Howjsay.com is a unique online speaking dictionary that offers clear pronunciations of
English words,
phrases,
slang terms,
technical terms,
brand names,
proper names,
profanity, and
many foreign words, including
common variations and
alternatives. Astoundingly, the sound files
are not computer-generated -- every single one of the site's
138,152 entries are enunciated in the dignified tones of British academic and polyglot
Tim Bowyer, who has
steadily expanded its glossary over the years using logs of unsuccessful searches and direct user suggestions. The site is part of Bowyer's
Fonetiks.org family of language sites, and is also available as
a browser extension and as a mobile app for
iPhone/iPod and
Blackberry.
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 23, 2010 -
27 comments
It’s not what you say, it's the way you say it--Part 2. This observation was cleverly illustrated by Prof. Howard L. Chace in
Anguish Languish, an exercise to demonstrate to his French Language students that intonation is key to understanding spoken language.
Here is the complete text. You can
read his best known Furry Tell about a Wicket Woof and a Ladle Gull or
hear it read.
(Warning-has sound.) I first found out about Howard Chace from an
article in The Whole Earth Catalog and certain phrases have rattled around my head ever since.
Here is a discussion of Anguish Languish if you want to write your own. Like
this version of
Gender Cyst from the
Homely Babble.
posted by lobakgo
on Sep 22, 2003 -
5 comments
Qatar Home of Central Command and Al Jazzera television, it's a small oil-rich country we've all heard of, and that's the problem: I hear Qatar called
Cutter, Gutter, Katar, and Kwatar. How do the Qataris' pronounce it; is it possible to accurately pronounce foreign words in English? Who decides? More inside...
posted by Mack Twain
on Mar 29, 2003 -
32 comments
