Dakelh Pronounciation (Lheidli Dialect)

Click on a Dakelh word to hear it spoken.

Illustrations of Individual Sounds

Here are words exemplifying the individual sounds.

Sound	Example	Meaning of Example
'	'a	fog
a	a	yes
b	bat	mittens
ch	chunih	marten
ch'	ch'ekw	Sitka Mountain Ash
d	dune	man
dl	dlooncho	rat
dz	dzoot	coat
d̲z̲	d̲z̲ulh	mountain
e	'uke	foot
g	goh	rabbit
gh	ghabats'eh	thread
gw	gwuzeh	whiskey jack
h (initial)	hoonliz	skunk
h (final)	yoh	building
i	ti	road
j	jenyo	bull moose
k	kesgwut	moccasins
k'	k'a	rifle cartridge
kh	khoh	goose
kw	kwun	fire
kw'	kw'usul	beads
l	lusyet	plate
lh	lhulh	with each other
m	musdus	cow
m [syllabic]	mbat	your mittens
n	noostel	wolverine
n [syllabic before d]	ndek'a	your tobacco
n [syllabic before g]	ngan	your arm
o	jenyo	bull moose
oo	too	water
s	sa	sun
s̲	s̲e	belt
sh	shas̲	grizzly bear
t	talukw	salmon
t'	t'ugicho	mallard duck
tl	dutleh	it is soft
tl'	tl'o	grass
ts	tsa	beaver
ts'	ts'i	canoe
t̲s̲	t̲s̲e	rock
t̲s̲'	t̲s̲'al	diaper moss
u	sus	black bear
w	wedloo	sandpiper
wh	whudzih	cariboo
y	ya	sky
z	gwuzeh	whiskey jack
z	buz̲ek	his/her mouth

Glottalized Consonants

Aspirated			Unaspirated			Glottalized
netes	our knives		nedes	our lungs		net'es	our charcoal
stes	my knife		sdes	my lungs		st'es	my charcoal
butai	his uncle		buda	his lips		but'a	his wings
Lhtakoh	Fraser River		lhdesti	shortcut		Lht'at'en	Sekani person

Pairs Illustrating Difficult Contrasts

Here are examples of some potentially difficult contrasts. The pairs of words are chosen so that in most cases they differ only in one sound.

Contrast		Word A			Word B
0/' (initial)		a	yes		'a	quickly
'/h		'uk'o'	hunchback		'uk'oh	tracks, footprints
t/t'		dutai	it is thick		dut'ai	bird
kw/kw'		kwus	cold (disease)		kw'us	cloud
kh/h		khoh	goose		hoh	while
l/lh (final)		hodul'eh	he is learning		hodulh'eh	he is teaching
s/s		yus	wolf		yus̲	snow

Syllable Final /h/ versus Bare Vowel

Without H			With H
'a	fog		'ah	fern
duyo	it is shaggy		duyoh	her own building
tl'o	grass		tl'oh	bay
tejun	he is going to sing		tehjun	you (2+) are going to sing
ujun	he is singing		uhjun	you (2+) are singing
'utet'ilh	he is going to work		'uteht'ilh	are you (2+) going to work?
'uk'o	fat		'uk'oh	tracks

Examples of Some Difficult Sequences of Consonants

Here are examples of some sequences of consonants that may seem difficult at first.

Cluster		Example
stl'		stl'o	my grass
lhch'		lhch'atsetselh	double-headed axe
lhgh		lhghuhusduke	they (2) are married
lhk'		lhk'utdunghi	eight