Transcription: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:39, 19 May 2022

Transcription is the act of representing the sound of a foreign name in Toaq, given its restrictive rules of what constitutes a valid syllable or not. (Name phrases headed with the name marker mı or the quote marker(s) shu and mo should themselves contain valid Toaq.) For ad-hoc, on-the-fly, one-use borrowings, more meticulous-sounding transcriptions may be more appropriate (see first section); for new coinings/borrowings, however, you should take artistic licence in collapsing the foreign word into a more Toaq-friendly form (see second section).

Examples on this page use English as the source language, but the general process is language-agnostic.

Conforming to Toaq phonotactics

There are a few important restrictions which need to be sidestepped when transcribing:

There may be at most one consonant in front of any vowel, and at most a q following any vowel.
A stressed (initial) syllable must not contain y (note that ay uy ıy ey oy are all fine).

With this in mind, the primary way of “inflating” a foreign word so that it conforms to Toaq’s phonotactics is by breaking up consonant clusters with y (a so-called epenthetic vowel), converting n and m sounds to syllable-final q wherever feasible:

past	→	pasyty
rumble	→	raqbyly
cardamon	→	karydamoq

However, one must watch out for words like dragon, which start with a consonant cluster. Using the above method, we would get

dyragoq, which contains an invalid stressed y. In situations like this, we insert a so-called echo vowel – we repeat a neighbouring vowel instead of y. Our pet example then becomes daragoq.

Reducing consonant clusters

Depending on the situation, it may be appropriate to remove a sound or two from the word you’re transcribing to avoid long strings of y syllables (scrumptious → sakaraqpychysy anybody??). This approach involved identifying the less important sound out of a two in a consonant cluster; usual suspects include sibilants like s and liquids like l r:

stooge	→	tujy	(/st/ → /t/)
transpose	→	raqposy	(/tɹ/ → /ɹ/ → r; /nsp/ → /np/ → -qp-)
smile	→	maıly	(/sm/ → /m/)
cardamon	→	kadamoq	(/ɹd/ → /d/)

Also pay attention to soundalikes and actual pronunciations of words rather than their spellings, which may aid in producing a nicer-sounding form:

rumble	→	raqby, raqbo	(final syllabic /l̩/ sound often realized as [o] or something similar in some dialects of English)
empty	→	eqtı	(/mpt/ → /mt/ reduction already present in spoken English)

There are two things to keep in mind when following this approach:

You are very likely to run into existing Toaq words (like maıly above, which means ‘love/dear’). Such a connotation may sometimes be undesirable. On the other hand, words with a sufficient amount of ys in them are unlikely to be understood as Toaq compounds. (Note that if you’re attempting wikipedia:phono-semantic matching, then this technique may give you bountiful results.)
Intelligibility suffers. If you’re trying to coin a word via a borrowing, then this is perhaps the appropriate thing to do, but if you’re invoking the name of a person or thing on the fly, you may not be understood. Exercise due taste.

For consonant clusters ending in /s/ or /z/ specifically, it is often enough to turn them into s or c or z:

capsaicin	→	kaseısıq, kaceısıq	(/ps/ → /s, ts/)
axolotl	→	asoloty, acoloty	(/ks/ → /s, ts/)

Similar treatment could be applied to consonant clusters beginning in /s/ or /z/, such as /st/, /sk/ (past → ?pacy); however, this sort of transformation is highly dependent on your sense of aesthetics and doesn’t read very clearly. It may be acceptable in borrowings and coinages.

Handling foreign sounds

/w/ and /j/ sounds (as in wine, yam) should be rendered as b, j respectively (baıny, jamy). It is also possible – but discouraged – to turn those sounds into /uː/ and /iː/ – uaıny, ıamy – or drop them altogether – aıny, amy.
/ts/ and /dz/ should always be cy, zy, never tysy, dyzy (e.g., rights, rides → raıcy, raızy not
raıtysy, *raıdyzy). /z/ can stay as z, even though the two are not the same.
/θ/ and /ð/ (as in English thought, thigh) may be transformed into s/z, t/d, f/–, p/b. There is no consensus about which transcription is the superior one, but some may be more appropriate for some source languages than others (e.g., Spanish [θ] is really a variation of /s/, so transcribe it as s).

