one more rule to cover: you know how I said alef generally corresponds to the sound â? Well you see, at the beginning of the word it’s actually silent and essentially a placeholder for these vowel markers. This is because in Arabic, it’s not a pure vowel marker and in fact stands for the glottal stop /ʔ/. 

Anyways, if you want to represent the vowel sounds “a”, “e”, and “o” at the beginning of a word, you write them asاَ اِ اُrespectively. If you want to actually represent the sound â at the beginning of a word, you add a little doo-dad to the top of alef and get آ, this special new alef being called “alef madd”.

Remember that these vowel diacritics are optional: they are mainly used in children’s books and materials for learners, and in actual native text you have to know from context which vowel sound is meant. It’s a pain in the ass, but you get used to it.

But anyways, now that we have our 3 vowel diacritics, alef, and a couple of consonants, I can talk about the medial forms that I forgot to explain. For this, we only really need to look at ب:بببYou can see the ب has the medial form ـبـ. Seeing as we know the other letters are formed simply by substituting the dots, I trust you to figure out the medial forms of them yourself. 

And with that, the first lesson is over! Don’t relax though, make sure to quiz yourself on all this.

READING PRACTICE: transliterate these gibberish words بُث، تات، تِب، بات، ثَت، آثِت پُت، پُبَت، بِاپَتِب*

This is just one letter of multiple that represents the sound “s” and is not in fact that one that’s used when adapting foreign words to Persian; you’ll learn 2 more later. The reason that there are 3 letters for the “s” sound is that 2 of them actually represented different sounds in Arabic that Persians just pronounced as an “s” to make life easier. ث happens to be one of those letters with a different sound in Arabic (that being the “th” in “thick”). ——————————————-

Welcome to lesson 2! This one will probably be a lot shorter than the last lesson, just because there’s less to explain.

So, now we’re gonna move to a new letter shape, and in that letter shape we’re gonna be learning 4 new letters:

ج چ ح خ

Once again, these are presented in alphabetical order. We’re gonna start by learning the third letter here, ح, called “he”. This makes the “h” sound, and like ث is mainly used in Arabic loanwords. It has the following forms:

ح حـ ـحـ ـح

Something important to know is that while in English an “h” at the end of a syllable (“ah”) is silent, this letter is always pronounced.

Now with that, the forms other 3 letters should come very easily to you. In fact, we could just do a speed round and cover them all here! Alright, so the first letter in alphabetical order of the ones I’ve presented to you is ج, called “jim”, and it makes the same sound as the English “j”. Then there’s چ, called “che”, which makes a sound very similar to the “ch” in the word “chips”, with one key difference - aspiration. Aspiration is a puff of air released after pronouncing certain consonants. For example, hold your hand out and say a “t”; you’ll probably feel something. In Persian, like in English, the consonants “p”, “t”, and “k” are followed by aspiration, but unlike English the consonant “ch” is aspirated too. So practice following your “ch” with a puff of air and you’ll be good. Anyways, this letter is one of the 4 that’s present in the Persian alphabet but not in the Arabic one, so you’ll only see it in native Persian words and some Turkic loans that snuck their way in.

And skipping ح we get to the last letter in this lesson, خ, called “khe”. This makes a sound similar to the “ch” in the word “loch” or the German pronunciation of “Bach”. It occurs extensively in both native Persian words and Arabic loanwords, so you’re just gonna have to learn to pronounce this one.

Now, because I’m bored while writing this and need something to lengthen this otherwise uncomfortably short lesson, I’m going to teach you some more diacritics. These aren’t vowels, they just mark additional information that might be useful. First off, we’re gonna learn a w-looking marked called the “tashdid”:

بّ

This marks what’s called “gemination” in linguistics, but can be described pretty simply as holding a consonant for a bit longer than usual. For example, say “bad dad” and notice how that “d” in the middle is held. In Persian, holding consonants like this can actually differentiate between words! For example, there’s mâde “female” and mâdde “material”. The tashdid also does some weird stuff when you combine it with the short vowel diacritics: when you add “a” and “o”, they go above the tashdid as you would expect. When you add “e”, however, it goes below the tashdid but still above the letter rather than just going below the letter itself as it usually does.

اَبَّت، اَبِّت اَبُّت

Because it’s basically impossible to read diacritics on an Arabic computer font, from right to left those read “abbat”, “abbet”, and “abbot”.

Next up, there’s a circle looking thing called the “sokoon”, which marks the absence of a vowel of any kind. You don’t see this too much in Persian, seeing as you can just as well mark the absence of a vowel by… well, just not putting vowel diacritics or not using long vowel letters. Still though, it’s worth at least knowing and it looks like this:

بْ

I’ll put it in at least one word in the reading practice, but still, it definitely takes the back seat to the letters you just learned and the tashdid.

