Joan & Donald E. Axinn Library A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Italian, German, French DAVID ADAMS “erty of Cocina New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1999CONTENTS ‘Vowel Length / 8 Specific Vowel Sounds / 9 Glides:(j] and (wl / 14 Consonants / 19 IPA Rendering of Consonant Length / 19 Single and Double Consonants / 20 Individual Consonant Sounds / 21 Individual Consonant Letters and Their Sounds / 22 Consonant Combinations end Their Sounds / 28 Other Possible Assimilations of N / 31 PS,QU / 31vi CONTENTS Characteristics of Double Consonants / 32 Articulating Double Consonants in Singing / 33 Phrasal Doubling / 34 Consonant Clusters / 35 Word Underlay in Scores / 37 Musical Settings of Diphthongs / 38 Diphthongs: Vowel Distribution in Singing / 40 “Linking of Vowels Between Words: Phrasal Diphthongs / 43 Vowel Diatribution in Singing Phrasal Diphthongs / 44 Musical Settings of Triphthongs / 50 Pattorns of Phrasal Triphthongs / 51 Appendix: Guidelines for Determining Open and Closed ¢ and o in the Stressed Syllable / 54 German / 67 Introduction / 67 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Symbols for German / 68 Dictionaries and Pronunciation Reference Books / 68 ‘The Umlaut / 69 Word Origin: Germanie and Non-Germanic / 69 Vowels and Vowel Length / 70 Vowel Sounds / 71 Word Structure / 80 Vowels—Closed or Open? Guidelines for Determining Vowel Quality / 85 ‘Diphthongs and Adjacent Vowels / 92 The Glide §] / 93 Consonants / 94 Glottal Attacks / 103 Glottal Separation versus Legato Connection in Singing German / 104 Phrasal Consonant Clusters / 108 Possible Assimilation of Consonant Sounds / 111 French / 115 Introduction / 115 Contents © vil Tnternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Symbols for French / 116 Dictionaries / 116 Diacritical Marks / 117 Definition of Terms Relating to French Diction / 118 Syllabification / 120 Word Stress / 124 Vowel Length / 125 ‘Vowel Sounds and How They Are Spelled / 125 Glides / 139 Consonants / 141 Consonants in Detail / 142 Liaison / 156 Musical Settings of Mute e [a] / 160 ‘Musical Settings of Glides / 167 ‘Vowel Length / 171 Bibliography / 173 General Index / 175 Index of Sounds by Spelling / 177PREFACE ‘This textbook is intended for voice students taking classes in the diction of the Italian, German, and French languages. It is written for the student whose native language is American English. It is also intended for voice teachers, vocal coaches, conductors, and any- study the grammar of each language as thoroughly as possible. Fiu- ‘ency is not required, but the development of an ear for the cadences, modulations, and phrasings of a language will make a significant difference in the authority with which it is sung. ‘The study of “diction” can encompass at least three levels: Beginning: Mastering the basic rules of pronunciation, what ‘sounds result from what letters in what contexts, such a5 ‘when ¢ is voiced or unvoiced Intermediate: The above, plus mastery of those characteristics ‘of a language that are different from one's native language, ‘such as purity of vowel sounds uncolored by English diph- thongs, nonaspiration of consonants in Italian and French, and relative length of sounds (single and double consonants in Italian, vowels in any language), to name a few of the more important examples Advanced: All of the above, plus a subtle understanding of stress and inflection over longer phrase groupings Prloce © ix ‘This book is ultimately aimed toward helping the student achieve an intermediate level of proficiency, as would be expected in a graduate level diction course. It can also be used for a begin- ning clase, if used selectively. Achieving an advanced level usually requires that the student spend a prolonged period in the country where the language is spoken and practice epeaking it extensively. Nevertheless, it is hoped that some of the fine points presented in this book will at least make the student more sensitive to various nuances of language. Taken together, such nuances comprise a po- tentially powerful expressive arsenal for the singer. Since “diction” is a word that often has negative connotations (classroom exercises, etc) it might better be called “skill with a lan- guage.” Having inadequate language skills is equivalent to having inadequate intonation; the music just does not sound right. The sen sitive listener will be put off by one just as much as the other, no matter how beautiful the voice. The International Phonetic Alphabet ‘The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an indispensable tool in any discussion of the sounds of a language. Learning IPA sym- bola is not difficult, at least within the scope of diction texts such as this ono. The student unfamiliar with them can learn them as they are presented. ‘While there is general consistency in the usage ofthe major TPA symbols among the texts and dictionaries that employ them, there are a number of small discrepancies and inconsistencies. An exam- ple is the treatment of German diphthongs: the word euch is found transcribed (oI), fg], or [ogg] depending on the book. Glides, also called semiconsonants, are represented in different ways, 90 that the Italian word guerra can be transcribed (gwerral, (gierral, or (guerra). ‘Such inconsistencies from one book to another are ultimately ‘unimportant, as long as the symbols used within a given book are consistent and clear in what they represent. This book will explain ite choice of IPA symbols when necessary. It will also present al- ternatives commonly found in other books. Valuable as the IPA is, it is limited in the amount of informa- tion it can convey. Tis is particularly true of inflections over longer phrases, It also must be remembered that the IPA is a means to an end and not an end in itself It is not uncommon to hear a singer who enunciates all sounds according to the “rules” and yet sounds stilted and unidiomatic. One needs to get past the IPA to the lan- uage itselfxo prerAce [a] and [a] Until recently it has been customary to represent the sound of the Italian voweletter a as (al. This symbol is also used by Siebs for {he sound ofthe German vowel etter on Fronch, however it has ‘been customary to represent the bright sound of the vowel letter a as (al and the darker version (as in bas) as fa. Since the Italian and German sounds are equivalent to the bright sound in French, it is logical to use the same symbol [el for all three languages, and ‘o reserve the symbol [o] for the dark French version of this vowel. Arnumber of recent books have adopted this format (eg, Duden for German, Castiglione for Italian) and this book also does 80. Some books use both symbols for German to differentiate length: {a} is long; (a) is short. This text prefers to use one symbol (al), adding the colon [1 when it is long, as Duden does. Some may object to using (a) in all instances for singing, argu- ing that this vowel sound is not “round” enough. This enters the realm of vowel modification (see below), an important consideration for all singers and voice teachers. This text prefers to make its points in reforence to the spoken language, occasionally discussing modi- fications for singing, but always assuming reasonable and necessary adjustments for singing depending on context, Symbols for r: [<], Tel, [FL fer] ‘The symbol {¢] represents a single flip of the tongue for the pro- nunciation of the letter r. It is commonly used in diction texts for Italian intervocalic single r, though not all of them use it. Standard diction texts do not generally use {r] for other languages, however. ‘This results in some inconsistency from language to language, since for the purposes of singing, intervocalic r is one flip of the tongue in all three languages: caro, herauf, jirai. ‘The proper IPA symbol for r executed with a roll of the tongue is (7; however, for some reason standard diction texts for singers do not use this symbol. For Italian double rr, which requires the roll, the symbol {rr is used. In Italian, the eymbol [1] is used when the letter r is adjacent to another consonant, and when it begins or ends a word. The reason is differentiation of intervocalic r, which should only be one flip of the tongue, from r in a consonant cluster, when it may be rolled or fipped. This text will use [e),(r}, and [rr] for Italian. French and German use the conventional symbol {r] for virtu- ally all situations, assuming the flipped sound (except when Ger- ‘man uses (vl, q.v). Some texts use [rr] for French in those few sit- Preface @ xi uations when a rolled, lengthened r sound is called for, and this text will follow that example. The uvular pronunciation of r (IPA sym- bol [x)) is used extensively in speech for German and French, but not in singing. The Symbol [:] ‘The colon placed after another IPA symbol is the universally ac- cepted means to indicate that the sound represented by the pre- ‘ceding symbol is to be lengthened. It may be used for consonants, bat it is more commonly used for vowels. Thus, the two German words Stadt and Stant are differentiated in sound only by the rel- ative length of the vowel sound. The sound of the vowel in Staat Uita:t is approximately twice as long as that in Stadt [{tat). ‘A problem arises with this symbol in IPA renderings of groups of words or phrases. While the examples cited above would not change, a word such as the Italian mia could change. This word is probably best transcribed {mi:a] to show thet the sound {il is longer than the sound (a). The same word, however, is rather different in ‘the phrase mia madre (normal inflection) because the stress ofthe phrase goes to the long vowel of madre and the duration ofthe [i] ‘in mia is redueod, Perhaps for this reason many texts dispense with the use of [) altogether. This book will use (] for long vowel sounds, since itis a useful visual reminder of duration, which is so crucial to the idiomatic sound color of any language. Use of this eymbol will ‘be modified in IPA renderings of phrases to reflect syntactical changes of duration. For the purposes of singing, length of vowel sound is largely de- termined by the musical seting. Nevertheless, an understanding of relative duration of sounds as they occur in speech is erucial to vir- ‘ually all kinds of singing. Vowel Modification and the IPA Every voice teacher and reasonably experienced singer is familiar with the need to modify vowel sounds in different parts of the voice. ‘This was referred to above under (a] and [a]. The needs are differ- ent for different voice types. Many books with IPA transcription for singers attempt to address this issue by altering IPA vowel symbols standard for speaking to different ones for singing. A few such in- stances are universally accepted, such as French les having [e] when ‘spoken but [e] when sung. Most such changes, however, run into the problem that a given modification works for one voice or voice type,xli © PREFACE but in another sounds exaggerated or affected. The aim of any vowel modification is to give the illusion of the required vowel sound while ‘keeping the sound Beautiful. ‘Just as a page of music is nothing more than a blueprint for ul- ‘imate performance, which can differ from one performer to the next, so IPA transcription is a blueprint, a skeleton, for the singer's re- alization of language. It is best to use the IPA for singing as it is ‘used for speech. The teacher and intelligent singer will understand that adjustments must be made, but it is not for an artificially im- posed IPA symbol to dictate an adjustment. ‘There is a certain amount of repetition and redundancy built into this text. The basic reason is that repetition will drive a point home, but there is also a cross-referencing purpose. If one wants to check on the vowel sound in the first syllable of the French word dessein, for example, it will be found under elased e because initial dess- results in closed {e) in French, but the same information will be found under open e as an exception to the usual pattern of e be- fore a double consonant resulting in open [c]. i It is assumed that the teachér will supplement this text with materials of his or her own devising, such as homework of IPA tran- scriptions of complete aria or song texts, readings of texts in class, and listening to recorded examples. Acknowledgments ‘The author wishes to thank the University of Cincinnati for grant- ing him the sabbatical leave that made the writing of this book pos- sible. Thanks also to Professor Kenneth Griffiths, esteemed col- Jeague, accompanist, and linguist, for reading the manuscript and providing many valuable suggestions; and to Professor Lorenzo Mal- fatti for his peerless expertise in matters Italian. Finally, thanks to the many students who have given me the experience over the years that resulted in this book. ITALIAN Introduction Italian is widely assumed to be an easy language to sing, the easi- est of all the foreign languages. This assumption may derive from the fact that beginning voice students usually sing in Italian as their first foreign language; thus, if beginners sing Italian, it must be ‘easy. While Italian is grammatically easier than German, and is in ita own unique color. Italian has always been justly praised for the purity of its vowel sounds. Just as important to the overall sound color of Italian, however, is how it treats consonants. For achievement of an intermediate level of proficiency with Ital- ian diction, the following points need to be mastered on a consis- tent basis: 1. Purity of vowels, with particular attention to unstressed syllables 2, No diphthong in pronouncing (el, [el [], and (3} 3. Appropriate “lift” or brightness to [a] and fe] 4. Long sustained vowels in stressed syllables before a single consonant 5, Proper linking of vowels between words 6, Basic understanding of open and closed ¢ and o 7. Short single consonants 8. Long double consonants 9. Forward articulation and nonsspiration of consonant sounds 410, Relative lengthening off, m, n, and r when initial in con- sonant clusters2.© A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Intornational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Symbols for Italian Vowels Glides [a] amo, fama 4] pianto, patria, buio [el vedo, stella {wl sguardo, sangue, tuoi [e] bene, bella Plotive Consonants {) hb] abate, babbo {pl [ppl popoto, gruppo [al [da] Alfredo, freddo {d [t] tutore, tutto (Ge) (gel fags, Fugzo [ie [hd] s0c0, seeeo (J11J0 scendo, Inscie, pesce Vibrant Consonants Ora {4 G7 fer caro, carta, carro (a) rosa, smania ‘Nol Consonants {oteral Consonants _ 10 bro, gallo {] fam ame, mamma (9 (64 et, filo {g] lanco, languide Africole Consonots a {ttf cereo, caccia + Symbols (8) [a] gemo, fuggire {4 Jongthen preceding sound tt) (tal zio, pazzo (1 syllabic strose [1 phrasal diphthong Dictionaries {tis essential that the student acquire an Italian dictionary, but caveat ‘emptor. Dictionaries vary greatly in the information they provide. The student for whom the pronunciation of the language is a major con- ‘cern will need more than simple word translation from a dictionary. Few Italian or Italian-English dictionaries use the IPA, but since Italian is phonetic (that is, spelling and sound are consistent) ex- cept for the letters ¢, o, s, and z, one needs only an indication for these letters. With the two vowels, unstressed e's and o's are con- sidered closed and will therefore have no special indication. When ‘they fallin the stressed syllable, closed e's and o's will usually have tan acute accent and open ones will have a grave accent, Alternative symbols may be employed, such as a dot (.) underneath a stressed ton © 3 closed vowel and a cedilla (,) under a stressed open vowel. Words with open vowels may be spelled with the IPA symbols [e] and {s1. With s and z the question is whether they are to be pronounced ‘voiced or unvoiced. Usually the voiced sound is indicated by some symbol, such as a dot underneath; otherwise the unvoiced pronun- ciation is assumed. This is particularly essential for z, which is highly irregular. ‘A good dictionary will also give appropriate verb forms if there is a change in vowel quality from the infinitive, for example, prén- dere (prési, préso). Finally, word stress must be indicated. It may be given for all ‘words, but at the very least antepenult (third-to-last syllable) should be indicated (eg., umile, dgbole). If no indication is given, the as- sumption is the pemult (second-to-last syllable) stress, or, in the case of final accented vowels, final syllable stress. ‘The student must make sure the dictionary he or she purchases provides the above information. If it does not, its use will be very limited, jiacritical Marks ‘The grove accent () is the most commonly encountered diacritical ‘mark in Italian. In older printed Italian it is always found with stressed final vowels in polysyllabic words. In modern printed Italian, stressed final e (when closed), i, and u often have the acute accent ('): bbeltA vedro Inssit(or lassi) parti (or parti) perch? (or perché) ‘When stressed final e is open it will always have the grave accent: caffe, ahime. In three-letter monosyllabic words spelled consonant-vowel- vowel, the grave accent over the final vowel indicates that the first vowel is either a glide or a “softening” i: pid (or pid) pud pid did gia cid ‘Such words without an accent are to be pronounced as a diphthong: pio tuo mie sia fia mai (Gee sections “Glides” and “Diphthongs”) ‘The circumflex accent () is very occasionally encountered in colder Italian, It indicates that a letter has been omitted. It has no effect on pronunciation and its use is not obligatory: dormia (dormiva) odi (odii) edre (cuore)4 © 4 HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. ‘The dieresis (is sometimes found in musical settings wh slide is treated as a vowel: vi-orle. Itis also used in the name Aida to indicate the unusual second-vowel syllabic diphthong ai} instead of the usual pronunciation of -ai- 98 ‘The grave accent is also used to differentiate monosyllabic words that have different meanings but are otherwise spelled the same: Ta (there) Ia (the, it) 198 (oneself) se (if) 2 fel Gs) [e} (and) ane (or né) {ne} (nor) ne [ne] (of it, of them) si (one, oneself) si (yes) ii day) ai (of) ‘The same may occasionally happen with polysyllabie words: ancora Capkora] (anchor), ancora (ayjko:ra] (again). In polysyllabic words ending in i plus a vowel, the grave accent may sometimes be found over the i to indicate that the vowels form a diphthong (that is, the {is not a glide or softening i): ‘Lucia [lufia] magia {matisi:a) follia (fol:e) Libreria (libreri:a] ‘Use of the accent in such cases is unfortunately inconsistent; these words are just as often found without accent. (See under “Glides.”) Syllabification It is important to understand syllabification as an aid in deter- mining relative length of vowel and consonant sounds. The follow- ing reflects the rules of orthographic (written) Italian. The spoken language differs somewhat from these rules as they relate to vowel length. (See “Vowel Length.”) ‘A single consonant occurs between two vowels and begins the syllable with the following vowel: amore po-polo ferito wmile ‘A double consonant is two of the same consonant together. Sylla- bles divide between the two consonants: troppo matto bello carro ‘A consonant cluster is two or three different consonants together. ‘The cluster will divide after the first consonant if it is , m, n, or r: talon © 5 altro tem-po con-tro parla ‘and in a few rare cases where the consonant combination could not, begin a word: tee-ni-ca, ab-di-ca-re. Tn all other cases the cluster belongs with the following vowel: aprire avra Indro figlio sogno testa lascia Adjacent vowels are considered to be in the same syllable: mio miei sua suoi maestro cielo Gio-van-ni except when the second or third successive vowel-lotter is a glide: -to bu-io gioia muo-io rasoio ‘Second-vowel syllabie diphthongs, such as maestro, are virtu- ally always given two notes by composers, giving the effect of two syllables. Maestro is then heard as ma-e-stro, a three-sylleble word. More concerning adjacent vowels will be found under “Glides”” ‘Diphthongs,” “Triphthongs,” and “Linking of Vowels between Words” Word Stress ‘While musical settings