Excuse me! How do you pronounce your name?

Hello, My dear fellow linguists of Nagaland! I know my name can be rather difficult to pronounce but I'll make it easier for you to articulate by describing my name with the sound features you all are already familiar with. My name is Marianda and it is pronounced [Mə-ri-jən-də]. Lets explore each of the four syllables in my name. The first syllable [Mə] begins with a bilabial ,voiced nasal sound followed by a central mid vowel. The second syllable [ri] starts off with an alveolar voiced liquid and finishes with a front high vowel. The third syllable [jən] begins with a palatal voiced glide with a central mid vowel sound in the middle and ends with an alveolar nasal voiced sound. The final syllable of my name [də] begins with an alveolar voiced stop sound ending in yet another central mid vowel. Voila! that is how my name is pronounced!


Locals need not worry! I will explain what one must do to be able to produce the sounds in my name.My name is Marianda and so to begin and pronounce the [M] sound, both upper and lower lips must be pressed together and let the "mmm" sound be released through the nose. Followed by an "uhhh" sound which is created by opening the mouth and barely having to move the tongue at all. Then making an "r" sound by curling your tongue and then soon quickly after, form lips as if you were to smile, and produce the "eeee" sound. Next comes the "uhhh" sound again but this time ends in a nasal "nnnn" sound. Lastly, a "duhhh" sound completes my name. Good Job!