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Pima Bajo Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

Welcome to our Pima Bajo alphabet page! The following charts show the pronunciation for the Pima Bajo 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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Pima Bajo Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Pima Bajo pronunciation:
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.

Pima Bajo Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Pima Bajo pronunciation:
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 ~ n^j	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."

Pima Bajo Indian Pronunciation and Vocabulary Resources

   Pima Bajo words
   Pima Bajo picture dictionary
   Utoaztecan
   Southwestern Native Americans
   Native Americans of Vermont