Lesson 2 – Sounds and Spelling
The Yankunytjatjara alphabet as 23 letters in it. While it uses letters that are used in English, they are not always pronounced the in the same way as English. It is important to note four letters have lines underneath them to indicate they are different to their non underlined counterparts. Look out for these when reading Yankunytjatjara. Here is the Yankunytjatjara alphabet:
a aa i ii k l ḻ ly m n ṉ ng ny p r ṟ t ṯ tj u uu w y
Consonants
k
as in skate. This sound is between a ‘k’ (kite) and a ‘g’ (gate) in English.
Try saying:
l
as in lunch.
Try saying:
ḻ
as in curl said in a North American accent. The tip of the tongue curls back in the mouth.
Try saying:
ly
these two letters stand for one sound. As in million. Never like silly.
Try saying:
m
as in mad.
Try saying:
n
as in nice.
Try saying:
n
as in barn said in a North American accent.
Try saying:
ng
these two letters stand for one sound. As in sing.
Try saying:
ny
these two letters stand for one sound. As in onion or canyon. Never like pony.
Try saying:
p
as in spark. This sound is between a ‘p’ (pass) and a ‘b’ (but).
Try saying:
r
In Yankunytjatjara this is a trilled sound. Similar to a Scottish trill. Like ladder but longer.
Try saying:
ṟ
As in barn, said in a North American accent. The tip of the tongue curls back in the mouth. This may also be written as a capital ‘R’ in some materials.
Try saying:
t
as in time.
Try saying:
t
as in art said in a North American accent.
Try saying:
tj
these two letters stand for one sound. As in fudge and judge.
Try saying:
w
as in wing.
Try saying:
y
as in toy
Try saying:
Vowels
a
as in sofa. Never like hate or hat.
Try saying:
aa
like father but drawn out.
Try saying:
i
as in pit or beat. Never like bite.
Try saying:
ii
like see but drawn out.
Try saying:
u
as in put. Never like but.
Try saying:
uu
like pool but drawn out.
Try saying:
Next up we’ll be taking a look at words and sentences you can use when talking about the family.