Penobscot LanguagePronunciation Guide

α – is a gutteral sound. (place a finger on the bottom of your throat and say “ah,” when you say alpha the throat is more tense, and the sound is made lower in the throat.
 

a – like a in father
 

e – this is a short “e” like in “hen”
 

e – is a very subtle sound, almost like it isn’t there, like the “a” in idea.
 

č – sounds like the “j”
 

čč – sounds like “ch” as in “chime.”
 

h – there are two types. (1) (unaspirated) sounds like a “y” when it has vowels around it, (2) (aspirated) sound like “h,” we breathe through it more “her”
 

hʷ – like the aspirated “h” but with a quick “w” following
 

I – is always short like in “in”
 

k – sounds like a “g”
 

kk – is the hard “k,” as in “kite”
 

kʷ – sounds like a “g” with a aspirated “w”
 

kkʷ – is the hard “k,” as in “kite,” with a “w” like “quick”
 

l – sounds like an “l”
 

m – sounds like an “m”
 

n – sounds like an “n”
 

o – is the long “o” as in “loon.”
 

p – sounds like “b”
 

pp – sounds like “p”
 

s – sounds like a “z”
 

ss – sounds like “s”
 

t – sounds like “d”
 

tt – sounds like “t”
 

w – sounds like “w”
 

y – sounds like “y”