Haida Consonant Chart

This chart shows the consonant letters as they are currently used in each community. Following the chart is a series of notes discussing particular letters. Letter b ch/ts d dl g gw h hl j k kw k' k'w w ' 'w l 'l Skidegate paaba chiina dang dlaan gam gwaay uud haawiid hldaan jaadaa kinda kwaagid k'aaw k'waay ing waan 'al 'waang luu 'laa Masset paabaa tsiin dang dlan gam gwaay uud amjuu hawiid hldaan jaadaa kindaa kwaagad k'aaw k'waay ing waan 'al 'waang luu 'laa Alaska pabaa chin dng dln gm gway ud mjuu hawid hldan jadaa kndaa kwagad k'aw k'way ng wan 'l 'wang lu 'la
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English

black pepper fish you to wash not island (adult) eagle to be round hurry! come on! blueberry to be female to tell news to depend on something herring roe on kelp older sibling to see something to be many, a lot skin to explode wave to be good

m n ng p p' s t t' tl tl' ts' w 'w x y 'y '

maahla naang ngaal paaba xap'ad suu taan t'alang tlaan tl'uu ts'uu waasii 'waa xayaa aayda yahk'ii 'yaanala gi'inda

maahl naang ngaal paabaa xap'ad suu taan t'alang tlaan tl'uu ts'uu waajii 'waa xayaa aad 'alaaan yahk'ii 'yaangalaa gi'andaa

mahl nang ngal pabaa xap'ad su tan t'alng tlan tl'u ts'u wajii 'wa xaya aad 'alaan yahk'ii 'yaangalaa gya'ndaa

seed to play giant kelp black pepper to go in fast lake black bear we stop wedge red cedar that, those to do to be sunny people, Haidas fence the truth to be early, easy to use, to wear

Notes on the Consonants

b The Haida b is pronounced much like the English b in big, bag and baby. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless bilabial stop. ch/ts The Haida ch, as used in Skidegate and Alaska, is pronounced like the English ch in cheese, chew and chair. Some writers in Masset use the letter ts for this sound. The technical name for this sound is an aspirated alveopalatal affricate. orthography. d The Haida letter d sounds like the English d in dog, dig and den. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless alveolar stop. dl The Haida letter dl is very close to the English dl sequence in words such as padlock and bedlam. The technical name for this sound is a voiced alveolar lateral affricate. g The Haida letter g is pronounced like the English g in good, give and goat. It is never pronounced like the English g in gem, general and gesture. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless velar stop. gw The Haida letter gw is pronounced the the gu seuqence in the English words guano, guava and Guatemala. The technical name for this sound is
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Enrico uses the letter ts to write this sound in his

a labialized voiceless velar stop. The Haida letter represents three different sounds. In the Skidegate dialect, it is a sound similar to the letter g, but produced further back in the mouth. the technical name for this sound is a voiceless uvular stop. In the Masset dialect, it is a sound similar to ' (see below), but produced with extra constriction in the throat. The technical name for this sound is a pharyngealized glottal stop. In the Alaskan dialect, it is a sound similar to a small cough, or a clearing of the throat. The technical name for this sound is a pharyngeal stop. None of these sounds exist in English. Although there are three different pronunciations for this letter, the sounds occur in the same words across the three dialects. This letter is often called "g-line". orthography. The Haida letter is used in writing the Masset and Alaskan dialects to spell the same back-g sound that Skidegate spells with . There are very few words which have this sound and which use this letter; most of the words are borrowings from Chinook Jargon. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless uvular stop. This letter is often called "g-cap" or "ghat". h The Haida letter h is pronounced like the English h in habit, half and hall. the technical name for this sound is a voiceless glottal approximant. Enrico uses the letter G to write this sound in his orthography. Enrico uses the letter r to write this sound in his

hl The Haida letter hl represents a sound not found in English. Its pronunciation is a mix between an s and a whispered l. The closest sound we have in English is the th sound in math, bath and athlete. the technical name for this sound is a voiceless lateral fricative. j The Haida letter j is pronounced like the English j in jab, jaw and jazz. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless alveopalatal affricate. k The Haida k is pronounced like the English k in king, kayak and kiss. the technical name for this sound is an aspirated velar stop. kw The Haida letter kw is pronounced like the English qu in queen, question and quit. The technical name for this sound is a labialized aspirated velar stop. k' The Haida letter k' represents a sound not found in English. It is pronounced like a plain letter k, but with an extra pop or click, made by shutting off your vocal cords at the same time. The technical name for this sound is a velar ejective. This letter is often called "k-pinch". k'w The Haida letter k'w is pronounced just like the letter k', but with the lips rounded at the same time, making a sound much like a w. The technical name for this sound is a labialized velar ejective.

