Orthography
There are two orthographies commonly used for the O'odham language, Alvarez-Hale and Saxton. The Alvarez-Hale orthography is officially used by the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and is used in this article, but the Saxton orthography is also common and is official in the Gila River Indian Community. It is relatively easy to convert between the two, the differences between them being largely no more than different graphemes for the same phoneme, but there are distinctions made by Alvarez-Hale not made by Saxton.
| Phoneme | Alvarez-Hale | Saxton | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | a ʼaʼal | a a'al | baby |
| /b/ | b ban | b ban | coyote |
| /tʃ/ | c cehia | ch chehia | girl |
| /ð/ | d da:k | th thahk | nose |
| /ɖ/ | ḍ meḍ | d med | run |
| /d/ | ḏ juḏum | d judum | bear |
| TO /ɨ/, AO /ʌ/ | e ʼeʼeb | e e'eb | stop crying |
| /ɡ/ | g gogs | g gogs | dog |
| /h/ | h haʼicu | h ha'ichu | something |
| TO /i/, AO /ɨ/ | i ʼi:bhai | i ihbhai | prickly pear cactus |
| /dʒ/ | j ju:kĭ | j juhki | rain |
| /k/ | k ke:k | k kehk | stand |
| /ɭ/ | l lu:lsi | l luhlsi | candy |
| /m/ | m mu:ñ | m muhni | bean(s) |
| /n/ | n na:k | n nahk | ear |
| /ɲ/ | ñ ñeʼe, mu:ñ | n, ni ne'e, muhni | sing, bean(s) |
| /ŋ/ | ŋ aŋhil, wa:ŋgo | ng, n anghil, wahngo | angel, bank |
| /ɔ/ | o ʼoʼohan | o o'ohan | write |
| /p/ | p pi | p pi | not |
| /s/ | s sitol | s sitol | honey |
| /ʂ/ | ṣ ṣoiga | sh shoiga | pet |
| /t/ | t to:bĭ | t tohbi | cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) |
| /u/ | u ʼu:s | u uhs | tree, wood |
| /v/ | v vainom | v vainom | knife |
| /w/ | w wuai | w wuai | male deer |
| /j/ | y payaso | y pa-yaso | clown |
| /ʔ/ | ʼ ʼaʼan | ' a'an | feather |
| /ː/ | : ju:kĭ | h juhki | rain |
The Saxton orthography does not mark word-initial /ʔ/ or extra-short vowels. Final generally corresponds to Hale-Alvarez <ĭ> and final
- Hale-Alvarez to:bĭ vs. Saxton tohbi /toːbĭ/ "cottontail rabbit"
- Hale-Alvarez ʼaːpi vs. Saxton ahpih /ʔaːpi/ "I"
Read more about this topic: O'odham Language