ESPERANTO
The International Language
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THE ESPERANTO ALPHABET
The Esperanto alphabet contains 28 letters. Esperanto spelling is completely phonetic: every word is pronounced as spelled, and spelled as pronounced. Accent is always on the next-to-last syllable.
| The Esperanto Alphabet | |
|---|---|
| Letter | Sound |
| A a | A as in fAther |
| B b | B as in Be |
| C c | TS as in wiTS |
| Ĉ ĉ | CH as in CHurch |
| D d | D as in Do |
| E e | E as in gEt |
| F f | F as in Fly |
| G g | G as in Gun |
| Ĝ ĝ | J as in Join |
| H h | H as in Half |
| Ĥ ĥ | CH as in Scottish loCH |
| I i | I as in marIne |
| J j | Y as in Yoke |
| Ĵ ĵ | Z as in aZure |
| K k | K as in Key |
| L l | L as in Line |
| M m | M as in Make |
| N n | N as in Now |
| O o | O as in nOte |
| P p | P as in Pair |
| R r | R as in Rare |
| S s | S as in See |
| Ŝ ŝ | SH as in SHow |
| T t | T as in Tea |
| U u | OO as in tOO |
| Ŭ ŭ | W as in Win |
| V v | V as in Very |
| Z z | Z as in Zeal |
Diphthongs
A diphthong is the combination of a vowel with a semivowel to form a single sound. The following diphthongs appear in Esperanto:
| Esperanto Diphthongs | |
|---|---|
| Diphthong | Sound |
| as in cry | |
| as in they | |
| as in toy | |
| similar to u + i; "oo-ee" | |
| as in cow | |
| similar to e + u; "eh-oo" | |
Names of Letters
The names of the vowels are just the vowels themselves; the consonants are named by adding o to the consonant. Thus the names of the letters of the alphabet are:a bo co ĉo do e fo go ĝo ho ĥo i jo ĵo ko lo mo no o po ro so ŝo to u ŭo vo zo
Alternatives to Accented Letters
If the accented letters are not available (as when writing e-mail, for example), one may make the following substitutions:
| Instead of... | One may write... |
|---|---|
Alphabet Song
Esperanto has an alphabet song, sung to the same tune as the English alphabet song. The words are:
A bo co ĉo do e fo
Go ĝo ho ĥo i jo ĵo
Ko lo mo no o po ro
So ŝo to u ŭo vo zo.
Nun ni havas alfabeton
Kun ni kantu la kanteton.
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