A movie on Cúchulainn

**bobbin** · 02-22-2010, 00:56

Originally Posted by geala

BTW, how is Cuchulainn pronounced? I do it normally like Cou-chou-linn (like in "you", "check" and "Lindisfarne", Ku-tschu-lin in German), all syllables short and I accentuate the first syllable (although the accent on the second syllable would make a more impressive name in my ears).

More like "koo khullin" with the "kh" sounding like the "ch" in the scottish "loch" but starting with a almost silent "k" sound (infact you could get away with just saying "koo hullin"). "khullin" should be said quickly with the stress on the first syllable.

**athanaric** · 02-22-2010, 08:56

Originally Posted by bobbin

More like "koo khullin" with the "kh" sounding like the "ch" in the scottish "loch" but starting with a almost silent "k" sound (infact you could get away with just saying "koo hullin"). "khullin" should be said quickly with the stress on the first syllable.

Like [ku 'xuli:n]?

**bobbin** · 02-22-2010, 13:33

Originally Posted by athanaric

Like [ku 'xuli:n]?

Actually [ku:'ːxʊlɪnʲ] but i'm not very fluent in IPA and I think most people wouldn't be. The wikipedia page has a recording of the pronounciation if anyone wants to hear it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA_Chulainn

Originally Posted by geala

Thanks. But I'm still a bit dazzled. Is "oo" differently spoken to "u"? Is it the English pronunciation what you mean? I don't think so, because "u" in English is mostly pronounced like the "a" in "are". Is "oo" more a long "o" or more like "ou" in "you" or "oo" in "cool" (which sounds like ou in you, both more or less a long "u" in German)? In German we pronounce the "u" like "ou" in "you" and the "ch" like in "loch", the "i" like an English "ee". So I would pronounce Cuchulainn now like Ku-(c)hu-linn (German pronunciation) or Cou-(c)hou-lin (English pronunciation).

It would be much more easy if the English speaking people would speak as they write.

Ah sorry yes it can be a bit confusing, the first "u" is long (as in the german "für") the second is short. I wrote it as "oo" to differentiate from the short "u" later. The "i" is also short like in the english "bin" or "sin".
Remember the name isn't from english hence the pronounciation is different.

**Ibrahim** · 02-23-2010, 07:41

Originally Posted by bobbin

Actually [ku:'ːxʊlɪnʲ] but i'm not very fluent in IPA and I think most people wouldn't be. The wikipedia page has a recording of the pronounciation if anyone wants to hear it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA_Chulainn

Ah sorry yes it can be a bit confusing, the first "u" is long (as in the german "für") the second is short. I wrote it as "oo" to differentiate from the short "u" later. The "i" is also short like in the english "bin" or "sin".
Remember the name isn't from english hence the pronounciation is different.

kʏ:'xylɪnʲ, based on your description. the umlaut u in german (or the goose's "oo"

) is represented roughly by IPA /y/, not /u/. and the IPA for the i in Sin (assuming RP or GA pronunciation), is a slightly different character-If I didn't know better, I'd have said it as roughly kʏ:kɜlɪən

**athanaric** · 02-23-2010, 08:59

It's [kʏ:'ːxʊlɪnʲ], according to the sound sample on wikipedia. They are contradicting their own text...

Originally Posted by Ibrahim

the umlaut u in german (or the goose's "oo"

) is represented roughly by IPA /y/, not /u/.

Ahem. That would be the "goose" in RP, in very Received Pronunciation, that is.
In German, there are variations of the ü, mainly short [ʏ] and long [y]. Also, German vowels are not quite as nasal as English ones (which makes it easy to spot a German accent).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Ibrahim** · 02-24-2010, 03:03

Originally Posted by athanaric

It's [kʏ:'ːxʊlɪnʲ], according to the sound sample on wikipedia. They are contradicting their own text...

Ahem. That would be the "goose" in RP, in very Received Pronunciation, that is.
In German, there are variations of the ü, mainly short [ʏ] and long [y]. Also, German vowels are not quite as nasal as English ones (which makes it easy to spot a German accent).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I wasn't referring to RP with the goose part: in Ohio and Indiana, goose really is pronunced the same way the umlaut u is in german (specifically the long one). its part of the reason I can tell that fuer=/= fur in german

(its almost as nasalised as in german). I speak english the same way my mom does, and she's from western Ohio, so it kinda goes from there...

actually, we have all the hard vowels german has (minus the short umlaut u): the long umlaut o is found in "stone", the short one in "toe", the long umlaut u is in "goose" and "moon", etc. what can I say, its great to learn english from there (minus the "warsh" and the "we was", both of which I don't do)

as to why we arabs invented those sounds: we didn't. they were already there in proto-semetic. we actually have fewer consonants in Arabic than Protosemetic. just be thankful classical arabic gim and dad are said differently today than the 7th century

*edit: added stuff.

**Cadwalader** · 02-24-2010, 10:10

Originally Posted by athanaric

It's [kʏ:'ːxʊlɪnʲ]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Sorry, but this coming from a Dane? Take a look at this Danish sentence:

Rakkeren vred Anders Grås hest om på ryggen og begyndte at åbne den.

Now written in IPA:

[ˈʁɑɡ̊ɐɐn ˈʋʁæð̪ˀ ɑnɐs ˈɡ̊ʁɔːˀs ˈhɛsd̥ ˈʌm pʰɔ ˈʁœɡ̊ŋ̩ ʌ b̥ˈɡ̊ønˀd̥ʌ ʌ ˈɔːb̥nə d̥n̩]

See what I mean?

**athanaric** · 02-24-2010, 11:43

Originally Posted by Cadwalader

Sorry, but this coming from a Dane?

I'm German (sometimes I'd rather be Danish though). Kimbrolandam encompasses part of modern Germany...

Take a look at this Danish sentence: [...] See what I mean?

Nice

I'll try to pronounce it...

**geala** · 02-22-2010, 13:28

Originally Posted by bobbin

More like "koo khullin" with the "kh" sounding like the "ch" in the scottish "loch" but starting with a almost silent "k" sound (infact you could get away with just saying "koo hullin"). "khullin" should be said quickly with the stress on the first syllable.

Thanks. But I'm still a bit dazzled. Is "oo" differently spoken to "u"? Is it the English pronunciation what you mean? I don't think so, because "u" in English is mostly pronounced like the "a" in "are". Is "oo" more a long "o" or more like "ou" in "you" or "oo" in "cool" (which sounds like ou in you, both more or less a long "u" in German)? In German we pronounce the "u" like "ou" in "you" and the "ch" like in "loch", the "i" like an English "ee". So I would pronounce Cuchulainn now like Ku-(c)hu-linn (German pronunciation) or Cou-(c)hou-lin (English pronunciation).

It would be much more easy if the English speaking people would speak as they write.