Indian language Indian tribes What's new on our site today!

Itzaj Maya Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Itzaj Maya 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.
aa	a·	a	Like a only held longer.
ä	a, 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.
e		e ~ ε	Like the Spanish e, similar to the a in English gate. Sometimes it is pronounced more like the e in get.
ee	e·	e	Like e only held longer.
i		i ~ I	Like the i in police. Sometimes it is pronounced more like the i in hit.
ii	i·	i	Like i only held longer.
o		o	Like the o in note.
oo	o·	o	Like o only held longer.
u	v	u	Like the u in flute.
uu	u, u·	u	Like u only held longer.

˜Diphthongs

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
ay	ai	aj	Like English eye.
ey	ei	ej	Like ey in English they.
oy	oi	oj	Like oy in English boy.
uy	ui	uj	like the uoy in English buoy.

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
b	b'	б	Like b in boy, only implosive. To English speakers, it sounds as if Maya speakers are 'swallowing' the b sound, similar to the way b is pronounced in Vietnamese. At the end of a word this sound often is not pronounced at all.
ch		t	Like ch in chair.
ch'	chh	t	Like ch, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
h	j	h	Like h in hay.
k	c, qu	k	Like k in key.
k'	k,		Like k, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
l		l	Like l in light.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
p		p	Like the p in pie.
p'	pp		Like p, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
s		s	Like the s in sun.
t		t	Like the t in tell.
t'	tt		Like t, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
tz	ts	ts	Like ts in cats.
tz'	ts', dz,	t	Like tz, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
w	u, v, hu	w	Like w in way.
x	š, sh		Like sh in shell.
y		j	Like y in yes.
’			A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."

Back to the American Indian Culture homepage
Back to Native American Indian Words
Back to Guatemala Indian Languages

Indian crafts Catawba Indian tribe Ataniel fiction American Indian poetry

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