regular Galathien. Thanks, Galathien!
In Quenya there are five primary vowels. If the letter it marked with an accent (i.e. �), that means it should be pronounced longer than the one without this mark.
So here the Quenya vowels are: �, �, �, �, �, a, e, i, o, u. There are also six diphtongs: ai, oi, ui, au, eu, iu.
1.2. PRONUNCIATION � VOWELS
The main difference between English and Quenya phonetics is that in the latter each vowel has the only one way of being pronounced. Compare two words �car� and �cat�. Both of them has �a� in the middle, but it sounds differently.
Quenya vowels should be pronounced like:
� = �a� in �rather�
a = a in Spanish �padre�*
� = lenghten the �e� in the word �end�*
e = �e� in �let�
� = �ee� in �wee�
i = �i� in �bit�
� = �o� in �pore�
o = �o� in �dot� (here it sounds like [o], not [a])
� = �oo� in �doom�
u = �u� in �put�
Diphtongs:
ai = �i� in �isle�
oi = �oi� in �boil�
ui = �ui� in �ruin�*
au = �ow� in �wow�
eu = there seems to be no example in English for this sound. It is in somewhat similar to �o� in �so� like some British pronounce it: [seu]*
iu = �yu� in �Yugoslavia�
Here in the examples I used British pronunciation.
Remember that all these vowels must sound only the way stated above. For example, �i� should NEVER sound like it does in the word �five�. It may be difficult to follow these rules in the beginning, but you�ll get used to it in no time.
Note: You can often see �e� marked with two dots: att�a (�the second�). It is only to remind us that in that case this vowel is to be pronounced short.
Note 2: All vowels should be voiced in all positions.