 The Haida letter represents a sound not found in English. It is similar to a Haida k, but pronounced further back in the mouth. It is pronounced at the same place in the mouth as the Skidegate pronunciation of the letter . The technical name for this sound is an aspirated uvular stop. This letter is often called "k-line". Enrico uses the letter q to write this sound in his orthography. w The Haida letter w is pronounced like the letter , but with rounded lips. The technical name for this sound is a labialized aspirated uvular stop. Enrico uses the letter qw to write this sound in his orthography. ' The Haida letter ' is pronounced like the letter , but with an extra pop or click. The technical name for this sound is a uvular ejective. This letter is often called "k-line-pinch" or "k-fully-loaded". write this sound in his orthography. 'w The Haida letter 'w is pronounced like the letter ', but with rounded lips. The technical name for this sound is a labialized uvular ejective. uses the letter q'w to write this sound in his orthography. l The Haida letter l is pronounced like the English l in lace, lake and lady. The technical name for this sound is a voiced lateral approximant. 'l The Haida letter 'l represents a sound not found in English. It is very similar to a plain l sound, but it also involves closing off your vocal cords at
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Enrico uses the letter q' to

Enrico

the beginning of the sound. The technical name for this sound is a glottalized lateral approximant. This letter is sometimes called "pinchedl". m The Haida letter m is pronounced like the English m in man, made and mail. The technical name for this sound is a voiced bilabial nasal. n The Haida letter n is pronounced like the English n in name, nation and need. The technical name for this sound is a voiced alveolar nasal. ng The Haida letter ng is pronounced like the English ng in sing, bang and long. The technical name for this sound is a voiced velar nasal. It is not pronounced like the ng in the English words finger, single and tango. For that sound, some Haida writers use ng.g (with a dot) and others use ngg (without a dot). p The Haida letter p is pronounced like the English p in puck, pace and page. It is a fairly uncommon sound, and is found mostly in borrowed words. The technical name for this sound is an aspirated bilabial stop. p' The Haida letter p' is pronounced like the letter p, but with an extra pop or click. The technical name for this sound is a bilabial ejective. This sound occurs in a small number of words, and even in those words not all speakers use this sound. Instead, they may use a b followed by a ' (two
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separate sounds, not a single sound like p'). For example, some speakers say t'ap'ad, with a single p' sound in the middle, while others say t'ab'ad, with the two sounds b and ' in the middle. This letter is often called "ppinch". s The Haida letter s is pronounced like the English s in safe, sale and sand. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless alveolar fricative. t The Haida letter t is pronounced like the English t in talk, tale and tall. The technical name for this sound is an aspirated alveolar stop. t' The Haida letter t' is pronounced like the letter t, but with an extra pop or click. The technical name for this sound is an alveolar ejective. This letter is often called "t-pinch". tl The Haida letter tl is pronounced like the letter t, followed by the letter hl. It is a sound that is not found in English. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless lateral affricate. tl' The Haida letter tl' is pronounced like the letter tl, but with an extra pop or click. The technical name for this sound is a lateral ejective affricate. This letter is often called "t-l-pinch". ts' The Haida letter ts' is pronounced like the English sequence ts in cats, boots and eats, but with an extra pop or click. The technical name for this
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sound is an alveolar ejective affricate. This letter is often called "t-spinch". w The Haida letter w is pronounced like the English w in win, wish and will. The technical name for this sound is a voiced labialized velar approximant. 'w The Haida letter 'w is pronounced like the letter w, but it also involves closing off your vocal cords at the beginning of making the sound. The technical name for this sound is a glottalized voiced labialized velar approximant. This letter is often called a "pinched-w". sequence 7w to write this sound in his orthography. x The Haida letter x represents a sound not found in English. It sound similar to a strong h sound, but is produced in the mouth and not in the throat. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless velar fricative. Enrico uses the letter c to write this sound in his orthography. The Haida letter represents two different sounds. In the Skidegate dialect, this is another strong h type of sound, similar to x, but produced at the back of the mouth. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless uvular fricative. In Masset and Alaska, this same letter represents a strong h sound that is produced not in the mouth, but deep in the throat. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless pharyngeal fricative. Enrico uses the

