Reference: Kazlauskienė A, Rimkutė E, Bielinskienė A. Tartis. EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER Standard Lithuanian and Its Dialects. Here the terminal “e” would normally be pronounced as “wet”, because the “e” falls on the last syllable of the word (Rule #1), but because there is a tail on the terminal “e”, most speakers will pronounce such an “ę” at the end of a word somewhere between “wet” and “mad”. This pronunciation is indicated by writing this letter with an overlying dot: “ė”. This time, we’re moving on to the vowels “-a”, and “-i” and “-y”.
Accented last syllable: šeima (family) – (-ma) pronounced like “bug.” http://www.dummies.com/languages/russian/sounding-like-a-real-russian-with-proper-pronunciation/, Another common problem for non native Lithuanian speakers trying to learn the language has to do with how they pronounce their “Ls.” In English, L is pronounced almost always as a “fat L”. What’s the locative case? With deep, soulful eyes, she looks up at you and asks, “Jonas, do you love me?” How do you reply? How do you change from the base form to the “Hey, you!” form? Here, with regard to the terminal “au” of this “tripthong”, it can be pronounced either like “loud” or “out,” as per the above. How to pronounce “au” : “loud” or “out”. For children who don’t speak Lithuanian, the “Hey you!” case still has an impact when addressing one’s father or grandfather. In other words, “say it, don’t spray it.”. sūris (cheese) – (sū-) pronounced like booze. But the main way to produce a “fat L” is to use the sides of the tongue as well as the tip; the sides of the tongue move forward a bit to fill the space in the back of the teeth to make the “L” sound “fat.”, In Spanish, French, or German, “L” has a variety of sounds, but in most cases is pronounced as a “skinny L.” The tongue often is up against the upper gum ridge, but the main difference is, that only the tip of the tongue is used in making the sound, the sides of the tongue don’t participate. The intense, longer sound is pronounced like the “a” in the word “father”. For example, in the word ridenti (to roll) the “e” is pronounced as “mad”, while in “kenčia” the “e” was “wet”. Summary
Accented syllable, other than last syllable: butas (apartment) – (bu-) pronounced like the book. This is similar to how these consonants are pronounced in Spanish. Practice the words: “nio-ko-ti” (lay waste to) ; “čio-nai” (here); “čio-bre-lis” (thyme). Another type of word where “ę” is found commonly in the final syllable is the “dalyvis” or participle.
And here’s your final exam: “Už jūrų marių, už upių vandenėlių” (beyond the ocean seas, beyond the river waters). Do not add the “w” sound! Americanized pronunciation of Lithuanian consonants can be easily fixed, but it must first be recognized as correctable. Please pick up your diplomas on the way out. Tailed ę: What about “e nosinė (ę)” or “tailed e”? In this article we begin with the letter “e”. Here again, the terminal “ę” is pronounced between “wet” and “mad”, but closer to “mad”. So, you can practice with the words: pauk-štis (bird), more like “out”; or mau-dy-tis (to swim), more like “loud”. For example, in spręsti (to solve) or tęsti (to extend), the “ę” is said as “mad”.
Where the tip of the tongue is, is a bit controversial.