usually make word stress clear, such is not always the case. Understanding patterns of word stress in Italian is important for understanding the character of the language. ‘Most Italian words of two or more syllables take the stress on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable (parola piana in Italian): ‘Roma Mi-le-no Ve‘ne-zia Fi-renze ‘Some words take the stress on the final syllable (parola tronca in Italian). The final vowel will have either a grave or an acute ac- cent: bel'ta per‘ché a-me-rd par-ti ‘Some words end in a final stressed diphthong. There is no ac- ‘cent: colui colei verrai andrei6 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS A large minority of words take the stress on the antepenulti- mate syllable (parola sdrucciola in Italian). Rarely is an accent sgiven, so unknown words must be checked in a reliable dictionary: ‘anima = 'timido = In grima ‘wile ‘tenero ‘gelido —ineo-gni-to —evser-ci-to Certain recurring word endings result in the antepenult stress pattern. Some of them are: Adjectives -hbile (s'mabile, inesor‘abile) “‘bile (possibile, visibile) -bvole (piateevole, ridevole) -bsimo (ven'tesimo, undicesimo) Adjectives, Adverbs: -issimo (pre'stiasimo, felicissimo) Nouns: -tudine (solitudine, abitudine) -logo (prologo, ca'talogo) Verbs: ‘Many forms take the antepenult stress; particularly some infinitives in -ere, and third person plural forms: ‘ridere, ‘eredere, ‘amano, co'noscono, ‘ve- dono, parlavano A fourth-to-last-syllable stress (parola bisdrucciola in Ital- ian) occurs in the third person plural of -are verbs that have an an- tepenult stress in singular forms: dimenticare dimentica dimenticano meritare ‘merita ‘meritano and in some compound forms where pronouns are attached to verbs: ‘portamelo (bring it to me). Apocopation Apocopation or truncation (troneamento in Italian) is the elimi- nation of (usually) the final vowel of a word. This happens frequently in literary lalian. The word stress does not change: anicor = anicora smor=simore ‘aman =‘amano Sometimes more than just the final vowel is removed: san='sanno dan=‘danno fan ="fanno tion © 7 AA family of Italian nouns has a complete form ending in -de and ‘an apocopated form ending in a stressed vowel. The apocopated form, is more common: pietade= pict _piede = pid fede = fe, £6, fe mercede=mercd beltade=belta _virtude = virt Hibertade = libertd amistade = amisth In this excerpt from La Bohéme: entrar con voi pur ora / ed i miei sogni usati bei sogni miei / tosto si diloguar the words entrar and dileguar are apocopated forms of the third person plural ofthe past historic tense (passafo remofo), entrarono (they entered) and dileguarono (they were dispersed), eliminating three letters. Confusion could arise because the apocopated form of the infinitive of these verbs is the same. Other than words taken from foreign Gncluding ‘many proper names), the only Italian words that end in conso- nants are a few small words such as il, con, per, non, nord, sud, ‘est, ovest, and contractions such as del, nel. Any other word end ing in a consonant does 20 as a result of apocopation. It is incum- bent upon the student to know the complete form of any apoco- pated word. tis interesting to note that apocopation can only occur if the result is a final consonant of, m, n, or r, the same consonants that, can end a syllable. Thus andiamo can become andiam and vanno can become van, but andate cannot be altered. Apocopation gives great flexibility to the Italian language for the purposes of adapting it to verse. Depending on the meter of the verse, a line of poetry can, for example, end in a stressed or un- stressed syllable but employ the same word, Vowels Italian has five vowel-letters and seven vowel sounds, Some vowel- letters have additional functions. ‘The vowel-letter a always represents the sound [al: cara (ka:ral, amara [2'ma:ra) 2. The vowel-letter e represents either the closed vowel sound [e] as in vero {ve:ro}, stella stella}; or the open vowel sound [c], as in prego [pre:gol, bella [bella]B © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS 8. The vowel-letter i has three possible functions: ‘The vowel sound [i]: infinito [infini:tol, gigi CdsisAi] ‘The glide {j}: piet& [pjetal, fiato [fa:to] Silent after ¢, g, and sc, when preceding another vowel (eoftening Giovanni [ds0vanni, bacio [be:fol, lasciare [ls{fa:re) Alzo silent after gl when preceding another vowel: figlio [fik4ol, scegliere [JesAere] 4. The vowel-letter o represents either the closed vowel sound {6} as in voce [vo:fe}, sonno ['sonno}; or the open vowel ‘sound fo} as in sposa [spo:za], donna {donna} '5. The vowel-letter u represents either the vowel (ul, as in tuo [tu:o}, or the glide fw, as in tuoi (twoxi} Vowel Length Unlike German, in which closed vowel sounds are generally long and open vowel sounds are generally short, the quality and length of Halian vowel sounds are determined independently ofeach other, Long vowels (indicated by (1) are roughly twice as long as short vowels, Vowels are considered long when they ovcur in stressed open syllables. An open syllable is one that ends in a vowel. ‘amo [a:mo} amare [o'ma: : amavano [s'me:vano] dolore [dolo:re] _sospiro [so sopra (so:pral padre (pa:dre) In stressed diphthongs and monosyllabic words with diph- thongs, the first vowel is long: amerei [ame're:i] hai {a:i] poi (poi) aura [a:ura) ‘There are come situations in which vowels in stressed open syl- lables are short: © Stressed final vowels, including monosyllables: Oa}, amé {o'ms], amera [ame'ral ** Before consonant clusters beginning with s: testa (testa), posta [postal including -sci and -sce (considered doubled sounds): laseio flaffol, pesce Tpeffe) * Before -gli and -gn (considered doubled sounds): ogli feAAi), ogni fon] ‘* Before intervocalic z (single z considered doubled): spazio (spattsjo), letizia [ettesjal (See “Consonants” for explanation of consonant length.) talon © 9 ‘When pronouns are attached to verbs, the original vowel length remains: ‘amare {emare] amarvi maxi] vedere fviere) vedersiivédersi] ‘Stressed vowels occurring in closed syllables, that is, before dou- ble consonants, or before consonant clusters beginning with J, m, n, or r are short. The consonant following the short stressed vowel is Jong (see “Consonants"): petto [pettol rieeo frikko] colpa [kolpa) tempo [tempo] contro [kontro) Unstressed vowels are always short, but they must remain pare. It is again necessary to emphasize that although musical set- ‘ings determine much about vowel length for singing, itis up to the singer to realize the subtleties ofjust when a sound begins and ends. ‘The best way to achieve this in singing is to practice the inflections of the spoken language. Specific Vowel Sounds © ta) ‘The bright Italian [a] sound is often surprisingly difficult for English-Afere} ‘ion @ 29° ‘The following table organizes the sounds of sc in combination with all the vowel sounds. Compare with the table on p. 28. Once again, i is the softening letter and h is the hardening letter. [ska] sea (searpa, tasca) —_{fal scia (lascia, sciagurato) [eke] sche (scherno, tasche) _[{e] sce (pesce, scogliere) [eka] schi (Schicchi, tedeschi) [i] sci (uscire, scimunito) [sko] sco (fresco, scoprire) [fo] scio (liscio, sciocco) [sku] seu (seultura, seudo) [ful sciu (asciugare, sciupato) GN In Italian, as in French, the combination gn always results in the sound (nl. The sound is the same as Spanish fi as in seior, and similar to English [nj] as in onion. In English, however, two move- ments of the tongue ere required, resulting in two sounds falling into two different syllables. In the other languages one tongue move- ‘ment results in one sound, which always begins a syllable. Tntervocalically this sound in Italian is always long, indicated in IPA by doubling the symbol. The preceding vowel is always short. sogno (sonnol signore [sfnpo:re} legno flesno] ogni fonpil ecu ‘The combination -gli- results in the sound [4]. This sound is long and is rendered in IPA as a double (except when initial). Vowels pre- ceding it are always short. If the i is the only vowel-letter in the syllable, it will serve as the vowel [il: eli [Ai] fight (Aci) egli PeXai] Ifthe i is immediately followed by another vowel, the i i silent: meglio [meXto} famiglia fa'mi4fo} Guglielmo [gucelmo] ‘The sound is similar to English [j] as in valiant, but English {lj is considered two movements of the tongue and the two sounds are in different syllables. Italian [4] is considered one movement of the tongue and always begins a syllable. ‘The word gli is the masculine plural article before words be- ginning with s plus a consonant (gli studenti), words beginning90 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS with 2 (gli aii), and words beginning with a vowel (gli occhi). In the latter case the i loses all vowel function, and the two words are pronounced as one: [okkil. The spelling gl'occhi is often encoun- ‘tered in literary Italian, which more accurately suggests the proper pronuneiation. Itis incorrect to pronounce the i when gli is followed by a vowel, whether in the same word or in a different word. ‘gli uomini [4woxmini) gli astei [4 astri] quegli oechi [iweshak] ‘The word gli also functions as the indirect object pronoun (to ‘him, to it) It can be combined with a direct object pronoun to form glielo (elo) and gliela [Xela]. The i is silent. Glielo dard—t will give it to him. Very occasionally, -gli- is pronounced [gli]. This is most com- monly encountered in the word negligenza [neglidsentea] and its derivatives such as negligente [neglisente] and negletto Inegletto). Lucia di Lammermoor ‘Fra poco a me ricovero darh nogletto avello © NC,NG,NQ In spoken Italian, when n precedes hard ¢, hard g, or q within ‘word it assumes the sound {p) as in English sing and sink. The fol- lowing consonant retains its normal sound, bianco [bjapko] anche [apke} ancora [ayko:ra) sangue [sangwe] _inglese linigleze]_ dunque [dupkwe} tis common practice among Italian singers to sometimes pro- ounce n with its normal sound {nl in this context (Tdupkwel be- comes (dunkwel). This is particularly so in slower, more sustained ‘passages, where the more forward position of {n) is arguably more conducive than [p] to the maintaining of the legato line, although the practice is not necessarily recommended. This alternative pro- ‘nunciation to [p] can lead to the insertion of a “ghost” vowel sound between the n and the following consonant (dun-a-que), which is most emphatically to be avoided, in spite of the fact that it is often heard from Italian singers. ‘Before soft ¢ and soft g,n retains its normal sound. incendio {in'fendjo) Janciare (lan'fa:re) ingiuria lin'dsu:rjal ingegno lin'enno] oon @ 31 Other Possible Assimilations of N Assimilation of n means that orthographic (written) n assumes a sound different from [n].An example is the situation described above where orthographic n is pronounced [9]. Two further assimilations of n are possible in Italian: When n oscars before any ofthe three bilabial consonant b, ‘m, and p (consonant sounds requiring lip closure), it may be pro. ‘nounced {mm). While this is common in speech, it is much less com. ‘mon in singing, with its greater extension of sound over time. It is ‘more likely to occur in secco recitative: It Barbiere di Siviglia Don Bar to-Io, Don Bar = to-lo! Don Ba - si = io {ombartolo} (dombe'zjo} though it may occur in lyric singing when note values are short. When singing is more sustained, such assimilation is less likely, though certainly possible. If one singer chooses to do fun bel di, an~ other may choose to do fum bel dil; bth are valid. 2. A final possible context for assimilation ofn is before f) and {vl Gabiodental sounds, requiring contact of upper teeth and lower lip). When n is assimilated before these sounds, the tongue does not come into contact with the hard palate, but is replaced by a “hum” {n the position of the following (for (v]. The IPA symbol for this is {rg un fior (fun fox] or fumfor), invano fin'va:no] or [injva:nol ‘This text does not employ (mp for Italian. While the singer certainly ‘may use it when appropriate, the author is ofthe opinion that this sound is not necessary for idiomatic Italian, Ps, QU ‘The combination ps occurs at the beginning of certain Greck- derived words. As in German and but not in Englis oa s French, but not in English, the p Psicologia [psikolotsi:a] psichiatra [psikja:tra] ‘The combination qu is pronounced [kw] as in English. The pro-32 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. nuneiation of this combination is often confused with those of French and Spanish, which have no {w] glide: questo [kwesto] quel {kwell] dunque [dupkwe] Characteristics of Double Consonants While there are many categories for consonants (plosive, fricative, ete), the following is sufficient for understanding proper execution of double consonants: 1. Consonants are either stop or continuing. 2. Consonants are either voiced or unvoiced. ‘The terms “stop” and “continuing” refer to air flow. Stop consonants ‘require a momentary interruption of air flow by the tongue or lips; continuing consonants retain continuous air flow from the preced- ing vowel. ‘+ Stop consonant sounds: fb, [dl, kl, (gl, fp, (8) * Continuing consonant unde, 1, (4), (ma), fn, (nO, fs), Certain sounds, for example [9], {2}, do not play a role in consonant doubling. 5} and {dz} double the [d} while [f] and (ts) double the [t). “Voiced” and “unvoiced” refer to whether the vocal folds are vi- ‘rating in pronouncing the consonant. Many consonant sounds can bbe paired with another as two versions of the same sound, the only difference being that one is voiced and one is unvoiced: * Voiced: — (b [al (el, (vl, (2, (os), 42} ‘* Unvoiced: [pl It, Okl, 10, [sl Il ts) ‘The four unpaired consonants, all voiced, are {1}, {mi}, [nl, and 10] ((A] is a variation of {1} and (p] is 2 variation of {nl). These are the same four consinants encountered previously as the ones that can end syllables and apocopated words in Italian. ‘Because double consonants are lengthened, the singer must be par- ticularly aware of the appropriate characteristics ofthe consonant. This ‘may cause some difficulty at first. For instance, the singer unused to articulating a double tt as in fatto is often initially uncomfortable with the length of time the air is not moving and the vocal folds are not vi- brating, since these traits seem antithetical to singing. With stop dou- ‘ble consonants, moreover, the release must not be accomplished by fore- ing the air. Double consonants are not more forceful than single alien © 33 consonants, just longer. The student must learn that these character- istics are as important to good Italian as anything relating to vowels. Here is a summary of all Italian double consonants grouped by their particular characteristics: Uny stop [dk] spelled cc, peceato {peldka-to, ricco Crk] spelled cq, aequa fakkwal, ncquisto [al’kwisto] spelled qq, soqquadro [ook’kora:dro) {ppl troppo ftroppel, eppure (epipu:re] {te} spelled t,letto [lotto earattere (katte) spelled ce (ttf, eaceia fkattfal, ssaccedere [suttfe:dore] spelled 22 [tts], pozzo [potteo}, ccarezza (ka'rettsa) Unvoiced continuing (f] buff (buff, affanno (af'fannol [es] stesso (stessol, passato [pas'saa:t) wo i apendare lender] ‘Voiced stop (bb) faa) lel _veggo [veges], proteggs [protcggs] Voiced continuing fil] folle [falle), uecello (ut ello} [6A eg (eS, fogtio Tfa4éo} fom) dima (dimmi), ammazzare (ammetse-e} {on} conno fsonno), condannata (kondan‘nata] Lap] sogno fsonzol, maligno (me'linnol fre] ferro [ferrol, orrore forro:re] [ve] owvio Caryl, davvero (davve:ro} SS EEE EEE In musical settings, exact vowel length is of course largely deter- ‘ined by the length of the note as well as by what consonants fol- low it. A Jong note wall always have a long vowel, but if it is fol- lowed by a double consonant the vowel will be shortened at the end of the note. A short note involving a double consonant will be ap- proximately half vowel and half consonant,34 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ‘The following excerpt from Don Giovanni is notated in the score thus: Batti bat- tio bel Ma~ set - to (att atjo bet mazetto) Here is the rhythm rewritten to illustrate how the double t's should be articulated, stopping the consonants on the tied notes as indicated: Ba ba - to bl Masset - As an example of a double consonant at the end of a long note, this excerpt from Donaudy’s song Vaghissima sembianza is notated: Von ok - mat te Ivarierata] ‘Tho double tt at tho ond of the long note should be executed like this (oceurring on the final tied note): Vie dete = tote ‘While there is a certain artificiality in placing the double con- sonant in a precise rhythm, it is an excellent means by which the inexperienced singer can get a sense of how to execute double con- sonants. When the skill is developed the crutch can be abandoned. Phrasal Doubling In Italian, a word beginning with a consonant may have that con- ‘sonant pronounced as if it were a double if the preceding word ends in a vowel. This phenomenon is commonly pointed out by Italian phoneticians, and is called “phrasal doubling,” or by the technical term “phrasal sandhi.” It can occur in the following situations 1. After most monosyllabic words, but not articles (Ia, le, lo, ali, i or pronouns (la, le, lo, li) lon © 35 2, After a polysyllabic word ending in a final stressed vowel (eg, perché) 8, After certain two-syllable words, specifically come, contra, dove (ove), qualche, and sopra (sovra) Phrasal doubling can clearly be seen in some words whose spelling have changed to reflect it: chissa from chi sa ‘giommai from gid mai sissignore from si signore _davvero from da vero ebbene from e bene dammi from da mi In older Italian, and even in some relatively modern poetic Ital- ian, one encounters spellings without the double consonants that are found in modern Italian spelling: de Ia for della, a Dio for ad- dio. Because of the phenomenon of phrasal doubling, these combi- nations should be pronounced as doubles no matter what the spelling. La Serenata (Tosti) EI vento sy la fron = de [el"veno ‘ull rood} ‘There is not uniform agreement among the experts about all the details of when phrasal doubling applies. It is a potentially strong expressive device in singing, but the moderately experienced singer should treat it with caution and not overdo it. Do not con- sider it a necessity but rather an option. Listen carefully to Italian singers (and speakers) and observe what they do. ‘Some examples of possible phrasal doubling: da te [date] che fai (keffa:] hho paura (op'pau:ra) dove vai [dovev'va:i} ‘80 tutto [sot tutto) va bene {vabbe:ne} se fosse [sefTosse] ‘come lui {komel'ui} Consonant Clusters ‘When O), rl, (a, (9), and (r} begin a consonant cluster, their sounds are lengthened like double consonants. Use of the colon [or dou- Dling of the IPA symbol in these cases would seem logical, but it is86 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS not standard. Remember that the preceding vowel is short, and the ‘subsequent consonant (part of the same syllable) is arrived at quickly: colpa [kolpa] ‘tempo (tempo) donde [donde] porta [porta] ‘sangue [sangwe] Failure to pronounce these sounds with enough vocal resonance, enough forward placement of the tongue, or simply enough energy is very common among singers inexperienced with Italian. The ini tial sound of the cluster is therefore muffled or lost altogether, com- promising clarity of text and expressiveness of singing. For English speakers this is particularly true when the cluster {is preceded by [al. The tendency to pronounce fa] too darkly, oom- bined with the tendency to position the tongue too far back for (al ‘and especially for Ql}, often results in serious distortion in such ‘words, Practice these words, keeping the [a] bright and the conso- nants forward: aldo [kaldo] altro faltro) saltare [salta:re] santo [santo] quanto [kwanto] campo [kampo} In musical settings calling for a long note on a vowel followed by a consonant cluster, the first consonant of the cluster may be somewhat anticipated, both to imply a shorter vowel sound and to sive expressive length to the consonant sound. This is similar to treatment of double consonants, already discussed. The extent