The Klallam Alphabet

The Klallam alphabet is based on a standard set of phonetic symbols used in writing many of the Native American languages of the Northwest. Since the Klallam language has several sounds not found in European languages like English, some special symbols must be used to represent these sounds.

Although some of the symbols may be unfamiliar, Klallam spelling is really much easier than English spelling. In Klallam each symbol stands for one sound and each sound has one symbol. This is not true of English spelling where for example words like "enough", "cough", and "dough" are spelled with letters that are either not pronounced at all or have an unexpected pronunciation.

The following is a list of all of the letters of the Klallam alphabet shown in their alphabetical order:
ʔ a c c̕ č č̕ e ə h i k kʷ k̕ʷ l ɬ ƛ̕ m m̕ n n̕ ŋ ŋ̕ p p̕ q q̕ qʷ q̕ʷ s š t t̕ u w w̕ xʷ x̣ x̣ʷ y y̕

You can alphabetize a list of Klallam words here.

The following charts show the sounds of Klallam arranged according to where and how the sound is produced in the mouth.

Klallam Consonants:

p t c č   (k) kʷ q qʷ ʔ
p̕ t̕ c̕ č̕ ƛ̕   k̕ʷ q̕ q̕ʷ  
    s š ɬ   xʷ x̣ x̣ʷ h
m n   y (l)   w ŋ    
m̕ n̕   y̕     w̕ ŋ̕    

Klallam Vowels:

i   u
(e) ə  
  a   
 

Descriptions of the Sounds of the Klallam Language

p, p̕, m, m̕ These four sounds are produced with the lips together.
p is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "pop".
p̕ is ejective. It is like p but the sound is "ejected" out of the mouth with a strong pop.
m is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "mom".
m̕ is like m but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a "creaky voice".

t, t̕, n, n̕ These three sounds are produced with the tip of the tongue against the area above the gums behind the upper teeth called the alveor ridge.
t is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "tot".
t̕ is ejective. It is like t but "ejected" out of the mouth with a strong pop.
n is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "none".
n̕ is like n but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a "creaky voice".

c, c̕, s These three sounds are produced with the tongue in about the same position as for t, t̕, and n.
c is pronounced as a combination of t and s as in the English word "hats". In English this ts sound can occur only at the end of words, not at the beginning. But in Klallam, as in many other languages, it commonly occurs at the beginnings of words.
c̕ is ejective. It is like c but "ejected" out of the mouth with a strong pop.
s is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "sis".

č, č̕, š, y These sounds are produced with the tongue toward the front part of the roof of the mouth--a little farther back than for t, t̕, and n.
č is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "church".
č̕ is ejective. It is like č but "ejected" out of the mouth with a strong pop.
š is the same as the sound at the beginning of English "sugar" or "shoe".
y is the same as the sound at the beginning of English "yes" and at the end of "buy".
y̕ is like y but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a "creaky voice".

ƛ̕, ɬ, l These three sounds are all produced with the tip of the tongue positioned as for t but with the air flowing around the side of the tongue.
ƛ̕ is ejective. It like a tɬ combination produced with a strong pop. This is one sound that usually requires some practice. Have someone produce it for you and try to imitate.
ɬ is a "juicy" sound. Put your tongue in the position for t and blow. It's easier to demonstrate than describe.
l is just like the sound at the beginning of English "loop". It is very rare in Klallam.

k This sound is very rare in Klallam. It occurs only in a few words borrowed from English or French. It is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "kick".

kʷ, k̕ʷ, xʷ, w These four sounds are produced with the lips rounded and the back of the tongue raised toward the back and roof of the mouth.
kʷ is the same as the sound at the beginning of English "quick".
k̕ʷ is ejective. It is like kʷ but ejected out of the mouth with a strong pop.
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 kʷ but the air is blown continuously through.
w is the same as the sound at the beginning and end of English "wow".
w̕ is like w but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a "creaky voice".

q, q̕, x̣, ŋ These sounds are all produced with the tongue pulled extremely far back in the mouth.
q is similar to the sound at the beginning of the English word "call", but the back of the tongue is touching farther back.
q̕ is ejective. It is like q but ejected out of the mouth with a strong pop.
x̣ is unlike any English sound. It is produced with the tongue touching far back as for q but the air flows continuously making a rough throat-clearing like sound.
ŋ is similar to the sound at the end of English "sung".
ŋ̕ is like ŋ but produced with a sort of tightness in the throat called a "creaky voice".

qʷ, q̕ʷ, x̣ʷ These sounds are similar to the preceding sounds but are produced with the lips rounded.
qʷ is like q with the lips rounded.
q̕ʷ is ejective. It is like qʷ but ejected out of the mouth with a strong pop.
x̣ʷ is the same as x̣ but produced with the lips rounded.

ʔ, h These sounds 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".
h is the same as the first sound in English "hat".

i, e, ə, u, a These are the vowel sounds of Klallam.
i is the same as the i in English "machine".
e is rare in Klallam and usually occurs before ʔ. It is the same as the e in English "bet".
ə is called "schwa". It is pronounced like the a and o of English "above" or like the u in English "cut". It also can sound like the vowels of English "hook" or "hit" or "hot" depending on what sounds it is next to. For most speakers this vowel is usually dropped entirely when it has no accent mark above it.
u is usually pronounced like the oo in English "hoot". It also sometimes sounds like the vowel of English "boat" especially when it comes before ʔ.
a is usually slightly longer than the other vowels. It is pronounced like the a vowel in English "father".