American Indian languages Indian tribes What's new on our site today!

Camaracoto Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Camaracoto orthography 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	ee	e ~ ε	Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in gate. In an unstressed syllable it is often pronounced more like the e in get.
i	ii	i ~ I	Like the i in police. In an unstressed syllable it is sometimes pronounced more like the i in bit.
ï	y, i	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.
o	oo	o ~	Like o in note. Sometimes it is pronounced more like the au in naughty.
ö		ø ~ ə	Somewhat like the ay in say, only pronounced with rounded lips. This is the same ö sound used in German. In an unstressed syllable it is often pronounced more like the a in about.
u	uu	u	Like u in flute. In an unstressed syllable it is sometimes pronounced more like the u in put.

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
b		b	Like b in boy.
ch		t	Like ch in cheese.
d		d	Like d in day.
g		g	Like g in good.
j		d	Like j in jar.
k	c, qu	k	Like the soft k sound in English ski.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
ñ		n	Like ny in canyon.
ng		ŋ	Like ng in sing.
p		p	Like the soft p in spin.
r	l		Similar to the ll in English bellow, only pronounced more quickly (so that the tongue only flaps once against the top of the mouth.)
s		s	Like the s in sun.
sh			Like sh in shell.
t		t	Like the soft t in star.
w	hu	w	Like w in way.
y		j	Like y in yes.
z		z	Like the z in zoo.
zh	rr		Like the ge at the end of garage.

Back to Native American Culture
Back to our Native American Indian websites for kids
Back to Native South American languages

Indian hair styles Blackfoot people Cashinahua Loincloth Indian crafts

Would you like to help support our organization's work with endangered American Indian languages?