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Baure Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Baure spellings we have used on our site, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites.

˜Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
a		a	Like the a in father.
e		ε ~ e	Like the e in get. Sometimes it sounds more like the a in gate.
i		i ~ I	Like the i in police. Sometimes it sounds more like the i in pit.
o		o ~	Like the o in note. Sometimes it sounds more like the au in caught.

˜Nasal Vowels

Unlike in some South American languages, nasalization of vowels is not phonemic in Baure and is not marked in any of its orthographies that we are aware of. Vowels are only nasalized before or after the consonants n or m, and in a few rare words where an n or m once existed but has been dropped.

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
ch	č, z	t ~ d	Like ch in chair. After the sound n it is pronounced more like the j in jar.
h	j	h	Like h in hay.
k	c, qu, g	k ~ g	Like k in key. After the sound n it is pronounced more like the g in go.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
p	b	p ~ b	Like the p in pie. After the sound m it is pronounced more like the b in boy.
r	l		Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter.
s	s	s	Like s in sun.
sh	š, x		Like sh in shell.
t	d	t ~ d	Like the t in tell. After the sound n it is pronounced more like the d in dog.
v	b, b	β ~ v	Like v only pronounced between the two lips, as in Spanish navidad. Sometimes it is pronounced more like the English v as in van.
w	hu, u	w	Like w in way.
y		j	Like y in yes.
’	?, h		A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."

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