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ArchivesATTN: Lala
Hi Lala
I was wondering if you could help me with the pronouncement of these names?
Avani
Devika
Kalyani
Makara
Samina
Shanasa
Sitara
Sundari
Sunila
Tamanna
Tarika
Ravi
Now i'm not sure if all these names are Indian/Hindi etc. but i'm sure you know more about the pronouncement than i do!
Thank you!
I was wondering if you could help me with the pronouncement of these names?
Avani
Devika
Kalyani
Makara
Samina
Shanasa
Sitara
Sundari
Sunila
Tamanna
Tarika
Ravi
Now i'm not sure if all these names are Indian/Hindi etc. but i'm sure you know more about the pronouncement than i do!
Thank you!
1
Replies
Hi Indy.
One thing before we start. You never call Indian names Hindi. Hindi is just a language spoken in India. They are just Indian Names, and most of them (almost all) are derived from Sanskrit, Just like English names are from Latin. You don't call them Hindu names either, unless it refers to a character in Hindu Mythology. Hindu Mythology names are a subset of Indian names, Like Biblical Names in English. Sorry, just pet peeve of mine - not trying to be rude ;)
Avani- AVEN-ee (AVEN rhymes with DOVE-in)
Devika- THEY-vee-kah (THEY should rhyme with DAY)
Kalyani- CUL-yah-nee (CUL should rhyme with GULL [as in Seagull])
Makara- not Indian, so I wouldn't know
Samina-ditto
Shanasa- ditto
Sitara- My friend was named this - see-THAR-ah (THAR should rhyme w/bar)
Sundari- This is the first word in a classic Tamil Song :) SOON-tha-ree (say the "OO" like you would say it in "SOOT")
Sunila- soon-NEE-la (see above for the OO)
Tamanna- no clue whether its Indian or not :(
Tarika- ditto
Ravi- RAV-ee (RAV should rhyme with DOVE)
Lala
One thing before we start. You never call Indian names Hindi. Hindi is just a language spoken in India. They are just Indian Names, and most of them (almost all) are derived from Sanskrit, Just like English names are from Latin. You don't call them Hindu names either, unless it refers to a character in Hindu Mythology. Hindu Mythology names are a subset of Indian names, Like Biblical Names in English. Sorry, just pet peeve of mine - not trying to be rude ;)
Avani- AVEN-ee (AVEN rhymes with DOVE-in)
Devika- THEY-vee-kah (THEY should rhyme with DAY)
Kalyani- CUL-yah-nee (CUL should rhyme with GULL [as in Seagull])
Makara- not Indian, so I wouldn't know
Samina-ditto
Shanasa- ditto
Sitara- My friend was named this - see-THAR-ah (THAR should rhyme w/bar)
Sundari- This is the first word in a classic Tamil Song :) SOON-tha-ree (say the "OO" like you would say it in "SOOT")
Sunila- soon-NEE-la (see above for the OO)
Tamanna- no clue whether its Indian or not :(
Tarika- ditto
Ravi- RAV-ee (RAV should rhyme with DOVE)
Lala
1
So you say the 'd' in Devika sounds exactly like the 't' in Sitara, and both sound like English 'th'? I don't think so.
The 'd' in Devika is a voiced dental plosive (quite like an English 'd'). For English speakers 'th' represents a dental fricative. The 't' in Sitara is an unvoiced dental plosive.
Tamanna is Arabic, and the final 'a' is long by the way
The 'd' in Devika is a voiced dental plosive (quite like an English 'd'). For English speakers 'th' represents a dental fricative. The 't' in Sitara is an unvoiced dental plosive.
Tamanna is Arabic, and the final 'a' is long by the way
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Well it's nice to read your post as a foreigner, because i have NO CLUE what ""a voiced dental plosive"" is, same for "a dental fricative"...now if you can say that in easier english, i *might* have a clue about what you're talking about!
Devika is still high on my list, so i'd be nice if i know what you're talking about...lol
Devika is still high on my list, so i'd be nice if i know what you're talking about...lol
1
O.K., it's not that complicated.
