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Apalai Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

Welcome to our Apalai alphabet page! The following charts show the pronunciation for the Apalai orthography we have used on our site, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites.

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Apalai Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Apalai pronunciation:
a		a	Like the a in father.
e		e	Like Spanish e, somewhat like the a in gate.
i		i	Like the i in police.
o		o	Like the o in note.
u		u	Like the u in flute.
y	i, ü	i	This sound does not exist in English. It sounds like the i in police only pronounced further back in the mouth. If you've ever heard a Slavic language like Russian or Polish being spoken, it is the same "dark i" sound from those languages.

Apalai Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels don't really exist in English, but you may be familiar with them from French (or from hearing people speak English with a French accent.) They are pronounced just like oral ("regular") vowels, only using your nose as well as your mouth. To English speakers, a nasal vowel often sounds like a vowel with a half-pronounced "n" at the end of it. You can hear examples of nasal vowels at the end of the French words "bon" and "Jean," or in the middle of the word "Français."

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:
ã	añ	ã
ẽ	eñ
ĩ	iñ	ĩ
õ	oñ	õ
ũ	uñ	ũ
	ĩ, yñ	ĩ

Apalai Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Apalai pronunciation:
b		b	Like b in boy.
d		d	Like d in day.
h	’		A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."
H	h	h	Like h in hay.
j	y, i	j	Like y in yes.
k	c, qu	k	Like the soft k in sky.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
p		p	Like the soft p in spin.
r			Like the tt in English butter.
s		s	Like the s in sun.
x	š, sh		Like the sh in shell.
t		t	Like the soft t in star.
w	u	w	Like w in way.
z		z	Like the z in zoo.

Apalai Indian Pronunciation and Vocabulary Resources

   Portuguese-Aparai dictionary (Amazon affiliate link)
   Aparai words
   Apalai picture dictionary
   Caribans
   Native American Languages of Brazil