Lunaape Pronunciation Guide SESSION ONE

Short						long
	i	o	a	e	u		ii	oo	aa	ee
P	pi	po	pa	pe	pu	P	pii	poo	paa	pee
T	ti	to	ta	te	tu	T	tii	too	taa	tee
K	ki	ko	ka	ke	ku	K	kii	koo	kaa	kee
B	bi	bo	ba	be	bu	B	bii	boo	baa	bee
D	di	do	da	de	du	D	dii	doo	daa	dee
J	ji	jo	ja	je	ju	J	jii	joo	jaa	jee
S	si	so	sa	se	su	S	sii	soo	saa	see
M	mi	mo	ma	me	mu	M	mii	moo	maa	mee
N	ni	no	na	ne	nu	N	nii	noo	naa	nee
W	wi	wo	wa	we	wu	W	wii	woo	waa	wee
Y	yi	yo	ya	ye	yu	Y	yii	yoo	yaa	yee
L	li	lo	la	le	lu	L	lii	loo	laa	lee
H	hi	ho	la	le	lu	H	hii	hoo	haa	hee
Z	zi	zo	za	ze	zu	Z	zii	zoo	zaa	zee
CH	chi	cho	cha	che	chu	CH	chii	choo	chaa	chee
SH	shi	sho	sha	she	shu	SH	shii	shoo	shaa	shee
ZH	zhi	zho	zha	zhe	zhu	ZH	zhii	zhoo	zhaa	zhaa
*X	xi	xo	xa	xe	xu	*X	xii	xoo	xaa	xaa
*guttural sound that must be pronounced with a ‘catch in the throat’.

Lunaape Language		English Translation
Nii noonjiiyayii		I am from
Kii koonjiiyayii		You are from
Neeka wunjiiyayuw		He/she is from


Alphabet - Consonants
B, CH, D, F, G, H, K, J, L, M, N, P, R, S, SH, V, W, X, Y, Z, ZH
X (Used as a guttural sound – ‘a catch in the throat’)
(f, v & r, are used in English loan words)

Vowels
II, EE, OO, AA – Long Vowels
I, E, O, A, U – Short Vowels

SOUNDS - LUNAAPE VOWELS

Long Vowel	Lunaape	Meaning	English Equivalent
-ii-	akiinsuw	"he reads"	like -i- in machine
-oo-	koon	"snow"	like -o- in post
-aa-	maash	"like"	like -a- in father
-ee-	peew	"he came"	like -a- in at but longer

Short Vowel	Lunaape	Meaning	English Equivalent
-i-	nihlaaw	“I killed him”	like -i- in sit
-o-	mohkw	"blood"	like -u- in put
-a-	pan	“frying pan”	like -o- in son
-e-	mehch	“now”	like -e- in me
-u-	nguk	"my mother"	like -e- in roses

Lunaape CONSONANTS Most of the consonants are used as in English. Letters included are p, t, k, b, d, j, s, m, n, w, y, l, h and z. It is important to remember that the letter “g” is always hard, as in the English “get”, never soft, as in the English “gem”. The consonants “ch” and “sh” are written with two letters, but are single consonants. The consonant “zh” is the sound in the English “pleasure” The consonant “x” is a guttural sound that must be pronounced with a “catch” in the throat.