READING PRACTICE: transliterate these mostly gibberish words

حُبّ،  پاچ، ثُچَت، جُخ، آخ، اَخَبْ، تِجَّح

[nebris]

In the future, will the English language be full of accented characters?

Here's something to think about as you sip your latté (or your piña colada) while listening to Beyoncé (or Mötley Crüe): Just how important to the English language are accented characters? And will they withstand the test of time?

We've included accents in some words for a long time; after all, we like to steal words from languages such as French, Italian, and German. But they're not an official part of the English alphabet, partly because they weren't so easy to type or typeset, and partly because … well, they're not English, are they? But the letters w and j and q weren't English originally, either. Nor was the apostrophe. And the letters þ and ð were English until we got rid of them. So is the accent on its way out, or is it seeping in?

Technology has long influenced our use of letters in language. For example, English has always had the sounds we now spell with the letters th, but we used to be able to write them with þ and ð. When printing presses arrived from Europe, their sets of type didn't include those characters, so those characters disappeared. On the other hand, it wasn't until more recent centuries that English speakers (and writers) found it useful to have an official distinction between v and u and between i and j (before then, Julius was just another way of writing Ivlivs) or decided we had a use for the letter w that came from Europe. And we didn't really need q, but it looks so ... Latin! So, the sets of type for our printing presses included those letters.

In other words, we adopt letters for a handful of reasons: usefulness, aesthetics, and because, well, we simply can. We abandon letters when it becomes too difficult to write or print them out.

The apostrophe has a similar history. It was invented in Italy, introduced into French in the early 1500s to indicate a dropped letter (something French does a lot), and then borrowed into English later in the same century to indicate the same kind of thing: I'm, 'tis, can't. It also indicated a dropped e in the possessive, so Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost was originally Loues Labour's Lost because the e was dropped from Laboures but not from Loues (remember that u and v weren't separate characters yet!). But the idea of using an apostrophe before s in all singular possessives — and after s in all plural ones — caught on over time, partly because it helped make some useful distinctions, but also because it made the speaker seem smart. And it was part of our sets of moveable type.

So what about accented characters? If English didn't steal words from everywhere, we probably wouldn't have much use for accents. We could use a mark to distinguish between, for instance, the noun and verb forms of protest (prótest versus protést), but we've gotten along for centuries without it. The New Yorker, probably unnecessarily, lets readers know typographically that it understands how to pronounce coördinate. But when we need to distinguish between rose and rosé, divorce and divorcé, expose and exposé, or resume and résumé, accents start to look very attractive.

They also have a certain exotic charm. As Emmy J. Favilla says in her BuzzFeed style guide A World Without "Whom," "I'm partial to using accent marks any chance I can get, because they are cute." Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief of Random House, makes his opinion clear in Dreyer's English: "Sojourning in a chateau can't be nearly as much fun as sojourning in a château." We have a lot of weird silent letters in English spelling (as in people, isle, phthisis) for no other reason than to display where we pillaged the word from, so we're certainly going to want to keep that extra soupçon of éclat on the façade of jalapeño. Otherwise we would look naive — sorry, naïve. It's no accident that so many accented letters are found in food terms; we take savory delight in what seems exotic.

And yet we just don't see them as truly essential. We no longer put the circumflex on rôle or hôtel. We often implement accents incompletely, rendering carménère (a type of red wine grape) as carmenère, Ångström (a very small unit of measurement) as Ångstrom, and résumé as resumé. And sometimes we add them where they didn't even exist in the source: latté, for instance, from Italian latte, which has no need of the accent because in Italian you always say the e; maté and animé likewise add an accent as acupuncture to rouse a final e that we might otherwise treat as silent, though the source languages had no such need.

Certainly they can be fashionable. The double-dot crown named variously the diaeresis and the umlaut (a name taken from the sound change it signifies, just like accent) is especially popular in branding, where it almost never indicates any difference in pronunciation. Branding expert Nancy Friedman maintains an ever-growing collection of decoratively umlauted names, starting with the band Blue Öyster Cult, progressing through Häagen-Dazs, on through Freshëns and Yogen Früz, and on to Söfft, Melōränge, and iögo.

But, as Friedman has pointed out, "The diacritical marks may make for spiffy logos, but they have a downside: They don't show up in the web address, and they're rarely reproduced in newspaper stories." In fact, accents are against the rules for newspaper stories: The Associated Press Stylebook says flatly, "Do not use any diacritical or accent marks because they garble for some users."