to which this is done will vary according to context. Rigoletto [elasmi sempre} La Traviata go- dea so - ven te pla - gee [potdea so'vente pincer ‘When r ends a syllable it may be rolled or flipped, though in singing it is usually rolled (see the section dealing with r, begin- ning on p. 22). Whether to roll and how long to roll depend on the dramaticlemotional intensity of the moment, ‘While expressive lingering on the first sound of a consonant, cluster is a device that can lend appropriate color to the Italian lan- szuage, it should be treated with care. It should not be overdone. ion © 97) Word Underlay in Scores In musical scores, the placement of Italian words under notes to be ‘sung is often highly misleading in terms of which syllables should be ‘sung on which notes, One example is from a score of L'Blisir d’Amore: tested pros fes - sor lin ‘ony’ arte profesor] This is to be performed (and should be notated): Tn 0+ goiar-te2 pro fs = sor Another example is from a score of Le Nozze di Figaro: ‘The double rhythmic notation is for the Italian original and the En- glish translation. Although the second eighth note of the full mes- sure is for the English translation only, the second syllable of conte is placed directly beneath it, giving the impression that the sylla- ble should be placed there. The proper notation of the Italian text with Mozart's notes is: non Theil Gon tea bo - Hl - to? A similar example comes from a score of Cost fan tutte: = a Se pase pol nasce un i brogio pase pa naffe_unim'braho} (manon)vogion - ver ma non "okfo_sveir38 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS A more appropriate notation is: pola seu im bro - plo Misleading word underlay is very common, The text must be spoken to find the proper linking of sounds, which then must be placed in the given rhythm. Musical Settings of Diphthongs Under “Syllabification” it has been explained that diphthongs are considered to be in one syllable. This can be seen in innumerable ‘musical settings in which composers set first-vowel syllabic diph- thongs to one note: Don Giovanni M mb ws - on - un - mio 22:0 iatanto} Diphthongs are also set to two or more notes, just as any syllable can be, but the frequent setting of diphthongs to one note is one in- ication that they are heard as a single syllable. ‘Second-vowel syllabic diphthongs are virtually always sepa- rated by composers over two notes: Cost fan tutte although very occasionally they are set to one note: oS P= Le Nowe Don Ba- si- lio, mio mae-stro di can - to di Figaro Comberton mags st) Unstressed diphthongs are treated similarly to first-vowel syl- labic diphthongs. Single-note setting is very common, but the two vowel sounds are also frequently separated over two notes: baton © 39) I Trovatore I Trovatore Le = o-m - md mis at eo'noira_e mize) Here are some representative examples of diphthongs set by com- posers to one note: 2 ad wie bu-tain- cons di Figaro (aku ebusta_itfensid ‘Sebben erudele (Caldara) tatu fe ee (hata eters) Le Nozze di Figaro 4 mo two {admio 'dwasto] AAAS (e ianamo)-ran- do. Paee an te- Iv» a no Falotaff {e_Innamo'rando er antel'k:90]40 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Lucia di Lammermoor —— mi col- pio di sun v0 cal (riko pl sua wong) I Borbiere di Siviglia AL: Viedea [allem kwel meal) Vane, 0 rosa fortunata (Bellini) on a= via pi bel oon = ten = to on avis ju bel Ron'tento) Diphthongs: Vowel Distribution in Singing Distribution of vowel sounds in first-vowel syllabic diphthongs set to one note usually results in one of two possibilities: 1. The stressed vowel receives the majority of the note value, with the unstressed vowel occurring late in the note: del mio dolee ardor (Gluck) IL Trovatore ba ken del wo sor - = 80 {Wbatesn del suc sro} olan © 41 2. The two vowel sounds receive approximately equal time (al- though the syllabic vowel remains stressed). This is often the case ‘with shorter note values: I Trovatore SRI SI'S GA Sper - dail wo - le dun wo agur do (sperda_sole dun suo agar) Sometimes when a first-vowel syllabic diphthong occurs on note of ong duration, the first, vowel may yield to the second vowel rather soon, 60 that the second vowel takes more of the note value. ‘This is not obligatory, but the result may be more effective. In such cases the first, syllabic vowel must be strongly stressed for proper comprehensibiity of the word. Don Pasquale O- me persem-pre d= dio san-teme- (nie) (oir per ‘sempre ado) rind e+ den scha-vo clas = can aan bel- Let- 28 ‘ve! der 'skjavotfas kun sua bets or isu] ‘As these examples demonstrate, there is often no single correct s0- ution to vowel distribution, and subtle variations as to the precise ‘moment of vowel change are among the devices that give expres- sive color and nuance to the Italian language.42 © & HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. It is often suggested that the note on which the diphthong oc- ‘curs should be divided into emaller note values to reflect the dis- ‘tribution of the vowel sounds over the note: Amari (Coccini) (ama' gil mo_e'mosre] ‘While this can be useful at an inital stage, it is extremely important, that such a sul ‘not be heard as separate notes. If composer ‘wishes to set a diphthong to more than one note, the composer will 0 60, and often does, If composer chooses to set a diphthong to one note it must sound as one; the transition must be very smooth. In the end, the vowel transition should have no strongly rhythmic character. When a firstvowel syllabic diphthong is slurred over two or three notes, the second vowel sound will fall on the final note, un- Jess slur markings indicate otherwise: Lucia di Lammermoor La pie-ta ge in mo fev - ve 1a pjetade in suo fa'vo:e] It Trovatore mat 1 moor (eel mio box If there are four or more notes in a moderate to fast tempo, chang- ing the vowel on the second-to-last note is advisable LElisir fAmore — Mar - , Di. ver (ceo) oon © 43 I Trovatore ous (aun sco zgwardo) unless the second vowel is weak (i or u), when it should go on the final note: Lusinghe pit care (Handel) ral = telat Uber} but the composer may indicate vowel division by specific slur mark- ings: Ni Trovatore +’ om, fa ver (aval iam Uv in mio fever Linking of Vowels Between Words: Phrasal Diphthongs ‘Most Italian words end with a vowel; many begin with a vowel. Con- sequently many words are linked by contiguous vowel sounds. This is one of the primary elements in the legato flow of the language, spoken as well as sung. In musical settings, when words within a phrase meet in this way the vowels connecting the words usually receive one note. The result is sometimes called a “phrasal diphthong” or ‘phrasal triph- thong.” To the inexperienced eye, it often looks as if there are not enough notes for the number of syllables: 1 Puritani ripiombarlo aglia-bissiin ¢ - terao‘AA © HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS, Non-Italian scores will sometimes indicate phrasal diphthongs with the symbol _, but the practice is not consistent. Italian scores do not do this, assuming the (presumably Italian) reader will under- stand how to connect words in this way. The singer must learn to recognize phrasal diphthongs and triphthongs and determine to which note they are applied. See the section “Word Underlay in Scores.” Vowel Distribution in Singing Phrasal Diphthongs ‘Singers often do not accurately execute the phrasal diphthong set to one note. Improper execution results in the addition of a note. Don Giovanni sas gui covmenegiel ome [atarokwikome_ angelina) amiss FI IE GIVES sar gui come gel - ei |) sins qu omens gael - Le Nozze di Figaro far fa-lo- mea mo-r0 - 10 Utafaroine_amo'e2o) aoa F 1d FU far «fale - mea - mo-10 - 90 le) Je) far = aslo» me a= 0-10 - 50 Le Nozze di Figaro twr-ben = fs poe [torbando_i'pozo) ue Fl turban = dail = po = 50 lei!) | turban - dol = po- #0 Once it is determined which note takes the phrasal diphthong, the singer must determine how much of the note value to give to ‘each vowel sound. When the phrasal diphthong occurs on a short note value, the two vowel sounds are given approximately equal time, as with ordinary diphthongs. Vage tuna (Bellini) HL Ind so, si cl-Ind sol neltay- ve ~ nit, {elle soa a ‘ella_e sl nellawve'ie) Care selve (Handel) ven + gota trac dn dal mio cor (Cvengo_sa trattfa del mito kor) It is when the note value is longer that it becomes necessary to determine the relative length of vowel sounds. The following guide- lines are offered to help this process: 1, Two of the same vowelletter sound as one: Vittoria, mio core (Carissimi) Gia Tem-piaa’ tuoi dan = ni [eaters twos ‘dan) 4546 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. ‘Le Nozze di Figaro La Bohime mon han = moordo - re ‘non ‘anno'o:re] 2. The most common phrasal diphthongs consist of two un- stressed vowels. When this happens with combinations of a, ¢, and 0 (the so-called strong vowels), the second will usually be longer, as if in anticipation of the stressed syllable of the second word: Vergin, tutto amor Ver gin, tuts toa - mor Durante) tsetse) PS SEE ma sean nel fuo- coe 1 @Beredella) {nel fwotko_ eterno] Tocca Var- den -teacman = te mi = a (lar dente_a'mante mia) ‘The froquent clision of some of these unstressed phrasal diphthongs reflects the relatively greater importance of the second vowel: ‘quest’amplesso, Donn’Elvira. 3. When i and u are unstressed, they are usually short and ‘weak in the phrasal diphthong, regardless of their position in the phrasal diphthong. This is more apparent in singing than in speech: Come raggio di sot (Caldara) i giolaunlab- trois - fo - ra (acpi ym ab ea} Palin © 47 1 Pagliacci fe. a tayo rma) Un Balto in Maschera. Ma ua poo = tay - at {Ua sua para, ura) ore, ita! unstressed # will usually become GI, including be- fore u: Keo Battin oH le = meni Le Nozze di Figaro WG prendlan alt (w-prend un ‘ateo_ man ma - te 5. Initial unstressed i after c or g becomes virtually silent: Le Nozze di Figaro It Barbiere i Siviglia © wo nonsor- gfan- oo [etunon sords ap'ko:ra]48 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. 6. When a stressed vowel occurs before an unstressed vowel, the first, stressed vowel will take more of the note value. This in- cludes the words a, 0, , and 2 the so-called “stressed monoph- thongs.” Such occurrences are rare: ito = gnu - no, gido-gnu- no lo se Le Nozze di Figaro (a samme SSS 1a Nozze a Pgoro aarrs [e_e'nnos foi) Sometimes special circumstances require exceptions to the above guidelines. For example, the word tu may be stressed within the phrase and therefore the (u) will be long if set as part of a phrasal diphthong: Noo bai twin Men = {noma tw_in ei ‘When the singer is executing a tenuto or a fermata, or even is just stretching a phrase on a phrasal diphthong, it is often desir- olion © 49 able for the singer to remain on the first vowel, even if the guide lines suggest otherwise: son tranquilla e lieta would normally be {som traykwilla_e testa, but in Pucein’s setting it may be prefer- able to sing (som tragkwilla_e 'jecal. Son tran- quil- lee le - Similarly, fida e costante [fi:da_¢ kostante] becomes ['firda_eko's- tantel: 1 Barbiere i Siviglia (@-man- te che dae co- same In addition, there are various situations in which the rigid ap- plication of the above guidelines does not necessarily yield the best result. In this example it seems preferable to make [i] stronger within the phrasal diphthong (exception to no. 3 above): Tor = ma, exrobde al. Tdeate Tosti) (tore aco ideas) ‘These long-note phrasal dipthongs seem to work better if the first ‘vowel is longer (exception to no. 2): Ombra mai fs (Handel) e-med a - ma bile (hara_ed'matie} er la gloria tadorarci (Bononcini) vo- los = mar - (vakkg_smari)50 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS I Capuletied i Montecchi © qun-tevl- to qn =e fo ante vate _o kwante] In Donna Elvira's opening scene in Don Giovanni, two stressed ‘monophthongs (the word e and the word a) occur on a single half note. Equal distribution would make the half note sound like two quarter notes. The best solution is to shift vowels fluidly either just before or just after the second beat: Don Giovanni em me non tor = naan cor (e_smenon tomagtko While the guidelines for vowel distribution in phrasal diph- thongs should be studied and understood, these exceptions demon- strate that theres considerable room for variance. Once again, there is often no single correct solution. It is important for the student to develop an ear for the cadence of the language, and then apply mu- sical common sense. ‘Mu: | Settings of Triphthongs ‘Monosyllabie words with triphthongs are often set to one note. The first vowel-letter is a glide and the second is the eyllabic vowel. The final vowel is very late and very short: Malinconia, ninfa gentile Battiniy olion © 51 ‘The final vowel may, of course, be given a separate note: Lucia di Lammermoor Ye-co de! mie 1 (ecko de mje arent) Patterns of Phrasal Triphthongs ‘When three vowel sounds join together between words, the result is a phrasal triphthong, The most common type of phrasal triph- thong involves a stress on the second of the three vowels, resulting cither when a diphthong follows an unstressed final vowel: Mor-ta, di-let = toal Nu~ mi ‘num SS ou CCre-do che Cassioel foxe (redo ke "assjo_ ec foste) ‘or when the second of the three vowels is the word a, &, e, 0 (mean- ing or): La Forza del Destino law tints = no (leita e_intferno} SS SSS SS asim A w-looa se - f+ exmoin case (loon) (ated sexta ikasmo_jn'kacza_e fs]52 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS La Forza del Destino din- ma-tone-ter- 90 pian 10 {dantnatan_e'terno"pjanto} Rarely, phrasal triphthongs can result from three unstressed vowels: La Bohime er elo fac = eoyahl- me fo_aitme) In auch cases the stressed vowel (or, in the last example, the sec- ‘ond vowel) of the phrasal diphthong receives most of the note value, although with short note values it is difficult to define vowel dis- tribution exactly. Even if distribution is approximately equal, the correct stress must still be brought out. Phrasal triphthongs can also result from first-vowel syllabic diphthongs followed by an unstressed vowel. The first vowel is stressed and, if the note value allows, is lengthened: Madama Butterfly La Bohime vo-Meun mud = ds se (votlera_un mua ita] Itis interesting to observe that phrasal triphthongs are often set to very short note values, indicating their unstressed nature within ‘the phrase. Just as with phrasal diphthongs, there are times when the general guidelines for phrasal triphthongs described above need to be modified for particular musical settings. Here is a famous tion © 53 Le Nozze di Figaro fin - ch Ta-tadamcor bu = oma (igre "esra_t_ao'kox ‘The three vowels of the phrasal triphthong should probably be di tributed equally (and smoothly!) over the eighth note. Attempting to give & more time can detract from the smooth transition between ‘vowel sounds and thus the overall legato line. ‘This famous phrase from another famous aria is a rare (per- ‘haps unique) example of a phrasal triphthong of three unstressed vowels set to a long note: Orfeo ed Buridice Ge f- womEe n- G- (he fata ‘setsa_eut fe) ‘The best solution here is to lengthen the {a} artificially inorder to set up the most natural pronunciation of the name “Buridice” Cer- tainly lengthening the middle vowel does not yield a satisfactory re- sult here. ‘Another famous aria has a particular setting ofa phrasal triph- thong: Le Nozze di Figaro eos a- oe {ei _ofetipra) ‘Mozart has set mia on a half note tied to an eighth note. The first syllable of infelicita should be sung on the following eighth note. ‘The best solution for the distribution of mia is probably to place (a) on the second quarter note beat, although placing it on the tied ‘eighth note is also possible. However, many singers of this aria ig- nore the information in the score and place the first syllable of in- felicita on the tied eighth note, slurring it to the next eighth note. ‘This is an incorrect reading of Mozart's setting.54 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. Determining Open and Closed e and o in the Stressed Syllable ‘Students grappling with this topic frequently ask why Italian has this characteristic of some words having open vowels and some hav- closed vowels. The answer lies to a large extent in the develop- ment of Italian from Latin. Clagsical Latin uses the long and short signs (*) over vowels, which affect pronunciation as well as having grammatical ramifications. In general, Latin words spelled with 8 ‘or i became Italian words with (el: lex, légis becomes legge [ledge] (Gneaning lau). Latin words spelled with & became Italian words with {l: Tago, légere becomes leggo lleggol, leggere fleddsere] (meaning read). Latin words spelled with 6 or u became Ttalian words with (ol: curro, currere becomes corro [korro] correre Thorrere] (meaning run). Latin words spelled with 3 became Italian words with oI: e6r, edrdis becomes cuore [lwa:re] or core Pho:re] (meaning heart). ‘Remember that spoken Italian assumes all unstressed e's and 0's to be closed. See the discussion of these vowels in the main text for application to singing. The patterns listed below are for the stressed ayllable only. Most of these patterns are subject to a sub- stantial number of exceptions. A reliable dictionary should always be consulted, © Stressed e and o (Most examples given have stressed open syllables, a few have stressed closed syllables): 1. In the antepenultimate syllable Some Examples with © gelida [ésclida] _tenebro fte:nebro]_immemore fimime:more) celebre [Yfe:lebre] veneto [veineto] cedere [tfesdere] merito [me:rito] gemito [dse:mito] fremito [fre:mito] Elena [elena] esule fe:zule)_edera fe:dera) 2efiro [dze:firo] genere {dse:nere) Venere [ve:nere} secolo ['se:kolo] medico [me:diko] tenero [te:nero] akon © 55 anelito [a'ne:lito) pettine [pettine] essere [essere] perfido [perfido] vertice [vertife] termine [termine] pergola [perfido] pendere [pendere] perdere tperdere] Some Exceptions with © fegato [Ye-gato] _ femmina {femmina] Cesare ['fe:zare] cembalo ['fembalo] mettere [metiere] credere [cre:dere] eenere [Yernere] debole [de:bole] __vendere [vendere] vedova [ve:doval vendita [vendita] _ semplice Csemplife] pentola (pentolal ‘Some Examples with o mobile [mobile] nobile f opera [>:pera] solito [soclito) comico [k’s:miko] popolo [po:polo] povero [po-vero] _ anonimo [a'no:nimo} docile fdo:file] gomito [gomito] complice [kormplife] ‘comico [ko:miko] comodo [is:modo] ottimo fottimo] volgere [valdjere] porgere [pordsere] ‘Some Exceptions with rondine [rondine] rompere [rompere] compito fkompito] giovane [ésorvane] ordine [ordine] _sorgere (sordsere] 2, Immediately following another vowel-letter (usually a glide) Some Examples with guerra tgwerral mansueto [man'swe:to} pensiero [pensje:ro] sentiero (senje:ro] portiere [portje:re} cavaliere {cavalje:re] consigliere [consiA‘e:re]__ cielo ffeil] cieco ff miei [mje:i] pietra [pi Tieve fije:vel Hieto Dje:to] chiesa [kie: jeri (je:r] fiero Ife: fieno [fje:n0) pieno [pje:no] maestro [magstro} poeta [poe:ta) Raffaele (raffar:le] quercia (kwerfal ‘aereo [ac:reo}56 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. Some Exceptions with © questo [awesto] quello iawello} paese [pae:ze] saetta [sagttal Some Examples with 0 idiota fidjo:ta] -—chioma fjo:mal ‘euoca [wo:kal puoi {pwori suoi fswori} ceuoio [wo;jo} suolo fswo:lo} euore flwoire] face [fwa:ko) muoio [mwsjo] (from morire) Note: Some of these words are often seen without the glide. The ‘vowel remaina open: core [ko:re] foco {fo:ko} gioco (from giuoco) (ds2:ko] ‘Some Exceptions with © giorno fears} Giorgio tdsordso] fore {fo:rel Piombo [‘pjombo] trionfo [trignfo] _maggiore (maddo:re) Including all words ending in -ione nazione (nattajo:ne) emorione [emottsjo:ne] ragione [radso:ne] riunione [riunjomel, ete. 3. Immediately preceding another vowel letter Some Examples with o sei [sei] idea [ide:a] trofeo [trofe:o] Orfeo lorfe:o) Romeo [romeo] _ebreo [ebre:o] _dei (pL.of dio) [desi] ‘Some Exceptions with o dei (meaning of the) (desi) Also: contractions in the imperfect tense tacea (taceva) [taife:a] avea (aveva) [a've:a] potean (potevano) [pote:an} elon # 57 ‘Some Examples with © pot {po} boia fboial gioia tésoja) noia [noel soi (soja boa [bo:a) eroe [ers] erica (eraiko) Some Exceptions with o noi {nos voi [vos coi (con i) ksi Teone fleomne) _rasoio {ra'zojo] ‘4, Immediately preceding a consonant followed by two vowel lotters (the first usually a glide) Some Examples with © serio fse:rjo] serie fse:rjel tempio [tempjo] miseria [mize:cjal tedio [te:djol genio [ése:njol je inebrio [int:briol_inezia lintttsja) ingenua [in'enwa] tenue [te:nwe] __etereo [etz:reo] tragedia [tra de:dja) ‘commedia Domimeal ssulfix gio: collegio DkoMe:jo) __privilegio {privilesso] ‘An Excoption with © trogua ftre;gwa] ‘Some Examples with © gloria tgoirjal storia fetoxja] memoria fmema:ja] vittoria (vittoxja) proprio (proprio) _ odio fordjol celogio [elos0) demonio {de'manjo] Antonio [anto=jol ‘ovvio fovvjo) ozo Tattsjl ‘marmoreo (mar:moreo] 5, Preceding a consonant cluster beginning with s Some Examples with © tempesta [tempesta] _sesto (sesto] resto [resto] presto (presto) rovescia [rove{fal testa [testa] festa tfesta) ‘mesto [mesto) _finestra {fincstra) foresta {fvresta]___gesto [desto] __destra [destra] orchestra lorkestra) _veste [vesta] pesea [peske] (meaning peach)5B © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS and ‘esco feskol esci feffil esce feffe] escono feskono] (from uscire) Some Exceptions with questo [ewesto] __pesce [pefel pesto [pesto fresco [resko] esca feska) cespo [espo] cesta [festa] bestia tbestja] __tedesco [taldesko) ‘vescovo tveskovol pesca [peska] (meaning fishing) Some Examples with o nostro [nostro] vostro [vostro] _tosto ftosto) posta [postal costa (kosta] ——_sosta [sostal ‘boseo [haeko) Tosca [tsskal _—_angoscia {ay'gofJal imposta [im'posta] rospo [rospo]__oste [ste] chiostro [kjostro] _arrosto [ar'rasto] ‘Some Exceptions with © posto [posto] mostro {mostro} fosco [fosko] _conoscere [kxino{fere] (eomoseo [kcnosko}, ete) © Final Stressed e and 0 Final stressed o is always open (and short). This occurs in verb end- ings, specifically first person singular, future tense, and third per- son singular, past historic tense: amerd [ame'r} ssard [sa'rs) avrd [avo] amd [a'ms) pensd [pen'so) and® (an'do) Monosyilables vary: ho fo] (from avere) 80 [so] (from sapere) 0 fo] 0 {a} But final stressed e is usually closed (and short): + Including all words ending in che or ché: perch? {per'ke], finch {figkel, benchd [bey kel, fuorchd {fworke} ‘+ In all combinations with tré: ventitré [ventitre] ‘In all words that have apocopated -de: mered (mercede) {mer fel, (fede) [fe] Vion © 59 + In third porson singular, past absolute tense, ere verbs: ered (or eredé) krede] + In most monosyllables: me, te, se, si le, ne, ma, re, © Final stressed ¢ is open (and short) in a few words: ale) of Ife) ve ive) {2 [te](meaning fea) caffé (kaffe] ahim® [aime] ‘Most {moze] @ Stressed e and o in Open Syllables Other Than the Above + ¢ before git is usually closed: cegli [eAAil, veglio [vestol, sveglia fzvessal Important exception (open e): meglio (meo} + 0 before gli is usually open: foglio toto), foglia [foKial, doglie tdok‘el, voglio [vaKsol, soglio [soKsol, orgoglio [or'goKKo] Exceptions (closed 0}: moglie [moXéel, germoglia tdsermok{a] endo before gn are both usually closed: Jegno flennol ‘convegno [kon'vepno] ‘segno [seo] ~ degno [denno} sdegno fzdepno} ingegno lindsenno} pegno tpenpol regno frenno} zampogna [tsam'ponna) _sogno [soppo] Disogno [bizonno] vergogna [ver'gonna] © Stressed ¢ and o in Open Syllables: Single Consonants Preceding single consonants, stressed ¢ and o are closed more often than not, but exceptions are numerous. It is advisable to learn the common exceptions. Some Common Words with Open e bene [bene] breve [breve] prego [pre:go] sede [sede] _speme [ treno [tre:no] prete fpre:te] _collega (cote:ga] _biblioteea [bibliote:ka] eco fe:ko} ero [exo] eri cera e:ra] (from essere)60 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS hetlon @ 61 Some Common Words with Open o * stressed -en + cons: a4 i cento [Yfento} centro ['fentro} senza (sentsa} Sete) | eaten) gente fgentel_ senso senso] lento (lento) qpasatapel peca eal attendere (attendere) immenso [im'menso) fui ceraarn difendere [dffendere] vento (wind)tventa] ‘no (no) ho [o)(from avere) ‘80 [so)(from sapere) a oe = as vo! [vol(from voglio, volere) poco fp2:ko] or po" [po] eee eee ee ‘See also the list of common suffixes. contento [kon'tento} argento [ar'gento] ardente (ardente) torrente (torrente) presenza [prezentsal partenza [partentsal serivendo [skrivendo bevendo fbevendo @ Stressed e and o in Closed : i : Syllables: Double Consonants «+ stressed -er + cons: ‘Remember that a closed syllable is one that ends with a consonant. -aperto [a'perto] —_cervo [Yfervo] _ certo Iiferto] Patterns of stressed e and o in closed syllables: serto ['serto) servo [servo] Berta (berta] ‘Stressed e or o before a double consonant is sometimes open, eterno [eterno] verso [verso] verba [verba} sometimes closed. Words must be learned individually, and a reli- verme ['verme] terme [terme] _erba [erba) able dictionary is essential. Here are a few examples: terzo [tertso] scherzo [skertso] inferno [in'ferno] perla [perla) inerme [inerme] governo [governo] ‘bells fella stella [stella ee concerto [kon'ferto] coperto [co'perto] Minerva [min'erva] seen (aes) pean (opie) cata sts) roto {roto} ce . a perzo{petsol —_veazo fvetso)_coppia hoppial doi (dopa) ee otto (ptt} fetta tats] roca frokkal_bocea [hkl j 000 feb ecco feckko) alle fucle)__ pollo pel) combalo {fembalo] cerchio [ferkjol empio tempi Togas (ead (lel legge Ua) Mie) morse Cetin] pore ptt] Kerry) Coeter alicia beety ica Giuceppe (sce ceppi (fern) rosso frome} ton tows) selva {selva} belva [belva]__enttro [entro] dentro [dentro) _pentola fpentola) vendere [vendere] fermo [ferme] per [per] suffixes mente, -mento © Stressed e and o before When stressed ois followed by a cluster beginning with , Clusters Beginning L, M,N, R m,n, or rte pattern are: All other closed syllables end in ,m, n, ar r. When stressed ¢ is fol ee , lowed by a cluster bepinning with one ofthese consonants ti ust. Sed et Aeceen ally open (excluding certain suffixes and verb endings). Clusters colpa folpa] dolee tdolfe] molto molto] with stressed -e! and -em are rare, those with stressed -en and er volgo tvolgol folto ffotto] stolto fstalto] are common. golfo golf! sepolero [sepolkro} _volpe [volpe} colmo fkolmo] _colpa fkolpal polpa fpolpal pa oltre fottre] polvere {polvere]__volto [volta] steer , ano [pent ‘ascolto [a'skolto} _colto fkolto] (meaning _ Gualicimo (gue), pompelme iene] ‘ion saontar) “meaning feo ‘sempre [sempre], tempo [tempo], membro [membro] cultivated)62 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ‘Some exceptions (open o): risolve [risslve] soldi [soldi] volta volta] (meaning turn) colta {kolta] (meaning harvest) tolto [tolto] (from togliere) volgere [voldsere] * Stressed -om + consonant is usually closed: ombra fombra) _tomba {tomba] _tromba [trombal bomba fbomba) _piombo [pjombo) colomba [kolomba} ingombro fijgombro] rompere frompere] eompito fkompito] ‘Stressed -on + consonant is usually closed: conte [konte] mondo [mondo] _bionda [bjonda] donde [donde] secondo [sekondo] contro [kontro} fondo [fondo] _—fronte [fronte}_ ronda [fronda] fronte [fronte] _troneo [trogko] __bronzo [brondzo] rondine [rondine] tondo [tondo} non [non] eon [kon] ‘Some exceptions (open o): conseio [konfol, console Console} * Stressed -or + consonant is about equally divided: Open: morte [morte] sorte [sorte] forte [forte] forza ffortsal corpo [korpo} _eorvo ['korvo] porta [portal corda [korda]__torto ftartol morso [morso} scorno [skorno] _ coorte [ko'arte] morbido [morbido] _ mordere {mordere]_toreere ftorfere] ‘comporto (komporte) consorte (kon'srte] ricordo (rikardo] Closed: ‘bordo thordo} borgo [borgo) _borsa [borsa] corto fkorto} corsa [korsa} forse [forse] forno [forno] giorno (dorno) _torta ftorta} sorso ['sorso) sordo fsordo} forma [forms] ‘oreo forso} ordine fordine] _intorno [in'torno] dintorno [din'torno] risorsa (risorsa] sorgere [sordsere) ‘The reader will have noticed that sometimes more than one of the patterna described throughout this appendix can apply to a tion © 63 given word, A word such as perfido has both an antepenult stress and a stressed -er pattern, both of which suggest an open e, which i in fact the case. Sometimes two patterns fitting a single word are at odds, and one takes precedence over the other. Thus in the word rondine, the stressed -on pattern (suggesting a closed 0) takes, precedence over the antepenult word stress. In the word fiore (and other -iore words), the -ore noun suffix, with closed o, takes prece- dence over the glide-vowel pattern, but in cuore (open 0) the op- posite is true. Very occasionally two patterns suggest the same re- ‘sult, but the opposite obtains: pentola has a closed e in spite of the antepenult stress and stressed -en pattern. Verb infinitives can be particularly difficult in this regard: conoscere has both an ante- penult stress and a stressed o before a cluster beginning with s, yet the o ia closed; vendere has an antepenult stress and a stressed -en pattern, yet the e is closed. © Suffixes * Common suffixes that always have stressed closed e before a double consonant, consonant cluster, or in the antepenulti- mate syllable: -essa: contessa [kon'tessa], baronessa (barc'nessa] “etto: Rigoletto [rigoletto}, caminetto [kaminetto} -etta: Violetta {yjolettal, Musetta [mu'zetta Note: when -etto and -etta are diminutive endings, as above, the e is closed. When they are not diminutive endings, the e is open: letto Metta) diletto [lctto) affetto [affetto] perfetto Iperfetto] -e2za: bellezza [bellettsal, fierezza [fe'rettsal -eccia: freccia [fret'jal, breccia [bret'fal -eggio: pareggio [pared'é], corteggio [korted so) fice: earnefice [karne-fifel, orefice [ore:fife) -evole: piacevole [pja'fevolel, colpevole (kolpe:vole} ‘mente: lentamente (lenta'mente}, doleemente (dolfe'mente] Note: Otherwise -ente- has OPEN e. See below. -mento: portamento {porta'mente], tradimento {tradi mento], tormento (tormento]64 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Note: Otherwise -ento- has OPEN e. See below, ‘+ Common suffixes with stressed open e: -ellofa): gemello (¢semello}, damigella (dami'dsella) (but rot ella fella] or capelio (ka'pello)) -ente: presente (prézentel, dolente (dollente] -ento: contento (kon'entol, cento (fento}, lento Cento} “ero: mistero {miste:rol, impero [im'pe:ro] “esimo: centesimo [Yen'te:zimol, undicesimo [undi'fe:zimo] “estre: silvestre (silvestre), calpestre [katpestre) -enza: partenza (portentsal, confidenza (konfidentsa) ‘* Common suffixes with stressed closed o: ore: dottore [dotto:rel, amore (a'mo:re], fiore [o:re] (but cuore [ws:rel) one: ragione [ra'dso:ne], maledizione (maledittsjo:ne], farafallone [farafalo:ne) 080: amoroso [amo':z0], pietoso {pjeto:z0], doloroso [dolo'ro:z0] (dictionaries give this suffix as [o:s0l) * Common suffixes with stressed open o: ore: tesoro {te'z0:r0], Lindoro [lin‘ds:ro}, ristoro {ri'sto:ro), ore fo:f0] But not loro [lo:ro], eoloro [kclo:ro), costoro: ‘kosto:ro) -otto: vecchiotto [velckjstto}, giovinotto (dsovinatto) -olo(a): fighiolo {f'442:1o) * Verb endings with stressed closed e: -emmo: avemmo (a'vemmo], credemmo {kre'demmo] (past absolute tense), avremmo {a'vremmel, erederemmo (krede'remmo] (conditional) esse: avesse [a'vesse], credesse (kre'desse] (imperfect subjunctive), -essi: avessi (a'vessi), credessi (kre'dessi] (imperfect subjunctive) -¢800(a): messo [messo], permessa [per'messa) (past participle) : avesti [a'vesti], eredesti [kre'desti] (past absolute), .vresti [a'vrestil, erederesti [krede'resti] (conditional) -este: aveste a'veste], credeste [kredeste] (past absolute), avreste [a'vreste], credereste [krede'reste] (condi- tional) alan © 65 -evano: avevano [a've:vanol, credevano (kre'de:vano] imperfect) -erono: erederono [kre'de:rono} (past absolute) -essero: avessero |a'vessero], credessero (kre’dessero] imperfect subjunctive) -essimo: avessimo [a'vessimo}, credessimo (kre'dessimo] (imperfect subjunctive) ‘© Verb endings with stressed open e: -ebbe: avrebbe [avrebbe], crederebbe {krede'rebbe] (conditional tense) -ebbero: avrebbero [av'rebbere], crederebbero [krede'reb- Dero} (conditional) -endo: avendo (a'vendo}, credendo (kre'dendo] (gerund)GERMAN Introduction German has a reputation as a difficult language. This is true of the grammar, which is more complex than English, and results in ‘many more word inflections. The reputation for difficulty carries over into the pronunciation of the language, which is also often described as “guttural.” Mastering certain sounds that do not oc- cur in English may present some difficulty (more so is the se- quencing of certain sounds in phrases), but the relationship be- tween spelling and pronunciation is very logical and consistent (German is nearly as phonetic as Italian, and much more so than French and English). Of the two sounds that could be considered guttural, one (the uvular pronunciation ofr) is not used in singing, and the other (the ach-Laut (x)) is very light and of short dura- tion. ‘The sound patterns of German are much closer to English than are those of Italian and French. English is, after all, a Germanic language. Once mastery of the German sounds that do not occur in English is complete, phrasal inflection tends to come more easily ‘than for the Romance languages. ‘To achieve an intermediate level of proficiency with German dic- tion the student must master the following areas: 1, An understanding of German word structure, which signifi- ‘cantly affects the pronunciation of German, in particular vowel quality and length 2. Proper pronunciation of the ich-Laut (¢] and the ach-Laut x] and when each is used . Correct and consistent formation of the mixed vowels . Correct and consistent formation of fe) and [0] Proper sequencing and articulation of consecutive conso- nant sounds, within and between words 6768 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Symbols for German :] Mann, Vater (| beben 1 Licht, fallen Melodie, Demut {| Prach, pfeife, ab [e} [el denn, Trine (é] dadurel ‘Afficate Consonants UE Unters, Tel een Bed ay legen wegen 11) bin, inmitten _—_—{k] Kale, blickon, Tag {1 Deutoch (o] 03 woran, Sohn oy Reese Ehiehasweh Boch. ywagem aaaier 70 ren {f) vom, Philosoph 1 fy Paychologie, I yom aie Other Symbols Uf epi, Stern, rasch (3 long vowel tates scx cerca (eer CS fg ich, ile UD glottal separation {el pistatich, bel acdy macien Isl gegeben, Licbe _N&*! Consononis In] Bruder, der {n} nennen tm] mebr, immer (0) singen, danken Ja, Jott, Lite Dictionaries and Pronunciation Reference Books ‘Some German/English dictionaries employ the IPA and some do not. It is recommended that the student acquire a dictionary using TPA, with the understanding that some dictionaries use a nonstandard IPA system for German vowels. While this text employs the stan- dard IPA system that is used by Siebs and Duden (seo below), the alternative system has only one IPA symbol for the open and closed ‘vowel pairs, Ifthe symbol has no colon it is considered the open ver- sion of the vowel if the symbol is followed by a colon it is consid- ‘ered the closed version of the vowel. In this system, German wer ‘would be transcribed as [ve:r] and wenn would be transcribed as Iven}. The more standard transcription of wenn is (ven). ‘The problem with the alternative approach is that there is no ‘way to indicate those cases in which a closed vowel is short in dura- Geman © 69 tion, which is often the case with words of noa-Germanic origin. Thus ‘Melodie would be transcribed {melodi:] and one would incorrectly assume that the first two syllables have open vowels. The system ‘used by Siebs, Duden, and most diction texts would transcribe this word the same way, but since [e] and [o] represent closed vowels only, the reader would know that all vowels in this word are closed. ‘The two standard reference books for German pronunciation are Deutsche Auseprache by Theodor Siebs and Duden Aussprache- worterbuch (see Bibliography at the end of this book). They are avail- able in German-language editions only. The Siebs book was origi- nally published in 1898 and has since been revised and reprinted in ‘numerous updated editions. The Duden was published in 1990 and is volume six of the Duden series of books on the German language. Both books have the same general format, consisting of introduc- tory sections discussing various aspects of German pronunciation fl- lowed by an alphabetical listing of German and non-German words and proper names with IPA transcriptions. While these books are writ- ten with the spoken language in mind, they are invaluable resources for the singer as well, especially for proper names and for foreign and other unusual words. There are minor differences in their respective applications of IPA, most notably diphthongs, and [a] versus [a] The Umlaut ‘The Umlaut (- is the only diacritical mark used in German. The ‘word can be translated roughly as “sound modification” and refers specifically to vowels. It occurs over the vowelletters a, o, and u, and the diphthong au, thereby changing their sounds: ‘© The letter a sounds as (a] or (a:) but the letter & sounds as «he let o sounds as (ol but helt sounds es «The elt u sound a Uo fu) bu he etr «sounds as + Me dipthong au sounds as (o] but the diphthong du ‘sounds as [os] Word Origin: Germanic and Non-Germanic (Over the centuries the German language has absorbed into its vo- cabulary a large number of words derived from Latin and Greek. ‘Many such words are very common, such as privat, Musik, Bar-70 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS bier. The casual student of German is not necessarily aware of this until encountering a less common word, for example benedeit, in which word stress and vowel quality might seem confusing. The stu- dent must be aware of these two broad categories of words, Germanic and non-Germanic, and two important points concerning them: + Patterns of word stress are different in non-Germanic words than they are in Germanic words. * Patterns of determining vowel quality (open or closed) and vowel length (long or short) are different in non-Germanic words than they are in Germanic words. ‘The specific patterns are given in the sections dealing with those topics. ‘Most German vowel sounds are paired, open and closed, with each sound of the pair represented by the same vowel-letter It is help- ful to organize and diseuss them this way: Vowellatter Closed Sound Open Sound —_—_Allerative Sound i (i wider 1M Winter Go {id wieder = ll Litte e {el sehen {el senden {} sehen ° {e:] Dom b] Dora a {fu rufen {U) runden ay {y] fithlen 1 fallen 8 {6 Konig {c} komen. a = {a sangen {ae} sagen 4 = {e] Blitter, (e} Biller ‘The table gives all German single vowel-letters with the IPA rep- resentation of their possible sounds, In addition, the combination ie is given. All other vowel combinations are normally diphthongs, dis- cussed on p. 92. In words of Germanic origin, there is a consistent relationship between vowel quality (whether itis open or closed) and vowel length (whether it is long or short in duration): * Closed vowels in the stressed syllable are always long. + Open vowels (except {a:} and [e:)) are always short, Geman © 71 ‘Long vowel sounds are indicated in IPA by the colon (J as shown in the table. ‘+ Long vowel sounds are about twice as long as short ones, but this can be influenced by relative importance of a word within a phrase, * Closed and long vowel sounds normally occur only in stressed syllables, but this can include secondary stresses in compound words (Abendlied fa:bantlit)), or secondary stresses in words with separable prefixes (anklagen Cankla:gon)). ‘+ In words of non-Germanic origin, however, pretonic vowel ‘sounds are often closed and short: repetieren [repe'ti:ron]. + Note that a and d are the only vowel-letters with only one quality (open), but they may be long or short: Stall [tal] Stabl [(ta:l] Linder [lendv] Léiden fle:don} Also, some long/closed vowels occur in German suffixes (-loe,-bar, - ‘sal, sam), resulting in such sounds occurring in unstressed sylla- bles: langsam [lapza:m). ‘Note also that the letter e has a third possible sound, the neu- tral vowel schwa [a]. (See sections on “Word Stress” and “Guidelines for Vowel Quality” for a more detailed discussion