Dutch (language): What is the best way to learn the pronunciation of "ui"?
There are two ways that worked for me, though they are dependent on the teacher.1) put your fingers gently on the face of a person who can pronounce it properly while they are doing so. Your index finger should be right at the corner of his/her mouth, your pinkie just next to their ear and the rest of your fingers fanned out along the jaw.2) kiss them while they pronounce it.While the Dutch are remarkably flexible in these matters, I hasten to add that my Dutch teacher was then my fiancée, now my husband which no doubt relates to the invention of this last. Still I feel confident that many students will be able find a native speaker to take one for the team in the interest of scholarship.Seriously though, this does help greatly. All the audiotapes in the world don't get you to what they are doing with their jaw to make that noise.Method 2 is less efficient but I do recommend it highly anyway. There are many ways to measure "best" are there not?
If you wanted to look up the pronunciation of a word, which would be the best book or tool to use?
A dictionary. The best would be Webster's Unabridged in a recent edition. Available for free at any local library. To learn how to interpret the ;pronunciation symbols, just look in the first few pages of volume 1. Different and alternative pronunciations also given.
Does google translator makes the correct latin pronunciation?
Ecclesiastical Latin is pronounced very much like Italian. However, classical Latin is thought to have been pronounced somewhat differently. In classical Latin, the c and g were always hard, no matter what vowel followed them. The h was probably aspirated, the j was pronounced as it is in German (like the English consonant y), and the v was pronounced like the English w. (The evidence for the last two is that originally Latin had no separate character for j or u, but used i and v for their consonant values.) The vowels of classical Latin were like those of Italian (and of most modern European languages), but the diphthongs had their own pronunciations: ae = I, oe = oi, au = ow. These are rather slight differences, and if you pronounce Latin like modern Italian, anyone who hears it spoken or sung in church will certainly understand it. Caesar and Cicero might have been a bit puzzled.
What language is this?
Ni odnoho vyzdoha. Gdye vashy? I think it might be Russian, Serbian, or some other Eastern European language, and possibly a pronunciation of a language typically written in Cyrillic. Anyone know?
What's an ancient (possibly dead) language besides Latin?
I'm trying to think of a name for a race of people in my book, and I decided to play with Google translate to try and find a name. I've been using Latin, but I'm starting to think that maybe that particular language is overused. Is there another ancient language I could use instead?