Hopi Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

Vowels
Character Sometimes IPA
We Use: Also Used: symbol: How To Pronounce It:

a a Like the a in father.

aa a· a Like a only held longer.

e ε Like the e in bet.

ee e· ε Like e only held longer.

i i Like the i in police.

ii i· i Like i only held longer.

o o Like the o in note.

oo o· o Like o only held longer.

This vowel sound does not exist in English. It sounds like G

French eu. If you've ever tried to pronounce the German nam
ö œ "Goerthe," this is the same vowel sound as that. The closest
equivalent is the u in purple.

öö ö· œ Like ö only held longer.

Like the u in flute, only unrounded. Sometimes it sounds mo

u ~i in put.

uu u· ~i Like u only held longer.

Di phthongs
Character Sometimes IPA
We Use: Also Used: symbol: How To Pronounce It:
 aw au aw Like ow in English cow.

ay ai aj Like English eye.

This sound doesn't really exist in English. If you mimic an

ew eu εw ~ ew stereotype of a "Southern belle" saying "how," you will be
Some Hopi speakers pronounce it more like the "AO" in "

ey ej Like the ay in hay.

iw iw Like a child saying ew!

iy ij Like ee in see.

ow ow Like the ow in show.

oy oj Like the oy in boy.

öw œw No English equivalent. Like Hopi ö with a w-glide at the e

öy œj No English equivalent. Like Hopi ö with a y-glide at the e

uw uw Like the oo in too.

uy j No English equivalent. Like Hopi u with a y-glide at the e

Con sonants
Character Sometimes IPA
We Use: Also Used: symbol: How To Pronounce It:

h h Like h in hay.

k k Like the soft k in sky.

kw qu kw ~ kw Like qu in English square.

l l Like l in light.
 m m Like m in moon.

n n Like n in night.

ng ŋ Like ng in sing.

ngw ŋw ~ ŋw No English equivalent. Like ng and w pronounced together

ngy ŋj No English equivalent. Like gn in French Avignon.

p p Like the soft p in spy.

q q Like k, only pronounced further back on the palate..

qw qw ~ qw Like qu, only pronounced further back on the palate.

No English equivalent. Like the rz sound in Polish. To Eng

r it sounds like a cross between the ge in garage and the "sw
common to English speakers from India.

s s Like s in see.

t t Like the soft t in star.

ts ch &nbspts Like ts in cats.

Bilabial v as in Spanish navidad. At the end of a word or be

v b β~Φ consonants, it is pronounced voicelessly, so that it sounds l
sound made between both lips.

w w Like w in way.

y j Like y in yes.

’ A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-o
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