How to read and say Tashelhit
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Tashelhit phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Tashelhit phrasesTashelhit has been written with several different alphabets. Historically, the Arabic script has been dominant. Usage of the Latin script emerged in the late 19th century. More recently there has been an initiative to write Tashelhit in Tifinagh. In this phrasebook we are going to use the Latin script to make it easier for new learners.
Vowels
Tashelhit has three vowels: a, i, u. The vowel e is used only as a schwa between two consecutive Letters (we're going to see that in an example), here are the vowels :
A - ah (Like the "a" in "father")
I - ee (Like the "ee" in "see")
U - oo (Like the "oo" in "doom")
Consonants
The following consonants are pronounced the same as in English:
- b
- like the "b" in "bay"
- d
- like the "d" in "dog"
- f
- like the "f" in "fun"
- g
- like the "g" in "get"
- h
- like the "h" in "hen"
- j
- like the "j" in "jam"
- k
- like the "k" in "kit"
- l
- like the "l" in "lump"
- s
- like the "s" in "sun"
- t
- like the "t" in "tip"
- ɣ
- like the French "r" in "rouge" (red in French)
- w
- like the "w" in "win"
- y
- like the "y" in "yellow"
- z
- like the "z" in "zebra"
- n
- like the "n" in "numb"
- m
- like the "m" in "mop".
- x
- like the Spanish "j"
- c
- like the sh in "ship"
- ḍ
- thick English d in "dork" or "door". Emphatic d
- ɛ
- ‘ayn (voiced equivalent of ḥ, similar to English onomatopoeia for retching)
- ḥ
- Arabic ḥ in Muḥammad (stronger than h, similar to English onomatopoeia for being cold)
- ṣ
- thick English s as in "sold". Emphatic s
- ṭ
- thick English "t" in "toll". Emphatic t
- ẓ
- thick English "z" in "Zorro". Emphatic z
If you still have difficulties with the letters or pronunciation, you can read the whole article about Berber Latin alphabet in Wikipedia. wikipedia:Berber_Latin_alphabet