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Welcome to our Shaninawa alphabet page! The following charts show the pronunciation for the Shanenawa orthography we have used on our site, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites.
Character We Use: |
Sometimes Also Used: |
IPA symbol: | Shaninawa pronunciation: |
a | a | Like the a in father. | |
e | e | Like Spanish e, similar to the a in gate. | |
ë | |
|
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. |
i | i | Like the i in police. | |
o | u | Like the au in caught. | |
u | o | o | Like the o in note. |
Character We Use: |
Sometimes Also Used: |
IPA symbol: |
an | ã | ã |
en | ẽ | ẽ |
ën | ||
in | ĩ | ĩ |
on | õ | |
un | ũ | õ |
Character We Use: |
Sometimes Also Used: |
IPA symbol: | Shaninawa pronunciation: |
b | v | β | Like the bilabial v in Spanish navidad. |
c | k, qu | k | As in the Spanish alphabet (from which the Shaninawa alphabet was adapted), both qu and c can represent the k sound in English key. |
ch | č | t | Like ch in chair. |
cu | qu, kw | kw | Similar to the qu in queen. |
m | m | Like m in moon. | |
n | n | Like n in night. | |
ñ | ny | ny | Like ny in canyon. |
p | p | Like the p in pie. | |
qu | k, c | k | As in the Spanish alphabet (from which the Shaninawa alphabet was adapted), both qu and c can represent the k sound in English key. |
r | Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter. | ||
sh | š, x | Like sh in shell. | |
t | t | Like t in tie. | |
ts | tz | ts | Like ts in cats. |
x | shr | ʂ | This sound does not exist in English or Spanish. It is a retroflex s sound like the sz of Polish. |
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