Dilemmas about Hul'q'umi'num(Island Dialect)

[Gonloyir]

This thread is about many dilemmas that everyone here can post about Hul'q'um'num to be solved. I am really in dilemma how many phrases and sounds are pronounced. For example how the sound " tl' '' is pronounced. Is it pronounced like "tsh" sound when you tell your mummy you don't want to eat food combined with the horse-calling sound, but by holding the tip of the tongue and exploding the back of the tongue? Or it is pronounced simly "Tee-El", but with a fancy popping sound?

What's the main difference between the "u" and "a" sound and the "ts" and "ch" sound? Is "ch" high-pitched while "ts" is heavy? Is "u" pronounced like "a" sometimes, like "e" and sometimes like "ou" like in "pous"? To me "u" like a sound between "a" and "ou", but still I can't figure it out. How do you pronounce " 'Ii ch 'o' 'uy' 'ul' "? Like "Ii ch ou ai o" or "Ii ch o-uai ol" or "Ii ch uw aγ al"? I can't understand. Please if it's possible send me some syllabized sound samples breaking the entire phrases into manageable chunks.

I am learning from here: http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hulq/index.htm

I am entirerly new to the sub-language or "dialect" btw.

[Massimiliano B]

I'll try to answer your questions. I studied the lessons you are studying, so I hope I can help you.

The sound tl' is very difficult to reproduce. It is written ƛ' in some languages. You can hear an example here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_l ... _affricate

tl' is a "t" followed by ɫ (in Hunquminum the sound of the letter ɫ is written lh) then by a glottal stop ('). The following video shows Zalmai Zahir pronouncing the Loshootseed alphabet. At 1:10 you can hear both ɫ (lh in Hunquminum) and ƛ' (tl' in Hunquminum):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T2aqP2ErwU



I'm not sure whether the sound of u is like the u in English butter - ʌ in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - or the schwa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-central_vowel).

The sound of the letter a is like the a in the word "father" (ɑ in IPA).

ts sound like english -ts in "bits" or "let's".

ch is like English ch in the words "chin", "church", or "choose".


'Ii ch 'o' 'uy' 'ul' sounds to me like this: ʔi: tʃʔoʔ ʔʌɪ̯ ʔ ʔʌl. The symbol ʔ is the glottal stop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop), which in the lessons is indicated by the sign '. If you pronounce this sentence fast, it sounds like this: ʔi: tʃʔoʔʌɪ̯ ʔʌl. This sign (:) means that the vowel is long (double).