Naskapi Phonology

Pronunciation
Distinctive Sounds

To begin with, all spoken languages are made up of sounds. These sounds can be grouped to fonn
wordSy and the words are further grouped to form sentences^ then on up to dialogue, paragraphs, stories,
and discourses. The sounds are naturally limited to those that can be reproduced by the vocal apparatus
(speech sounds come out of your mouth), and given this limitation, many different languages in the
world use the same sounds.

Further, of all the hundreds of sounds that can be produced, any one language distinguishes only a
relatively small number. We call these the distinctive sounds of the language. When approaching
Naskapi, one must keep in mind that some sounds that are distinctive in English or French are not so in

Naskapi.

For example, in English consonants, voicing is a distinctive feature. Tlie consonants p, t, k, and ch are
not voiced, but their counterparts b, d, g, and J are voiced, and this feature distinguishes the meaning of
the following pairs of words:

(voiced)

(voiced)

(voiced)

(voiced)

In Naskapi, however, voicing is not a distinctive feature. English speakers will likely find variations of
these sounds in Naskapi words which do not signify a change in meaning:
naapaaw and naabaaw tx)th mean 'man'.

Learning the distinctive sounds in Naskapi is therefore a good place to start as you begin to hear
Naskapi spoken and start to interact with Naskapi who are learning English.

Consonants

What follows is a list of the distinctive consonants in Naskapi, and an approximation of what they
might sound like with an English example. However, you are advised to get a Naskapi speaker to say
the words for you from the outset rather than using the English approximation.

pin,

(voiceless);

bin

tin.

(voiceless);

din

kill.

(voiceless);

gill

char,

(voiceless);

jar

Naskapi sound

Example

English sound

P

piyaaw *ptarmlgan'

p or b (pin or bin)

t

tipiskaaw 'nighf

t or d (tip or dip)

k

kukimaas 'trouf

k or g (kill or gill)

ch

chiyaaskw 'sea gull'

chorj (chip or jib)

m

mintiis 'insect*

m (mitten)

n

nipiy 'water*

n (neat)

s

siisiip 'duck'

s or sh (seep or sheep)

y

yaahyaaun 'breath'

y (year)

w

wiipich 'long ago*

w (weed)

h

uuhuw 'owl'

h (behind)

As you can see, Naskapi has fewer distinctive consonant sounds than English, meaning that on one
hand, English-speakers may hear a range of sounds (kukimaas, gugimaas *trout') when a Naskapi means
only one thing. On the other hand, a Naskapi-speaker just learning English could have difficulty
distinguishing between hack and hag or he tipped it and he dipped it.

There are a few distinctive sounds that exist in Naskapi but not in English, and the student of Naskapi
will find that he will have to listen quite closely to hear them and practice to produce them.

The pre-aspiration of consonants, written hp, hu hk, and hch is one such feature. A *'puff of air**
(written as h) before these consonants are found in words like these:
Naskapi sound Example

hp akuuhp *coaf

ht miiht 'piece of firewood'

hk kuuhkuus 'pig'

hch kaasuuhchiit 'loader; grader'

In some pairs of words, this pre-aspiration is the only feature that distinguishes them:
paakunaaw 'she/he wakes him/her up' paahkunaaw 'she/he skins him'

Often, hk may sound like h, or even be dropped altogether. And hp may sound like/ especially at the
end of a word.

Also, the sequence kw occurs at the end of words in Naskapi. while it only occurs at the beginning of
words in English.

Naskapi sound Example English sound

kw kaakw 'porcupine' qu (quit)

Vowels

In both English and Naskapi. words are sequences of consonants and vowels. In Naskapi there are
only six contrasting vowels. As with the consonants, the English approximations come close to the
sounds, but there may be a whole range of sounds corresponding to one distinctive Naskapi vowel.
Naskapi sound Example English sound

a niisu 'two' ee (as in laeet)

i nistu 'three* i (as in bit)

WW uuhuw 'owr 00 (as in boot)

u uchimaaw 'boss' (as in hobo or book)

aa naapaaw 'man' a (as in bar or hat)

a amiskw 'beaver* a (as in above)

As you can see. the six Naskapi vowels make three sets of two each. The vowels marked with double
letters have been called "long** vowels, though you can tell from the English examples that the
difference is not just the length or duration of the sound, but rather vowel "quality''. The words niisu
'two' and nistu *three' above are spoken with two difTerent vowels ii and /, not just the same vowel
with different lengths.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data:

MacKenzie, Marguerite. 1946-

Jancewicz, Bill, 1955-

Naskapi Lexicon - Lexique Naskapi - o.'^bA Ar«* A J>*- Tr'aAP* - Naaskaapii lyuw lyimuuun MisinaaiMn

First Edition, in Hiree Volumes: 1: Naskapi - English/French

t2: English - Naskapi
3: French - Naskapi

ISBN 2-9804355-0-3

Legal deposit - Bibliotheque Nationale du Quebec, 1994

Legal deposit - National Library of Canada, 1994

1. Indians of North America - Canada - Languages - Algonquian - Lexicons - Naskapi of Quebec - Title

1994

Published by

Naskapi Development Corporation

P.O. Box 5023

Kawawachikamach, Quebec GOG 2Z0

Copyright © 1994 by Naskapi Development Corporation
All rights reserved

Printed and bound in Canada
Cover Design: Renie Othot