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A brief guide to Nawat spelling and pronunciation
This table shows the letters that are use in Nawat spelling and the pronunciations they represent in the Nawat Bible, in accordance with the spelling system used and recommended by IRIN.
Those in parentheses mostly only occur in words borrowed from Spanish or other languages. Indications of pronunciation are approximate only; if you are planning to work in a Nawat-speaking area you go over the examples listed with as many local native speakers as you can find and imitate their pronunciation.
| Letter |
Pronunciation |
Comments |
Examples |
| A |
ah |
|
amat "paper, letter, book" |
| (B) |
as in Spanish |
|
burroj "donkey" |
| (C) |
as in Spanish |
|
caballoj "horse", cinchoj "belt" |
| CH |
ch |
|
chiltik "red" |
| (D) |
as in Spanish |
|
dolar "dollar" |
| E |
eh |
|
tepet "hill, mountain" |
| (F) |
as in Spanish or wh |
|
cafe "coffee" |
| (G) |
as in Spanish |
|
galantzin "beautiful" |
| (H) |
silent |
|
horaj "hour" |
| I |
i, ee |
|
ini "this" |
| J |
h |
|
naja "I, me", tajtani "asks" |
| K |
k or g |
depending on the word and the dialect |
kojtan "bush, woods", kichiwa "makes", takat "man" |
| KW |
like qu in "queen" |
|
kwalani "gets angry" |
| L |
l |
|
kalaki "enters", kal "house" |
| (LL) |
as in Spanish |
|
anilloj "ring" |
| M |
m |
|
michin "fish" |
| N |
n before vowels, ng as in "sing" elsewhere, except m before "p" |
|
nemi "is, there is", apan "river", senpa "again, always" |
| NH |
like ng as in "sing" |
|
anhinat "you (pl.) say" |
| O |
aw (and sometimes oo) |
rare in Nawat words |
noya "grandmother" |
| P |
p |
|
panu "passes" |
| (QU) |
as in Spanish |
|
quesoj "cheese" |
| (R) |
as in Spanish |
|
jaral "brush, undergrowth" |
| (RR) |
as in Spanish |
|
burroj "donkey" |
| S |
s |
|
se "one" |
| SH |
sh |
|
shaput "hole, grave" |
| T |
t |
|
tami "ends" |
| TZ |
ts |
|
tzalani "makes a noise" |
| U |
oo (and sometimes aw) |
|
ume "two" |
| (V) |
as in Spanish |
|
uvaj "grape" |
| W |
w |
|
witz "comes", muiknew "your brother, your neighbour" |
| (X) |
as in Spanish |
|
extranjeroj "foreigner" |
| Y |
y |
|
yek "good, well", itukay "his/her name is" |
| (Z) |
as in Spanish |
|
juez "judge" |
Further notes
- Most words are stressed on the penultimate syllable, e.g. ámat, búrroj (búrruj), chíltik, tépet etc. In some words the last syllable takes the stress.
- It is common to pronounce a "y" sounds or a "w" sound between two vowels, or the first of two vowels is lengthened, pronouncing for example kipia "has" as [gipíya], seuk "other" as [séyuk], uij "difficult" as [úuih]/[úwih], mutalua "runs" as [mutalúua] etc.
- But other times the first of two vowels is itself reduced to a "y" or "w" sound, with a loss of syllabicity, so that for example ma kipiakan "that they might have" is pronounced [magipyágang], tiupan "temple, church" is [tyúpang], seujti "once" is [syúhti], nuipan "behind me" is [nwípang] etc.
Whenever possible, listen to native speakers and try to imitate their pronunciation. |
