Tulwar ... or talwar

roshan · 7th January 2008, 12:33 AM

The V or W in talwar/talvar is basically a voiced labiodental approximant. Now the letter V in English is a voiced labiodental (pronounced with the teeth touching the lips) fricative, while the letter W is a voiced labial-velar (pronounced with the lips touching each other, and the back of the tongue raised) approximant. So you could describe the Indian sound as a V, but without a strong buzzing sound to it. Or you could describe it as a W, but with the top teeth touching the lips instead of the lips touching each other.

However this letter depending on the context can sound more like a V or more like a W. Also, depending on the region, it can be pronounced slightly differently, but no south Asian language distinguishes a V from a W.

So, it does not matter what it is transcribed as. But standardized schemes for transcribing Indian languages always use the letter V.

Now the first "a" in talwar is basically a very short a sound. The closest sound in English is the sound of the letter u in "funk". The second a sound is a longer version of this sound, similar to the sound of a in "park".

So, the most accurate transcription of tulwar in English without the use of diacritics would be "talvaar". Using diacritics, it would be talvār.

7th January 2008, 12:33 AM	#10
roshan Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 20	The V or W in talwar/talvar is basically a voiced labiodental approximant. Now the letter V in English is a voiced labiodental (pronounced with the teeth touching the lips) fricative, while the letter W is a voiced labial-velar (pronounced with the lips touching each other, and the back of the tongue raised) approximant. So you could describe the Indian sound as a V, but without a strong buzzing sound to it. Or you could describe it as a W, but with the top teeth touching the lips instead of the lips touching each other. However this letter depending on the context can sound more like a V or more like a W. Also, depending on the region, it can be pronounced slightly differently, but no south Asian language distinguishes a V from a W. So, it does not matter what it is transcribed as. But standardized schemes for transcribing Indian languages always use the letter V. Now the first "a" in talwar is basically a very short a sound. The closest sound in English is the sound of the letter u in "funk". The second a sound is a longer version of this sound, similar to the sound of a in "park". So, the most accurate transcription of tulwar in English without the use of diacritics would be "talvaar". Using diacritics, it would be talvār.