Well, I finally put up a semi-complete-ish Catin dictionary so I thought I should probably go ahead and put up the rules of how to pronounce the darn things!
Catin is the oldest language of my world, tied with Rakian. As soon as that giant continent of people split in half the languages took shape. If you want to get technical, it's the 2nd oldest language since it evolved from the neutral language brought by Jinjo.
Breathe a sigh of relief because, thankfully, Catin is very easy to pronounce. The language is phonetic and there are few exceptions. In fact, the biggest exception is actually the word "Catin" which is pronounced CAYtin by tradition and not cahTEEN as it looks like it should.
I have divided this up into vowels, compound vowels (diphthongs), and consonants with some examples of each.
VOWELS:
Catin has 5 vowels. Each make just one sound but this sound will change slightly depending on the dialect and region of course. For my purposes, here is the "standard" sounds as used by me when I speak. Keep in mind that this language is heavily Japanese-based so if you have knowledge of Japanese or Spanish then that will help.
The basic pronunciations of the 5 vowels, with Catin examples, are:
A- as in father. Amu.
E- as in pet. Eniko.
I- as in bring. Iri.
O- as in orange. Osai.
U- as in took or Luna. Uso.
Keep in mind that Catin is spoken at the front of the mouth so A and U sound a bit different than English. A is kind of a combination of the sounds in cat and father. U sounds like a U but with the lips shaped as if you are saying the E in me.
COMPOUND VOWELS
Catin has many diphthongs to get more vowel sounds. Some I have found are unique to Catin but I'll give some English examples as well.
Ai- as in bike. Airi, Amiukai.
Ae- ah+eh. Alihirae, Saen.
Ao- as in about. Kao, Aora.
Au- as in about (with more U sound). Aumuri, Auahana.
Ei- as in weigh. Reina, Rei.
Ia- ee+ah. Kia, Niahan.
Io- ee+oh. Rio, Amu-Mio.
Iu- as in music. Amiukai, Amiu.
Ui- oo+ee. Istui, Uisan.
Uo- oo+oh. Suona, Suo.
The letter Y is not a vowel in Catin and is only pronounced like the Y in yes. It can be used to lengthen diphthongs, such as Iya.
CONSONANTS
There are less consonants in Catin than English. Notably, there is no Q, X, and very rarely the letter C by itself. The name Catarika totally breaks its own rule. Oh well. Below are consonants with English and Catin examples.
B- as in Boy. Bisa, Abi.
C- hardly ever used by itself, only used in the words Catarika and Catin. Makes a K sound.
(Ch)- C is used with H to make Ch as in choose. Chanya, Chandalahara.
D- as in diamond. Do note that the letter D is placed in the mouth where the sound Th would be, giving it the "front-of-the-mouth" character. Catin examples are Edelhanmi and Desa.
F- as in float. Felarisu, Fasili.
G- as in good. Geslah, Migali.
H- as in hat. Hasa, Kaihano.
J- as in jet. Jiten, Jumanji. (lol yes Jumanji is a Catin name. It means 'girl of enchantment.')
K- as in kitten. Keso, Amiukai.
L- as in left. Losan, Kile.
M- as in mom. Mohaili, Amiu.
N- as in not. Naya, Rania.
P- as in pepper. Pelaku, Ospi.
R- a rolled R like Arriba. Rania, Miren.
S- as in stop. Sorela, Resa.
(Sh)- as in sheep. Shohital, Nasha.
T- as in toast. The T, like D, is placed in the mouth where Th is. Tavi, Piratto.
V- as in vase. Vasa, Isvari.
W- as in water. Wulani, Dewa.
Y- as in yellow. Yana, Naya.
Z- as in zebra. Zirin, Raza.
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