Yosemite > History > Ahwahnee Village > Southern Sierra Miwok Sounds >
Next: History • Contents • Previous: Introduction
Sierra Miwok is not a written language. The written alphabets used are phonetic and non-standard. The alphabet used on the interpretative signs is the same as in The Miwok in Yosemite: Southern Miwok Life, History, and Language in the Yosemite Region (Yosemite: Yosemite Association, 1996), by Craig D. Bates. To aid in approximate pronunciation, here are the Sierra Miwok vowels and constants.
| a | like the a in father |
| aa | like the a in father, but dragged out |
| e | like the e in met |
| ee | like the e in met, but dragged out |
| i | like the i in it |
| ii | like the ee in see |
| o | like the o in go |
| oo | like the o in cold, but dragged out |
| u | like the u in June |
| uu | like the u in June, but dragged out |
| ᵊ (inverted e) | like the e in places |
| ᵊᵊ (inverted ee) | like the e in places, but dragged out |
| ' | (glottal stop) a clipped passage of air before a vowel and a catch at the end of a vowel |
| ch | like the ch in church, however, between vowels, ch sometimes sounds just like the j in just |
| h | like the h in house |
| k | like the k in keep, however, it may sound somewhat like a g when surrounded by vowels |
| l | like the l in leaf |
| m | like the m in man |
| ᵡ (ng) | like the ng in sing |
| p | like the p in pool |
| s | like the z in zebra between or after l, m, n, ᵡ (n dropped), w, or y. Elsewhere like the s in see. |
| š | like the sh in she |
| t | formed by pressing the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth without a puff of air |
| t. | formed by curling the tip of the tongue behind the alvelor ridge (behind the front teeth).
Between vowels and after n, it will sound like the d in dog. |
| w | like the w in way |
| y | like the y in yellow |
———
From Craig D. Bates,
The Miwok in Yosemite:
Southern Miwok Life, History, and Language in the Yosemite Region
(Yosemite: Yosemite Association, 1996),
p. 3.
Linguists may want to compare these sounds and alphabet with alphabet in Sylvia M. Broadbent’s The Southern Sierra Miwok Language (1964) and the alphabet in L. S. Freeland and Sylvia M. Broadbent’s Central Sierra Miwok Dictionary (1960). Words used on some exhibit signs uses Freeland & Broadbent’s alphabet instead of the alphabet defined above.
Next: History • Contents • Previous: Introduction
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/ahwahnee_village/sounds.html