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Below is a list of techniques one can use to transcribe foreign words into Toaq's phonology. It is rarely important to transcribe a word in any particular way, so the techniques can be regarded as suggestions to be used or ignored depending on context and taste.
+'''Transcription''' is the act of representing the sound of a foreign name in Toaq, given its restrictive rules of what constitutes a valid syllable or not. (Name phrases headed with the name marker {{t|mı}} or the quote marker(s) {{t|shu}} and {{t|mo}} should themselves contain valid Toaq.) For ad-hoc, on-the-fly, one-use borrowings, more meticulous-sounding transcriptions may be more appropriate (see first section); for new coinings/borrowings, however, you should take artistic licence in collapsing the foreign word into a more Toaq-friendly form (see second section).
-* Render approximate onsets /w/ as {{T|ba}}.
+Examples on this page use English as the source language, but the general process is language-agnostic.
-* Render approximate onsets /j/ as {{T|j}}.
-* Render unacceptable consonant clusters as {{T|Cy}} syllables: "past" -> {{T|pasyty}}.
+== Conforming to Toaq phonotactics ==
-** Render "n + consonant" pairings as a syllable-final {{T|q}} on the previous word: "pans" -> {{T|paqsy}}.
+There are a few important restrictions which need to be sidestepped when transcribing:
-** Render "t + s" pairings as {{T|c}} and "d + z" pairings as {{T|z}}: "rights" -> {{T|raıcy}} and "rides" -> {{T|raızy}}. (This may seem like an obvious rule, but it can be easy to forget that these particular "consonant clusters" are allowed in Toaq's morphology.)
+* There may be at most one consonant in front of any vowel, and at most a {{t|q}} following any vowel.
+* A stressed (initial) syllable must not contain {{t|y}} (note that {{t|ay uy ıy ey oy}} are all fine).
+With this in mind, the primary way of “inflating” a foreign word so that it conforms to Toaq’s phonotactics is by breaking up consonant clusters with {{t|y}} (a so-called ''epenthetic vowel''), converting {{t|n}} and {{t|m}} sounds to syllable-final {{t|q}} wherever feasible:
+{|
+| ''past'' || → || {{t|pasyty}}
+|-
+| ''rumble'' || → || {{t|raqbyly}}
+|-
+| ''cardamon'' || → || {{t|karydamoq}}
+|}
+However, one must watch out for words like ''dragon'', which <u>start</u> with a consonant cluster. Using the above method, we would get {{t|*dyragoq}}, which contains an invalid stressed {{t|y}}. In situations like this, we insert a so-called ''echo vowel'' – we repeat a neighbouring vowel instead of {{t|y}}. Our pet example then becomes {{t|d<u>a</u>r<u>a</u>goq}}.
+== Reducing consonant clusters ==
+Depending on the situation, it may be appropriate to remove a sound or two from the word you’re transcribing to avoid long strings of {{t|y}} syllables (''scrumptious'' → {{t|sakaraqpychysy}} anybody??). This approach involved identifying the less important sound out of a two in a consonant cluster; usual suspects include sibilants like {{t|s}} and liquids like {{t|l r}}:
+{|
+| ''stooge'' || → || {{t|tujy}} || (/st/ → /t/)
+|-
+| ''transpose'' || → || {{t|raqposy}} || (/tɹ/ → /ɹ/ → {{t|r}}; /nsp/ → /np/ → {{t|-qp-}})
+|-
+| ''smile'' || → || {{t|maıly}} || (/sm/ → /m/)
+|-
+| ''cardamon'' || → || {{t|kadamoq}} || (/ɹd/ → /d/)
+|}
+Also pay attention to soundalikes and actual pronunciations of words rather than their spellings, which may aid in producing a nicer-sounding form:
+{|
+| ''rumble'' || → || {{t|raqby, raqbo}} || (final syllabic /l̩/ sound often realized as [o] or something similar in some dialects of English)
+|-
+| ''empty'' || → || {{t|eqtı}} || (/mpt/ → /mt/ reduction already present in spoken English)
+|}
+There are two things to keep in mind when following this approach:
+* You are very likely to run into existing Toaq words (like {{t|maıly}} above, which means ‘love/dear’). Such a connotation may sometimes be undesirable. On the other hand, words with a sufficient amount of {{t|y}}s in them are unlikely to be understood as Toaq compounds. (Note that if you’re attempting [[wikipedia:phono-semantic matching]], then this technique may give you bountiful results.)
+* Intelligibility suffers. If you’re trying to coin a word via a borrowing, then this is perhaps the appropriate thing to do, but if you’re invoking the name of a person or thing on the fly, you may not be understood. Exercise due taste.
+For consonant clusters ending in /s/ or /z/ specifically, it is often enough to turn them into {{t|s}} or {{t|c}} or {{t|z}}:
+{|
+| ''capsaicin'' || → || {{t|kaseısıq, kaceısıq}} || (/ps/ → /s, ts/)
+|-
+| ''axolotl'' || → || {{t|asoloty, acoloty}} || (/ks/ → /s, ts/)
+|}
+Similar treatment could be applied to consonant clusters ''beginning'' in /s/ or /z/, such as /st/, /sk/ (''past'' → {{t|?pacy}}); however, this sort of transformation is highly dependent on your sense of aesthetics and doesn’t read very clearly. It may be acceptable in borrowings and coinages.
+== Handling foreign sounds ==
+* /w/ and /j/ sounds (as in ''wine'', ''yam'') should be rendered as {{t|b, j}} respectively ({{t|baıny, jamy}}). It is also possible – but discouraged – to turn those sounds into /uː/ and /iː/ – {{t|uaıny, ıamy}} – or drop them altogether – {{t|aıny, amy}}.
+* /ts/ and /dz/ should always be {{t|cy, zy}}, never {{t|tysy, dyzy}} (e.g., ''rights'', ''rides'' → {{t|raıcy, raızy}} not {{t|*raıtysy, *raıdyzy}}). /z/ can stay as {{t|z}}, even though the two are not the same.
+* /θ/ and /ð/ (as in English ''thought'', ''thigh'') may be transformed into {{t|s/z, t/d, f/–, p/b}}. There is no consensus about which transcription is the superior one, but some may be more appropriate for some source languages than others (e.g., Spanish [θ] is really a variation of /s/, so transcribe it as {{t|s}}).