Carrier Pronounciation
(Stuart Lake Dialect)

Click on a Carrier word to hear it spoken.

The Alphabet

Sound	Example	Meaning
'	'a	quickly
a	sa	sun
b	bat	mittens
ch	chunih	marten
d	daget	spear
dl	dlidada	fever
dz	dzoot	coat
dz	d̲z̲ulh	mountain
e	jeyo	bull moose
f	lugafi	coffee
g	goh	rabbit
gh	'ugha	hair
gw	gwada'	quarter (25 cents)
h	hoonliz	skunk
i	ts'i	canoe
j	jeyo	bull moose
k	ooke	his feet
k'	k'a	rifle cartridge
kh	khe	grease
kw	kwun	fire
kw'	kw'usul	beads
l	latalba	yarrow plant
lh	lhi	dog
m	musdoos	cow
n	noostel	wolverine
ng	'ut̲s̲ung	meat
ny	nyuni	your nostrils
o	no	north
oo	noo	island
r	lugarat	carrot
s	sa	sun
s	s̲e	belt
sh	shun	song
t	talo	salmon
t'	t'es	charcoal
tl	tlentl'us	mud
tl'	tl'o	grass
ts	tsa	beaver
ts'	ts'i	canoe
ts	t̲s̲e	rock
ts'	t̲s̲'al	diaper moss
u	sus	black bear
w	wadlaw	sandpiper
wh	whudzih	cariboo
y	ya	sky
z	za	only
z	ooz̲e	his mouth

The Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		oo
Mid	e	u	o
Low			a

The Consonants

Manner/POA	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Lateral	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Voiceless stop			t			k	kw	'
Voiced stop	b		d			g	gw
Glottalized stop			t'			k'	kw'
Voiceless affricate		t̲s̲	ts	tl	ch
Voiced affricate		d̲z̲	dz	dl	j
Glottalized affricate		t̲s̲'	ts'	tl'	ch'
Voiceless fricative	f	s̲	s	lh	sh	kh
Voiced fricative		z̲	z			gh
Nasal	m		n		ny	ng
Voiced glide/liquid	w		r	l	y
Voiceless glide	wh							h

Of the 42 consonants, twenty-one are more-or-less the same as English sounds. These are highlighted in the chart above and listed below:

b	like the b of boy	j	like the j of judge	r	like the r of ring
ch	like the ch of char	k	like the c of cat	s	like the s of sing
d	like the d of dog	kw	like the qu of queen	sh	like the sh of shoe
f	like the f of fox	l	like the l of log	t	like the t of toe
g	like the g of go	m	like the m of meat	w	like the w of woe
gw	like the gw of Gwen	n	like the n of no	y	like the y of you
h	like the h of hello	ng	like the ng of king	z	like the z of zoo

Syllable-final Consonants

Only the following 18 consonants occur at the end of a syllable.

Sound	Example	Meaning
'	'uk'o'	hunchback
b	kechub	spoon
h	khoh	goose
k	tsaluk	squirrel
kw	duch'ukw	porcupine
l	taz̲ul	soup
lh	bulh	sleep
m	lhum	ice (piece)
n	tun	ice (over a surface)
ng	'ut̲s̲ung	meat
s	yus	wolf
s̲	yus̲	snow
t	lhoot	scab
ts	balhats	potlatch
w	wadlaw	sandpiper
wh	tawh	three (abstract)
z	lhez	dirt
z̲	tuz̲	cane

Pairwise Contrasts

KH vs. H

KH	Meaning	H	Meaning
khoh	goose	hoh	while
khohdai	scouring rush	hohda'	at that time
nekho'	our goose	nehoonliz	our skunk

KH vs. GH

KH	Meaning	GH	Meaning
khas̲	fireweed	ghasges	I am skinning
nekho'	our goose	neghoo	our teeth

