Languages, Part 6a
SA Phonetic
Notation Key
(CU, 2013)
The motto of the coat of arms - !ke
e:/xarra//ke - is in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, and
means "diverse people unite", or "people who are different
joining together". Click on the link above to hear the pronunciation of
this national motto.
This item
is to introduce a concept - a possible tool - that could assist South Africans
to learn how to pronounce each others’ languages.
The
attached document is in the form of a table. In the left-hand column, phonetic
symbols based on the “IPA” that we saw yesterday, are listed. The list of
symbols is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient to cover the range of the South
African official languages.
In the next
11 columns, words are to be put - words belonging to all the SA official
languages – so that reading across one can find an example in his or her own
language, of that pronunciation.
If
completed, it would serve as a key to the pronunciation of all of these
languages. Given the phonetic notation of any word, one can read across to find
vowel and consonant equivalents, in the different languages.
If used
over time, the table would eventually teach the user how to read the phonetic
notation without using the table.
Alternatively,
the process could be computerised into an “app” (application). On a device such
as a laptop, or a smart phone, the pronunciation of any South African word
could be read off or played in the form of sound.
The table
is not complete, because it turns out to be a large task to compile it in the
first place. It is the kind of work that needs to be “crowd sourced”. The
work-in-progress should at least be sufficient to convey the idea that means
can be found, and put in the hands of the citizens, whereby they can lower the
barriers between languages in South Africa to a material degree.
·
The above is to
introduce the original reading-text: Phonetic notation and
equivalent phonemes in SA words (draft form of table, CU, 2013).
