D'ni Language Lesson 3: Alphabet (2/5)
(08/05 22:03:48) Chat.log started...
(08/05 22:03:56) From Filippe in DRC (30) Neighborhood: there is a d'ni language class being given by Ian in drc30 classroom now if anyone is interested..
(08/05 22:05:07) IanWatson: Shorah, peni!
(08/05 22:05:11) Filippe: i just realized...
(08/05 22:05:19) IanWatson: Just realized what?
(08/05 22:05:37) Filippe: we have the same neighbors,ian :)
(08/05 22:05:48) IanWatson: Yes, I know. ;)
(08/05 22:06:06) IanWatson: Okay, now that we're all here, we'll get started.
(08/05 22:06:11) IanWatson: Before I do, I want to mention something...
(08/05 22:06:21) IanWatson: This may be the last meeting held in DRC (30).
(08/05 22:06:56) IanWatson: Domahreh, head of the D'ni Linguistic Fellowship, caught wind of these lessons and told me he was impressed. He's been wanting to do lessons like this for a while...
(08/05 22:07:23) IanWatson: Especially now with Uru Live starting up. He just couldn't find interested teachers (which is where I come in).
(08/05 22:07:42) IanWatson: So these lessons will likely continue, but under the banner of the DLF, and probably hosted in their Hood rather than here.
(08/05 22:08:13) IanWatson: So, let's get started!
(08/05 22:08:23) IanWatson: Anyone have any outstanding questions from last week?
(08/05 22:08:45) Filippe: not here..
(08/05 22:09:05) IanWatson: Groovy. Let's move on to the next lesson.
(08/05 22:09:53) IanWatson: Just to take a step back to last week for a moment, I want to point out (or remind people) that the first four letters are one of the foundations of all the rest of the letters.
(08/05 22:10:46) IanWatson: Every fifth letter has a stem like V, then a semicircle like T, then a zigzag like S, then a right angle like J.
v t s j
(08/05 22:11:34) IanWatson: Those four stems are combined with four different bases to create a letter. This is exactly the same way the numbers work: 10 and 4 make 14, and so on.
) + 4 = $
e + j = d
e + j = d
(08/05 22:12:19) IanWatson: So we're starting here, with the first letter in the yellow section.
5 : y : y
(08/05 22:12:26) IanWatson: It's a fairly flat base.
(08/05 22:12:35) IanWatson: All five letters we're covering today have this base.
(08/05 22:12:55) IanWatson: This letter represents the Y sound, like in "Yeesha."
(08/05 22:13:21) IanWatson: Note that this is treated like a consonant... it's not the Y in "happy," because that's more of an EE sound.
(08/05 22:13:35) IanWatson: Y matches up to the D'ni number 5.
(08/05 22:14:17) IanWatson: The next letter along is the flat base with a single line coming from it. It comes from the D'ni number 6.
6 : k : k
(08/05 22:14:25) IanWatson: It makes a kh sound.
(08/05 22:15:08) IanWatson: The kh sound can best be approximated by the hard "ch" you get from the composer "Bach," or the first sound in "Chanukkah."
(08/05 22:16:13) IanWatson: As before, most times when a letter is accented, the basic letter is a fricative, whereas the accented letter is stopped by the tongue or lips.
(08/05 22:16:51) IanWatson: So in this case, the kh can be accented. The accent is beside the stem on the left. The sound it makes is a more standard K sound, like in "kiss" or in "Kevin."
K
(08/05 22:17:20) IanWatson: Questions so far?
(08/05 22:17:50) FussBudgie waves
(08/05 22:17:53) IanWatson: Hey, Stephen, FussBudgie.
(08/05 22:18:21) IanWatson: I'll wait until you're both here before continuing.
(08/05 22:18:27) FussBudgie: hi, guys
(08/05 22:18:32) Stephen C. waves
(08/05 22:18:40) peni waves
(08/05 22:18:44) FussBudgie: Hey, peni
(08/05 22:18:56) FussBudgie: Sorry, gotta leave now
(08/05 22:19:04) IanWatson: No problem.
(08/05 22:19:10) Stephen C.: Guessing no one here that needs help with there ages
(08/05 22:19:25) IanWatson: Probably not. (:
(08/05 22:19:43) IanWatson: Okay, moving right along...
(08/05 22:20:17) IanWatson: This next one is a semicircle, like the T from last week, but with the Y base. It matches up with the D'ni 7.
