The Tepehuan of Santa María Ocotán Alphabet

Alfabeto tepehuano de Santa María Ocotán

 

Letter Example Meaning
a aꞋaat louse
b bib tobacco
bh bhan coyote
ch chioꞋñ man
d duuk rain
dh dhi this
e ea agreed
ɇ ɇɇp hey
g gaa cornfield
i jijiiꞋñ intestines
ɨɨ ɨꞋɨɨr blood
j juk pine
k kakoon crow
lh lhii little child
m maamar children
n nɨɨn tongue
ñ ñiñiaꞋ wake up
o oꞋdam Tepehuan
p piipilh chick
r ruruꞋx hammock
s soosoꞋm necklace
t taatam tooth
u uꞋuu arrow
x ximkɨꞋx hummingbird
y yaatui potato
Ꞌ aꞋaaꞋ antler

There are five pairs of letters that represent similar sounds. One letter of each pair is used to write the alveolar form of the sound, and the other letter is used to write the palatalized form of the sound. Many words that start with one of these letters have spelling variants that start with the other letter, but in most cases, only the most common variant appears as a headword in the dictionary.

Alveolar Palatized
t ch
d dh
n ñ
r lh
s x

For more details about the sounds these letters represent, click on Grammar under the Language tab.