Special Note from Ulla:
I thought of creating these alphabet sound files and an explanatory text since Franz Bardon's original work about the angel groups and the letters associated with them is written in and based upon the German language and alphabet and it should be easier to work with these letters with some relevant background (for those who don't have it already, of course).
These files are also ready for download in zipped format from my webspace at http://home.snafu.de/ulla/paradisenow.net (three zipped wav files together with the text regarding the pronunciation of the letters. You'll also find there some helpful hints regarding downloading for those who may need them (I did originally!).
The fastest way to download all the files in one go is by just downloading "alphabetall.zip" which, true to its name, contains all these files (alphabetall.zip is available immediately).
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The pronunciation of the letters
It may be no coincidence that Franz Bardon incarnated with German as his mother tongue since German (in contrast to English and French, for instance) is a phonetic language, which means that nearly every vowel and consonant is consistently pronounced exactly as it is written. So the letter "a" (aah) will always sound like an "a" (aah), the letter "i" (ee) will always sound like an "i" (ee) etc. This phonetic consistency allows a much easier study of letters. Also, German has additional vowels (such as ü and ö (u and o umlaut), e (é) and the "simple o") and a consonant ("ch") which are unknown in the English language.
There are two sound files included: alphabet.wav and alphabetpuresounds.wav (courtesy of Ralf http://home.arcor.de/ralflehnert). A third one is just for fun - a child’s recording of the complete German alphabet. The letters in alphabet.wav and alphabetpuresounds.wav have been recorded in the order listed below.
Note: The following list uses the French letter "é" (which isn’t used in English and the pronunciation of whhich corresponds exactly to the German "e") to help describe pronunciation. The vowels and consonants which strongly differ from their equivalents in the English alphabet appear in bold type.
A is pronounced "aah"
B is pronounced "bé"
C is pronounced "tsé"
D is pronounced "dé"
E is pronounced "é". This sound doesn't exist in English but I think in many other languages (it’s also widely used in French, for instance, where it is spelled "é"). English people usually turn it into an "ay" when trying to pronounce it. It is like a lighter, higher version of the English "a" as pronounced in "hat."
F is pronounced as the English "f"
G is pronounced "gé" ("g" as in "get")
H is pronounced "hah" (as in "hut")
I is pronounced "ee" (as the I in "sit" or "see" (i.e. it is not a composite sound as the "I" of the English alphabet. This would be spelled "ai" in German).
J is pronounced "yot" (as in "yacht"). The pronunciation of "j" corresponds exactly to the English "y".
For instance, "yes" is "ja" (pronounced "yah") in German.
K is pronounced "kah"
L is pronounced like the French word "elle"
M is pronounced as the English "m"
N is pronounced as the English "n"
O is pronounced similar to the British pronunciation of the "o" in "dot". (The "o" of the English alphabet is a composite sound consisting of a pure "o" followed by "oo", while the German "o" is a simple, pure or "mono" "o".)
P is pronounced "pé"
R is pronounced "airr", less rolling than the English "r" In fact, there are two Rs: one commonly used "pharyngeal" R (not featured on the sound files; this R will be part of a typical German accent when the speaker is unable to pronounce the English R), and one lingual R which can be heard on the files.
(To pronounce the English R, one needs to "employ" both the tongue and the back of the throat.)
S is pronounced as the English "s"
T is pronounced "té"
U is pronounced "oo"
V is identical to the F consonant (not contained in alphabetpuresounds.wav)
W is pronounced "vé"
X is pronounced "IKS" (not contained in alphabet.wav and alphabetpuresounds.wav)
Y is pronounced as ü (u umlaut)
Z according to Bardon should be pronounced as a soft humming "dz" (in normal usage, "z" is pronounced in the same manner as the "c", i.e. "ts").
Bardon writes, "while the ‘c’ (tsé) is to be pronounced hard/harshly, the ‘z’ is to be pronounced in a humming (or buzzing) fashion, similar to an ‘s’, i.e. softly.
CH is a widely used sound formed with/in the pharynx (back of the throat) which in the English-speaking world only has a Scottish equivalent ("Loch Lomond").
For instance, "I am" corresponds in German to "Ich bin."
SCH corresponds to the English "sh" and is pronounced in the same manner.
Ä (a umlaut) is pronounced like the "a" in the English word "had."
(ä is spelled ae when the keyboard doesn't allow to print it. However, the angel groups Bardon mentions such as Adae have to be pronounced a-d-a-e, i.e. each letter individually, as far as I have seen.)
Ö (o umlaut) is pronounced similarly to the ö sound in bird, curd, herd etc.
Ü (u umlaut) is pronounced as the "u" in the French word "sucre" and, as far as I know, not found in English (with the exception of a certain Northern English dialect).
Light and love,
Ulla
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