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Intonation

Today, we're going to teach you the intonation of Arka.



Wow, it sounds practical.



Do you think you can catch the sentence if you can catch each word?



I think so.



But actually, you can't catch the sentence even if you can catch each word because of intonation.
You can't catch a sentence if you don't know the system of the intonation.



So, let's practice the intonation with mp3.



OK. If I listen to sentences, I'll be able to understand the system of the intonation.



Even if the sentence is right, people won't understand your saying with a wrong intonation.



Words make a grammatical chunk in Arka.
The smallest chunk consists of 2 words like verb + object.



Like "kui harx" (to eat lunch) and "ke felka" (to go to school), right?



In "verb + object," the object is more stressed than the verb.
However, in "verb + adverb + object," the verb is more stressed.

siina dilt (to like spinachs)
axt lei (to write a book)
axt lax lei (want to write a book)

Download the mp3


It doesn't sound like English or Japanese.
The intonation of Arka is full of originality.



And in "noun + adjective..."

an inat fian ank (I saw a cute girl)
an inat siel soret (I saw a blue sky)



Ah.
And the "l" in "siel" becomes "r" because of the "s" in "soret" by the way.



We sometimes pronounce "noun + adjective" like "verb + object."

fian ank (a cute girl)
siel soret (a blue sky)



Proper nouns tend to be pronounced like "verb + object."
For example, personal names like Lein Yutia are pronounced like this.



Adverbs which modify an adjective are pronounced like below.

diize vien tinka (a very strong guy)
an siina miik har vart (I like a clear red apples)



I see...



Adverbs which modify a verb are pronounced like below.

sae lunand seerel (it's snowing quietly)
lu laz leevat lax felka vadel (the girl wanted to leave the school soon)

Download the mp3


Adverbs are pronounced as if they stand alone in the sentence.



Independences are also pronounced as if they stand alone.
"hai" in "hai, tu et to?" (what is this by the way?) and "siina" in "la sontat non siina" (he patted me gently).
But unlike adverbs, they are pronounced weakly because they are like a function word.



Right. function words are pronounced weakly while content words like "tu," "lu" and "en" are pronounced strongly.



In a preposition phrase, the preposition (caser) is pronounced weakly while the following words are pronounced strongly.



Function words are pronounced weakly... It means weak points in a sentence indicate a breaking point of the sentence.



Yeah. Function words are less important than content words, but they indicate breaking points of a sentence.



"le," the relative, is also pronounced weakly.



You should be careful about the rules of intonation; "verb + object," "noun + adjective," "something + adverb," "preposition phrase" and "relative clause."
For more intonation, you should listen to a lot of mp3 and get used to the sound of Arka.



And I'll teach you the prominence of Arka. I mean, a word or phrase which is pronounced strongly.
Prominence may change the whole intonation of the sentence.

I read a long book.
an iskat lei fil: basic intonation. "iskat lei" is the chunk.
an iskat lei fil: basic intonation 2. "an iskat" is the chunk.
An iskat lei fil: the reader is focused.
an Iskat lei fil: the verb is focused.
an iskat Lei fil: the book is focused.
an iskat lei pOt ate (I read a long book in the store): the location is focused.

Download the mp3


Next, we'll teach you some greetings.