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Chontal Maya Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Chontal 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.
e		e	Like the Spanish e, similar to the a in English gate.
i		i	Like the i in police.
i	ä, y	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		o	Like the o in note.
u		u	Like the u in flute.

˜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	Like b in boy.
ch		t	Like ch in chair.
ch'		t	Like ch, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
d		d	Like d in dog.
j	h	h	Like h in hay.
k	c, qu	k	Like k in key.
k'	c', q'u,		Like k, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
kw	qu	kw	Like qu in queen.
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'			Like p, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
r			Like Spanish r, somewhat like the tt in English butter.
s		s	Like the s in sun.
t		t	Like the t in tell.
t'			Like t, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
ts	tz	ts	Like ts in cats.
ts'	tz',	t	Like ts, only glottalized (pronounced with a pop of air.)
w	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."

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