Cherokee Language and PronounciationThis link has the each of the syllables of the syllabary pronounced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxXcIH4Btb8&feature=related
Here's a good link:
http://www.cherokeeimages.com/culture/language/pronunciation.html
Punctuation & Pronunciation
' means syllable is accented.
? between syllable.
: means vowel is held longer.
* pronounce carefully because it can change the meaning of the word.
Vowel Sounds
a, as a in father, or short as a in rival
e, as a in hate, or short as e in met
i, as i in pique, or short as i in pit
o, as o in note, approaching aw as in law
u, as oo in fool, or short as u in pull v, as u in but, nasalized
Cherokee Syllabary Pronunciation Key
The Cherokee alphabet is written in the syllabary form. A syllabary is an alphabet in which each letter in a word stands for a whole syllable (such as "ga") instead of a single letter (such as "g"). With the exception of the letter "s," Cherokee is a complete syllabary comprising some 85 phonetic sounds.
Almost all Cherokee syllables end in a vowel. When using the syllabary, Cherokee words can almost always be spelled as they are pronounced. Spelling sometimes varies when using English letters to interpret the syllables.
The Cherokee language uses the following English consonants: d g h k l m n q s t w .
The following English consonants do not exist in the Cherokee language: b f p r* t v x z.
* The Eastern or lower dialect which is now extinct used a rolling "r", which took the place of the "l" of the other dialects.
A beginning speaker should try to keep the lips still, mouth slightly opened, pressing the tongue against the lower teeth. Syllables beginning with "g" except (ga) are pronounced almost as in English, but approaching to (t); do, du, dv are sounded as to, tu, tv in some words.
Syllables written with (ti) except (tla) sometimes vary to "di". The syllables "do, du, dv" are sometimes sounded "to, tu, tv."
The syllables qua, que, qui, quo, quu, quv are pronounced with a "kw" sound before each vowel. The syllables dla, tla, tle, tli, tlo, tlu, tlv are pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth and bringing it down as the syllables are spoken.
The syllables written with "tl" except "tla" sometimes are pronounced "dl". The syllables tsa, tse, tsi, tso, tsu, tsv are pronounced a little differently depending upon the dialect.
In Western Cherokee the syllables are usually pronounced as the "j" in jaw. Remember to try to keep the tongue at the bottom of the mouth, touching the bottom teeth and the "j" in jaw. Remember to try to keep the tongue at the bottom of the mouth, touching the bottom teeth and the "j" sound becomes softer.
At times, Cherokee syllables have unvoiced or silent vowels. At times the silent vowel may be indicated with an apostrophe as in the number seven, "ga l' quo gi" -or indicated by brackets (li) quo gi." When this happens the consonant in that syllable is pronounced with the preceding syllable, "gal quo gi."
ANOTHER VERSION OF SAME INFORMATION
Pronounciation
Vowel Sounds
a: as in father or short as in rival
e: as in hate or short as in met
i: as in pig or short as in pit
o: as in note approaching aw in law
u: as (oo) in fool or short as in pull
v: as (u) in but, nasalized
Consonant Sounds
g: nearly as in English, approaching k
d: nearly as in English, approaching t
h, k, l, m, n, q, s, t, w, and y as in English
Note that do, du and dv are sounded as to, tu and tv in some words, in fact to, tu and tv could have had their own symbols according to some. Since they don't, the symbols used are still do, du and dv.
Other things to note
Sometimes vowels are unvoiced, when this is the case. Note that the consonant of that syllable is still pronounced, with the preceeding syllable.
EXAMPLE: mock is a-ye-(li)-di and pronounced a-yel-di
EXAMPLE: crow is ko-g(i)(a) which means that ko-gi or ko-ga are both correct.
Also,
A ? represents a glottal stop, like the sound between the syllables of Uh-Oh.
A : after a vowel means that this vowel is doubled, taking twice as long to say.
An ' after a syllable shows an accent on that syllable.
An ' after the consonant of a syllable shows that a vowel has been left out.
The syllables with "ts" can be pronounced with a "j" sound.
This link has the each of the syllables of the syllabary pronounced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxXcIH4Btb8&feature=related
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