How to write "Krteček" for native english speaker?

Discussion in 'Grammar & Pronunciation' started by Alexx, Nov 22, 2007.

  1. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Hi,

    I have a little trouble - I need to write "Krtek" or "Krteček" for my friend, native english, and I need he can read it propriate way.

    I know there are some examples of transcription of czech words in this forum, I found some in wikipedia:

    Těší mě. (Tyehshee mnyeh.)
    Děkuji. (Dyekooyih.)
    ...

    Krteček
    Krtek
    Krteček a jeho kamarádi

    Thanks for help

    EDIT: For those who doesn't know:
    [​IMG]
     
  2. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    Not real sure...

    my try would be:

    CURT-eh-check, CURT-ek

    Assuming that that the pronunciation is similar to that of krk (neck), the vocal stops are just a bit different but, an English speaking reader would come pretty close with these (I think). There is no real way to write the more heavily rolled "r" - it doesn't normally exist in English except to say that it resembles a Scottish or Spanish "r" (if the person you are writing to is familiar with those).

    BTW, to my untrained ears, Děkuji sounds a bit more like D'YEH-kwee to me - of course that misses some of the vocal nuances you can only get from actually hearing the word. "Dyekooyih" could be mispronounced as dai-ku-je (written for a Czech speaker) by a native English speaker reading it for the first time (dye is a common English word and is pronounced "dai").

    Of course, I could be way wrong with all of this :?
     
  3. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Thanks for reply. Yes, the "krt" part is the biggest problem.
     
  4. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Heh, Curt-eh-czech would be nice :)
     
  5. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    cute - and it would work :lol:
     
  6. Karel_lerak

    Karel_lerak Well-Known Member

    Just don't forget, that Kr-te-ček has three syllables, take the T from Curt to the EH in the second syllable (not an easy task ...) 8)
     
  7. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    well...
    that's what I meant about vocal stops :wink:
     
  8. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    So this is who I wanted it for:

    [​IMG]
     
  9. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Happy little krtek for the cute little czech.

    kr....english speaker will always be waiting for the next letter

    to me the english r and the czech r have little in common.
     
  10. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Hey, I just thought about this.
    How about

    krteček....in eniglish pronuciation...cur-te-chek

    there is an english word...cur, but of course the r isn't rolled
     
  11. Troll

    Troll Well-Known Member

    We learned that there is no R pronounced at the end of such words like cur, car, fir, etc.

    e.g.

    my car - pronounced /ka:/ (with aspirated k, of course)

    only if the next word begins with a vowel, the R is pronounced:

    my car is black - pronounced /... ka:riz .../ (with liaison).

    So the English pronunciation of CUR-teh-check has no R at all (I think).
    (indeed I do not hear any kind of R in car, fir, bird, ... in the pronunciation provided by www.seznam.cz)
     
  12. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Hmmmm...I would say a 'hard R' is not heard at the end of a word when pronounced in english, but the 'soft R' as in 'her' is heard.

    In New England the ˇR' is much less stressed, even nonexistent.
    But that is exclusively regional to that area.

    To me the czech 'R' sounds like the american 'soft R' two three quich 'd' sounds.

    Maybe Glenns example is better, that allows the 'soft R' sound to be heard.

    The different sounds of the letter 'C'.
    As in 'car', and 'celery'
    You would say 'aspirated' and 'unaspirated'?
    Our terminology is 'hard' and 'soft'.
     
  13. Troll

    Troll Well-Known Member

    No. The aspiration is something else. The consonants p, t, k are strongly aspirated in English. In Czech the consonants p, t, k are pronounced without any aspiration. For our Czech ears the English aspiration sounds like a puff out/sigh out.
     
  14. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    I don't type so well... this is what I meant.
    To me the czech 'R' sounds like the american 'soft R' , but with two or three quick 'd' sounds.

    Aha...I see what is meant by the aspiration now.
    That need to remember that.
     
  15. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Like scrimshaw said, that is very specific to one region. The rest of the country uses the r. Watch American news, most Americans speak like journalist, unless it's local news from a specific region like the South or Jersey, etc.

    Perhaps it's English from the UK that doesn't use an r sound. When I listen to British news, I have to listen closely to understand everything because the English accent is so different.
     
  16. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    "Pahk yeh cah in Hahvahd yahd." :lol:
     
  17. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    and P-S-D-S is pierced ears up there :wink:
     
  18. Troll

    Troll Well-Known Member

  19. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Don't know about for others, but my czech slovník does not speak, but the first link did.

    Here is a hint for english learners though.

    bar......short A
    bare....long A....the A sounds like in the word air.

    E at the end of words makes the proceeding consonant 'Long'(usually)
    fat...fate
    mat...mate
    bit ...bite
    mop....mope

    I wish the czech slovník would pronounce words out loud in czech.
     
  20. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    :) If she is czech then her parents are czech and then I would not need it to write for them cur-te-czech :)

    Her mother is french father is english, they are living in London (picture taken in Tate Modern).
     

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