Alphabet
According to work published by Vi Hilbert and other Lushootseed language specialists, Lushootseed uses a morphophonemic writing system meaning that it is a phonemic alphabet with slight changes occurring periodically, such as when an affix is introduced. The chart below is based on the Lushootseed Dictionary. Typographic variations such as p' and p̓ do not indicate phonemic distinctions.
| Letter | Letter Name | IPA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ʔ | Glottal stop | /ʁˀ/ | |
| a | /ɑ/ | ||
| b | /b/ | ||
| b' | Glottalized b | /ɓ/ | Rare sound, does not begin words |
| c | /t͡s/ | ||
| cʼ | Glottalized c | /tsˀ/ | |
| č | c-wedge | /c͡ç/ | |
| čʼ | Glottalized c-wedge | /t͡sʼ/ | |
| d | /d/ | ||
| dᶻ | d-raised-z | /dz/ | |
| ə | Schwa | /ə~əʲ/ | |
| g | /g/ | ||
| gʷ | g-raised-w | /gʷ/ | |
| h | /hʼ/ | ||
| i | /ɪ~i/ | ||
| j | j-wedge | /ɟ͡ʝ/ | |
| k | /k/ | ||
| k' | Glottalized k | /kʼ/ | |
| kʷ | k-raised-w | /kʷ/ | |
| k'ʷ | Glottalized k-raised-w | /kʼʷ/ | |
| l | /l/ | ||
| ľ | Strictured l | /ľ/ | |
| ɫ | Barred-l | /ɬ/ | |
| ƛʼ | Glottalized barred-lambda | /tɬʼ/ | Voiceless ejective lateral alveolar affricate |
| m | /m/ | ||
| m' | Strictured m | /m̥ ̰ / | Laryngealized bilabial nasal |
| n | /n/ | ||
| n' | Strictured n | /n̥ ̰/ | Laryngealized alveolar nasal |
| p | /p/ | ||
| p' | Glottalized p | /pʼ/ | |
| q | /q/ | ||
| q' | Glottalized q | /qʼ/ | |
| qʷ | q-raised-w | /qʷ/ | |
| qʼʷ | Glottalized q-raised-w | /qʼʷ/ | |
| s | /s/ | ||
| š | s-wedge | /ç~ɕ/ | |
| t | /t/ | ||
| t' | Glottalized t | /tʼ/ | |
| u | /ʉ/ | ||
| w | /w~ʋ/ | ||
| w' | Strictured w | /w ̰/ | Laryngealized high back rounded glide |
| xʷ | x-w | /xʷ/ | |
| x̌ | x-wedge | /χ/ | |
| x̌ʷ | Rounded x-wedge | /χʷ/ | |
| y | /j/ | ||
| y' | Strictured y | /j ̰/ |
Read more about this topic: Lushootseed Language
Famous quotes containing the word alphabet:
“Roger Thornhill: You’re police, aren’t you. Or is it FBI?
Professor: FBI, CIA, O–I—we’re all in the same alphabet soup.”
—Ernest Lehman (b.1920)
“I believe the alphabet is no longer considered an essential piece of equipment for traveling through life. In my day it was the keystone to knowledge. You learned the alphabet as you learned to count to ten, as you learned “Now I lay me” and the Lord’s Prayer and your father’s and mother’s name and address and telephone number, all in case you were lost.”
—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)
“I wonder, Mr. Bone man, what you’re thinking
of your fury now, gone sour as a sinking whale,
crawling up the alphabet on her own bones.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)