Walking the Land, Feeding the Fire: Knowledge and Stewardship Among the Tlicho Dene

Tłıc̨hǫ Pronunciation Key

xxi Tłı ̨chǫ Pronunciation Key Tłı̨chǫ has four vowels—a, e, i, o—and four kinds of vowels: plain, nasal, low tone, and nasal low tone. The nasal vowels are: ą, e ̨, ı ̨, ǫ; the low-tone vowels: à, è, ì, ò; the nasal low-tone vowels: à ̨, ę̀, ì ̨, ǫ̀. The nasal sound is made when air flows through the nose and the mouth; for the low-tone vowels, the voice is deeper, and the air flows through the mouth; for nasal low-tone vowel sounds, the voice is deeper, and the air flows through the nose and mouth. The sounds of most Tłı̨chǫ consonants are similar to the sounds made by consonants in English. The list given here consists of those sounds that require explanation and has been adapted from the Tłı̨chǫ dictionary (Dogrib Divisional Board of Education 1996, i–v). The arrangement of items follows the arrangement in the Tłı̨chǫ dictionary. Ɂ the “click” sound heard in the expression “ah-ah” or “oh-oh” ą similar to the sound in want ch chair; some dialects sound more like wetsuit ch’ same as ch, but with the “click” sound as part of it; an ejective ch dl similar to glue; at times like badly dz similar to adze e usually like set, but after w it is similar to wood ę similar to sent gh no similar sound in English; similar to the r sound in the French rouge. gw similar to language xxii · Tłı ̨chǫ Pronunciation Key ı same as ski ı̨ similar to the sound in means j can be as in jet or adze, depending on the dialects k kit; but in some words it is pronounced like x or h k’ same as k, but with the “click” sound as part of it; an ejective k kw same as quit kw’ same as kw, but with the “click” sound as part of it; an ejective kw ł breathy l, similar to flip or slip o like go; some pronounce it like goo ǫ similar to the sound in don’t t’ same as t, but with the “click” sound as part of it; an ejective t tł similar to settle or in some cases more like clue tł’ similar to tł, but with the “click” sound as part of it; an ejective tł but with the “click” sound as part of it ts like cats ts’ same as ts but with the “click” sound as part of it; an ejective ts wh breathy wh as in when; wh with a following e sounds like whirr x no similar sound in English; sounds like a raspy h and similar to the German ch as in Bach zh similar to pleasure, but in some dialects sounds more like please walking the land, feeding the fire ...