Pronunciation - Alphabet

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The Uropi pronunciation is very close to that of Italian. Only the sounds H (as in English), Ʒ (= S i measure, pleasure), W (= as in English) do not exist in Italian.

Vowels

are pronounced as in Italian or Spanish: casa, solo, veni, luna, pepe

a = Fr patte, Ge Stadt, It. pace, Sp casa ex: kat (catt) = cat

e = e in It. Sp pepe, or e (in bed) ex: keb (keb) = head, kebe (like "pepe") =heads

i = i in It and Sp vino, Fr ville ex: nil (nil) = thread

o = o as in not, It. solo, voglio ex: pot (pot) = pot

u = oo longer than in book, shorter than in moon ex: sud (sood) = south

Consonants

b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, z are pronounced as in French, German, Spanish, Italian

C = sh in shut, bush; ex: ca (sha), vaco (vasho), mico (misho), cus (shooss), noc (nosh)

G = g in give, girl (never as in giraffe) ex: gam, gen, gis, leg (gam, gen, giss, leg)

H = h in English (house) or German (Haus) ex: has, he, hol (Hass, Hè, Hol)

J = y in yoghurt, boy ex: ja, jo, je, ji (ya, yo, yé, yi)

Ʒ = as "s" in measure, pleasure, zh in Zhivago ex. Ʒun, paʒ, ʒa (zhoon, pazh,zha)

R is rolled as in Italian, Spanish, Russian, Scottish ex: ren, bir, Rus (Renn, biR, Rooss)

S = always ss as in bus, case; (never z as in cheese) ex: su, hase (soo, Hassé)

W = w as in English in what, water, cow ex: we, wim, wan (wé, whim, one)

Alphabet

a b c d e f g h i j k l

a be she de e/ai ef ge Har ee ye kar el

m n o p r s t u v w z ʒ

em enn o pe eR ess te oo ve we ze zhe

Diphtongs

ai, aj = y in bye, pie; ex: baj, paj, vaiz (by, pie, vise) = bay, pay, trip

ei, ej = a in cake, prayer; ay in may ex: bej, prej, lej (bay, pRay, lay) = bee, prays, light

ij = ille as in Fr. fille, brille; (i + y) ex: bij, brij, mij (bille, brille, mi-y) = white, bright, half

oi, oj = as oy in toy, boy; ex: roj, doj, soin (Roy, doy, soyn) = red, god, dream

ui, uj = oo + y = Fr ouil, as in mouille; ex: suj, ruin, bruj (sooy, Rooyn, brooy) = dirty, ruin, broth

au, aw = ow, ou as in cow, house; ex: paw, kaul, raug (pow, cowl, Row-g) = peacock, cabbage, roar

ou, ow = ow as in low, o as in nose, oh (RARE) ex: goul (goal) = goal (football)

eu, ew = È + oo as in Italian, Spanish Europa ex: Eurò, Europa, Europan (èooRò, èooRopa, èooRopann = Euro, Europe, European

Stress

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In general the stress is placed on the word-root; therefore, neither prefixes, nor suffixes, nor endings are stressed.

As a result 80% of Uropi words are stressed on the penultimate syllabe (the one before the last).

For example: with the root viz- (see) > vizo = to see (stressed on the i)

> vizad = view, sight, forvizo = foresee, forvizad = prevision, forvizli = foreseeable

Uropi words are stressed on the penultimate syllable when they have an ending; so when you remove the ending, they will be stressed on the last syllable.

For ex: the following are stressed on the last syllabe:

- International nouns ending with a vowel (which belongs to the root and is not an ending)

ex: taksì, menù, klicè, burò

taxi, menu, cliché, office

- Two-syllable root-words without any ending, and verbs in the present

ex: aksènt, silàb, prefìks, sufìks ………… forvìz, avèn, usklàr, incèp…

…….stress, syllable, prefix, suffix……………. foresees, arrives, explains, understands

Exceptions are:

- The verbs in the past

- The suffixes -èl (instrument, tool), -ìst (specialist)

ex: kotèl dantìst

knife dentist

Word order

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A) Affirmative sentence

In an affirmative sentence the word order is as follows :

- Subject Verb

- Subject Verb Direct objet

nu pasì mirvizi vake in Grecia

Margita se talvos mol neti = Margaret is always very nice

De denie sì siurim su de tab di morna = The money was certainly on the table this morning.

C) Other types of sentences

- Negatives sentences In a negative sentence, ne or another negative

is placed after the verb or auxiliary.

Di banàn s’ne (se ne) mol bun = This banana isn't very good.

De skrit av ne avenen = The letter hasn't arrived.

I gus ne di klor = I don't like this colour.

Je doʒ ne reusveno = This cannot happen again.

- Interrogative sentences In an interrogative sentence, the verbe or

auxiliary is placed before the subject.

Ko s’ mi klije ? = Where are my keys ?

Ka av tu zi ? = What have you got here ?

Ve Helena so za ? = Will Helen be there ?

Inizì de jeg be de hor ? = Did the game begin on time ?

They can be built with or without interrogative words.

- Imperatives

Varte zi ! = Wait here !

Tog ne de zoce ! = Don't touch the objects !

Item ru dom ! = Let's go home !

D) Direct object and indirect object

The indirect object is placed after the direct objet .

Tiota Olga davì u disk a Jana = Aunt Olga gave Jean a record

Ce sendì de bib a Paul = She sent Paul the book.

However the indirect object can be placed before the direct objet when you want to insist on the former.

Tiota Olga davì a Jana u disk = Aunt Olga gave Jean (not John) a record

E) Subordinate clauses with WAN, IS, PAR, etc...

A subordinate clause can be placed before or after the main clause. The word order is the same as in the main clause.

Wan i v’ avo fenden, i ve mako u tas kafu. = When I ('ll) have finished, I'll make a cup of coffee.

Is verem se bel, nu moz ito us. = If the weather is fine, we can go out.

Nu kopì de bat, par nu gusì ja. = We bought the boat because we liked it.