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Teribe Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Teribe orthography 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.
ä			Like the a in father, only pronounced in the back of the throat. If you've ever heard somebody with a Boston accent say "Boston," this vowel sounds like the first "o" in "Boston."
e		ε	Like the e in get.
ë		I	Like the i in bit.
i		i	Like the i in police.
o		o ~	Like the o in note. Sometimes it is pronounced more like the au in caught.
ö			Like the oo in book.
u		u	Like the u in flute.

˜Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels don't exist in English, but you may be familiar with them from French (or from hearing people speak English with a French accent.) They are pronounced just like oral ("regular") vowels, only using your nose as well as your mouth. To English speakers, a nasal vowel often sounds like a vowel with a half-pronounced "n" at the end of it. You can hear examples of nasal vowels at the end of the French words "bon" and "Jean," or in the middle of the word "Français."

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:
ã		ã
	ã
ẽ
ĩ		ĩ
õ		õ
ũ		ũ

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
b		b	Like b in boy.
ch	č	t	Like ch in chair.
d		d	Like the d in day.
dz	ds	dz	Like the ds in Edsel.
g		g	Like the g in girl.
j	h	h	Like h in hay.
k	c, qu	k	Like the soft k in ski.
kj	kh	k^h	Like the hard k in key.
l	r		Similar to the ll in English bellow, only pronounced more quickly (so that the tongue only flaps once against the top of the mouth.)
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
ng	n	ŋ	Like the ng in sing.
ñ		ñ	Like ny in canyon.
p		p	Like the soft p in spin.
pj	ph	p^h	Like the hard p in pin.
r			Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter.
rr	r	r	Like the rolling rr in Spanish perro.
s		s	Like s in sun.
sh	x		Like sh in shell.
t		t	Like the soft t in star.
tj	th	t^h	Like the hard t in tar.
ts	tz	ts	Like the ts in cats.
w	hu	w	Like w in way.
y		j	Like y in yes.
z		z	Like z in zoo.
zh	ll, j, y		Like French j, similar to the ge in garage.

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