7 : a : a
(08/05 22:20:56) IanWatson: It makes an "ah" sound, like "car" and in "arm."
(08/05 22:21:44) Stephen C. waves
(08/05 22:22:25) IanWatson: The AH can be accented (the accent is on the right-hand side). The accented sound is usually transliterated as a capital letter i.
I
(08/05 22:22:49) IanWatson: It makes an I sound... like in "eye" or in "five."
(08/05 22:24:12) IanWatson: The fourth one along here is sort of the zigzag seen in the letter S from last week, but with the Y base. It corresponds to the number 8.
8 : f : f
(08/05 22:24:46) IanWatson: It makes an F sound, like in "fast" or in "Filippe." :D
(08/05 22:25:20) IanWatson: This one, unsurprisingly, is also accented, on the right.
p
(08/05 22:25:38) IanWatson: The accented letter makes a P sound, like in "pizza" or "peni."
(08/05 22:26:07) From peni: :)
(08/05 22:26:09) IanWatson: Any questions?
(08/05 22:26:28) Filippe: i'm good so far...
(08/05 22:26:54) Stephen C.: little lost but i think i'll get it
(08/05 22:27:18) IanWatson: There'll be a log and visual aids up on the website later.
(08/05 22:27:32) Stephen C.: ok
(08/05 22:27:57) IanWatson: This last letter takes the top of the J from last week and adds the Y bottom. It sort of looks like the left-hand side of a square.
9 : i : i
(08/05 22:28:41) IanWatson: It makes an "ih" sound. It's usually transliterated as a small i to differentiate it from the capital-I a couple of letters back.
(08/05 22:28:54) IanWatson: This one corresponds to the D'ni number 9.
(08/05 22:29:17) IanWatson: It's accented on the right... the accent sort of makes it look like the letter E.
E
(08/05 22:29:46) IanWatson: The sound it makes is, appropriately, "EE," like in "beef" or in "week."
(08/05 22:29:50) IanWatson: Or in "Ian."
(08/05 22:31:18) IanWatson: So that's this week's lesson. Make sure you've got those written down. As before, I suggest writing them over and over again, like in grade school, so you get the look of them (and hopefully the sound) imprinted in your mind.
(08/05 22:31:59) IanWatson: Just as a note... the D'ni only had 11 accented letters. Last week we did three, this week we did four. So there are only four more to go. :D
(08/05 22:32:26) IanWatson: You also picked up the first four of the 11 vowel sounds.
(08/05 22:33:08) IanWatson: So we're only two-fifths of the way through, and already you've got a pretty good foundation to work on.
(08/05 22:33:15) IanWatson claps his hands
(08/05 22:33:27) Filippe cheers
(08/05 22:33:37) IanWatson: Congratulations! :D
(08/05 22:33:47) peni: thank you Ian
(08/05 22:33:53) IanWatson: You're welcome!
(08/05 22:33:57) Avaric: Thank you
(08/05 22:34:04) Stephen C. thanks you very much!
(08/05 22:34:08) Filippe: thanx ian
(08/05 22:34:16) IanWatson: Next week we'll be doing letters 10-14. Two more accented letters, two more vowels.
(08/05 22:34:45) IanWatson: The chatlog will be made available at the new site I set up: http://community.livejournal.com/dni_language
(08/05 22:35:02) IanWatson: The previous two lessons can be seen there as well, if you need to refresh yourself.
(08/05 22:35:03) K'oa (I'm on the surface, be back in a minute):
(08/05 22:35:21) K'oa waves
(08/05 22:35:57) IanWatson: So thanks for coming, everyone. Keep an eye on the Coming Events KImail to find out when the next lesson's happening.
(08/05 22:36:09) peni: ok
(08/05 22:36:13) K'oa: Drats, I missed it...
(08/05 22:36:34) K'oa is sad
(08/05 22:36:42) IanWatson: Sorry you missed everything, K'oa. You can check out the chatlog at community.livejournal.com/dni_language if you want. :D
(08/05 22:36:50) K'oa: Will do!
(08/05 22:36:53) K'oa cheers
(08/05 22:37:02) IanWatson: Thanks again, and take care, all.
(08/05 22:37:10) ...Chat.log stopped.
5 : 5
y : y 6 : 6
k : kh
K : k7 : 7
a : a
I : I8 : 8
f : f
p : p9 : 9
i : ih
E : ee