[net.nlang] The Esperanto alphabet

andyb@dartvax.UUCP (Andy Behrens) (01/14/85)

>  In the meantime, can someone explain the usage of the '^' in some
>  esperanto words? 

The Esperanto alphabet has 28 letters.  Five of the consonants
have a circumflex accent; in addition there is a "short u" which
is printed as a U with a breve symbol over it.  We have chosen
to type these on a terminal as ^c, ^g, ^h, ^j, ^s, and ^u, respectively.

Here is the alphabet.  I have indicated the approximate pronunciation
of those letters that might be confusing to English speakers.

    A          B          C          ^C         
    fAther                TSar       CHurch

    D          E          F          G
               mAke                  Go

    ^G         H          ^H         I          
    Join                  loCH       marIne

    J          ^J         K          L
    Yoke       aZure

    M          N          O          P          
                          Go

    R          S          ^S         T
(a rolled r)               SHow

    U          ^U         V          Z
    bOOt       coW

J and ^U always form diphthongs with adjacent vowels, and never form
syllables by themselves.  All words are accented on the next-to-last
syllable.

					Andy Behrens

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