Lesson 2 – Sounds and Spelling
The Nukunu alphabet has 28 letters. Each letter or pair of letters corresponds to one sound. It is important to learn the Nukunu alphabet so that you can accurately read and write the language. Here is the Nukunu alphabet:
a aa i ii k l lh ly m n ng nh ny p ṛ r rr rd rt rn rl t th ty u uu w y
Vowels
a
a – as in sofa. Never like hate or hat.
Try saying:
i
i – as in pit or beat. Never like bite.
Try saying:
u
u – as in put. Never like but.
Try saying:
Long vowels
aa
aa – like father but longer.
Try saying:
ii
ii – like feel but longer.
Try saying:
uu
uu – like put, only longer. Never like but.
Try saying:
Consonants
k
k – as in skate. This sound is between a ‘k’ (kite) and a ‘g’ (gate) in English.
Try saying:
l
l – as in like.
Try saying:
lh
lh – as in little, but with the tip of your tongue sticking out between the teeth.
Try saying:
ly
ly – these two letters stand for one sound. As in million. Never like silly.
Try saying:
m
m – as in mad.
Try saying:
n
n – as in never.
Try saying:
ng
ng – as in sing.
Try saying:
nh
nh – as in nose, but with the tip of your tongue sticking out between the teeth as you say it.
Try saying:
ny
ny – as in onion or canyon. Never like pony.
Try saying:
p
p – as in park. This sound is between a ‘p’ (pass) and a ‘b’ (but).
Try saying:
ṛ
ṛ – as in rich.
Try saying:
r
r – this is a tapped ‘r’ which is said quick and light, and almost sounds like the ‘tt’ in butter if said quickly.
Try saying:
rr
rr – it is a rolled ‘r’, which can be found in languages like Spanish, but not in English. It sounds like the ‘tt’ in butter if said quickly, but with a longer rolling sound.
Try saying:
rd
rd – as in hard when said with an American accent.
Try saying:
rt
rt – as in heart when said with an American accent.
Try saying:
rn
rn – as in barn when said with an American accent.
Try saying:
rl
rl – as in curl when said with an American accent.
Try saying:
t
t – between the ‘t’ in top and the ‘d’ in dog.
Try saying:
th
th – as in top but with the tip of your tongue sticking out between your teeth. Never like the ‘th’ in this.
Try saying:
ty
ty – as in fudge and judge.
Try saying:
w
w – as in wing.
Try saying:
y
y – as in toyou.
Try saying:
Some other tips on pronunciation
Most Nukunu words carry the stress on the first syllable of the word. The ‘stressed’ part of the word is in bold in these examples: