Timucua Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

˜Vowels

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
b	v, gu, hu	β ~ w	Pronunciation unclear, probably like the bilabial v sound in Spanish words like navidad. May have been pronounced like w in way in some cases.
c	q, k, qu	k	Hard c as in cold. As in Spanish, this letter appears only before the vowels a, o, and u. When a hard c sound appears before e or i in a Timucua word, it was spelled with a q instead.
ch	č	t	Like ch in chair.
f	h, b	Φ	Pronunciation unclear, probably like the bilabial f sound used in Japanese (pronounced by narrowing your lips and blowing through them, as if you were playing a flute.)
h	j, g	h	Like h in hay.
l		l	Like l in light.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
p		p	Like p in pin.
q	c, k, qu	k	Hard c as in cold. This letter is only written before the vowels e or i. As in Spanish, the letter c was used to represent the same sound before the vowels a, o, and u.
qu	cu	kw	Like the qu in queen.
r			Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter.
s	c, ç	s	Like the s in sun.
t	d	t ~ d	Like t in tie. After n it was pronounced like the d in die.
y	i	j	Like y in yes.

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