SENĆOŦEN: A Grammar of the Saanich Language

Consonants

This describes and gives examples for all of the SENĆOŦEN consonants. This takes the consonants in groups of sounds based on where in the mouth the sounds are produced. We start at the front of the mouth with sounds produced at the lips, then move to the teeth and so on to the sounds produced at the back of the mouth.

Here is a chart of the consonants with phonemic equivalents:

Plosives P             T   Ć C Ȼ Ḵ Ḱ            
  p   t   č   kʷ q qʷ  
                     
Ejectives B Ⱦ D Ṯ J   Q K ₭ ¸
  p̕ t̕ᶿ t̕ ƛ̕ č̕   k̕ʷ q̕ q̕ʷ ʔ
                     
Fricatives   Ŧ S Ƚ Ś   W̱ X X̱ H
    θ s ɬ š   xʷ x̣ x̣ʷ h
                     
Sonorants M   N L Y   W/U Ṉ    
  m   n l y   w ŋ    
                     
Glottalized M¸   N¸ L¸ Y¸   U¸ Ṉ¸    
Sonorants m̕   n̕ l̕ y̕   w̕ ŋ̕    
                     
P B M M¸   represent /p, p̕, m, m̕/, which are produced with the lips together.
   P /p/ is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “pop.”
   B /p̕/ is ejective. It is like P but the sound is “ejected” out of the mouth with a strong pop.
   M /m/ is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “mom.”
   M¸ /m̕/ is like M but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a “creaky voice.”
Examples:
P PEK white    B BEWI¸flounder
 ŚOPTwhistle   BEȻ float up
 XPȺ¸ cedar wood    ESEB the end
 
MMUSMEScow   M¸ SI¸ÁM¸  respected
 SDILEMsong   ṮOM¸ enough
 EMET sit down    SȾOM¸ bone

Ŧ Ⱦ   represent /θ, t̕ᶿ/, which are produced with the tip of the tongue against the front teeth.
Ŧ /θ/ is much like the sound at the beginning of the English word “think.” In SENĆOŦEN, this usually sounds much closer to S, and, in fact, some speakers use S instead of Ŧ.
Ⱦ /t̕ᶿ/ is unlike any sound in English. For this sound, put your tongue against your front teeth right at the gum line, then release it with a pop. Listen carefully to the examples with this sound.
Examples:
 
Ŧ ŦOṈgo inland  Ⱦ ȾÁL¸E¸heart
 ŦOŦENmouth  NEȾE¸ one
 SPÁ¸EŦbear  ȽIȾget cut

T D S N N¸   represent /t, t̕, s, n, n̕/, which are produced with the tip of the tongue against the area above the gums behind the upper teeth called the alveolar ridge.
    T /t/ is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “tot.”
    D /t̕/ is ejective. It is like T but “ejected” out of the mouth with a strong pop. This is never pronounced like English ‘d’.
    S /s/ is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “sis.”
    N /n/ is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “none.”
    N¸ /n̕/ is like N but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a “creaky voice.”
Examples:
T TÁLEmoney  D DILEMsing
 PITNEW̱recognize  DEDEM¸ wren
 ŚOPT whistle  MED bend
 
S SI¸ÁM¸ respected
 SÁW̱SEW̱lazy
 SÁLES hand
 
NNEĆEṈ laugh N¸ ḴÁN¸ḴEN¸ thief
 PITNEW̱ recognize  ṈEN¸ many
 IȽEN eat  QÁDEN¸ mouse

 Ć J Ś Y Y¸   represent /č, č̕, š, y, y̕/, which are produced with the tongue toward the front part of the roof of the mouth—a little farther back than for T, D, S, N, and N¸.
    Ć /č/ is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “church.”
    J /č̕/ is ejective. It is like Ć but “ejected” out of the mouth with a strong pop.
    Ś /š/ is the same as the sound at the beginning of English “sugar” or “shoe.”
    Y /y/ is the same as the sound at the beginning of English “yes.” See the vowel symbols Ⱥ and Í for the pronunciation of the /y/ phoneme after /e/, /ə/, and /a/.
    Y¸ /y̕/ is like Y but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a “creaky voice.” See the vowel symbols Ⱥ and Í for the pronunciation of the /y̕/ phoneme after /e/, /ə/, and /a/.
Examples:
Ć ĆENES tooth  J JÁṈ¸get home
 NEĆEṈ laugh  KEJI¸ moss
 SXÁĆ dried  NÁJ different
 
Ś ŚOPT whistle
 ŚÁŚEM¸shallow
 STOMEŚ warrior
 
Y YÁ¸go Y¸ ÍY¸good
 STḴȺYE¸ wolf  ȺY¸EL¸ borrow
 QEYÁT refuse it  YÁY¸EQ hiring
  
Ṯ Ƚ L L¸   represent /ƛ̕, ɬ, l, l̕/, which are all produced with the tip of the tongue positioned as for T but with the air flowing around the side of the tongue.
    Ṯ /ƛ̕/ is ejective. It is like a TȽ combination produced with a strong pop. Listen carefully to various elders’ recordings with this sound.
    Ƚ /ɬ/ is a “juicy” sound. Put your tongue in the position for T and blow. It's easier to demonstrate than describe. Listen carefully to various elders’ recordings with this sound.
    L /l/ is like the sound at the beginning and end of English “lull.”
    L¸ /l̕/ is like L but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a “creaky voice.”
Examples:
Ṯ ṮAḴT long
 SṮI¸ṮEȽḴEȽchild
 XÁṮ storm
 
