Would speakers of this language have trouble pronouncing English?

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LittleLynx_53
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Would speakers of this language have trouble pronouncing English?

Post by LittleLynx_53 »

Hello. This is my first experience with making a conlang.
I've been doing my research and putting together a phonology, and so far I have the consonants mostly figured out. One goal I had in mind for the language was for it to be decently "co-learnable," because an established fact of the world it is for is that speakers of the language sometimes learn English. Although they don't have regular contact with native English speakers, they do have TV and other media made by native English speakers to help them learn.
The problem is that while I can test weather an English speaker can pronounce the language, (named Manaic,) I don't know how much trouble a Manaic speaker would have with English sounds that aren't in their language. In particular "h," "r," "sh," and any of our voiced fricatives.
Never fight a land war in (that fictional group of countries heavily based on Asia.)
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Sequor
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Re: Would speakers of this language have trouble pronouncing English?

Post by Sequor »

LittleLynx_53 wrote: 13 Mar 2022 17:55 Hello. This is my first experience with making a conlang.
I've been doing my research and putting together a phonology, and so far I have the consonants mostly figured out. One goal I had in mind for the language was for it to be decently "co-learnable," because an established fact of the world it is for is that speakers of the language sometimes learn English. Although they don't have regular contact with native English speakers, they do have TV and other media made by native English speakers to help them learn.
The problem is that while I can test weather an English speaker can pronounce the language, (named Manaic,) I don't know how much trouble a Manaic speaker would have with English sounds that aren't in their language. In particular "h," "r," "sh," and any of our voiced fricatives.
What sounds do Manaic speakers have available? Most likely they approximate them with the most similar sounds there are, say, pronouncing English "sh" as their "s". In some cases they might just drop them instead, just like how French/Italian learners of English often do with English "h" (saying 'ello, 'elp for hello, help).
hīc sunt linguificēs. hēr bēoþ tungemakeras.
conlangdolphinfly
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Re: Would speakers of this language have trouble pronouncing English?

Post by conlangdolphinfly »

It's impossible to say for sure without knowing more details about the language, but it's likely that speakers of Manaic would have at least some trouble pronouncing English sounds that aren't present in their language. For example, if Manaic does not have a voiced "h" sound, it is likely that English speakers would have difficulty pronouncing words that begin with that sound. Similarly, if Manaic does not have a "sh" sound, English speakers may have difficulty pronouncing words that begin with that sound. Additionally, if Manaic does not have a voiced "r," English speakers may have difficulty pronouncing words that begin with that sound. In general, it is likely that English speakers would have difficulty pronouncing any sounds that are not present in Manaic.
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