[General] Vowel symbol usage to help pronounce a word

[SharonK]

Hi Forum,

I have a word that will possibly be a pen name. When I write the pen name I will want to show symbols above some of the vowels so that the name would always be pronounced correctly. At this time the full spelling of the word is confidential and cannot be provided to you to assist in you understanding my problem.

So, here goes. "De" is the first syllable and needs to be pronounced 'deh' or I might choose to pronounce it as 'duh'. Nonetheless, - what CORRECT phonetic symbol, or vowel symbol, or whatever else the correct English language term might be, should be placed above the letter 'e' to get the desired pronunciation for either 'deh' (as in Debbie) or 'duh' (as in dumb)?

Coincidentally, the last syllable of the word is also "de" and needs to be pronounced as 'day'. What symbol above the 'e' should be used to make it sound as in 'day'?

Neither of those syllables receive the emphasis during pronunciation.

And finally - the letter "a". What symbol would I place above the letter 'a' to make it pronounced as "ah" --- as in: when you open your mouth say 'ah' ... ?

Thank you so much for guidance on this issue.

 

[SoothingDave]

English doesn't really work like that. You can include a straight line over a vowel to indicate that it has a "long" sound. That it sounds like the name of the letter.

Other than that, you can't show how to pronounce the vowels in the way you want.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi Forum,

I have a word that will possibly be a pen name. When I write the pen name I will want to show symbols above some of the vowels so that the name would always be pronounced correctly. At this time the full spelling of the word is confidential and cannot be provided to you to assist in you understanding my problem.

So, here goes. "De" is the first syllable and needs to be pronounced 'deh' or I might choose to pronounce it as 'duh'. Nonetheless, - what CORRECT phonetic symbol, or vowel symbol, or whatever else the correct English language term might be, should be placed above the letter 'e' to get the desired pronunciation for either 'deh' (as in Debbie) or 'duh' (as in dumb)?

Coincidentally, the last syllable of the word is also "de" and needs to be pronounced as 'day'. What symbol above the 'e' should be used to make it sound as in 'day'?

Neither of those syllables receive the emphasis during pronunciation.

And finally - the letter "a". What symbol would I place above the letter 'a' to make it pronounced as "ah" --- as in: when you open your mouth say 'ah' ... ?

Thank you so much for guidance on this issue.

Those diacritical marks do not exist in English. Some of them exist in French.

 

[5jj]

The only way to ensure that your word is pronounced in the way you want it to be pronounced is to use IPA symbols.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The only way to ensure that your word is pronounced in the way you want it to be pronounced is to use IPA symbols.

Good point, but then nobody would be able to spell it. ;-)

 

[5jj]

Good point, but then nobody would be able to spell it. ;-)

OK, but if SharonK gave his/her name as, for example, Nedeme (= [ˈn[FONT=&quot]ɛ[/FONT]d[FONT=&quot]ɛme])[/FONT] then we could both spell and pronounce it.

 

[Rover_KE]

Only those with a knowledge of IPA would know how to pronounce it.

I wouldn't.:-(

 

[Tdol]

What is the pen name?

 

[SharonK]

As I mentioned earlier - the pen name is not available for public viewing at this time

 

[SharonK]

The straight line indicates 'long'. The smile indicates 'short'. The two dots over the letter 'a' is used as instruction on how to pronounce 'father'. etc. etc.

My usage does not have to be an indication or study of the 'way the English language works'. However, my application can certainly act as an aid or maybe even as a composition of letters and symbols that might even end up creating a logo or signature.

Thus I'm just trying to see if there is a way - unconventional, more than likely, it will be - to make the viewing of MY SPECIFIC word an instant indication of how it should be pronounced. Example: 'lead' as in control direction or 'lead' as in - a chemical element in the carbon group.

My original post contains sufficient support on what certain syllables in MY SPECIFIC word need to sound like.

My request is more of a 'play' on the English language structure than it is a rule.

 

[5jj]

Apart from the IPA, there is no universally recognised way of indicating how vowels should be pronounced. In the name I invented, you could say Nedeme (pronounced as in Ned, Em(ma), May). Unfortunately, not all native speakers pronounce 'May' in the same way.