A note on the added "h" after a consonant. ( bh, kh, dh, gh) This is an aspiration (exhalation of breath). It softens the consonant it follows. So bh would sound something like "buh", but softer.
Rihannsu is a language with soft, liquid sounds, not harsh and guttural like Klingon.
Note: pronunciations are as in standard American.
Vowels
| a | (AH) as in father | u | (OO) as in rude |
| e | (EH) as in egg | ae | (AY) as in pay |
| i | (EE) as in pizza | aa | (A) as in man |
| o | (OH) as in bone | uu | (U) as in book |
Consonants
| b | (B) as in boat | ll | (L) formed with the tip tongue at the back of the lower teeth |
| bh | (BUH) aspirated B | m | (M) as in men |
| ch | (CH) as in chain | n | (N) as in nut |
| d | (D) as in dog | p | (P) as in pie |
| dh | (DUH) aspirated D | q | (Q) a k sound made at the back of the throat, but not raspy |
| f | (F) as in fight | r | (R) slightly trilled as in romance languages |
| fv | (FV) halfway between a hard F and a soft V | rr | (R) sometimes heavily trilled insome dialects |
| g | (G) as in gain | s | (S) as in sign |
| gh | (GH) aspirated G | sh | (SH) as in ship |
| h | (H) as in holiday | t | (T) as in tin |
| hh | (HH) heavy H, sometimes like in Scottish loch | th | (TH) as in thigh |
| j | (J) as in judge | v | (V) as in vest |
| k | (K) as in kite | w | (W) as in wait |
| kh | (KH) aspirated K | y | (Y) as in yet |
| l | (L) as in lint | z | (Z) as in azure |
Syllabication
All Rihannsu words are syllabicated (divided up into sounds) by their vowels or diphthongs. When a consonant ends a word or precedes a glottal stop after a consonant, and isn't part of a cluster (ex. Vaebn), there is a slight schwa-like utterance following that consonant. Some Rihannsu speakers drop the final sound altogether, though it isn't done with names. This also occurs between two consonants or clusters not part of the preceding syllables. This schwa utterance is considered a vowel for purposes of syllabication. Therefore, a seemingly complex word such as "imirrlhhse" is syllabicated as follows:
Note: @ = the schwa sound.
i-mirr-h@l-hhse (pronounced ee-MEER-hul-hhseh)
Accent
All Rihannsu words are accented on the first syllable in words shorter than four syllables.
FVILL-ha (fvillha)
DEI-hu-it (deihuit)
KHRE-ri-ov (khre'riov)
Rihannsu words longer than three syllables are accented on the third to last syllable.
gal-ae'-EN-ri-ov (galae'Enriov)
Tone
For the most part, the base pronunciation of a Rihannsu sentence is monotone. Rihannsu is not, however, a tonal language. So aside form accenting of words, any specific stress on particular words over others is entirely up to the speaker, and emphasized words are interpreted the same way as in English and other languages.
This Rihannsu Dictionary was rescued and re-created from the website Institute Of Ra’tleihfi, Department of Xenosociology, previously posted at this URL: www.standford.edu/~auerhahn/rihan.html