According to Wikipedia, Ewe is an African language. The IPA pronunciation is èβeɡ͡be.
Apparently the β is “like b, but with the lips not quite touching”, and the ɡ͡b is a “doubly articulated consonant”.
???
The [β] is probably easier to understand if you think about it as being like a [v], but instead of putting your upper lip against your teeth, you put your lips together and make the same sort of sound. So as the [v] is a labio-dental fricative, the [β] is a bilabial fricative.
The “doubly articulated consonant” is not a term I’ve come across, but I assume it is like an affricate (a plosive and a fricative articulated simultaneously) except instead it is two plosives. So the [g] and the ** are pronounced at the same time, instead of in sequence as we would normally do. But that’s a guess.
Sounds are usually broken down in three ways, whether they are voiced or unvoiced (i.e. do your vocal cords vibrate to produce the sound. For example, p and b are the same sound except that you voice b and not p.), where your tongue is located in your mouth and how the air moves through your mouth. Doubly articulated consonants mean that two sections of the mouth are involved instead of just one, in this case, the lips and the velum. It’s also a plosive which means that your tongue stops the air coming from your throat and then releases it in a short burst. The suggestion on wiki is to make the g sound but close your lips as if you’re going to say b and then open them for the g. As for the the other one, go ahead and try what you’ve got. It’s sort of like a cross between a b and a v.
And the grave accent over the first [e] means it is pronounced lower in pitch that the rest of the word.
http://archive.phonetics.ucla.edu/Language/EWE/EWE.html
Go to the WAV in #1, they say the word in #19. Every word is said in English before it’s said in Ewe.
ETA-to my untrained ears it sounds like èβeɡ͡be is pronounced EGG-bah.
I is *not *an African language! Damn Wikipedia.
Lower lip isn’t it? I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure my upper teeth are vibrating against my lower lip for [v].
So long as we’re disussing how to pronounce things, how do you say Qin Shi Huangdi?
Keen Shee Hwangdee?
Kin Shi Hangdee?
I never know how to say it in my head.
Stop bothering me with details.
Also, I sometimes get confused when I’m, you know, awake.
“Throatwobbler Mangrove.”
Wikipedia’s Pinyin page gives IPA equivalents for all the letters.