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Vowels

One of the biggest problems of the basic transcription is the correct account of vowel quantities and qualities. It is advisable to use the DUDEN when in doubt, even if the respective word is unusal or not of German origin: Firstly, the DUDEN contains a lot more than one would expect initially. Secondly, it is possible to derive more complex units from simpler ones.

Example: Arcor can be derived from:
  Arco Q'arko
  + Chor ko:6
  = Q'arko:6
With vowel length it also has to be taken into consideration that a shift of stress may well result in the shortening of a vowel. Transcription mistakes often occur within a word family.
Example: Telefon telef'o:n
  telefonieren telefon'i:r@n
     
  But see also:
     
  Pulli p'Uli
  Pullis p'Ulis
In the usage of the glottal stop we suggest some deviation from the conventions of the DUDEN. While the DUDEN doesn't indicate the glottal stop in the beginning of words, and not consistently within words, we've decided to leave out the glottal stop in only one case: If the vowel occurs in a position where it is usually never stressed.
Example: und Q'Unt
  Aimee-und-Jaguar QEm''e:Untj'a:gua:r
  ab Q'ap
  unabh''angig Q'UnQaph''ENIC
Also different to what we find in the DUDEN should be the handling of non-syllabic /i/. Instead of diacritics we suggest the usage of the symbol /j/, which is much more in accordance with the phonetic reality.
Example: Funktion fUNktsj'o:n
  Kom''odien kom''2:dj@n


next up previous contents
Next: Vocalised r Up: Basic Transcription Previous: Basic Transcription   Contents
BITS Projekt-Account 2004-06-01