on Jun 3rd, 2008Forvo
Via Omniglot I’ve learned of a new internets resource called Forvo. It’s a pronounciation repository.
Forvo is the place where you’ll find words pronounced in their original languages. Ever wondered how a word is pronounced? Ask for that word or name, and another user will pronounce it for you. You can also help others recording your pronunciations in your own language.
Useful kit, right? But here’s where it gets weird. Esperanto is one of the languages. I mean, don’t get me wrong - I count myself a mild supporter of the Esperanto movement, and I’m certainly interested in constructed languages as a researcher. But surely there’s a problem including it on a site that’s meant to give native pronunciations? Ok, fine, there are probably as many as 2,000 native Esperanto speakers. But they’re scattered all over the world, forming no cohesive linguistic community, and in all cases they acquired the language from nonnative speakers. There’s simply no meaningful sense in which one can “sound like” a native Esperanto speaker, is there?
Of course, I’m not sure how useful a repository of words pronounced in isolation is ever going to be, really. Useful, certainly, but limited.