Hopi Language - Writing System

Writing System

Hopi is written using the Latin alphabet. The vowel letters correspond to the phonemes of Hopi as follows: a /ɔ/, e /ɛ/, i /ɪ/, o /o/, u /ɨ/ and ö /ø/). Long vowels are written double: aa, ee, ii, oo, uu, öö.

Consonants are: ’ /ʔ/, h /h/, k /k/, ky /kʲ/, kw /kʷ/, l /l/, m /m/, n /n/, ng /ŋ/, ngw /ŋʷ/, ngy /ŋʲ/, p /p/, q /q/, qw /qʷ/, r /ʒ/, s /s/, t /t/, ts /ts/, v /β/, w /w/, y /j/.

Falling accent is marked with a grave `: tsiròot 'birds'.

To distinguish certain consonants written as digraphs from similar looking phonemes meeting across syllable boundaries, a fullstop is used: kwaahu 'eagle' but kuk.wuwàaqe 'to follow tracks'.

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