of the situations described above.) The following pages discuss individual vowel sounds in detail. ‘The sound [i] is usually spelled ie but can also be spelled with i, ‘When ie occurs in the stressed syllable it is pronounced [i:] as in the English word seen: fliegen [flixgon] nieder [nisde] geblieben (go ‘bli:bon] When ie occurs in an unstressed syllable or i divided aver two yl lables, the word is of non-Germanic origin and rules of pronuncia- tion are different. See p. 90, If is the only vowel in the stressed ayllable, it will be pro- nounced [i] if followed by a single consonant, as in wider (vide). Armuch more common pattern for(i] is stressed i followed by hi: ihm fim) ihn (in) ihnen fimon] ihre fi:r3]72 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS 1 words of non Cermanie rei, wil be pronounoed lone iis followed by only one consonant, regardless of word stress. If it the stressed syllable it wil belong if iis in an unstressed syla- ble it will be short: Dirigent [dirvgent], Musik [muzick]. See p. 89. ‘The sound (1) is the same as the [I of British English, but the ‘American version is rather different. The latter tends to be wider and lower, the former higher and more pointed. Compare the word bitter, which is common to both languages. The American pronun- ciation is different from the British and German pronunciations. ‘Compare these lists of words with (1 Gorman English mit mitt ist is in, im in Bild built sich sick In German, [I] occurs in stressed syllables when i more than one consonant in the word stem: finden [{indon], geblick (gsbllkt). {1 occurs whenever iis the only vowel-letter in an unstressed syl- lable (in words of Germanic origin): endlich fentlle, selig [ols]. In singing, it is often desirable to “chest” the sound [1] toward li). Particularly in longer note values the greater focus of [i] can yield a vocally more satisfying result. Caution is advised, however; this is not license to change every occurrence of [I] to [i]. followed by © (ed, fe) ‘These two sounds are spelled with the letter e when it is the only vowel-letter in the stressed syllable. If the e is doubled within the word stem (Seele [ze:l), followed by h (fehlen {fe-on)) o followed by only one consonant in the word stem (beten (he:tan)), the result is [e:. Ifthe e is followed by two or more consonants in the stem it is open [el. See p. 92 for exceptions and monosyllable ‘The sound [e:] does not normally exist in English, although it spproximated in certain diphthong sounds in English. Compare: Gorman English der (de-e) dare (dex) geht [gest] gate (gelt) Jame flelm) sail (sell) Geman © 73, ‘The German sound not only has no diphthong, itis also more closed than the first sound of the English diphthongs. In fact (e: is very close to [i]. Virtually all problems in pronouncing this vowel involve pronouncing it with a diphthong or pronouncing it too open, close to [el ‘This is extremely important for singing! The vocal position for is nearly the same as, and sometimes identical to, the vocal position for {i}. If difficulty is encountered with [e:, substitute fi. It will al- ‘most always sound right. See p. 128 for the same sound in French, ‘The sound [e} does exist in English but itis slightly different from its German counterpart. The situation is identical to that with 1. As with that vowel, the German version of [e is higher and more pointed than it is in American English. Compare: Gorman English Bett {bet] bed [bed] denn (den) then [den] ‘hell (hel) hell (hel) nett (net) net [net] Refer to the discussion of appropriate vocalization of this sound on p13, {el can also be spelled with &. See p. 74 Some German words have double ee which separate into dift ferent word elements and syllables. This occure most commonly ‘with the prefixes ge- and be- precoding a stem beginning with e. The first ¢ is pronounced as schwa, the second as le] or [e] initiated geehrt [gelext]. Also with be- and ge- beeinfliissen [bofaenfl¥son), geeinigt [gofaenlt]. ‘A few words of non-Germanic origin have plural forme in econ] ‘There is no glottal separation: Fee {fe:] Fen [fe:on] Museum {mu'ze:Um] Museen (mu'ze:2n) el ‘This sound is spelled only with the letter e in unstressed syllables. ‘The sound (o] is called “schwa.” It is a special ease. The symbol fo] represents a short, unstressed neutral vowel sound. The actual nature of the sound varies from language to language. Compare the ‘versions of schwa in English, French, and German: + pretonic: again [ogenl, fenétre [fonctr(a), geliebt (gol: * posttonic: fireman [feamanl, livre [ive()], Liebe [li7A © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. ‘When the schwa is artificially lengthened, as it regularly is in singing, itis effectively no longer echwa, since by definition schwa is short and neutral. One must therefore determine an appropriate ‘vowel sound to sustain. (See discussion of French schwa on p. 136.) In German, the sound to sustain is essentially (el, with the un- deretanding that itis unstressed (therefore unemphasized) and can ‘subtly change color (slightly more closed or more open) according to context. ‘There are two common ways in which English-speaking singers sound unidiomatic with German schwa. One is to overly round the lips and sound too French. The other is to pronounce it much too open and far back, as in English. Thus Liebe Cl:bal becomes fli:bal (Clee-bub”). German schwa must maintain the height ofc) but re- main unstressed. ‘Although the sound of German schwa is as described above, it, is still desirable to use the symbol {o] when using IPA. Most dictio- naries and texts use this symbol. It is also helpful in differentint- ing when e is stressed and when it is unstressed. ‘With the exception of words of non-Germanic origin (see p. 89); the prefixes er, ver, zer, ent-, and emp-; and the isolated word Iebendig, all unstressed e's are to be transcribed as [a]. Often there is more than one in a word: ‘eine faens} vielen (fon) manches (mangos) beenden [bsendon] gegebenen [g2'gebanan) folgenden ffslgendon} Gelegenheit [gele-genhaet] Wanderer [vanderor] or (vandore] (see p. 97 concerning r) © {c}, [ec] (spelled 8) The letter 4 will result in one of these two sounds, the only differ- cence being one of length. Ifthe d is followed by h (withnen [ve:non}) or by one consonant in the word stem (Vilter [fe:te), it will be long [ed] If itis followed by two consonants in the stem (Bisitter [blete]), it will be short [e]. The vowel quality is the same as discussed un- der [e] on p. 73. Some German speakers pronounce (e:] in a more closed fashion, near to or identical with [e:]. Some commentators describe this sound as somewhere between (c:] and (e'). This text will follow the example of Siebs and Duden and use [e:] for the long version of this vowel, while again acknowledging that the IPA is an imperfect tool ‘and urging students to become sensitive to subtle shadings of vowel ‘sounds as they become more familiar with the language. ‘Compare vowel sounds and lengths in these words: Gemon © 75, [ee] spelled & {el spolled & [cl spolted © Valter (fe:te] Blatter [blete) ‘Trénen ftremon} _trilllern [trelen) trennen fein] fart [fe:rt] fillschen [felfon] _Ferse fferza) niichst Incest] Niichte [nesta] necken [nekan} oven inging, vowel length is largely predatermined by the com- note values chosen for each word. Nevertheless, the inger must learn sensitivity to vowel length for those styles of singing that would require it more, such as recitative or parlando. © (or, fo) by h (wohnen (vo:non) or by only one consonant in Goben ton) i wil be eased fo} Ii i ‘alowed by re ean atin tho word stem (wollen flo) it wil be open fa, Soo ‘The sound {0} is analogous to fe: in that the nearest lent in English is always part of a diphthong: Compare German English Lobn (lo:n] oan (lo; Boot Bos bot et Not [no:t) note {noUt] vor {fo} for {foo} Kohl feo} ‘coal [koUl] Just ag [is close to fi, 8 fis close tof as el is close ia fu}. Whenever 1a iftculy dentvng te postion ofa eisai tr eae o e sound {3} does have a counterpart in English, although it io na nly pled i the oe ec eae ican English often use this sound in different words: German British Amerean ‘Topt top ta noch met oe — ok stale offen often _76 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Note that the German sound is consistently short (the English sounds vary in length) and is shaped with a high point. Such height is sometimes true of British English, almost never true of standard ‘American English. ‘Since the letter o when stressed is often pronounced {a} in Amer- ican English (eg., not {nat)), the American singer must be careful not to open the sound too far. The vowel of noch {nox} is different from that of nach {na-x). © (a: (UI ‘Thece two sounds are spelled only with the letter u. In the stressed syllable the u is closed when followed by h (Ruhm ru:m) or only one ‘consonant in the stem (Tugend [tu:gont)). The leter u is not doubled ‘within a word stem, Ifthe u is fllowed by two or more consonants in ‘the stem it will be open (Mutter (mUte]. See p. 89 for unstressed u. ‘The sound (u: is equivalent in English and German. English speakers, however, often do not pronounce this sound in a pure form, but end it with a diphthong glide-off caused by the lips moving fur- ther forward while sustaining the fu]. One often hears tongue ten- sion in this vowel as well, which causes something like the sound [y]. Such problems with this vowel are distressingly common and they tend to carry over into other languages. It is crucial to iden- tify the correct tongue position for this vowel, and end it with no movement of the tongue or lips. German English zu (tsu:] to [tul Rob’ (ru) rue {rul ‘Mut (mu:t) moot [mut] Flut (u:t} flute (fut) Schubr (fu) shoe [ful ‘The sound [U] is also equivalent in German and English. The spelling of this sound in English is usually 00, sometimes wu. The tongue position is the same as for {w:] (arched toward the pharynx) Dut with the mouth more open. Gorman English Busch Uf] bush (bUf) Putz (pUts} puts (pUts) Bucht [bUxt} book (bUKI Lust 1Ust] Jook 1Uk} Fluss (Us) foot [fUt] Geman © 77 ‘It was mentioned under [I] that it is often desirable to “cheat” that sound toward its closed counterpart [i], The same is true for {U). It is common to hear good singers focus this sound in the di- rection of [u) to allow the sound to “sit” better vocally, especially on sustained notes, Once again, caution is urged. Not every [U] should be sung as [ul. ‘Very rarely isthe spelling -uu- found in German. The two vow els fall into different word elements: Genugtuung [go'nu:ktu:Up). ‘This word (which means satisfaction) is formed from the words. genug and tun, and the suffix ung. em ‘This sound is spelled with the letter d. In words of non-Germanic (Greek) origin the sound can also be spelled with the letter y CLyrikx yak). If the d is followed by (fihilen [Yy-lon)) or by a single consonant in the stem (Bltite Tbly:t)), the sound will be fy}. Ifthe zis followed by more than one consonant in the stem, the result is [W] as in fallen [4¥lon] (see next secto ‘The sound [y!] is one of the four “mixed” vowel sounds in Ger- ‘man. These sounds do not exist in standard English. A mixed vowel is one that combines elements of two other “pure” vowels. The first and more important element is the “inside” or tongue position, and the second is the “outside” or lip position. ‘The tongue position for ly: is that of [i:]. The lip position is that of ful. One always starts with the tongue position. If difficulty is encountered in pronouncing a mixed vowel, reduce it to the tongue position only. It is the core of the sound. The ip position simply col- ors thia core. For practice, one can say the following English words, ‘then, keeping the vowel from the English word, shape the lips to fu] and say the German word: English Gorman fear (2) for [6:2] or [fr] mead {micd] miide [my:da} tear {tia} Tair (tye) or (ty:] conse [sis] stiss (ays) bleat (lit) Bltite fly:ta] A.common problem is that the proper tongue position of fi: is aban- ooed ast pe mare to [so the engr eds up with evenly u). It is true that some English-speaking singers tend to always sing li for (y:. This is sheer laziness and ought to be easily cor- rected.78 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Examples of German words (all of Greek origin) in which this sound is spelled with the letter y are: Lyrik flyzTk] Iyrisch fyxIf typisch My:plf) Elysium (ely:2iUm) em ‘This sound results when d or y is followed by two or more conso- nants in the word stem, ‘The sound [Y] is a mixed vowel with the tongue position of [1] and the lip position of (U]. It differs from (y:] in that the mouth (aw) is more open. Because it is so short in duration it is a diffi- cult sound to make in isolation. Practice: miicsen friYson) fmf (nf] Hille (HYlo) Glick [giVid Stiick [fei Now compare the sounds of [y:] and [¥] and then compare them with the similar English sounds of fi] and (1: Gorman fy:] English [k] German [Y]—_English fiihlen {fy:lon] feel 6:1] fillen [¥¥lon) ill (0) hiite fhy:ts] heat [hist] Hitt [hYts] —_—it (ht) Diine [dy:ns] dean [dim] — diinn (4Yn) din (din) griin [gry:n] green [grimn] Griinde [grYnda} grin (grin) © (6), [ol ‘These two sounds are the remaining mixed vowel sounds and they are spelled with the letter 6. If this letter is followed by h (Sohne ze:na)) or only one consonant in the stem (Téne [t¢:nol), the sound vill be [6]. If itis followed by two or more consonants in the stem, the sound will be [cl]. See p. 91 for exceptions. ‘The sound [p] is a mixed vowel formed with the tongue position of [e:] and the lip position of {o1. It is the same sound as French peu, feu, deux, except that the German sound is normally long. ‘Make sure that the core of the sound is (e:] and that the shaping of the lips to sply completes the sound. English near-equivalents are less helpful with this sound, 60 none is given here. Practice: ise (bo:z9] fréhlich [frgll] gewohnlich [gove:nlle) ‘echén [fern] Fléte {fls:to] _trésten ['trv:ston] Grregular) Sometimes Americans will pronounce this vowel sound as if it contained an American retroflex sound [2] asin purple. The Amer- Geman © 79 {can sound involves tensing the tongue by pulling it back and down. ‘There is no such tongue tension in [6:] ‘The sound cis a mixed vowel formed with the tongue posi- tion of fe] and the lip position of fol. It is the eame as French eoeur, fleur, except that the German sound is always short. The mouth Gaw) position opens from {6] and the lips are less rounded. ‘Holle hols] _—késtlich [keestlls] Gitte Tgcete] or Cgector] véllig [alle] _—plétzlich [pletslfg] _kdmmen fkoznan] ‘The following summary should be helpful in remembering how the mixed vowels are formed. The student must not confuse these sounds: (tongue (inside) positioned for fi:] lips (outside) positioned for {u:] [1 tongue (inside) positioned for [1] lips (outside positioned for {U] [oe] tongue (inside) positioned for [e:] lips (outside) positioned for [o:) {c] tongue (inside) positioned for [e] lips (inside) positioned for [o} ‘The tongue position of the mixed vowel is more important. If the student has difficulty speaking or singing any mixed vowel, he or she should start with the tongue position of the vowel. © (al, (a) ‘These two sounds are spelled with the letter a. The only difference between them is one of length. Ifa is doubled (Saal (za:l}) or is fol- lowed by & (wahr (va:t}) or a single consonant in the stem (sagen za:gon)), the sound is long [a]. If is followed by two or more con- sonants in the stem (wallen [valon]), the sound is short (there are ‘some exceptions; see below). (See also the preface for a discussion of the IPA symbols {a} and {.) ‘The bright sound represented by [a] occurs in American Eng- lish, but itis usually not spelled by the letter a. It is usually spelled by the letter o as in hot, on, costume, as pronounced by most Amer- cans (some Americans pronounce these words with (al; British Eng- lish pronounces these words with fol). ‘The typical problem with Americans pronouncing [a] is that it is not bright enough, It often sounds like {0]. Key words to remem-80 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ber in this regard are German all (all, alle {als}, and American Eng- ish all (oll The vowels are not the same! Furthermore, English unstressed a is usually neutralized to schwa, Other than the euffixes -bar, -eal and -eam and combina- tions with all- and da-, unstressed a is uncommon in German, but when it occurs it remains bright [a]. (See also p. 88.) Compare: English German alone (210Un} allein {alaen) balsam [bolsam) Balsam [balza:m) Sndas tdsudos) Judas fju:das) Atlas ftlos) Atlas fatlas} Ina few propor names, double aa divides into two syllables. The second a is initiated with a light glottal stroke: Kanaan [ka:nalan}, Jochanaan {joxa:nalan). ‘Compare long and short sounds in the following words. (a:] is about twice as long as (al: fa] [a] Staat [tact] Stadt [stat] ander fande) ab lap) In some words, a plus two or more consonants is long (a:] (see list fon p. 92): ‘* Some words with -ach-: nach (na:x}, Sprache [jpra:x.], Schmach [{ma:x] * Words with ‘ar + consonant): Art [a:rt], Arzt (arrtst], zart (tsa:rt) + Isolated words: Bratsche [bre:t{a}, Jagd Ga:kt], Magd mat), Papst (pa:pst], Adler [a:dle] Word Structure In discussing Italian and French, syllabification is emphasized as fan important factor in understanding pronunciation, For under- standing German pronunciation, particularly vowel quality, eyllab- ification is much less important than word structure; the two often do not coincide. Gorman @ 81 (© Word Stem ‘The preceding discussion of German vowel sounds repestedly re- ferred to word stem. German word structure is based on word stems oF root stems. The stem of a word is that part to which prefixes, suf- fixes, and verb endings are added. The number of consonants end- ing the stem determine the quality and length of the vowel in the stem. (Foreign-derived words, particularly the many German words derived from Latin and Greek, do not follow this pattern.) In German, leb is the common stem of leben, lebend, lebst, gelebt, lebendig, lebhaft. Because the stem ends with just one ‘consonant, the vowel of the stem is closed and long (e:. In the words retten, rettest, gerettet, Rettung, Retter, the ‘common stem is rett. Because the stem ends with two consonants, the vowel of the stem is open and short (e]. Usually the stem is one syllable, but it can be polysyllabic, as in Kénig, Kénigin, Kénigreich. Since the first syllable of the stem is normally stressed (see below) in a polysyllabic stem, the quality and length of the stressed vowel are determined by the number of consonants following it within the stem (the words above have (0) ‘Vowel quality for unstressed vowels within the stem follow the ‘guidelines for unstressed vowels given on p. 87. German irregular verbs (so-called strong verbs) change vowels in different forms of the verb. Sometimes the vowel quality and ‘quantity will change with the vowel change, sometimes not. Often the spelling will make matters clear, but not always. One can learn to recognize patterns to help in remembering correct vowel color. Here are some common examples: Long (Closed) Becomes ‘Short (Open) Bocomes Short (Open) ‘Long (Closed) schliessen [iJ, schloss, bitten Ml, bat [a], geschlossen [3] gebeten giessen {i}, goss, kommen (3), kam (2, gegossen [o} gekommen (2) fliessen [i], floss, treffen (el, traf (a), geflossen [2] getroffen [o} migen [s:}, mag [a], sitzen (1), sass {a:), mochte, gemocht [5] geseasen [c} stehen (e'], stand, ‘sprechen (c), sprach (a), gestanden (a) gesprochen {2} gehen (e}, ging (1, lassen al, liess [i], ‘gegangen [a] gelassen [a] werden (ei, wird I, fallen (al, fiel wurde (Ul, geworden (0) gefallen [a]82 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ‘Vowel Changes But Length Remains Constant rafen (uJ, rief i] schlafen a:), scblief fi: schlagen [a], chlug [u:] geben [e] ibe pet, ga fa} wiegen [i], wog [0:) ziehen [i z0g [0:] (© Word Stress ‘Understanding word stress in German is also crucial to under- standing vowel quality and length. The principal stress of a word usually falls on the first syllable of the stem: Liebe, geliebt, Liebling. There are occasional exceptions: Forelle, Zigeuner, lebendig; words ending in -ei such as Brauerei, Malerei, Sklaverei ‘and numerous proper names such as Johannes; and especially place names: Berlin, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Bremerhaven. German is full of compound words, which means that two or ‘more stems are involved. The primary stress falls on the first syl- lable of the first stem, with secondary stresses following on the sub- sequent stems: ‘Mondeslicht ‘iebestrunkene ‘Abendempfindung, Aconsistent exception to the above rules for word stress applies to compound adverbs and similarly constructed words. They take the stress on the second element: aurtick hinweg heraus vorliber worauf allein warom, also allerdings ‘iberhaupt zusammen sogar einander unterwege Word Stress in Words of NonGermanic Origin ‘The German language is full of words derived from Latin and Greek. Word stress in such words generally does not conform to the pat- terms described on the previous page. Perhaps the most common pattern in these words finds the stress on the final syllable: Two-syllable Words Musik Akkord ‘Tenor Sopran Kritike Figur Person Nation Chemie Gomen © 83 Three or More Syllables Melodie Komponist interessant ——_positiv Paychologie ‘Universitit Telefon One can learn to recognize certain suffixes (tion, -tdt, -ist) as fol- lowing this pattern. ‘Some words of this type end in unstressed e or e plus a conso- nant. The word stress falls on the preceding syllable: Interesse Artikel Analyse ‘Many Latin- and Greek-derived words not ending in unstressed e, however, particularly twoyllable words, take the stress on the penult: Amor China purpur Lyrik Technik Basis Prefixes and Word Stress ‘Many German words involve prefixes. Certain prefixes euch as in- and un- are generally stressed (Inhaber, Inbegriff, Inbrust, ‘Ungliick, Unfall, ungern, unerhort) though there are exceptions, snd some words can vary according tothe sense the apeaker wishes convey. An important aspect of German involves prefixes in verbs. Such prefixes are either separable or inseparable. Separable prefixes (de- rived from prepositions) are stressed in the infinitive (ankommen, ceintreten), in the past participle (angekommen, eingetreten), and in other words derived from the verb (Ankunft, Kintritt). The pre- fix remains stressed in the phrase when separated from the verb: ich komme an, sie treten ein. ‘Gorman VerbelSeporable Profixes ‘sbkommen fepkomon] sanregen fanre:goa] ‘aufmachen [aofmexcn) atusdrdcken [eosdrVEsn) beistehen [bacfte:on} (sally a part of compound prefix) davonkommen (daonkomon) dazwischentreten (dettsvlfontre:t2a)BA © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Gorman Verbal Separable Prefixes (Continued) dar darstollen {darftclon} durch- -—_durohbringen (dUrgbrigon} ein. ‘einreden [aenre:dan} empor —-—_emporragen (em'po-eragen) entgegen- _ontgegenhalten [ent ge-gonhalton} fot heim her. in Tes- mit. rnach- rnieder weg: weiter weiterbringen [vaetebripea} au zugreifen (‘su:graefon} zurich. murfickdenlken (teu'rYkdegkoo] ‘zusammen: rusammenfassen (te'zamanfason) Inseparable prefixes always remain attached to the stem and never take the primary stress. The most common inseparable pre- fixes are: ee leo] be: bal emp- (empl ent. [ent] er [er] or {ex} ver fer), Hee) zer tae, [tsee) Although prepositions as prefixes are usually separable, as in the table above, sometimes they can become inseparable verbal pre- fixes, most commonly unter and aber. They too remain attached to the stem and generally do not take the primary stress; however, nouns derived from such verbs sometimes take the stress on the prefix, sometimes not: unterrichten ich unterrichte unterrichtet Unterricht unterbrechen ich unterbreche unterbrochen Unterbrechung bertragen ich bertrage tbertragen Obertrag berlegen ich tberlege dberlegt ©—-Oberlegung German © 85 Vowels—Closed or Open? Guidelines for Determ © Words of Germanic Origin Vowels in Stressed Syllables In general, if the stressed vowel is followed by two or more conso- nants that are part of the stem, the vowel will be open and short. If the stressed vowel is doubled, followed by fh, or followed by anly one consonant in the stem, the vowel will be closed and long. Compare the stressed vowel sounds in these words: Stressed Vowel Open Stressed Vowel Closod Sonne Sohne rupfen rufen Schulter Schule Holle Hohle faillen fahlen innen ihnen senden sehnen Remember to identify endings. They play no role in determining the Quality of the vowel in the stem: leben, leb/st; Bote, Bot/schatt. In compound words and verbs with separable prefixes, the vowels in the components retain their original quality: ‘emporgehoben (empo:egoho:bon]. It is imperative to learn the common verbal endings, and the common noun/adjective suffixes that can cause a long, closed vowel to be followed by several consonants. Verbal Endings Present Tense Simple Past Tense Past Partkiple ich hire wirhbren ich hirte wirhbrten gehirt du hérst ihr hirt duhdrtest ihr hirtet erhirt siehéren erhirte sie hirten In all of these forms of the verb héren the stressed vowel is long and closed {6:].86 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. Noun Suffixes chen (Miidehen, Liebchen) ling (Friihling, Fremdling) -heit (Schénheit, Eitelkeit) sal (Schicksal, Labsal) -in (Griifin, Freundin) tum (Bigentum, Reichtum) ein (Blimlein, Friulein) -ung (Regung, Genugtuung) -nis (Ergebnis, Bediirfnis) ‘ei (Konditorei, Lorelei) (Stress on final syllable in these ‘words; vowels follow non-Germanie patterns.) Adjective Suffixes Determine the vowel quality and length in the stressed syllable of, the sample nouns and adjectives given below. -artig as in eigenartig -bar as in dankbar, sonderbar -haft as in lebhaft, boshaft -ig as in selig, wonnig isch as in komisch, irdisch ich as in wunderlich, vergeblich -sam as in langsam, genugsam ‘Monosyllabic words are subject to exceptions from the one conso- nant, two consonant patterns. See word lists on p. 90. ora and @ the above guidelines hold true, except that they only affect vowel length. ‘A stressed vowel followed by -gn will be closed (long) because such words were originally spelled with -gen: regnen [re:gnon] (‘regenen” from Regen) segnen [2e:gnon] (‘segenen” from Segen) Lagner [ly-gne] (“Ligener” from lagen) ‘Wagner [va:gne] (‘Wagener” from Wagen) © ch and 56,8 ‘Stressed vowels before these combinations are sometimes open, ‘sometimes closed. Before -ch: ‘e, and 0 are open: ich [lg] dich [dig] sich [2Ig]__sprechen [pregan] Pech [pes] noch [nox] doch {d2x] German © 87 (Bxception: hoch {ho:x] has {0}, but Hochzeit (hoxtsaet) + Cis nmetines long somtins short nach (nax] Sprache [pra:xo] Dach [dax] Bach [bax] wand @ are usually closed: Buch (bux) Bacher (by:ce) Fluch [fu] ‘suchen [su:xon] __gesucht [gdzu:x!) ‘* But if the -ch is followed by another consonant in the stem, the w or @ will be open: Bucht [bUxt]_Fichtling [f1Y¢tlly] Sucht [cUxt) Before -ss and -f: © i and e are open: Kisse (kiss) Gebi6 (gobls} essen [eson] vergessen lergeson} a is usually short, sometimes long: blaB [blas) fassen [fason] Ma macs] ‘+ 0,8, 4, are sometimes open, sometimes closed: ‘gross (gro:s) Schloss {flos] __grdsste fgre:sta] Schlisser [lese] Fub [fu:s) Kub (kUs) 608 [zy:s) Iissen [kYson] (Note: 8 is an amalgamation of the letters s and z from older German spelling. It has recently been officially eliminated from German usage (replaced by -ss-), but it will still be encountered in ‘material printed before the ban. 8 and ss are interchangeable ex- ‘cept that 8 cannot occur between vowels if the preceding vowel is short. Thus KuB and Kuss are both acceptable spellings, but the plural can only be spelled Kiisse, and the verb can only be spelled ‘kctissen. The plural of FuB (or Fuss) can be spelled either Fae or Fisse.) © Vowels in Unstressed Syllables ‘Unstressed prefixes formed from monosyllabic prepositions retain the original vowel quality, and are short because unstressed: ‘mu—auriick (tsuY¥k] vor—vorbei {vorbae] in—inoffiziel [Inafitel}BB © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS In words of Germanic origin only the five “pure” vowel-letters are found in unstressed syllables (with rare exceptions). Determine vowel quality as follows. a Unstressed a is found in the suffixes -sal, sam, -at, -bar. Surprie- ingly, the sound is LONG [a:): Schickeal (/lkza:l] Labsal flapza:l] Heimat [haems:t] Beirat (haera:t] —_langsam [lapza:m] verwendbar [fevventba:r] (but Monat [mio:nat]) It is also found in compounds with all- and da-. The a is allein (alzen, danach [dana:x). Unstressed e is almost always schwa [2]: gegeben [gsige-ban]. Ex- ceptions are the five prefixes -er, -ver, 2er, -emp, -ent (e followed by ‘a consonant within the prefix), which all have {e]: erfahren (evfa:ron} vergessen [fevgesan zerstiren [tece fta:ron] empfehlen [empfe:lon] entscheiden [ent Jaedan] ‘The prefix hen when stressed or standing alone has (e]: herstellen, Thecejtelon|, Herkunft the-ekUnft], hin und her faln Unt’ hex]; but ‘unstressed has (e): heran [heran], herunter {he'+Untel, herbei hevbae]. ‘The adjective lebendig [lebendla) is irregular. i Unstressed i is found in prefixes and suffixes and is always open: inmitten (In'mlton] Erlaubnis {evlaopnls} heilig [haell] endlich fentllc) —Gattin (gcrtIn} tiiekisch eYKI)] ° ‘Unstressed o is usually closed: * The suffix -los (also long): rastlos frastlo:s), endlos fentloss), hoffaungslos (hofnUpslo:s) * Final -0 (short): esto deste] ‘Tamino (tamino] Sarastro (zxrastro} Papageno (papaenc] Fidelio [des] Gorman © 89 including proper names ending in -ow (the w is silent): von Billow [by:lo) + Final unstressed -or (long) (according to Duden; Siebs has open and short!): Doktor [dokto:r], Marmor [marmo:r] ‘Isolated words (note length): Forelle [forelal, Kleinod [klaeno:t], Herzog [hertso:k) © The word Bischof [bIfof] (open, short) uv Unstressed u is closed in the suffixes -mut and -tum: Demut (dexmu:t} Armut fermu:t] Heiligtum [haellgtu:m] tis OPEN in the prefix un- and the suffix -ung: unrabig [Unru:lg] ‘Ungliick [UnglYk} Stellung [telUp] Priifung fpry:Up] (© Words of Non-Germanic Origin ‘As noted on p. 69, German is fall of words derived from Latin and Greek. Just as word stress patterns in such words are different from ‘those in words of Germanic origin, 6o are the rules for determining vowel quality. Because such words do not usually involve word stems, pretonie vowels (that is, vowels in syllables preceding the word stress) and tonie vowels (those in the stressed syllable) normally determine their quality simply by how many consonants follow: + Ifonly one consonant follows a vowel in a pretonic syllable, the vowel is closed: renovieren [renovi:ron] * If'in a pretonic syllable two or more consonants follow, the vowel is usually open: effelstiv (efekti}, with occasional exceptions: Petrus fpe:trUs] ‘Vowel length follows the pattern that pretonic vowels are always short (even when closed as in Musik [mu’zi:k) and tonic vowels are short if open, long if closed. Dirigent (dirigent) ‘Telefon {telefo:n] Paychologie [psygolc'gi:} intensiv (Inten'zicf] Orchester (or'keste] Partitur (partitu:r] Katastrophe (kata'stro:fo] (ph considered one consonant = f) Requisit [rekvizi:t] rekreieren (rekrei:ren] (the Latin prefix re- always has closed [e) in German words)90 © 4 HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Although the open sound [e: is long: ordindr [ordfne:r], Universitit (univerzitest). Posttonie vowels-are open if followed by a consonant, closed if final. They are always short: Lyrik flyzik] purpur (pUrpUr] Fidelio (ftder\jo) Alibi falibi) Posttonice is usually schwa: Interesse [Interess], Artikel artikel; ‘but occasionally not: Sokrates [zo:krates). ‘There is a family of words that ends in unstressed -ie or -ien, pronounced ja] and (jan): Familie [fmija]_ Lilie [jo] Traghdie {traigs:dja] Komédie {koms:dja] Italien {rta:ljon] Spanien [Ypa:njen] (but Italiener [italje:ne] Spanier [pa:nje)) Words ending in stressed -ie (pronounced {i:) take a plural of -ien (pronounced {i:an)): Harmonie fharmoni:) Harmonien {harmoni:on] ‘Symphonie [2Ymfo'ni:] Symphonien {zYmfo'ni:on) Melodie {melodi:] ‘Melodien (melo'di:en] German also uses many French words and some English words. Such words are pronounced as in the original language: ‘Régie [res Régisseur [resis] SoufMleur fsuflex] Parfum (parfil © Word Liste—Monosyllabic and Irregular Words ‘The following lists are meant to be used for quick reference in help- ing to determine vowel quality in monosyllabic words and irregu- lar polygyllabic words. Recurring suffixes are also included. The lists are not necessarily exhaustive, and new words should be added as ‘they are encountered. Many of these words are extremely common and should be' memorized. ‘Words with [i] ‘Words with [I] mir bin, bist dir mit wir hin ihn in, im ihm Words with [v:] nur zur (zu der) nun tun (tust, tut) gut Mut But Fut Fluch = Tuch Buch suchen husten Graf Bub FuB genug king Geburt -mut (Anmut, ete) tum (eiligtum, etc.) Words with [o:] yor empor ‘Trost (also troaten (61) Los (also ~os) hhoch (héchst [s}) rob bloB SchoB Stof (stoflen, std6t (s}) Ostern Kloster Mond Ton Tod tot Not Strom Rom Dom Obst Lob Vogt Hof (bflich (6) Schlofle (meaning hail) Words with {y:] #08 griifien biifien, Wiiste diister Geman © 91 -in (Kénigin, ete) ig (selig, ete.) -nis (Bildnis, etc.) lich (endlich, etc.) isch (kindisch, ete.) ling (Sémgling, etc.) Words with {U] um zum (zu dem) durch Kus SchiuB FluS Sucht (Sehnsucht, etc.) Luther [Ute] -ung (Regung, etc.) un- Unschuld, etc.) Words with [2] vom (von dem) ob doch noch Hochzeit Schlof (Schldsser (c}) worden geworden Werds with [1] Ictissen miissen92 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Words with [et] Words with fe] dem den’ eo wem wen des stets Krebs wes regnen segnen ‘weg (adverb) begegnen Weg (noun) Hexe Dresden fdre:zdon] Petrus ‘Words with [e:r] Words with (cr) er der gern wer wert Werk erst Erde ernst ‘Ere Herd erben Schwert schwer Herz Pferd werden Schmerz heer (stressed) Lerche fertig her (unstressed) Erz- (Erzbischof) en, ver, zen. Words with [a:] Words with [a] nach Schmach Gemach Bach Dach Sprache sprach (sprechen) Nacht schwach brach (brechen) stach (stechen) ach —_rasch MaB Strafe Spa afi (essen) nai © Gasse ‘Tag Tat Jagd Magd an am Art Bart = zartArtzt «= ab man war habt ‘kam (kommen) hat hast Mal Tal Qual Schaf das dali Adler Papst Schlaf Bratsche Monat [mornat} Grab Gras . Wagner Leichnam (laecna:m) Heirat [haera:t] ‘Heimat [haema:t) -sal (Labsal, etc.) -sam (langsam, ete.) -bar (wunderbar, etc.) Diphthongs and jjacent Vowels German has three diphthongs. Two IPA renderings are commonly found for each: Gerran © 93, * {ae} or {ai}, which may be spelled -ai- as in Hain and Mai, -ei- as in mein and Geist, -ay- as in Bayreuth, -cy- as in Meyer * [00] or faul, which is spelled only -au- as in auf and Haus * (00) or fay], which may be spelled -eu- as in euch and Freude, ~du- as in Sule and Fraulein ‘The first is used by Siebs (though using (ae] and {o0)), the second by Duden and others. The difference in the IPA rendering is in the second, glide-off sound of the diphthong, which reflects the difficulty in precisely defining this very short sound. The English equivalents of these sounds are rendered (all, (aU], and (al, suggesting a less tense, less pure glide-off sound after the main vowel than in Ger- man. Compare mein and mine, Haus and house, keusch and ‘coin. The second vowel of German diphthongs is always late and short. There is never the possibility of separating the two sounds cover two notes, as can happen in Italian. This text will use the Siebs IPA alternative for German diph- thongs, Although it might seem logical to insert a colon between the IPA symbols for German diphthongs (to indicate the much greater length of the first sound) it is not traditionally done. ‘Sometimes in German spelling two successive vowel-letters do ‘not result in a diphthong. The most common example is ~ie-, alrea discussed. Occasionally alternative spellings of the umlaut vowela are seen: -ae- for &, oe- for 8, -ue- for d. An example of this is the name Goethe [ge:t2). Vowel-letters can be adjacent but in different eyllables, thus tak- ing their individual sounds. In German words this can happen with a prefix followed by a stem beginning with a vowel: beobachten (biocbaxtan] beenden {biendan] geiindert [gvendet] and in German words derived from Latin and Greek: ‘Theater (tea:te] intellektuell [Intelektwel] including words ending -ion and -ient, in which the i acte as a glide: Nation (ne‘tajom] Alktion (altsjo:n] Patient (pa'tajent] The Glide [j] ‘The only glide, or semiconsonant, in German is {j]. It is spelled with the letter j. At first glance, this German sound seems to be equivalent ‘o English (j] spelled with y asin yes. Although the IPA symbol is the94 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ‘same, there is an important difference between the sounds. The En- glish version is a rapid (il. The German version is described by ‘Siebs as a voiced [g].It therefore has a more concentrated airflow than English y. (It must not, however, sound like English j as in jump.) ja Gal Jetzt Getst] Jammer fjame] JUngling [jYplIp] Majestiit {majeste:t] In words of foreign origin that spell this glide with i, as in Fami- lie [fe'mi:jo] and Nation [na'tsjo:nl, Siebs (and others) uses a dif- ferent IPA symbol, either [i} or (1. This is logical, since the sound is not the same as the one described above. However, most texts and dictionaries use {j] in these words; this text does also. In words of French origin, jis pronounced [3]: Journal (surna:l}, Jalousie (saluzi). Consonants © Double Consonants In spoken German, double consonants are not particularly length- ened as they are in Italian. In sung German, however, they often are, This is especially true in slower, more sustained singing, where the lengthened consonant sound helps to imply the short vowel sound preceding it. IPA transcription for German does not normally use two con- sonant symbols to indicate a lengthened sound for German. Never- theless, the student should listen carefully to German and Austrian singers to develop a sense of when a subtle lengthening of the dou- ble consonant is appropriate. ‘The following lists compare similarly spelled words with single and double consonants, In speaking these words, the essential dif- ference will be in the vowel quality and length in the stressed syl- lable. ihre fi:r2) irre [ral hehren [he-ron] Herren (heron) fdhlen [iy:lon) faillen [f¥lon) dieten fbi:ton) bitten fbiton} Sohne [zo:n2} Sonne [zon9] Hoble fhsils] Holle thal] ‘Note: When the combination -ck- is divided syllabically, as it often is in musical seores, it is spelled k-k: blicken becomes blik-ken, ‘Locken becomes Lok-ken. Goan © 95 ‘Sometimes students make the mistake of spelling such words with double ke, a combination that otherwise exists only rarely in German (as in Akkord). © Phrasal Doublings In German (as in English) this term refers to the lengthening of a ‘consonant sound when it ends one word and begins the next word within a phrase: dein Name dem Meere der Tag kommt ‘The same phenomenon occurs between elements of compound words: Nebelland niederrinnen Festtag Bettdecke In auch cases the consonant sound should be prolonged in the man- ner of Italian double consonants. The amount of prolongation de- pends on context, primarily the amount of time allowed by the mu- sical setting. ecH ‘This combination has two pronunciations in German: [x] and [q]. |: Germans call this the “ach-Laut” (Laut means “sound”). ‘The tongue is in the position for the vowel [a). An unvoiced airstream is focused at the back of the hard palate. It occurs when -ch- follows “back” vowels: a, 0, u, and au. Bach [bax] doch (dsx] Buch [bux] auch (20x) * (gl: Germans call this the “ich-Laut.” The tongue is in the position for [1 or fil. An unvoiced airstream focuses just be- hhind the upper teeth. It occurs when -ch- follows all vowels 8, te, ei, eu, du. riichen Kécher [kee] _Biicher [by:gu] Reich [raeg] euch [055] rituchern [rogen) Important: This sound is also used when -ch- follows conso- nants: Milch (mMlg)_ manche (manga) dureh [durg)96 ® A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS including the common diminutive suffix -chen: Liebchen flipgan] Miidchen {me:tgon] Hiuschen fhossqon} ‘To ears that are unused to this sound, [¢] can sound like {, but they are different and distinct eounds. ‘Both fx] and [g} are light and of short duration. Nonnatives of- ten overemphasize them, especially [x]. In words of Greek origin -ch- is usually pronounced (kl: Chor [kore] Orchester [ovkeste] Charakter [ka'raltel although it is sometimes China (ina) Cherub teexUp] Chemie [gemmi:] Paychologie (psygologi:] Echo fego) ‘When it begins German proper names it is (kl: Chiemseo (ki:mze:] Chemnitz [kemnits] however ‘Chamisso, originally a French name, is [fe'mlso]) Occasionally in German the combination -chs- occurs as one ele- ‘ment within the stem. In this case it is pronounced (ks): Fuchs (fUks] Sachs [zaks) ‘Ochs [oks} Lachs (laks) __ wachsen [vakson] __ wechseln [weksoln] ‘The word sechs is (zeks] but sechzehn is [zegtsen] and sechzig is [ze¢tslq]. The combination chs as {ks} happens in rela- tively few words, however. ‘Most of the time when the spelling -chs- occurs, the ch ends the ‘word stem and the s is part of a word ending. In such cases the ch and the # are to be pronounced separately. This is often difficult for nonnatives. There are four situations in which ch and s rust be pro- ‘nounced as separate elements: |. -ch plus verb ending st: du lachst [laxst], du brichst [brigst], du suchst (ru:xst) . -ch plus genitive s: des Bachs [baxs], des Reichs [racys) . -ch plus superlative suffix st: héchst (heist, herrlichster [herlI¢ste] . Compound words: nachsuchen (na:xzu:x90] German © 97 One word seems to cause particular difficulty for many people. ‘This word is nichts (nlgts]. In some dialects (and in the Libretto of Der Rosenkavalier) this word is spelled and pronounced “nix.” Ex- cept for these special circumstances, the word must be pronounced properly. Some practice may be required to do so. Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Mozart) Nicht, ich, nichts, nichts — oll mich er-sehatern Units) (Gal mig ew ten) Matthaus-Passion Bach) vou ei = ner Sin-de weld er nichts, leh fon ‘nen vada vas ee mgt) ‘There are two essential ways of dealing with the letter r for the pur- poses of singing German: 1, Excluding prefixes, r should be pronounced with a flip of the tongue whenever it precedes a vowel. The usual IPA symbol for this is (r] (used by Siebs and Duden), although (r] (as for Italian) may be encountered: ‘Téren [ty:ran] ‘Trost {tro:st] lehren (le:ron] Regen fre:gon] Rolling the r is appropriate when emphasis is needed, although not for intervocalie r (unless it is doubled, as in irren). 2, In all other situations, that is, when r precedes a consonant, ‘ends a word, or ends a prefix, the r may be flipped or it may become ‘a vowel sound similar to, but distinct from, schwa. There are two accepted IPA symbols for this sound: {o} and (x). This text uses [e, ‘as used by Siebs and Duden. The sound of this (e] is darker than {o] and it is always short, often extremely short. der [dese] or (de:r} amir {mi‘e] or (mil nur [nue] or aur] vergessen [fevgeson] or (fer'geson] _ ernst (censt] or [ernst] In the above examples, the vowel before the r receives its usual sound, then the r is either flipped or pronounced (el.9B © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS When -er (or -er plus consonant) ends a polysyllabie word or ‘word stem, the IPA rendering is either {or] or (t). In the second ver- sion, the r is incorporated into the vowel sound. (e] can never fol- low schwa. Lieder flisde) or [lisdor] zittern [tslten] or ftsltarn} unser [Unze] or [Unzer]__linderst {lndest] or [indarst] Biedermeier [bidemaes} or [bi:dormaeor) ‘Treating r as a vowel sound in this way happens in English, par- ticularly British English, so the concept is not unfamiliar. German singers are not consistent among themselves as to how to trest r, and often either solution could be appropriate. The choice will be influ- ‘enced by context, musical and literary style, and individual taste. “The pronunciation of r with the uvula (IPA symbol [R)) is used extensively in German speech, but, as with French, it is not con- sidered appropriate for singing. @B,D,G ‘These three consonants normally take the voiced sounds [b, [l, (el, familiar from English and other languages: lieben [li:bon) leiden [laedon] legen [li:gon! ‘When final in a word, part of a final consonant cluster, or final in a word stem followed by a consonant, these consonants lose their voiced quality and become devoiced (pl, {t), [kl: Licbchen [li:pgon] ‘Lei [laet] Tiegt (ikt] endlos fentlo:s} Klagst [kdackst] selbst [zelpst] ‘When final in a stem followed by a vowel, voicing is retained: Mond {mo:nt] but Monde fmo:nds}] Mondeslicht fmo:ndasll¢t] Both Siebs and Duden use the IPA symbols (pl, {t], [kI for the devoiced versions of b, d, and g, but other experts make a distine- tion between, for example, devoiced b and [p]. The devoiced sounds are generally gentler and less plosive than their unvoiced counter- parts, To indicate this distinction, a different symbol can be used, namely (2, (l ) ‘This text will follow the example of Siebs and Duden for IPA, but it is important to devoice these sounds in an unexaggerated ‘manner. This is particularly essential when the devoicing occurs me- dially: words such as ewiglich and endlich should connect the de- German € 99 voiced consonant to the following consonant smoothly, with no sep- aration or aspiration. _ When devoicing occurs at the end of words with long vowels, the singer must be sure that an exaggerated devoicing does not shorten the vowel: Tag must be pronounced {ta:k] or {ta:é] and not (tak). A certain family of words whose basic forms end in -l, en, and -er seems to constitute an exception to the above rule. When such words take endings, the ¢ is dropped. If the preceding consonant is 6,d, or g, they retain their voiced quality, as if the e were still there. Another way to view it is that the /, n, or r ends the stem, not the preceding b, d, or g. hel ty:bol] ede fexdal]_ eigen faegon) ander fandor] Ubler [y:ble] edler fedle] eigner faegne) andrer {andar} ible ty:blo] edie te:dlo]_eigne faegns} andre andro} ‘bles [y:blos} edles fe:dlas) eignes faegnos] andres fandras) ‘The noun Gold is (golt] but the adjective golden [golden] re- tains a voiced d in all forms (goldner, goldne, goldnes). Similarly, ‘Wagner (from Wagen) is pronounced [va:gne] not [va:kne]. ‘Unrelated to the above, and a special case, is the verb widmen, fvltmon) and the noun Widmung [vItmUs]. The devoicing of the is irregular The word Ikindioch is [Ind]. The d irregularly does devoice, © The Suffix IG In this common suffix, g functions differently: When final, or followed by a consonant in the same word, this suffix is pronounced [Iq a ewig Levi] Ewigkeit [e:vickaet) When this suffix is followed by a vowel in the same word, the g re- turns to its normal voiced sound: ‘heiligen fhacllgan] seliger fvellge] Kénigin fkenlgin) ewige fevige] When this suffix is followed in turn by the suffixes -lich or -reich, the g devoices to (KJ. The reason is one of euphony, 90 that {] does not occur twice in the same word: cewiglich (evIkdig] Kénigreich (kenlkraes] wonniglich (vonIkllg] ‘One hears deviations from the above in colloquial German as spoken in different parts of German-speaking countries. These are100 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS the rules for Bahnendeutsch, however, and should be observed by singers. es Excluding the combinations listed in the next section, s has two ‘sounds: voiced [2], unvoiced [s]. is voiced [2] in the following situations: ‘* Beginning a word when followed immediately by a vowel: singen [2Ipan), sauber [zaobe}, sein (saen} ote: Some German speakers use (s] for these words; however (al is recommended.) + Intervocalic: bse [bs:z2], Esel feizall, Hause ‘thaoza] ‘After a voiced consonant and preceding a vowel: unser [Unzel, Amsel [amzall, also (azo) ‘+ The suffixes -sam and -sal regardless of what precedes them (many German speakers do not observe this): ‘einsam [aenza:ml, Schicksal (lkze:l), Labeal fla:pza:l] 1 is unvoiced (s] in the following situations: ‘= At the end of a word: ‘Haus (haos), ans (an das) fons], uns (Uns] ‘+ After an unvoiced consonant: Riiteel [re:tsoll, gipsen [gipson] ‘+ Before any consonant (excluding combinations in next sec- tion): lispeln flspaln, fast (fast) Important: When links parts of a compound word (genitive s) itis always unvoiced, even when following a voiced consonant. Such ‘words are frequently mispronounced: Lebensreise fle:bonsraeza} not mraezal Himmolsblau [hlmolsblao} not blao} Fridblingsbliten ffrylipsbly:ton} not [_zbly:tanl © scH ‘When part of the same syllable, the combination sch always forms []: Schule ffu:la] rasch [raf] ‘Schein [faen] Wschen [cfan] waschen [vafon] _Tasche [tafal Botschaft (bo:tfaf] Geman © 101 When s and ch are adjacent, the s sometimes ends the stem and the ch begins a suffix. The result is (6), a difficult combination for English speakers. This happens almost exclusively with the diminu- tive suffix -chen: Hijuschen [hosscanl, Réschen [re:sconl. When s and / occur together in German they are alvways in dif- ferent syllables (different word elements) and therefore to be pro- nounced separately. Do not confuse this situation with English sh: boshaft fbo:shaft], Gotteshaus tgotashaos). © st, sP ‘When these combinations are at the beginning of a word or word stom they are pronounced [ft] and [fpl: stellen [jtelon) Stirn [ftlen} zerstOren [tsevfts:ron] Strudel (/tru:dal} Auferstehung Ceofeeste:Us) spinnen (/pinan] Sprache [fpra:xo] Gespritch [g2'fpre:¢) ‘When these combinations are not at the beginning of a word or stem they are pronounced {st] and (sp. It is a common mistake to assume that all such occurrences are pronounced with ((]. Learn to recognize word elements to determine which pronunciation is correct: beste [besto] schnellste ['fnelsta) gestern [gesten] Postamt [postamt] Gastepiel fgastfpill Wespe [vespo] Knospe fknsepa} peta fUspala} Liebestreu [li:bastros] austragen [aostra:gon) auspacken [aospaken] eVWX ‘At the beginning of a word or stem, h is given its customary sound (familiar from English) produced by a short voiceless air flow: Hauch fhaox) olen fhoisn) Gehalt (gebalt] exheben [evhebon) ‘The same sound occurs in the suffixes -heit and -haft: Schénheit [fonhaet] Hobeit (ho:haet] lebhaft [e:phaft] When h follows a vowel within a stem it is eilent, but renders the preceding vowel closed and/or long: sehen fze:an] ruhig (rus) Hohe [hs:2) sebr [zee] ibr (ie) wahr [vaz]102 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. In words of Germanic origin, v is almost always found at the beginning of a word or stem and is pronounced [f]: Vogel (fo:gsl] Veilchen [faelgan} davon (da‘fon] unvergeflich [Unfeergesllg) One example of medial -v- is Frevel [re:foll and derivatives. In most words of foreign origin, v is pronounced [v]: Klavier (lavice] privat (priva:t] Universitat (univerzite:t] Although when final it devoices to {f]: brav [bra:f] Motiv {motif} intensiy (Inten'si:f] ‘The letter w is always pronounced [v]: ‘Wein [vaen] zwei {tsvae] schwarz [[varts] web [ve] ‘except in proper names ending in -ow when it is silent: Balow fby:lo] Liitzow (I¥tso] ‘The letter x is always pronounced [ks]. It has the effect of two ‘consonants, thus causing the preceding vowel to he open: ‘Nixe [nlkso] Exemplar (cksem'pla:r] Hexe [hekso] © 2,12, 82,C ‘The letter z is always pronounced ts}: Zug (tsuk) Zigeuner Itsigoone] Lenz Dents) verzehren firtsoron} ‘There is no difference in pronunciation between z and tz. Both are ts). This is true even when ¢ and z are in different word elements, as in the last two examples below. Sicbs and Duden differ slightly in how they transcribe such cases, but both imply that is incorrect, ‘to give a separate articulation to the ¢ and then pronounce Its}: sotzen fectsan} jetzt Gets) entzwei [entavae] entziicken fentsYkan]} ‘The combination eis rare. Each letter takes its own sound, sts: Szene fstse:ns) szenisch fstse:nlf] faszinieren (fastsinixran] Jn words of Germanic origin, the letter cis found only in com- bination with other consonant-letters (ck, sch). In words of foreign Geman © 103 origin, c can stand alone as a single consonant. Initial ¢ before i, e, oF 4 is also {ts} (sometimes such words are spelled with 2) Citrone [tsPtroms] César {tse:zar] Ces [tees] Ciiilie Itsetsija} Before a, o, and u the pronunciation of eis (kl: Café [ka'fe. © Other Consonant Combinations ‘There are many other consonant combinations in German, The fol- lowing is a guide to their pronunciation. * gn is pronounced [gn] (the g is not silent as in English): Gnade (gna:do), gnéidige (gne-digo) ‘+ kn is pronounced (kn] (the & is not silent as in English): Knie [kui], Knote [nots], Knédel (knodall, kmapp [knapl. ‘+ ng is pronounced (9) as in English singer. It is never [ng] as, in English finger: lang [lap], Finger [Igo], Singer (zee). * nk is pronounced {gk] just as in English: danken (dapkon], Frankreich [frankraes], Bank (baykl * pf is pronounced (pf). When initial, the {p] sound is very light and quick: Pferd ipfe-etl, Pforte [pfartal, Pfingsten [pflgstan], Kopf (kopf]. * ps is pronounced ips]. The p is never silent as in English: Psalm [psalm], Psychologie [psycoldgi:| * ph is pronounced [f] as in English t functions as oe con sonant in determining the length of the preceding vowel: Philosoph [filoz0:f}, Phrase [fra:za], ane * qu is pronounced (ky). It is never kw] as in English: Qual [kva:ll, Quelle fkvelo], Quartier [kvartisr). * th is pronounced (t] when both letters are part of the same element: Theater [tea:te], Apotheke [apdte:ka). Sometimes old German uses th where modern German uses only #: Theil—Teil {tael], Rath—Rat (ra:t]. If¢ and h belong to different word elements, they are pronounced separately: Rathaus [ra:thaos}, Gottheit (gothaet): ‘is pronounced {taj] in the suffixes -tion and -tient Nation (natejo:n}, Aktion [aktsjoml, Patient [pe'tsjent). * tach is pronounced [tf] as in English church. This is the only way to spell this sound in German: Deutsch [dostf], tachechish (tJecI{1, Quatseh [kvat{] Glottal Attacks A characteristic of German, as of English, is that words that begin with a vowel are usually initiated with a light glottal stroke. The104 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS IPA symbol for this isl] (used by both Siebs and Duden) or [2]. ‘Compare in English: announce {l2'naUns} an ounce {lenlaUns) Say these German phrases using a gentle glottal attack on each ‘word that begins with a vowel: Er ist oin alter Mann eo es In einem Augenblick ‘aenam faogonbllk} Ich ungliicksel'ger Atlas [Ig [Ungl¥kze:Ige [atlas] ‘Moreover, such glottal separation is required in German when a word stem begins with. a vowel; that is, when a prefix immedi- tely precedes a vowel, and when elements within a compound word begin with a vowel: geindert (gofendet] verantworten {fcctantvartan] beobachten [bo/o:baxtan) Abendessen [fabent/eson) erinnern {{eo|Inea] eigenartig {faegonlartis] ‘An exception to this is found in compound adverbs beginning with hen, hin-, dar, vor, and wor, as well as the isolated word warum. In ouch words there is no glottal separation before the second ele- ment: herein {he'raen) hinab [hTnap] daran [da'ran] voriber [fory:be] __ worauf [voraof] ‘However, similar constructions formed from elements other than the above will take the glottal stroke: bergab (berk}apl, bergan (berk/an]. ‘Though Siebs and Duden indicate otherwise, the prefix un- also ‘commonly connects through a vowel: unaufhérlich [Unaotherllc], ‘unendlich [Un‘entllc], though this is dependent on how the word ‘is emphasized in context. Glottal Separation versus Legato Connection in Singing German In singing, glottal strokes should be light and quick so as not to de- tract from the legato line, It is often permissible, even desirable, to climinate the glottal separation altogether. The singer should aleo Gemon # 105 develop the skill of releasing final consonants and articulating a fol lowing vowel with a subtle lit that implies a brief glottal separa- tion but is different from a true glottal. ‘When to employ the glottal and when not to is a complex issue. ‘The singer is constantly faced with a variety of such situations in German. Decisions will be influenced by musical style, tempo, and the relative importance of musical or textual considerations at that particular moment. In listening to native German-speaking singers, ‘one commonly hears elimination of glottals to enhance legato. With Lieder this is probably the rule rather than the exception, but do not be surprised to hear different solutions to the same phrase, since ‘there is no absolute uniformity on this point, just as there is no ab- solute uniformity on pronouncing r with a lip ofthe tongue or as[e). Until the singer develops a sense of when to use or omit glot tal strokes, two rules of thumb are helpful to remember: 1. Important words in stressed positions, if they begin with a vowel, will likely take a glottal attack (there certainly are 2. If by omitting tered, or the clarity of the text is unduly compromised, the glottal stroke should be used. It cannot be stressed enough that any glottal usage should be light. ‘Important words can be any part of speech, but here are some examples of nouns that would require a glottal separation: Kriegers Ahnung (Schubert) Jag sis in met ~ nem Arm (ack 2m maenom arm) Wie Melodien (Brahms) und ft es vor das Ang. [uat fy es fir ds ak) Vier ernste Gestinge (Brahms) fo wit ich ein 1 + end. Eee [ao veri; ea txnat lets]106 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ‘Verbal separable prefixes are usually important and stressed within a phrase. If the prefix begins with a vowel it probably will require a glottal separation: Frauenliebe und Leben (Schumann) So - Ber Freund, du bickest mich verwund-ert an (aysse froont da bik mig fe'vundet an) Abschied (Schubert) och nim - merwend ich mein ROS lein em [dox ‘none vet ij maenrslaen | vm) Der newe Amadis (Wolf) fas 15 moxaea Taibo wair) fer rte mun mich ely lefperto man mug an) In this last example, notice that ein occurs twice, once as an unstressed article and once as a stressed verbal prefix (einsperren). The first ‘would not require a glottal separation, whereas the second would. ‘The examples given below present some other instances where the singer must decide whether a glottal separation is to be done. ‘They are offered to raise awareness of the issue. ‘When r immediately precedes a word beginning with a vowel, 2 light flip into the subsequent vowel is often heard: Intermezzo (Schumann) Geman © 107 Die Stile (Schumann) Teh wonscht, ch wir ela Vog - lela log vmnt ag weir_sen Yea] orf rat ig wer lan aka] Comparing these two examples, the first is more likely to em- ploy a light glottal separation after the r because the next word (cilig) is stressed and emphasized in the musical setting. How- ever, omission of the glottal and a flip of the r is still an option here. The second example shows the word following the r (ein) as short and unstressed and therefore unlikely to warrant a glot- tal stroke. Was ist Sylvia? (Schubert) the rem Aug eit. A mor (ram sok att ‘amor ts Hore are four successive words beginning with vowels, two of which occur after rests. At the beginning of a phrase, or after a rest within a phrase, glottal attacks should be used very judi- ciously, if at all. Concerning the other two words, it seems clear that Aug” should receive a light glottal separation, but with Amor this is less clear. The best solution is probably not a true glottal Dut a release ofthe of eilt, which distinctly defines it as belonging to the preceding word rather than the following word. Certainly ‘employing a glottal on all four words yields a very unmusical re- sult. Ses Nur wer die inca f Sehneuchthennt weld was ich Mei = de (Behubert) (vaes vas_s Teds} In this example connection from was to ich is desirable since f glottal separation would emphasize ich too much, besides de- ‘tracting from legato. As long as the s is not exaggerated, the intel- ligibility of ie is not compromised by connecting the words (though ‘too much time on the s might convey sich).108 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Here are two examples in a faster tempo: Vergebliches Stiindchen (Brahms) Guten A bend, mein Schatz,gu- ten A bend mein Kind (ouctan_‘atbont man fats grtan_‘ebont maen int] Der