Vowels Bahtssal English

a & ah ba, xa, hah father, hall

aa (extended) laa, marraa saw, law

ae laemma , q`uyenkae, chaemal play, egg

e & eh heh let, set

i & ih shih, mihx will, sit, fit

ii (extended) or eee miip, miit, Eee (yes) see, week, wick

i or ai haiyu xai, gai tight, high, guy

o xotch hot, pot

o & oh xoh , q`odii, bo.oh, no, oh, flow

oa (extended) doak oak

u & uh sum, mushuxk, putch sum, hug, dull

u & uu (extended) buduu booth, scooter

more combination sounds

oii -tchoii boy, soy, toy

( ` ) this mark accents the vowel with an uptake of breath before

examples: ` il.`il (marsh hawk) `uh (antler)

Learning about Bahtssal vowels

A) The English long vowels are learned in school as

a e i o u h(a)y b(ee) s(i)gh (o)ld yo(u)

Bahtssal long vowels make similar sounds but are represented differently than in English. These sounds may be represented by more than one letter with slight differences in pronunciation depending on use and meaning. One key is that, in Bahtssal, they are always underlined.

ae ii i o u ch(ae)mal ch(ii)n xa(i) x(o)h b(u)d(uu)

(a) (e) (i) (o) (u)

B) Other Bahtssal vowel sounds can be described as short or extended.

Often linguists use the word long to mean extended. Don’t confuse that with our use of the word long in section A) above.

Example for short and extended vowels:

The word for woman- da -uses the short vowel (a)

The word for sun- laa -uses the extended vowel (aa)

Extended vowels are drawn out and last longer than a short vowel sound.

Occassionally Bahtssal words will use the letter (a) after the vowel (o)-- to extend it. Example doak

C) Short vowels may be made shorter by clipping them or stopping forcefully. This will be indicated by a period after the vowel, unless it occurs at the end of a sentence.

Here are examples of syllables or words that will be marked with the period to indicate a quick or forceful stop

ma.ai. bo.oh.

Two words which are clipped but are not marked with the period are found at the end of sentences --

`eh and heh`e

this is so that a period may be used to indicate the end of a sentence.

D) Occassionally an (h) will be added after a vowel or consonant for easier pronunciation and writing. These also imply that an aspirated (h) is pronounced. If exaggerated, it can be heard but often goes unnoticed to the unfamiliar ear.

Examples of words or word parts utilizing the aspirated (h):

Hah heh pokh makh wih

E) Bahtssal words are often often accented in different ways than English words. Words with more than one syllable will be marked in lessons with the apostrophe showing which syllable receives the accent. But remember, the accent may change when used in complete conversation.

Here is an example of the marking of stressed or accented syllables:

baxkoh’ duweh’ jii’wa