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Neither of these sounds are found in English. This letter is often called an "x-line". Enrico uses the letter x to write this sound in his orthography. The Haida letter is used by Masset and Alaskan writers to represent the same strong h sound that Skidegate spells with an . This sound occurs in only a few words in these dialects, mostly in borrowings from Chinook Jargon. The technical name for this sound is a voiceless uvular fricative. Enrico uses the letter X to write this sound in his orthography. y The Haida letter y is pronounced like the English y in yawn, year, and yes. The technical name for this sound is voiced palatal approximant. 'y The Haida letter 'y is pronounced like the letter y, but it also involves closing off the vocal cords at the beginning of making the sound. The technical name for this sound is a glottalized voiced palatal approximant. This letter is often called a "pinched-y". write this sound in his orthography. ' The Haida letter ' represents a sound that is made by briefly closing and then opening your vocal cords. The result is a very short pause or period of silence. The technical name for this sound is a glottal stop. We have this sound in English, such as in the middle of the expression uh-oh. This letter is often called a "pinch", "tick", "click", "apostrophe" or "glottal". Enrico uses the letter/number 7 to write this sound in his orthography. SHIP also used the letter 7 for this sound in their orthography for many years, but changed to using ' in order to be closer to the spelling used in
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Enrico uses the sequence 7y to

Masset and Alaska.

Other Consonant Letters

In addition to those consonant letters above, all of which are in common use in at least one of the communities, there are a few other consonant letters that are used occasionally, although they are not often considered to be part of the Haida alphabet. 'm Enrico uses this letter to write the following words: 'mah ja 'maay 'mooy oops! (Skd); I told you so! (Mst) I don't believe it! an expression of disbelief

Like the letter 'l, it is pronounced by closing off the vocal cords at the beginning of the sound. The technical name for this sound is a glottalized voiced bilabial nasal. This letter could be called a "pinched-m". 'n Enrico uses this letter to write the word: 'nn he, she, him, her

Enrico notes that this pronunciation was used by Dorothy Bell, as well as occasionally by Adam bell and Percy Brown. A similar pronunciation, nn (without the pinch), is used by Claude Morrison of Hydaburg. The technical name for this sound is a glottalized voiced alveolar nasal. This letter could be called a "pinched-n".
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r Some Alaskan writers have used the letter r in writing the word: lidadaa to read something

and other words related to it. This word is obviously a borrowing from English. When it was first borrowed, the English r was replaced with the Haida l, the closest sound that Haida speakers could pronounce. However, today all Haida speakers are bilingual in English, so even when speaking in Haida they typically pronounce this word as ridadaa, with a clear English-type r sound, and not an l.

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Haida Vowel Chart

This chart shows the vowel letters as they are currently used in each community. Following the chart is a series of notes discussing particular letters. Letter a aa aw aaw ay aay e ee i ii iw l ll u uu Skidegate ad taan taw k'aaw k'ay gwaay --isda iitl'l dlljuu dlllna kun tluu Masset ad taan taw k'aaw k'ay gwaay eht'as ideed isdaa iitl' siw kun tluu Alaska ad tan tw k'aw k'y gway eht'as ided isda itl' sw kn tlu English

to run black bear grease herring roe on kelp crabapple island to wait for a chance to grab about to put, give, take, do us black seaweed to be doing something octopus arm, tentacle nose canoe, boat

