For the most part, you can pronounce words from the Planting Life conlang as they are written. I’ve tried to keep sounds and spelling as close to America Broadcast Standard (ie, what many of us have come to think of as ‘normal’ American English — what they use on TV) as possible. But if you don’t speak ABS, you can still just read as you normally would — just like English, this language has several dialects and accents. Your pronunciation can be one of them. That said, there are a few sounds in language that aren’t found in most English dialects. And vowels are much more limited. So below is a pronunciation guide for names and (further down) a sound chart for what each letter/letter grouping sounds like. I’m going to add sound files for each name as I can.
Pronunciation Guide
| Name | Pronunciation in IPA |
|---|---|
| Aiulefengk | aiɯlɜfɜŋK |
| Chainchyu | ʈ͡ʂaint͡ɕ (j)ɯ |
| Chestef | ʈ͡ʂɜstɜf |
| Chotaikytsai | ʈ͡ʂotaik(j)t͡sai |
| Kolchais | Kolʈ͡ʂais |
| Kyawtchais | k(j)ɑt͡ɕais |
| Lefeng | lɜfɜŋ |
| Paiespaiokp | paiɜspaioKp |
| Paiokp | paioKp |
| Penpy | pɜnp(j) |
| Poutsnepstsaipn | poɯt͡snɜpt͡saipn |
| Tsawaw | t͡sɑɑ |
| Tsouchm | t͡soɯʈ͡ʂm |
| Tsukstaifupy | TsɯKstaifupy |
SoundChart
Below you’ll find each letter/letter combination as written, it’s International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol (with link to pronunciation audio file), and (where markedly different from American Broadcast Standard) how it is pronounced.
| As Written | IPA Symbol | How It’s Pronounced |
|---|---|---|
| p | P | |
| m | m | |
| n | n | |
| s | s | |
| l | l | |
| k | K | |
| ng | ŋ | |
| kh | x | |
| ch | ʈ͡ʂ | |
| ts | t͡s | |
| tch | t͡ɕ | |
| tchy | t͡ɕ (j) | Like the Spanish ‘ñ’, but replace the ‘n’ sound with ‘tch’, ‘tch-yah’ |
| ty | t(j) | Like the spanish ‘ñ’, but replace the ‘n’ sound with ‘t’, ‘t-yah’ |
| t | T | |
| f | f | |
| sh/zh | ʂ/ʐ | |
| py | p(j) | Like the Spanish ‘ñ’, but replace the ‘n’ sound with ‘p’, ‘p-yah’ |
| ky | k(j) | Like the Spanish ‘ñ’, but replace the ‘n’ sound with ‘k’, ‘k-yah’ |
| chy | ʈ͡ʂ (j) | Like the Spanish ‘ñ’, but replace the ‘n’ sound with ‘ch’, ‘ch-yah’ |
| tsy | t͡s (j) | Like the Spanish ‘ñ’, but replace the ‘n’ sound with ‘ts’, ‘ts-yah’ |
| e | ɜ | Like the ‘i’ in ‘bird |
| ai | ai | Like the ‘ie’ in ‘die’ |
| u | ɯ | Like the ‘u’ in ‘put’ |
| o | o | Like the ‘o’ in ‘pillow’ |
| au | ʌ | Like the ‘ou’ in ‘bought’ |
| aw | ɑ | Like the ‘aw’ in ‘saw’, but said towards the back of the mouth — pretend you are Sean Connery |
You can listen to each sound on the IPA chart here.