ʔAYʔAǰUΘƏM? YOU GOT THIS

Randolph Timothy Sr.

Use the orthography below to write in how to pronounce each letter. Also see Dr. Elsie Paul’s more precise descriptions at bit.ly/3cc8iU4.

či yɛ ʔa na

listen

čɩm čɩm

cold

gəχ no mo toɬ

dreamt

hɛ hɛw ɬəχ

too bad

non pe ga nəm

to think

ʔayʔaǰuθəm orthography

ɬəʔamɛn | k̓ómoks | χʷɛmaɬkʷu | & ƛohos

This orthography is based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This partial guide offers a simplified version of the sounds; for an authentic accent, listen at firstvoices.com.

Most letters you’ll see in ʔayʔaǰuθəm are familiar. Pronounce them as you normally would, with the exception of the vowels and “y,” which are always pronounced:

Vowels

a = ah

e = ay as in May

i = ee

o = oh

u = oo

y = y as in yell

Others letters present in list of words above:

č = ch

ɛ = eh

ʔ = glottal stop: uh oh

ɩ = ih

ə = uh

χ = Hhhh

ɬ = breathy L sound