Obviously not everyone agrees with this. The New Yorker would not coöperate with anyone who wanted to take away its precious diaereses. The Chicago Manual of Style, the leading guide for many book publishers, plants its flag squarely in the accent camp: "Words, phrases, or titles from another language that occur in an English-language work must include any special characters that appear in the original language." And, technologically, Chicago is more with the times than the AP: We are not on typewriters anymore; Unicode has made a huge variety of accented characters widely available, and even smartphone users have the means to add every accent you'll find in almost any European language.

But as long as accents are for words "from another language," they're not really part of English. And that means accented characters aren't officially real in this language. At least not yet.

In the end, though, the gatekeepers of orthography are the editors. And the views of future generations of editors, who not only enjoy good typography, but tend to believe in getting things right, are more likely to favor the accent. And those who flatly scorn them risk being passé.

https://theweek.com/articles/843837/future-english-language-full-accented-characters?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[professorjjong]

Hi rose I was wondering if you had any tips or suggestions on how to learn Japanese by oneself. Do you think knowing Chinese would help in learning it? It's so cool that you know more than one language I wish I could be that cool ;w;

hahaha i’m really #NotCool lol

i actually learned japanese by myself so i’m literally full of tips and suggestions haha. 

addressing knowing chinese--do you mean that you’re currently learning chinese? if you’re considering learning them side-by-side i honestly don’t think that would be very helpful? the two languages developed independently of each other so they’re virtually unrelated grammatically. japanese kanji does come from china but, unless you’re talking about traditional chinese, almost all of the characters were edited to be faster to write, whereas the original versions are still used in japanese. i do think kanji is important (and fun!) to learn but you should take it slowly and don’t make it your first priority. you’re not going to want to learn a bunch of kanji right off the bat because you’re going to forget all of the ones that aren’t used in common words. i’d say learn a few every week or so? find a pace that works with you best.

if you mean that you already know chinese, there’s a handful of words which are similar and, if you can write it,you’ll be able to pick up kanji faster simply because your brain is already wired to interpret and recreate such characters. but tbh i don’t think it would be much of an advantage.

but before you even touch kanji, learn both kana systems. you can find guides fro them easily enough online. some ppl recommend not learning katakana but tbh i find that katakana is used very often. learn hiragana first going down the rows. at first i learned it five per day but i bumped up that speed after a while. keep writing them. write them whenever u have a free minute just write them over and over again and try to make their sounds as you do.

from this point.... it’s a little fuzzier? there’s a fuck ton of japanese resources out there online. not including textbooks you can buy or rent at ur local library. my suggestion is to find a resource that starts from the beginning and get going with it. no matter what website or book it is it’s not going to be perfect. keep this in mind. i remember with my first book it explained adjectives so poorly i gave up on learning japanese for months because i thought it was just too hard--but then i eventually found a different source which explained adjectives in like two sentences and it made perfect sense. so, whenever you’re using your primary reference and it confuses you, go to a secondary source and see if it explains it better. there’s so many resources out there you can find the explanation you need for any topic.

when you have a basic grasp of grammar, like ‘AはBです” levels of basic, start speaking and writing it. i have a little gaudy pink journal which contains my very first japanese journal to myself, written in glittery pink pen. for these journals don’t look up new words and don’t worry about being grammatically correct. just write. set a length requirement--maybe only four or five lines at first and then let that requirement grow larger and larger as it gets easier and easier for you to write. if you find yourself needing a word in english, like you got halfway through the sentences before suddenly realizing you don’t know the word you need, try to sound it out in katakana. believe it or not, it’s sometimes a struggle to understand english words said in japanese, so try to get yourself used to this concept. do try, however, to only use words you know and to write every day. it doesn’t matter if your journals start out like ‘my name is susan. i am seventeen. i went to school today. in the morning i ate breakfast. i had a test.’ just write.

as for talking, virtually the same rules apply. at first you’re going to have to force it, so try in the morning while you’re getting ready, or in the shower, while cooking... etc.. look up pronunciation videos online and soon you’ll find yourself not forcing out the japanese when you’re talking to yourself.

once you have a good basis in grammar, you can move on to learning more vocabulary. i, personally, used the jlpt sets on memrise, starting with n5. but, as with all sets, these aren’t perfect. memrise is, however, fucking great. use it to build sets of the vocabulary in your primary resource or vocabulary you think might be useful to you in your journals. memrise is themed around learning words being similar to taking care of plants, so it times when you should review different words. on the mobile app you can set it to alert you at a specified time to go over your words, and you can also set goals to drive you to review words or learn new words for a certain length of time every day. 

personally, for the words i add to my own personal lists, i don’t worry about kanji, as the jlpt sets all have kanji. you will, however, need to learn kanji using something else. personally, i used he book remembering the kanji but it’s not perfect. as with grammar, there’s a lot of different resources so find the one that explains kanji in the way you like best.

