Lesson 3 - Basics: Alphabet, vowels, grammar rules
The Abenaki Alphabet -
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll
Mm Nn Oo 8 Pp Ss Tt Uu Ww Zz
Vowels are sounded as follows -
A as in master.
E as in label.
I as in Indian; but more often "I" is
sounded as "E" in emotion.
O as in notice.
U as if it were "e yo" when followed or preceded
by a consonant;
when alone it is as "U" in union.
8 is the nasal "o(n)" sound; for example, 8h88
(yes) is pronounced o(n)-ho(n).
The consonants are sounded as follows -
B & P are sounded as a hard "P"; when written
they are often interchanged.
C is always followed by the letter "H" and
is sounded as "TS";
for example, chaga (if) is pronounced tsa-ga.
D & T are sounded as a hard "T"; when written
they are often interchanged.
G is always hard as in game.
H is sounded like "H" in help;
when not preceded by "C".
J is sounded like the letters "DZ";
for example, chijis (baby) is pronounced tsid-zes.
K as in kitten.
L as in label.
M as in mom.
N as in name.
S as in sound.
W is pronounced (oo)w; for example wliwni
(thank you) is pronounced oowle-oowne.
Z as in zebra.
Basic Language Rules -
A or Ï AIEE.
CH TS.
J DZ.
G hard "G".
W (OO)W.
8 or Ô O(N) - nasal "O".
PH not "F" sound.
D soft "T".
I at end of word "E" as in pedal.
I in middle of a word "EE" as in seen.
Basic Grammar Rules -
> Plural animate words end in "K".
> Plural inanimate words end in "AL"; except
words ending in "KW" or "GL" have "O"
for plural.
> Words ending with "AD" or "ID" denote trade or
occupation; "JIK" in plural.
> "R", "F", "V", "X", and "Y" have no pronunciation
in the language.
> "EIAW" at the end of a word means "four".
Here are some words to test some of these
pronunciation rules:
Mean, angry chilao tsi-lao'
Bad majigo ma-dzi-go'
Good wligen (oo)w-li-gen
Man san8ba sa-no(n)-ba
Woman phanem p-ha-nem
Tree abazi ah-bah-ze
Drum pakholigan pak-ho-li-gan
Drummer noli pakholid no-le' pak-ho-it
Leaf wanibagw (oo)wah-ni-bahgw'
Leaves wanibagwol (oo)wah-ni-bahg'-wohl
I/me nia ni-ah'
You kia ki-ah
He/she agma ahg-mah'
Us/we niona ni-oh'-nah
You (formal) kiona ki-oh'nah
They agm8w8 ag-mo(n)-wo(n)