Orthography and Pronunciation

Vowels: i ɪ e ə ä a o

/i/

i as in "see"

/ɪ/

ɪ as in "bit"

/e/

e as in "bed” or “té”

/ə/

ə as in "about"

/ä/

as in "cat"

/a/

a as in "father"

/o/

o as in "boat"

/u/

u as in "flute"

Stressed vs unstressed Syllables

When a vowel is doubled, as in ɪɪ, or written with a line above, as in ō, it is part of a stressed syllable. It should be held longer than other syllables in the word.

- glottal stop as in center of “uh-oh”

consonants and stops
/b/ B/b as in "boy"
/ch/ Ch/ch as in "chair"
/d/ D/d as in "dog"
/g/ G/g as in "go"
/h/ H/h as in "hello"
/j/ J/j as in "judge"
/k/ K/k as in "kite"
/ʎ/ Ll/ll as in "castillo" in Spanish, or as in the combination of ly together as in "Ilyana"
/l/ L/l as in "love"
/m/ M/m as in "mother"
/n/ N/n as in "note"
/p/ P/p as in "put"
/s/ S/s as in "snake"
/sh/ Sh/sh as in "shine"
/(h)r/ Hr/hr breathy and trilled as in the Spanish name “Rosa.”
/t/ T/t as in "take"
/v/ V/v as in "vote" or Spanish “cabra”
/x/ X/x as in "box"
/ʔ and ˀ/ - glottal stop as in center of “uh-oh”