Lakota letters and sounds

Letter	Description	Lakota word example	Listen	Meaning
	like a in father
	like e in bed
	like i in sit
	like o in soft
	like u in put
	like o in money, nasalized
	almost like i in mink
	like oo in moon, nasalized
	like g in got
	like the northern French r
	like h in hat
	close to Spanish x in Mexico
	almost like ch in rich
	like ch h in much haste
	like but followed by a glottal stop
	like k in skip, but not like k in kip
	like k h in back home
	connect and (no equivalent in English)
	like but followed by a glottal stop
	like p in spin, but not like p in pin
	like p h in steep hill
	connect and (no equivalent in English)
	like but followed by a glottal stop
	like t in still, but not like t in till
	like t h in sit here
	connect and (no equivalent in English)
	like but followed by a glottal stop
	like s in so
	like sh in shop
	like z in zero
	like s in pleasure
	like b in boy
	like l in lamp
	like m in map
	like n in nap
	like w in was
	like y in yes
	catch in the throat; like the pause between the syllables in "uh-oh" (glottal stop)	-	-	-

Copyright by Lakota Language Consortium, 2004 (C)

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