(Speaking the language of People Who Live Amongst the Seagulls Along the Cape.) The Makah alphabet consists of 49 sound. There is only one way to pronounce each sound in Makah. Once mastered it is actually less confusing when spelling or pronouncing the sounds.
You are already familiar with 15 characters. They are:
b d e h i k l o p s t w y
Also "m" and "n" occur in just a few words in some tribal songs.
You will have to convert the following English consonant sounds:
(ts)
cats
(sh)
shop
(ch)
chin
(qu)
queen
Exclusively sounds with no English equivalent:
= side sounds — one is a stop and one is a lisp sound with air flow outward.
x = deep h sound you pronounce "who" but feel the air rushing from your toungue through your palate.
q = deep k sound. Make your tongue touch your uvula.
= deep (h) sound, raspy air made near your uvula.
Pronunciation Key
Vowels:
Short
Long
Combined
a hut
father
ay bike
e bet
back
ey ate
i sit
feet
iy honey
o for
low
oy boy
u look
moon
uy buoy (not exact equivalent)
(The Makah Alphabet is an adaptation of the International Phonetic Alphabet.)
Symbol Sounds:
These symbols are used to alter sounds of a character when you pronounce it.
() The dot means the vowel is long.
() The raised-w means to round the lips to form the w-sound.
() This symbol is a glottal mark. It is placed over certain Makah letters indicating the letter sound is made with a pop-like effect. The sound is really emphasized and made louder with more force of air. The is then called a "glottalized-c".
() This symbol is a glottal stop. It is like the pause or catch in the throat when saying "Uh-uh" (no). It also breaks words into natural syllables or word parts ( = "ears"). Words that begin with a vowel are preceded by glottal stops ( = "son").
Lip Sounds:
b m p
Teeth Sounds:
s c t d n
Side Sounds:
Made from the sides of the mouth and tongue
- (barred-l) an l sound made by blowing air around the sides of the tongue.
- (barred lambda) Combine the "cl" sound in clock or the "tl" sound in cattle into one sound using a sound.
- Same "cl" or "tl" sound above but popped.
Mid Sounds
Inside Palate -
Rounded lips and inside palate -
Back of the Mouth Sounds
- (x-wedge or wedge-x) Pronounce the "x" but letting the air come over the back of your tongue and under your uvula (your is the punching-bag shaped thing which hangs from the roof of the mouth near the throat opening.) Make rasping air near the opening of your throat.
- is like the only rounding your lips to the position of "w" at the same time.
- is pronounced in the same positino as the "q" only with rounded lips.
- is similar to the sound "q" but make it pop.
- is pronounced in the same position as the "q" but make it pop with rounded lips.
Exceptions
Stress - Emphasis or accent on the stressed syllable.
If the 1st syllable vowel is short, stress or emphasize the 2nd syllable:
If the 1st syllable vowel is long, stress or emphasis is on the 1st syllable:
The Community Museum is a project of community organizations and Tribes across the Olympic Peninsula, and the University of Washington.
Support for the project comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Preston, Gates and Ellis, LLP.
(Speaking the language of People Who Live Amongst the Seagulls Along the Cape.) The Makah alphabet consists of 49 sound. There is only one way to pronounce each sound in Makah. Once mastered it is actually less confusing when spelling or pronouncing the sounds.
= side sounds — one is a stop and one is a lisp sound with air flow outward.
= deep (h) sound, raspy air made near your uvula. 
father 
back 
feet 
low 
moon 
) The raised-w means to round the lips to form the w-sound.
) This symbol is a glottal mark. It is placed over certain Makah letters indicating the letter sound is made with a pop-like effect. The sound is really emphasized and made louder with more force of air. The 
) This symbol is a glottal stop. It is like the pause or catch in the throat when saying "Uh-uh" (no). It also breaks words into natural syllables or word parts ( 
= "ears"). Words that begin with a vowel are preceded by glottal stops ( 
= "son").
- (barred-l) an l sound made by blowing air around the sides of the tongue.
- (barred lambda) Combine the "cl" sound in clock or the "tl" sound in cattle into one sound using a sound.
- Same "cl" or "tl" sound above but popped.
- (x-wedge or wedge-x) Pronounce the 
is the punching-bag shaped thing which hangs from the roof of the mouth near the throat opening.) Make rasping air near the opening of your throat. 
- is like the only rounding your lips to the position of "w" at the same time.
- is pronounced in the same positino as the "q" only with rounded lips. 
- is similar to the sound "q" but make it pop.
- is pronounced in the same position as the "q" but make it pop with rounded lips. 