W vs. WH

W	Meaning	WH	Meaning
we	weir	whe	while

GH vs. W

GH	Meaning	W	Meaning
'ughuz	cartilage	newus	our shoulders

KH vs. WH

KH	Meaning	WH	Meaning
khe	grease	whe	while
khuni	word	whunih	he is awake

H vs. 0

No H	Meaning	H	Meaning
'a	quickly	'ah	fern
digai	we (2) are hairy	dik'aih	it catches fire
duyo	it is shaggy	duyoh	his own house
tl'o	grass	tl'oh	bay
tijun	he is going to sing	tihjun	you (2+) are going to sing
'utit'elh	he is going to work	'utiht'elh	you (2+) are going to work

Glottal Stop vs. Zero

Glottal Stop	Meaning	No Glottal Stop	Meaning
'a	quickly	a	yes
'uk'o'	hunchback	'uk'o	fat

Glottal Stop vs. H

Glottal Stop	Meaning	H	Meaning
'uk'o'	hunchback	'uk'oh	tracks

L vs. LH

L	Meaning	LH	Meaning
lago	wart on hand	lhai	many
'ul	pine needle	'ulh	dam
nt̲s̲et̲s̲el	your (1) axe	t̲s̲et̲s̲elh	axe
hodul'eh	he is learning	hodulh'eh	he is teaching

D vs. T'

D	Meaning	T'	Meaning
'uda	lips	'ut'a	back

T vs. T'

T	Meaning	T'	Meaning
toh	among	t'oh	pocket
'utai	uncle	'ut'a	back
dutai	it is thick	dut'ai	bird

T vs. D

T	Meaning	D	Meaning
telh	basket	delh	sandhill crane
'utai	uncle	'uda	lips

CH vs. CH'

CH	Meaning	CH'	Meaning
duchut	it is soft	duch'ut	it is tough

CH vs. J

CH	Meaning	J	Meaning
chunih	marten	junih	do not
tachun	deadhead	tajun	we (2) will sing

CH' vs. J

CH'	Meaning	J	Meaning
'uchut	gristle	'ujut	it is worn
duche	his own	duje	huckleberry

G vs. K'

G	Meaning	K'	Meaning
goh	rabbit	k'oh	backward
daget	spear	dak'et	autumn
digai	we (2) are hairy	dik'aih	it catches fire

K vs. K'

K	Meaning	K'	Meaning
ka	harm	k'a	bullet
ki	husband	k'i	birch tree
'ukoh	river	'uk'oh	tracks

K vs. KW

K	Meaning	KW	Meaning
ka	harm	kwa	well then
yasduk	I speak	ndukw	it is short

S vs. TS

S	Meaning	TS	Meaning
sa	sun	tsa	beaver
si	I	tsis	otter
nasun	I defecate	natsun	he defecates

S vs. TS'

S	Meaning	TS	Meaning
si	I	ts'i	canoe

Z vs. DZ

Z	Meaning	DZ	Meaning
za	only	dzan	silt

TS vs. DZ

TS	Meaning	DZ	Meaning
tsan	feces	dzan	silt
dultso	it is yellow	duldzan	it is blue

TS' vs. DZ

TS'	Meaning	DZ	Meaning
ts'oh	brush	dzoh	badly
nets'i	our intestines	nedzi	our hearts
hoolhts'i	stinging nettle	hoolhdzih	he is trying

TS vs. TS'

TS	Meaning	TS'	Meaning
tsan	feces	ts'an	totem pole
tsul	thin layer of ice on water	ts'ul	underbrush

L vs. DL

L	Meaning	DL	Meaning
lili	bed	dli	cold
iloh	it is not	idloh	we (2) are laughing
talo	salmon	tadloh	we (2) will laugh

DL vs. TL'

DL	Meaning	TL'	Meaning
dlo	laughter	tl'o	grass
tadloh	we (2) will laugh	tatl'oh	inlet

S vs. S̲

S	Meaning	S̲	Meaning
yus	wolf	yus̲	snow
nanisti	I am sleeping	nanis̲ti	he is sleeping

TS vs. T̲S̲

TS	Meaning	TS̲	Meaning
tsedusni	I am lazy	t̲s̲e	rock

Revised 2024-02-15 10:02:35