for me i made flashcards of kanji and went over them daily. when the number became too great for that, i went over all of them once a week and put the words i got wrong into a separate pile called my ‘stress words.’ i would go over these several times a day and then, once a week, would learn a few more kanji and add those to the new ‘stress words’ for that week. i also bought a mini white board to use when writing kanji but it’s also a good idea to practice with graph paper so you can learn to keep them in the proper shape and size.

another great app i liked a lot is hellotalk. it’s virtually an instant messaging app meant to connect you with people who are native speakers of the language you want to learn. since i used it, it has also become a little bit more facebook-esque,which i think can make things a bit awkward--as you can make a post about what ur eating or whatever and a japanese person might see it and then you can use that as a way to start conversation and avoid the awkwardness. it also has ways for you to limit what sex and age range can talk to you, but when i used the app recently i had people voice call me virtually immediately and i’m personally not comfortable with that :/ i’d hope that the app has maybe changed that setting but i haven’t checked. i’d suggest downloading it and seeing if the setting has changed or if ur comfortable with just refusing calls from people because having ppl to talk to is the best way to learn.

another website similar to hellotalk is lang-8, but, instead of instant messaging, on lang-8 you write journal entries in the language you’re learning and native speakers correct it--and then you correct their journals in exchange. obviously, you have to be a bit more advanced in japanese to manage this, but it’s very useful! your journals don’t have to be anything insightful--i remember writing one about how iced coffee is more popular in asia than it is in america and another about going to the grocery store. it’s also a good way to potentially meet ppl you may befriend and speak japanese to some day!

these next two are hella amazing. one is an app called imi wa? it’s a great dictionary app that helps you conjugate verbs, search kanji by not only radicals but by ‘primitives,’ and, best of all, has an analyze function which lets you paste in a block of text and defines all of them so you can translate sentences with much more ease. the other is rikai-kun (chrome), -chan (mozilla) and -sama (i forgot?). it’s another dictionary for ur browser that will let you scroll over words and immediately look over their definitions. you can develop an over reliance on it but at the beginning stages it’s going to be hella useful so, download it.

a great resource in particular to use with rikaikun is nhk easy , which is japanese news articles written for elementary and middle school students--and foreigners! you can set it so locations/names/businesses will appear in different colors and you can scroll over some words for definitions. the articles are also relatively short so i’d recommend going through at least one a day to practice your reading. also considering following japanese fans or artists on twitter and trying to translate their tweets--but if you find yourself getting overwhelmed by the number or length of tweets, don’t feel pressured to understand all of them. a lot of learning a language by yourself is trying to avoid frustrating yourself--since you’re studying alone, there’s nothing to keep you from giving up aside from yourself. so if you find yourself getting very frustrated, you should probably switch up what you’re doing.

in terms of practicing your listening skills, i’d recommend watching dramas. try to find half hour long dramas (or just watch half an hour long episode) and then immediately after watching the half hour, watch it again without subtitles. at first you’ll feel like you get absolutely nothing out of this, but stick with it.make sure not to play with your phone or distract yourself while listening. try to remember what the characters said or what’s going on in the episode. soon you’ll find yourself recognizing words!!! then phrases!!! then sentences!! then you’ll be able to understand it on your own!

if you really like anime, you can also watch anime at first or every once in a while--but i’d really recommend dramas. people in anime don’t speak like normal people do, but it can be easier to recognize words and such because their voices are clearer. dramas better reflect the way actual japanese people speak. (however i wouldn’t recommend watching something like terrace house because it is actual people talking and the mics aren’t perfect. if you’re a student, i’d say to watch high school dramas because they will contain words which may be relevant to you in your journals and while talking to ourself and what not!)

you can also rewatch episodes with the screen blackened, so you’re just listening to it? i personally think this is lots of fun but that’s just me.

songs tend to follow their own grammatical rhythms so they’re not too useful for studying aside from vocabulary. 

the key, to me, at least, was to study every day. my schedule was:

1. talk to self.

2. study stress words (once a week go over all kanji)

3. half hour drama episode (watch twice)

4. nhk article

5. journal

6. memrise vocab

7. translating tweets

the key is to try to study every day and to make a schedule of your own which lines up with how much free time you have. you can divide drama episodes into ten minute blocks, read your article on the bus, write your journal before bed and do memrise while waiting in line at the grocery store. just find something which works for you--and don’t let yourself get frustrated. even if you’re tired as all fuck, try to at least reach your memrise goals or watch your drama episode, or whatever study method you find the most useful. it’s hard work, but be nice to yourself!

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