Devika: DAY-vee-ka
Sitara: See-TA-ra
If you want to be really precise, you place the tip of your tongue against your teeth when articulating the 'd' and 't'. This in order to distinguish them clearly from the other, palatal 'd' and 't' that Sanskrit has. An English 'd' is often articulated somewhere in between (alveolar).
Devika: DAY-vee-ka
Sitara: See-TA-ra
If you want to be really precise, you place the tip of your tongue against your teeth when articulating the 'd' and 't'. This in order to distinguish them clearly from the other, palatal 'd' and 't' that Sanskrit has. An English 'd' is often articulated somewhere in between (alveolar).
1
ATTN Anon
Excuse, I know many people with the name Devika, and a person with the name Sitara. The "t" most of the time in Sanskrit, translated to English, is prn. like a TH sound.
Devika is prn THEY-vee-kah. They "d" and "th" sounds are pretty much identical.
Once again, Sitara is prn. see-THAR-ah
Lala
Excuse, I know many people with the name Devika, and a person with the name Sitara. The "t" most of the time in Sanskrit, translated to English, is prn. like a TH sound.
Devika is prn THEY-vee-kah. They "d" and "th" sounds are pretty much identical.
Once again, Sitara is prn. see-THAR-ah
Lala
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Riiiiiiiiight..well while the end of your post seems latin to me, i do understand what you mean now...thanks!
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I didn't know there was a racial theory of knowledge.
If there is anything in my post you don't understand, I'd be glad to explain.
If there is anything in my post you don't understand, I'd be glad to explain.
1
I got high distinctions in linguistics at university, thankyou, so I understood all of it. My POINT was that I'd trust Lala's judgement about these matters because she is part of an Indian family and has Indian friends, so her knowledge of the pronunciation of Indian names is based on knowing the language and, quite often, knowing people with those names.
Your post also assumed that the letters assigned to Indian sounds in English are always consistent. That's not a good assumption as these names may not have been transposed at the same time. Witness Australian Aboriginal place-names, which have a plethora of spellings from different times, different ears and different understandings.
Your post also assumed that the letters assigned to Indian sounds in English are always consistent. That's not a good assumption as these names may not have been transposed at the same time. Witness Australian Aboriginal place-names, which have a plethora of spellings from different times, different ears and different understandings.
1
You say '(I) assumed that the letters assigned to Indian sounds in English are always consistent. That's not a good assumption'
It is a necessary assumption for any transcription-system to work.
All users need to agree from the start what each English letter (-combination) stands for. The system Lala used, 'Self-Pronouncing', is called self-pronouncing because every letter is pronounced in the most obvious English manner. By using 'th' for a dental plosive, Lala broke that rule. (And by using the same 'th' for 2 different sounds, 'd' and 't' she broke another).
It is a necessary assumption for any transcription-system to work.
All users need to agree from the start what each English letter (-combination) stands for. The system Lala used, 'Self-Pronouncing', is called self-pronouncing because every letter is pronounced in the most obvious English manner. By using 'th' for a dental plosive, Lala broke that rule. (And by using the same 'th' for 2 different sounds, 'd' and 't' she broke another).
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Will you stop now? i think we all get your point..Now i know what Lala ment, i know what you ment though i still have no idea what dental plosive means (makes me think of an explosive dentist) but i'm foreign so you can't blame me for that lol..Thank you a lot for explaining the pr's etc, but when it comes to the pr's i trust Lala because she is Indian and knows a lot about it...even though her explanations may not been very succesfully chosen...lol
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Actually DOVE is a bit misleading, as it could be the bird or the past tense of dive, which are pron. differently.
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Thank you so much!! I knew Hindi is a language, but that is pretty much all i know about that and indian names..lol
Now there's only one thing i don't understand, and that is how (with Avani) "AVEN rhymes with DOVE"...now, the word 'dove' doesn't appear in my vocabulary (i'm Dutch) so can you explain that with another (rhyming) word? Because i can't see AVEN rhyming with DOVE...
But thanks so much for the others!
Now there's only one thing i don't understand, and that is how (with Avani) "AVEN rhymes with DOVE"...now, the word 'dove' doesn't appear in my vocabulary (i'm Dutch) so can you explain that with another (rhyming) word? Because i can't see AVEN rhyming with DOVE...
But thanks so much for the others!
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