Expert: Liliya - 5/14/2009

Question
i am struggling to pronounce "ni shagu nazad" or phonetically "nee shAhgu nazAhd" is it nee as in the leg joint, sh as in ship, A as in acorn(and stressed), then hgu as in gut, then naz as in nazareth, stressed acorn again, then hd as in dim (like me)are the h's silent? if i have this wrong can you break it into syllables for me

              many thanks john

Answer
Here you go John,

Ни шагу назад – Ni shagu nazad:

“Ni” as in Knee

“Sh” as in Ship

“A” as in Papa (stressed)

“G” as in Mug

“U” = “OO” as in Moon

_____________________________

“N” as in Nut

“A” as in Papa

“Z” as in Zebra

“A” is in Papa (stressed)

“D” as in Dance (However, when pronounced, the voiced sound “d” changes to the unvoiced sound “t,” so the phrase sounds as “ni shagu nazat.”)

Forget about the “h’s” – there are no such sounds in the expression.

I hope that you’ll find this helpful, but if something is still unclear, let me know. I’ll do my best to help.

Best wishes,

Liliya.