Last week we took a look at the crazy Lowspeak quality of conjoined words and phrases; this week, we'll look at some pronunciation concepts.
Grammar in Lowspeak is largely a reflection of the three languages Ingliss, Latin, and Ceicion. The grammar 'rules' can vary quite a bit from place to place, so speakers of Lowspeak tend to focus on clarity far more than convention.
Probably the most important grammar concept is that of the double vowel. Again, there are numerous exceptions, most of which may be viewed as localizations, but much of the time, when looking at any word with two of the same vowel together, one of three spoken pronunciations are generally used: a holding of the long vowel sound; a holding of the short vowel sound, and an extra syllable.
The Lowspeak word poomat, which looks suspicious in English, refers to a processed apple product of some sort, without being specific as to which one. There are many such products in existence, and they are used in many more, so this word will appear on the ingredient labels of literally thousands of consumer and industrial products, available all across the border reaches. Though spelled the same, Poomat might be pronounced POE-mat, PAH-mat, or POE-oh-mat in Lowspeak, depending upon where you are. The added syllable is probably the most commonly used convention, simply because it is at least recognized in most Lowspeaking communities.
pilaandra = peel-AHN-dra; pill-AHN-dra; peel-ANN-dra; pill-ANN-dra; peel-ah-AHN-dra (Meaning: Important person or VIP.)
sobiir = sew-BEER; saw-BIRE (long "i", and pronounced more like a single syllable, than two); sob-ee-EAR (Meaning: Something easily understandable in hindsight.)
juutiner = jew-TEE-ner; JUH-tin-ar; jew-OO-tee-near (Meaning: Condiments, such as hot sauce, relish, ketchup, etc.)
The letter "R" is often trilled on the tongue, like with many romance languages on Terra; though words imported from Ingliss just as often don't do this.
When in written form, physical directions referring to a place or destination, such a right ("Steber"), left ("Porit"), straight ahead "Ayro"), etc., are always capitalized.
In written form, proper nouns such as names are often, though not exclusively, used in place of pronouns. ("You saw John today? How is John doing? I've been worried about John.")
More to come...
-David