Native American language American Indian tribes Indian children
Welcome to our Yaminawa alphabet page! The following charts show the pronunciation for the Yaminahua 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: | Yaminawa pronunciation: |
a | a | Like the a in father. | |
e | |
|
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 | o | o | Like the o in note. |
Character We Use: |
Sometimes Also Used: |
IPA symbol: |
an | ã | ã |
en | ẽ | |
in | ĩ | ĩ |
on | õ | õ |
Character We Use: |
Sometimes Also Used: |
IPA symbol: | Yaminawa pronunciation: |
b | b | Like b in boy. | |
ch | č | t | Like ch in chair. |
d | d | Like d in day. | |
f | φ ~ β | A bilabial fricative, like an English "f" or "v" sound but pronounced without touching the upper teeth to the lower lip. The Spanish "v" and the Japanese "f" sound like this Yaminawa sound. | |
k | c, qu | k | Like k sound in English key. |
m | mb | m ~ mb | Like m in moon. Sometimes it sounds more like the mb in ember. |
n | n ~ nd | Like n in night. Sometimes it sounds more like the nd in under. | |
p | p | Like the p in pie. | |
r | Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter. | ||
s | s | Like s in sun. | |
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. |
w | w | Like w in way. | |
y | j | Like y in yes. |
Back to Native Culture
Back to American Indians for kids
Back to the Languages of Brazil
American Indian food
Navajo Indians
Apache Indian clothing
Cherokee trails
Indian saddle bag
Would you like to help support our organization's work with the Yaminawa language?