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Notes on the Vowels

a The Haida letter a is pronounced like the English a in sofa, scuba and Tina. aa The Haida letter aa is pronounced like the English o in odd, honest and option. In some words, following the letter y, the letter aa is pronounced more like the English a in can, cab and bad. aw The Haida letter aw is pronounced like the letter a followed by w. This is sound that we do not have in English; the closest sound in English is the short o in open, oak and oat. aaw The Haida letter aaw is pronounced like the letter aa followed by w. It is very similar to the ow sequence in the English words how, now and cow. ay This Haida letter ay is pronounced like the letter a followed by y. This sound is not found in most dialects of English. aay The Haida letter aay is pronounced like the letter aa followed by y. It is similar to the ie sequence in the English words pie, lie and tie. e The Haida letter e is pronounced like the English e in bet, set and wet.
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This sound is not very common in Masset and Alaskan, and appears to be absent entirely from Skidegate. In words that have e in the Northern dialects, Skidegate usually has ya. Skidegate yaht'as yahnasda ee The Haida letter ee is pronounced like the English ey in hey, they and whey. This sound is most common in Masset, less common in Alaska, and quite rare in Skidegate. Words that have ee in Masset often have aay in Alaska and Skidegate, particularly nouns in their definite form: Skidegate naay tluwaay daallaay Masset nee tluwee daalee Alaska nay tluwaay daalaay English the house the boat, the canoe the money Masset eht'as ehsdaa Alaska eht'as ehsda English to wait for a chance to to tire of looking at

Some Masset writers have used the letter aay when spelling the definite ending on nouns (just as in Skidegate and Alaska), even though they pronounce the ending as ee (unlike Skidegate and Alaska). Enrico notes that for some words that have the letter ay, there are some Skidegate speakers (including the late Henry Young) who pronounce these words with an ee sound. At SHIP, they have been spelling this sound with the letter ey. For example:

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Skidegate A hay'luu day an

Skidegate B hey'luu dey an

English to be all gone properly

In the original Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) Haida orthography, this sound was spelled ei, and many Northern writers, particularly in Alaska, still use that letter for this sound. The Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) Haida project switched to using the letter ee for this sound in order to come closer to the common practice among Masset writers. i The Haida letter i is pronounced like the English i in hit, sit and with. ii The Haida letter ii is pronounced like the English ee in see, bee and three. iw The Haida letter iw is pronounced like the letter i followed by w. This sound is not found in English. It is also apparently not found in Skidegate. In most words where there is an iw in the Northern dialects, Skidegate has yuu. Skidegate syuu s'yuu 'yuu l The Haida letter l can also be used as a vowel. This sound is found only in Skidegate, and even there it is found only after the letters dl, hl, l, 'l, tl, and
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Masset siw s'iw 'iw

Alaska sw s'w 'w

English black seaweed whisker opening, entrance

tl'. Words that have l as a vowel in Skidegate, tend to have a in Masset and Alaska. Skidegate dllgu hllnda llguus na 'llaya tllgaay tl'ln ll The Haida letter ll is pronounced like a longer version of the letter l. This sound is only found in Skidegate, and not in Masset or Alaska. Like the short l vowel, the long ll vowel is only found following the letters dl, hl, l, 'l, tl, and tl'. Skidegate words that have the letter ll tend to have ii in the Northern dialects. Skidegate dlllna aadlll tlll tl'll tl'll'aal hlllnga u The Haida letter u is pronounced like the English oo in look, book and took. uu The Haida letter uu is pronounced like the English oo in too, boo and moo.
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Masset dlagu hlandaa laguus na 'lee.i tlagaay tl'an

Alaska dlagw hlndaa lagus na 'la'ay tlagay tl'n

English digging stick to moan in pain mat house chief to get injured to nurse, to suck

Masset dliin aadlii tlii tl'ii tl'iiyaal hliing

Alaska dlin~dln adlii tli tl'i tl'iyaal hling

English octopus arm go onboard quite, so, much to sew fireweed spruce roots

Other Vowel Letters

There are also a few other letters that have been used to write vowel sounds in Haida, but which have often not been considered part of the alphabet. @ Enrico uses the letter @ as a vowel that is pronounced the same as the letter a. He distinguishes between a and @ not based on their pronunciation, but for complex grammatical reasons. As he states himself, both of these vowels could be spelled simply as a, with no confusion in pronunciation. ah Enrico treats the combination of a followed by h as a single vowel letter ah, at least for Masset and Alaskan. He does this not based on the pronunciation, but because of complex grammatical reasons. oo The Haida letter oo is pronounced like the English o in open, old and own. This sound is quite rare in all three dialects. Enrico notes that for some words that have the letter aw, there are some Skidegate speakers (including the late Henry Young) who pronounce these words with an oo sound. For example: Skidegate A dawanaa gaw'anuu dawu dawaan Skidegate B dooanaa goo'anuu doou dooaan
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English to be the youngest no if, since even if

This sound is also found in the following words: aayoo oo ooy ~ aay said when a fish is spotted jumping out of the water yes, sure, by all means a call made to someone in the woods

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