Pima Bajo Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

˜Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
a		a	Like the a in father.
aa	a:, a	a	Like a only held longer.
i	y, e	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.
ii	i:, i, yy, y	i	Like i only held longer.
i		i	Like the i in police.
ii	i:, i	i	Like i only held longer.
o		o	Like the o in note.
oo	o:, o	o	Like o only held longer.
u		u	Like the u in flute.
uu	u:, u	u	Like u only held longer.

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
b		b	Like b in big.
ch	č, c	t	Like ch in chair.
d	d	d	Like d in dog.
g	gu	g	Like g in good.
h	j	h ~	Like h in hay. Some speakers pronounce this sound pharyngeally instead, like the heavy hh sound in Arabic.
k	c, qu	k	Like the soft k in skate.
l		l	Like l in light.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n	ñ	n ~ nj	Like n in night. Before an i or u, it is pronounced like the ny in canyon instead.
p		p	Like the soft p in spy.
s		s	Like s in see.
t		t	Like the soft t in star.
v	w	w ~ β	Like w in way. Between vowels it is often pronounced like the v in Spanish navidad.
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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