Ƚ ȽIW̱ three
 IȽENeat
 SOȽ road/door
 
LLELEJ yellow L¸ LIL¸  far
 SDILEM song  ṈÁL¸ṈEL¸ bait
 SEPLIL bread  X̱IL¸ lost

 C Ȼ Q W̱ W U¸   represent /k, kʷ, k̕ʷ, xʷ, w, w̕/, which are produced with the lips rounded and the back of the tongue raised toward the back and roof of the mouth.
    C /k/ is very rare in SENĆOŦEN. It occurs only in a few words borrowed from English or Chinook Jargon. It is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English “kick.”
    Ȼ /kʷ/ is the same as the sound at the beginning of English “quick.”
    Q /k̕ʷ/ is ejective. It is like Ȼ but ejected out of the mouth with a strong pop.
    W̱ /xʷ/ is similar to the sound at the beginning of English “which” (if you pronounce it differently from “witch”). It is pronounced with the tongue in the same position as for Ȼ, but the air is blown continuously through.
    W /w/ is the same as the sound at the beginning of English “wow.”
    U¸ /w̕ / is like W but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a “creaky voice.” It never occurs at the beginning of a word.
C CUC cook
 LECLI key
 LISÁC bag
 
Ȼ ȻOSEN star  Q QENET look at
 NEȻE you  SOQEṈ bathe
 HILEȻ happy  MEQ all
 
W̱ W̱ITEṈ jump
 SÁW̱SEW̱ lazy
 ȽIW̱ three
 
W WEKEK tree frog U¸ ȽÁU¸ flee
 SÁ¸WEN box lunch  SWIU¸LES boy
 SWIU¸LES boy  DÁLU¸ arm
 
Ḵ K X Ṉ Ṉ¸   represent /q, q̕, x̣, ŋ, ŋ̕ /, which are all produced with the tongue pulled extremely far back in the mouth toward the uvula.
    Ḵ /q/ is similar to the sound at the beginning of the English word “call”, but the back of the tongue is touching farther back.
    K /q̕/ is ejective. It is like Ḵ but ejected out of the mouth with a strong pop.
    X /x̣/ is unlike any English sound. It is produced with the tongue touching far back as for Ḵ, but the air flows continuously making a rough throat-clearing sound.
    Ṉ /ŋ/ is similar to the sound at the end of English “sung.”
    Ṉ¸ /ŋ̕/ is like Ṉ but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a “creaky voice.”
Examples:
Ḵ ĆENES tooth  K KÁ¸ṈI¸ girl
 ḴÁȻEṈ rest  ȽKET wide
 ĆEḴ big  JEK surprised
 
X XPȺ¸ cedar wood</td>
 IXET scrape
 Á¸ĆEX crab
 
Ṉ ṈOS four Ṉ¸ JÁṈ¸ get home
 IṈES grandchild  SȽOṈ¸ET herring
 Á¸LEṈ house  DEṈ¸O¸EṈ¸ swimming

Ḱ ₭ X̱   represent /qʷ, q̕ʷ, x̣ʷ/, which are similar to the preceding sounds but are produced with the lips rounded.
    Ḱ /qʷ/ is like Ḵ with the lips rounded.
    ₭ /q̕ʷ/ is ejective. It is like Ḱ but ejected out of the mouth with a strong pop.
    X̱ /x̣ʷ/ is the same as X but produced with the lips rounded.
Examples:
 
Ḱ ḰO¸  water ₭ ₭O¸EṈ kelp
 MOḰEṈ  swamp  TO₭EṈ cough
 DIL¸EḰ strawberry  ṮE₭ stuck
 
X̱ XEM heavy
 DXEṈsix
 NEKIX black
 
¸ H   represent /ʔ, h/, which are both produced deep in the throat right at the vocal chords.
¸ /ʔ/ is called “glottal stop.” It sounds like a catch or abrupt stoppage of air in the throat. This sound is what separates the two vowel sounds in English “uh-oh.” It is not a regular phoneme in English, but in SENĆOŦEN it is a consonant like P, T or any other. In handwritten material and in much typed material, this is written as a comma. In this dictionary a comma (,) is a punctuation mark. The cedilla character (¸) is the glottal stop.
    H /h/ is the same as the first sound in English “hat.”
Examples:
¸ I¸ȽEN eating
 Á¸LEṈ house
 Á¸I¸ continue
 
H HILEȻ happy
 SLEHÁL¸ bone game
 SHELI life

 
 

This page has paths:

This page has tags: