Sound Chart

Symbol	English Example	Dena’ina Example	Audio	English Translation
a	father	adada		uncle
b	bib	biquduni		one person kayak
ch	children	chada		grandfather, old man
ch’	similar to “ch” but ending with a slight popping sound	ch’u		and
d	did	Dena’ina		the people or the language
dl	paddling	dlut’		freshwater algae
dz	adze (said with the “dz” as one sound)	k’kidza		small pelt, piece of fur
e	set	ena		mommy
g	get	gasht’ana		white people
gg	similar to “g” but produced further back in the throat	ggagga		brown bear
gh	similar to a French gutteral “r” as in rouge	gheli		real, true, genuine
h	hill	henyi		you (plural)
ĥ	similar to “h” but produced further back in the throat	ĥay		whew (expressing relief)
i	beet	ida		friend
j	just	jabu		sunshine
k	kick	ken		flats, flatland
k’	similar to “k” but ending with a slight popping sound	k’adatsa		birch fungus
l	lid	lugech’		gloves
ł	similar to “l” but voiceless (don’t use your voicebox)	łik’a		dog
m	milk	miłni		water
n	nice	neli		steambath
q	similar to “k” but voiceless and produced further back along the palate	qeshqa		leader, chief
q’	similar to Dena’ina “q” but ending with a slight popping sound	q’us		quiver
s	side	sin		star
sh	shovel	qunshi		beluga
t	tip	ten		ice
t’	similar to “t” but ending with a slight popping sound	t’ash		charcoal
tl	butler (said with the “tl” as one sound)	tlaq’		sleet; half rain, half snow
tl’	similar to “tl” but ending with a slight popping sound	tl’ił		rope
ts	shuts (said with the “ts” as one sound)	tsayan		cliff
ts’	similar to “ts” but ending with a slight popping sound	Ts’eldatnu		Soldontna (literally trickling creek”)
u	boot	ush		snowshoe
w	west	ch’wala		spruce
x	similar to a German “ch” as in ich	bejex		caribou
y	yes	yuyan		universe
ŷ	similar to “y” but voiced (use your voicebox)	qaniłch’iŷ		it is windy
z	zebra	ził		sea worm
zh	azure	gizha		camprobber
‘	glottal stop produced similar to the silent “t” in mountain	ni‘i		sun

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