On learning pronunciationLearning to pronounce things correctly in another language takes time. Your body and brain need time to learn how to perceive foreign sounds, let alone produce them. You cannot learn pronunciation accurately from written descriptions alone, which is why it is best to listen to native speakers and imitate them as much as possible. On this page you will find some resources that will give you exposure to spoken Kumeyaay, helping you get a sense of the pronunciation. Lower on the page are some helpful hints.
Written KumeyaayWhen Margaret Langdon began her work on Kumeyaay around 1965, she came up with an orthography to represent each of the sounds within Kumeyaay using one or two letters in the Latin alphabet. This became the Kumeyaay alphabet used in Ted Couro's language classes, his dictionary, his textbook, and many later publications. It remains the most simple, effective, and consistent writing system for Kumeyaay to date, and it is easy to use for those who take the time to learn how it works.
To better understand how Langdon's orthography represents Kumeyaay sounds in writing, please read: The Kumeyaay Alphabet |
Pronunciation Videos |
Pronunciation Resources
My interpretation of the examples in both Let's Talk 'Iipay Aa and Dictionary of Mesa Grande Diegueño.
Made by a student, may contain inaccuracies. Sounds often do not sound the same in all environments.
Provides IPA and equivalents in the Kumeyaay alphabet.
Made by a student, may contain inaccuracies. Sounds often do not sound the same in all environments.
Provides IPA and equivalents in the Kumeyaay alphabet.
In this Facebook post by the Barona Cultural Center & Museum, Kumeyaay speaker and teacher Pat Curo says some of the basic
"hi, how are you" phrases. The recording is very clear and will help you say at least these common sayings right.
"hi, how are you" phrases. The recording is very clear and will help you say at least these common sayings right.
As part of his website Kumeyaay.org, Samuel Brown has set up this online dictionary where you can search for words and hear them pronounced by him, Ted Couro, and other speakers. It works best from English to Kumeyaay.
The collection of recordings done by Alfred S. Hayes in 1953, stored at the California Language Archive at Berkeley, is probably the largest body of Kumeyaay recordings available to the public. They mainly feature the native speaker Ramon Ames, who lived at Barona and spoke a dialect of 'Iipay Aa very close to the Mesa Grande. Though these recordings can be hard for a beginner to understand, it is always important to tune our pronunciation by listening to native speech.
Stress Pattern:
In 'Iipay Aa, the stressed syllable, or the one which you say the loudest and with the most emphasis, is usually the last syllable of any word. This is especially true when a word ends in a long vowel: 'aahmaa ('aahMAA) or with a consonant: 'ehan ('eHAN), kiima' (kiiMA')
However, there are exceptions you must remember:
1. If a word ends in a short vowel with no consonant after it, the stress will be on the second to last, or penultimate, syllable: Haawka (HAAWka), keyima (keYIMa)
2. If a syllable contains an "e", a.k.a. a shwa, it never receives the stress, even if it is followed by consonants: 'ehattech ('eHATTech), 'e-en ('E-en)
3. If there are any grammatical suffixes such as -ches, -vech, etc., they do not receive the stress nor change the location of the stress on the original word: achpuukwilp (achpuuKWILP), achpuukwilpvek (achpuuKWILPvek)
4. In some words where the above rules combine and are hard to spot, an accent will mark the stressed syllable: peyápaches (peYApaches)
However, there are exceptions you must remember:
1. If a word ends in a short vowel with no consonant after it, the stress will be on the second to last, or penultimate, syllable: Haawka (HAAWka), keyima (keYIMa)
2. If a syllable contains an "e", a.k.a. a shwa, it never receives the stress, even if it is followed by consonants: 'ehattech ('eHATTech), 'e-en ('E-en)
3. If there are any grammatical suffixes such as -ches, -vech, etc., they do not receive the stress nor change the location of the stress on the original word: achpuukwilp (achpuuKWILP), achpuukwilpvek (achpuuKWILPvek)
4. In some words where the above rules combine and are hard to spot, an accent will mark the stressed syllable: peyápaches (peYApaches)
Vowel length:
Kumeyaay, like many languages, has short and long vowels. Long vowels are simply written twice: a vs. aa, e vs. ee, i vs. ii, o vs. oo, u vs. uu. Sometimes, vowels have a different quality when they are long vs. when they are short. For example, short "i" sounds like bit whereas long "i" (ii) sounds like bead. Make sure to practice saying long vowels for about twice the amount of time as short vowels.
Did you know English has short and long vowels too? Say these words out loud and see if you can notice a difference in the vowel:
Bit vs. Bid
Mat vs. Mad
Lock vs. Log
Did you get it? If you listen closely, English has long vowels before voiced consonants (like d and g) and short vowels before voiceless consonants (t, k). This is the kind of difference you'll need to replicate when you're saying short and long vowels in Kumeyaay. Just practice and exaggerate the difference if necessary, and eventually you'll get it down.
Did you know English has short and long vowels too? Say these words out loud and see if you can notice a difference in the vowel:
Bit vs. Bid
Mat vs. Mad
Lock vs. Log
Did you get it? If you listen closely, English has long vowels before voiced consonants (like d and g) and short vowels before voiceless consonants (t, k). This is the kind of difference you'll need to replicate when you're saying short and long vowels in Kumeyaay. Just practice and exaggerate the difference if necessary, and eventually you'll get it down.
Other Notes:
- uuy is like "oh-ih"
- uuw is like the Californian "o": SoCal (when said slowly). uw is the same but shorter. Thus, wenuw is "wu-NO" rather than "wu-NEW".
- aw and aaw are like English "Ow!", but the second one (aaw) is longer.
- ay sounds like "hey!" and aay is like "I". However, in many other dialects, "ay" is also like "I", but shorter than "aay".