Musensohn (Schubert) So. gehts von Ont =a Ort (ao gests von tart tsu_art) In the first example, a clear glottal separation before Abend sounds ‘unsatisfactory, probably because the note value is short. A connec- tion of the preceding n is desirable, as long as itis light and unex- aggerated. In the second example, by contrast, the glottal separa- tion before the first occurrence of Ort is called for. Even a light connection of the preceding sound compromises the clarity of the ‘text. The second occurrence, following a vowel, probably does not need a separation. Phrasal Consonant Clusters Te was mentioned in the Italian section of thi text that most Ital- ian words end in vowels and many begin with vowels, resulting in the frequent occurrence of phrasal diphthongs and triphthongs. The opposite is true of German (and English). Most words begin with consonants and many end in consonants, resulting in frequent jux- taposition of consonant sounds. In many cases this simply requires the singer to clearly articulate adjoining sounds with no separation between them: all mein ich gehe von dir mit Kraft Ifthe first sound is a stop consonant (as with mit above) there may be a slight separation before the next sound, particularly if the note values are long enough. ‘Sometimes the phrasal clusters are more difficult because un- familiar from English. This example from Schubert's Winterreise re- ‘quires the clear articulation of (sts) for es zieht: Garman © 109 Gute Nacht (Schubert) Es alebt cin Mon-den - schat ten {esti en momndafaton} Here the combination [nftb] is unusual; students often have trouble with the word sanft: © wasst ich doch (Brahma) von Lie = be aaah be- deckt fon ibe zanft back) A fairly common phrasal cluster is (ef: Das verlassene Magdlein (Wolf) jh schaue so dare, (ig Jooo 2 d'race] ‘Ack Golgatha - Matthius-Passion (Bach) Die Un scbuld mu bier shuld. wer - ben {i ‘unfot mus hi ‘oly fterboa) Am Reierabend (Schubert) Wor ich sehnel- de, wat ich seh - ago {as ig 'Snedo was 1 "lago} Without separating the sounds, the singer must pronounce (g] and move smoothly to {]. In the first two examples, the relatively leisurely tempo allows for easier execution than the third, at a con- siderably faster temapo. These examples (or similar ones) spoken slowly are an excellent means of getting students to clearly hear the difference between [g) and [].110 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Still another case is {sf1: es Mts Blumen (Schuber) un at hm Sen eee ESS dm Abend da Bla wor z ‘Matthéus-Passion (Bach) Der File - dens- sca (dese'fdonslus) In the second example, the first s is a “genitive s” connecting two parts of a compound word. In all such occurrences, the {s] must be ‘lear, even if very short, and must yield smoothly to If]. The lazy singer will omit (s] and pronounce {f] only. ‘Te must be said that sometimes consonant juxtapositions in Ger- ‘man are particularly difficult to execute fully while maintaining mu- sical quality within a particular musical setting. From the same Brahms song mentioned above: © weet ich doch Brahms) ‘Und alehes 2a for ~ shen, nlchis zu spab'a {uot nats tu orfon mgs te feta) ‘The words nichts zu contain the phrasal consonant cluster [¢tsts ‘One commonly hears (cts) only. With a light approach, itis possible to do the entire cluster. Irliche (Schubert) AL = tes cin = Iie - tte Spel (als ‘enos ‘ists Jit Similarly, this phrase contains [¢tafp] (on a very short note value!). In performance the {s} tends to elide into the {]. Geman @ 1 ‘The singer must learn to articulate consonant juxtapositions clearly, and the proper approach is to do them lightly. Such an approach will prevent the tongue from getting tied up in knots while maintaining musical line. Since German patterns are fre- quently different from English patterns, some practice may be re- quired. Possible Assimilation of Consonant Sounds In situations involving the adjoining sounds {p) and (b}, (k) and {gl, [] and (a), fs] and {2}, another, more common possibility of con- ‘sonant elision arises: und der is (Unt de:e}, but should the {t] be fully released before articulating the (4)? In speech this would not happen, unless there were a pause between the words. In normal speech the tongue makes contact with the palate in one motion si- multaneously for both sounds, initially devoiced for {t] but adding voiced quality as the tongue releases for (d]. The phrase der Tag ging would call for 2 similar simultaneous articulation of (k] and Ig]. ‘In singing, the tempo of the music and the style of the music will often determine whether such adjoining sounds should be ar- ticulated separately or simultaneously. The “heightened speech” na- ‘ture of singing, which involves the need to project words clearly into a large space, results in far more separate articulations than does normal speech in such situations. Nevertheless, true legato singing often requires connection. The student should be aware of the pos- sibilities and try out the alternatives to determine what yields the ‘most satisfactory result in a given situation, initially in the pres- cence of a teacher or a coach. ‘A common occurrence of phrasal {td] is in inversions of the du forms of verbs: bist du, meinst du, lachst du, etc. Certainly if the note values are short it is not necessary or desirable to separate the sounds: ‘Ach, ich fthlo—Die Zauberflate filet du nicht der Liebe Seh - nen Hyt_dumgt_der (righ de) ib ‘ze:n00)112 © HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS. ‘When the note values are longer, either solution is possible. In- telligibility is rarely an issue, so the singer must decide if separa tion otherwise enhanées the phrase or not: Kennet du das Land (Wolf) Wl Kennst_ du das Land ‘ens du das ant) Die Gétter Griechenlands (Schubert) Seh0-ne Welt, wo bist au? {forna vel vo bist du) Heimliche Aufforderung (. Strauss) och ast da dar Mahl ge- nos - sea (dx hast du das mas gana) ‘Und wiltet du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen (Wolf) ‘Und wit du de-nen Liebsten ster = ben se - hen {twist du ‘dnenan tiban tebe 2e:20) Here are some other examples to consider: Nacht (R. Strauss) ‘Aus dem Wal = de tat dle Nacht {os dem ald tr raat] In this case a separate articulation of the t before the d seems the best solution. Connection could compromise text intelligibility and does not particularly enhance legato line. The dotted rhythm also encourages placing the ¢ distinetly on the second half of the second best. Geman © 113, A bit Inter in the same song, however, connection seems the bet- tor choice: Nacht (R. Strauss) und sictt dle Gar ben weg vom Feld {unt Jt gabon vek fam ot) ‘The lack of a dotted rhythm gives less time, causing separation to sound fussy. The presence of the / before the fd combination helps in allowing the word stiehlt to be understood clearly. ‘The tempo of this song makes separation undesirable, as well ‘a virtually impossible ‘An Schwager ort den ras-seln-den Trot! ee art_der ascndon tot] Here are two examples of phrasal [kg]: Gute Nacht der Weg ge- halt in Schnee (ehubert) (dear ve go'het_m foe) Although the tempo here is moderate and separation is possible, nothing is gained by it. Connection certainly enhances legato, and ‘textual clarity is not compromised. Kindertotenlieder Qaler) Here the slow tempo allows for the slight separation of the fd and {] sounds, The clarity of the text is also enhanced. The release of the (kl should not overwhelm the (g], however. ‘With phrasal (s] and {2}, separation is rarely done because they114 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS are continuing sounds. Furthermore, itis very common to hear as- similation so that only a prolonged [s) is heard: ‘An diz ferne Geliebte Beethoven) War ge = schieden ont 40 welt, {a g'Fisdon un z0 vat) ‘When time allows and the affected words are important, the release should have voicing so that [2] is heard, however briefly: ‘An die Leier (Schubert) eh wil von A tear” SOh-ne0 {ig vlan atrbs 'zsn20] ‘An eine Aeolsharfe (Wolf) ‘e-cim - nis vol - les Sab - ten-siel {go'baemmsfaae 'catonfpi FRENCH but they are much more so than either French or English. Unfor- ‘tunately, the unphonetic nature of French is very different from that of English. This fact is one of the greatest hurdles that an English-speaking singer must overcome in mastering French pro ‘To achieve an intermediate level of proficiency with French dic- tion, at least the following pointe must be mastered: 1. A thorough understanding of French spelling and the ‘sounds resulting from those spellings 2, Purity (no diphthongs) of vowels, 3. Appropriate “lift” or brightness to (a) and (e} 4. The sounds of the four nasal vowels (including not sound- ing the n or m) and keeping the sounds distinct one from another 5. The proper formation of the mixed vowels. 6. Forward articulation and nonaspiration of consonants 7. A basic understanding of liaison It is up to the teacher to decide to what extent some of the fine points in this chapter should be applied to the class or individual {n question. For those inexperienced with French it is doubtless too ‘much, Also, many teachers and coaches prefer to dispense with the fine points represented by distinctions between, for example, bright and dark a, vocalic harmonization, and vowel length. Many teach- cers and coaches do make these distinctions, however. For the sake of thoroughness, this text presents these points,116 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Intornational Phonotic Alphabet (IPA) Symbols for French “Pure” Vowols Glides Plosive Consonents {al madame, femme _{j] ciel, travailler fb) beau {ol bas, éme {wl oui, eroire [p] peau {e) belle, clair {y) pute, enmul (de (el Fa, 66, piea (ite {2} homme, Fauré {gl goat {o] trop, beau, chaud (il eoat {i vio, it ait, Guy fol toujours, amour Fricatve Consonants “Aeed" Vous 1 vain vowel {A faim ‘bl tu, do, rue [s] 20m, ce, logon, {e} coour, seul {2} gazon, chose {] deux, fou U) chez, creche {0} le, secret, partera,disent [5] Fal, neige Nosal Vows : letoral Consonants {a vent chants bane 1) 0 Nequel, lusion fd vin, plein, bien, pain (0) vont, tomber Vibrant Consonants {gj humble, parfum ao Nesol Consonants {fmm méme, imameédint {nl fan) nonne, innocent [bl eygne, agnenu Dictionaries Fortunately, most French dictionaries of recent publication, whether French-English or French only, use the International Phonetic Al- phabet for all entries. Any dictionary that does not use the IPA is to be avoided. Most of them do not indicate vowel length or word stress, but since these points can be consistently deduced, their ab- sence is not important. (See discussion of vowel length and word stress on pp. 124, 125, 171, and 172.) ‘There are some discrepancies from one dictionary to another, virtually all of them involving differences regarding (e) and {e] in certain situations. One of them concerns the combination ai, nor- mally pronounced open (e}. This combination can be considered Closed fel when the next eyliable has a cloned vowel: Franch © 117 baiser is transcribed [beze] or (beze] baisser is [bese] or [bese] maison is {mez6} or {mezé} raison is [rez] or [rez] plaisir is [plezi:) or (plezix] aisé is [eze) or (eze) ays is [peil or (pei paisible is {pezibl(o)) or (pezibl(a)) ‘Since this situation is similar to vocalic harmonization (qx), ‘and vocalic harmonization is considered an option rather than & rrle, itis best to consider the alternative pronunciations to the above words as equally valid options. For the purposes of singing, this text prefers the closed pronunciation, just as it prefers the observing of vocalic harmonization. Other inconsistencies between dictionaries concern initial ess, ‘Some dictionaries have {e] whereas others have [c]. Essaim is [esé] or [esi], easor is (eso:x} or [esoxr. This text uses the closed version. ‘There are also discrepancies with [a] and [a]. The word eroire, for example, is usually given with (al, but some dictionaries give it with (al. Also, for initial irr some dictionaries give [rrl, implying a lengthened sound, while others do not. ‘Sometimes one encounters pronunciations in one dictionary that are not found in others, For example, one dictionary gives initial ex plus a vowel or h as [egz|: exemple [egz6:pl(2)], whereas the cus- tomar acepted pronunciation of all words with initial eis wth (el: (egeapl(o) Diacritical Marks ‘A distinguishing characteristic of written French is the presence of four diacritical marks. They contribute greatly to the “look” of the Ianguage. It is important: to have a clear understanding of these signs and in what ways they affect pronunciation. Accent Grave (grave accent}: &, 6, 03 ‘The grave accent occuring over e renders it open [e]: lavre [le-vr(a)), Léger [lesecr(a)]. When it occurs over other vowels it has no effect on pronunciation. Accent Aigu (acute accent): é ‘The acute accent occurs only over ¢ and renders it closed [el: 66 [ete], passé (pase). Be aware that capital letters often omit diaerit- icals: Nuits d'Btoiles (étoiles).118 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS Accent Circonflexe (circumflex: 7, 6, 6, 6, 0, af, of, 00, of ‘The circumflex affects pronunciation only with ¢, @ and 6. 4 ig always open (|: réve {re:v(2), téte Ite:t()] 0 is always closed [0]: drdle (dro:l(o)), le notre fla nortr(2)] 4 is usually dark (a] with rare exceptions: ‘me [a:m(2)), pile [pa:\(o)] Diérése (dieresis) or Tréma: i, 6, 7 ‘The dieresis occurs over one of the above vowel-letters only when the vowelletter follows another vowel-leter. It indicates hiatus, or separation of the vowel sounds. In the word naif [naif], the diere- sis requires the two vowel-letters to be pronounced separately, whereas in the word maitre {me:tr(2)}, the same two letters eom- bine to make the sound (e). Other examples are hair [air], fone en(9)], Boteldiew [bojeldie). Rarely, the dieresis indicates that a vowel-etter is silent or has zo phonetic function in the vowel group: Saint-Saéns [sés0:s) cigué (sigy] Staél (stall Cédille (cedillo) In addition to the above diacriticals, there is also the cedilla, which is the small mark found under a ¢ when it is to be pronounced as [el before a, o, or u. ga [sa] gargon (garsd) regu (rosy) Definitions of Terms Relating to French Diction © Mute e In spoken French, when the letter e with no accent is the only vowel- letter in a syllable or ends a word, itis usually silent: mouv(e)ment [muvma] méd(eein {medsé} ville) {vill un(e) (yn) It is also silent in the verb ending -ent (but not -aient), and in final -es (except in monosyllables): aiment (em) aimes (em) belles [bel] Fronch © 119° ‘This silent vowel-letter is called mute e. In singing it is generally pronounced, transcribed as [o] (schwa), and sounded as [al (see dis- cussion of this sound on p. 135), Except for cases where schwa clearly ‘must be pronounced (such as monosyllables le, me, etc.) this text will indicate mute e in parentheses: ((0)]. © Elision ‘When a mute ends a word and the next word begins with a vowel or h, the e is never sounded in speech or in singing. The consonant yund before the mute e connects directly to the vowel sound be- ginning the next word. This is different from liaison, celle est [ele] comme a [kama] fatigue amoureuse [fatig amuriz()] In the cases of mute ¢ spelled -ent or -es, speech will elide as above, but singing will usually pronounce thee (as schwa) and sound the otherwise silent t or s in liaison to the next word (see below). © Liaison Liaison is the sounding of a normally silent final consonant before a word beginning with a vowel or a so-called unaspirated h (see be- ow). This is very common in French, and more common in singing ‘than in speech. It does not happen in every instance where it might ‘seem to be called for. (See p. 156 for a complete explanation.) ‘Vous avez [vuzave] mon amour {minamuz} deux heures [ésace1] © Aspirated b, Unaspirated h The letter h is always silent in French, When h begins a word times prevents lisson from the previous word. When an initial hpre- ‘vents liaison it is ealled an aspirated h (h apird) When inital hal lows liaison it is called unaspirated h (h inaspiré). There is no way to determine which one applies. Each word must be checked in a dic- tionary (Note: Do not make the mistake of thinking that aspirated makes an aspirated sound as in English or German. It does not.) The Aspirated h may result in a ight glottal attack. * Unaspirated h: les hommes {lezoml, on hiver [anivesl + Aspirated hi les haricots [lelericol, des haies [dee] © Vocalic Harmonization ‘Vocalic harmonization is the rhyming of vowel sounds in a syllables. The adjoining syllables can be in the same word or in dif-120 © A HANDBOOK OF DICTION FOR SINGERS ferent words. In French this happens only with two pairs of vowels: {e} and (el; (@} (or fel) and {s). ‘The context for votalic harmonization is very specific. When one of the above open vowels is followed by its closed counterpart, the ‘open vowel will close to rhyme with it. The opposite situation (closed. followed by open) does not result in vocalic harmonization. ‘With [e] and [e] the usual patterns are two: 1. When ai followed by -er, -ez-, or -€-: baiser {beze] becomes {beze] aimez [eme] becomes {eme} aiseé flese] becomes [lese] 2. When monoeyllables such as les, mes, tes, ces are fol- lowed by a word with (e} in the first syllable: les étoiles (lezetwa:l(2)} becomes flezetwa:\(a)} ces études [sezetyd(o)] becomes (sezetyd()] tes baisers [te beze] becomes [tebeze} (Note that in the last example vocalic harmonization can extend over three syllables.) With (c] or {0} and (6} vocalic harmonization falls within one word: heureux (cers) becomes [ors] cheveux [favs] becomes [Jove] Patterns over two words such as je veux (50 vs] and tu ne peux {ty no pol do not take vocalic harmonization. Voealie harmonization occurs in French speech but is not as- ‘sumed. French dictionaries’ pronunciation transcription (whether [PA ‘or some other system) will not reflect vocalic harmonization. It is com- ‘mon practice in singing; nevertheless it should not be considered a requirement but a recommendation to facilitate optimum vocalism. Tt need not be applied if it gets in the way of optimum vocalism. Syllabification ‘Syllabification is presented early in the discussion of French be- ‘cause it is constantly referred to as the chapter progresses. Since it is rather involved, the teacher may wish to cover the specific sounds first and then return to syllabification. In any case, syllabification should be studied regularly until mastered. French @ 121 ‘Understanding syllabification is crucial in determining the pro- ‘nunciation of French words. Two adjacent letters may be pronounced one way if they are in the same syllable and another way if they are in different syllables. French shares with Italian the important ‘trait of being characterized by open syllabification, that is, syllables that end in vowels, ‘A complicating element in French syllabification is the mute e. In speech it usually is nonsyllabic; in singing it usually is syllabic. Since this isa textbook for singers, the following discussion will con- sider mute e syllabic but put it in parentheses in IPA. © Vowel-Consonant-Vowel In this common pattern, the syllable will divide before the conso- nant: amour maison du-rer parole mé-de-cin © Adjacent Vowels, ‘When adjacent vowel-letters form a single vowel sound, as fre- ‘quently happens in French, they all belong to the same syllable: deux [ds] beau-té {bo - te] coeur kee] toujours {tu - 3u:1] Sometimes a vowel-etter will represent a glide. French has three glides, {j), {w, ond [y]. When a glide is intervocalic the sylla- ble divides before the glide, otherwise the glide is part of the sylla- ble of the vowel following it: asieux [a - jo] vieusx [yjs] suit [ny pui-ssant [pyi - st] oisseau [wa - 20] ‘When y occurs between vowels it has a dual function, essen- tially that of a double ii with the syllables dividing between the ifs. ‘The function of the first i varies according to the vowel preceding it, but the second i always becomes the fj glide: voyage (voringe) (vwajax0)] payer (paiier fpgjel fiayen (fuer) fgje) In the word pays and words derived from it, y functions simi- larly, except the second i has a vowel function (note closed [el Pays (pai-is) (pel]_paysage (pai-i-sa-ge) [peiza:s(0)]