Inuit Sounds

NOTES ON INUKTITUT PRONUNCIATION

There are some sounds in Inuktitut that may be unfamiliar to English speakers. The pronunciations below convey those sounds in the following ways:

• A double vowel (e.g., aa, ee) creates a long vowel sound.

• Capitalized letters indicate emphasis.

• ŋ is a sound similar to “ng” in the word “sing.”

• q is a “uvular” sound, which is a sound that comes from the very back of the throat (the uvula). This is different from the k sound, which is the same as the typical English k sound (known as a “velar” sound).

• R is a rolled “r” sound.

• ll is a rolled “l” sound.

The diagram shows the place of articulation (the origin of the sound in the mouth) for each Inuktitut sound.

This list of Inuktitut terms will be continually updated and expanded.
Audio recordings of each of the terms to come.