Adapted from Brown, Maxwell, & Little (2006).
' = glottal stop (/ʔ/) - What it sounds like: Middle part of uh-oh, produced by stopping air flow in the throat between other speech sounds.
Examples: ko'öl 'small'
ne'y 'baby'
umuli' 'rabbits'
[']oj 'avocado'
a = low central vowel (/ɑ/ or /a/) - What it sounds like: First vowel in father.
Examples: ajaw 'lord'
awuj 'your book'
ä = centralized, lax vowel (/ə/) that greatly varies regionally in its pronunciation - What it sounds like: First vowel in about.
Examples: awäch 'your (s.) face; your (s.) eyes'
jäl 'ear of corn (with husk)'
yiwär 'I sleep; I am sleeping'
b' = voiceless bilabial implosive stop (/ɓ̥/).
Examples: b'i'aj 'name'
qab'i 'our name(s)'
ab'äj 'rock; stone'
xajab' 'sandal'
ch = voiceless postpalatal affricate (/t͡ʃ/) - What it sounds like: Initial and final sounds of church.
Examples: chaj 'ash'
achike' 'what; who'
ch' = glottalized voiceless postpalatal affricate (/t͡ʃ '/) - What it sounds like: A noise made by an angry squirrel.
Examples: ch'ich' 'metal; car; machine'
ch'i'p 'youngest-born'
e = mid-front tense vowel (/e/) - What it sounds like: Spanish "e" vowel; the vowel in play but stopped short (before the glide).
Examples: eyaj 'teeth'
lemow 'glass; window'
yatz'uye' 'you (s.) are (in the process of) sitting down'
ë = mid-front lax vowel (/ɛ/) - What it sounds like: Middle vowel in bed.
Examples: xpëq 'toad'
setël 'round'
xintz'ët 'I saw him/her/them (s.)/it'
i = high, front, tense vowel (/i/) - What it sounds like: Middle vowel in keep.
Examples: yinatin 'I shower; I am showering'
iwäch 'your (pl.) faces; your (pl.) eyes'
ixoqi' 'women'
ï = high, mid-front, lax vowel (/ɪ/) - What it sounds like: Middle vowel in sit.
Examples: rïn 'I/me'
tinamït 'town'
j = voiceless glottal fricative (/h/ or /χ/) - What it sounds like: Initial sound of hello, but also at times more forceful and from the back of the throat.
Examples: ja' 'yes'
rija' 'he/she/they (s.); him/her/them (s.)'
röj 'we/us'
k = voiceless velar stop (/k/) - What it sounds like: Second consonant in scared when this sound is in the beginning or middle or a word. Aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: ki' 'sweet (adj.)'
b'uküt 'shoe; boot'
ik 'pepper'
k' = glottalized voiceless velar stop (/k'/) - What it sounds like:
Last consonant of like in some pronunciations.
Examples: ik' 'month; moon'
l = lateral continuant (/l/) - What it sounds like: Initial consonant in light, in the beginning and middle of words. Devoiced and aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: loman 'sort of; kind of'
chila' '(over) there'
jäl 'ear of corn (with husk)'
m = voiced bilabial nasal (/m/) - What it sounds like: Initial and final consonants in mom.
Examples: manäq 'no'
umül 'rabbit'
n = voiced dental nasal (/n/) - What it sounds like: Initial consonant in no.
Examples: nïm 'big'
wetaman 'I know; I have known'
o = mid-low, back, rounded, tense vowel (/o/) - What it sounds like: Spanish "o" vowel; first part of oh, stopped short (without the glide).
Examples: oj 'avocado'
kok 'turtle'
wo'o' 'five'
ö = mid-low, back, rounded, lax vowel (/ɔ/) - What it sounds like: Vowel in claw.
Examples: öm 'spider'
xqatöj 'We paid for it'
ko'öl 'small'
p = voiceless bilabial stop (/p/) - What it sounds like: Second consonant in speed (English). Aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: pïm 'thick'
pöp 'woven mat'
q = voiceless uvular stop (/q/) - What it sounds like: First consonant in kite but lower in the throat. Aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: qitzïj 'true; certain'
qi' 'ourselves'
b'äq 'bone'
äq 'pig'
q' = voiceless uvular stop ejective (/q'/) - What it sounds like: The impression of glugging water, using the back of your throat.
Examples: q'äq' 'fire; light'
q'anïl - day sign in the Maya calendar
aq' 'tongue'
r = alveolar tap (/ɾ/) - What it sounds like: The "t" sound in butter (American English). Devoiced and aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: räx 'green'
rija' 'he/she/they (s.); him/her/them'
xär 'blue'
s = voiceless alveolar fricative (/s/) - What it sounds like: The first consonant in sing.
Examples: säq 'white'
päs 'belt for women's traditional skirt; head-wrap for daykeepers [in some dialects]'
t = voiceless dental stop (/t/) - What it sounds like: The second consonant in stack, but closer to the teeth. Aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: tijonel 'teacher'
yatikïr 'You can; You are able'
rat 'You'
t' = voiceless dental stop ejective (/t'/) - What it sounds like: The "t" sound above, but simultaneously with airflow pushed outward by the throat (larynx).
Examples: t'ot' 'snail'
yojt'ison 'We sew; We are sewing'
tz = voiceless dental affricate (/t͡s/) - What it sounds like: The final two consonants in cats, pronounced together as a single sound.
Examples: tzëtz 'cucumber'
itzël 'bad; evil'
ütz 'good; well'
tz' = voiceless dental affricate ejective (/t͡s'/) - What it sounds like: The "tz" sound above, but simultaneously with airflow pushed outward by the throat (larynx).
Examples: tz'i' 'dog'
yitz'uye' 'I am (in the process of) sitting down'
b'ätz' 'string; thread'
u = high, back, tense, rounded vowel (/u/) - What it sounds like: The Spanish "u"; The vowel in boo, but stopped short.
Examples: ulew 'land; earth; dirt'
xatzu' 'You saw him/her/them (s.)/it'
ü = high, back, lax, rounded vowel (/ʊ/) - What it sounds like: The vowels in pull and book.
Examples: ütz 'good; well'
b'uyül 'soft'
w = several articulations that vary depending on the speaker and its placement in a word, including:
General rule: Voiceless ([w, p, ɸ, f]) at the end of a word, while voiced ([w, b, β, v]) in the beginning and middle of a word.
Examples: wuj 'book'
winäq 'person'
iwïr 'yesterday'
köw 'hard; tough'
tëw 'cold'
x = voiceless alveopalatal fricative (/∫/) - What it sounds like: The "sh" sounds in fish and sheep.
Examples: xax 'thin'
xajan 'sinful'
y = alveopalatal glide (/j/) - What it sounds like: The initial consonant in yellow. Aspirated at the end of a word.
Examples: yojtikïr 'We can; We are able'
juyu' 'hill; mountain'
k'iy 'many'
ne'y 'baby'
Ultimately we would like to present audio samples of the above example words, in order to represent these individual speech sounds in a Kaqchikel language context.