Marshallese Language Training Manual - Linguistics

THE STANDARD MARSHALLESE ALPHABET
A rough sketch of the sounds of the standard alphabet
follows below.
a a, as in English "father" and "star"
ä a, as in Eng. "last"
b b and p are sounds which Marshallese students of
English find difficult to distinguish
d no English equivalent, but the sound is a little like the
dr in English "drink", however the d is light and the r
is trilled.
e ay, as in "d ay", or sometimes a shorter e, as in "h en "
i between the ee in "seen " and the i in "sin "
j somewhere near the s in "pleasure"
k k is a mix between the k in "kind" and the g in "good"
l like the first l in"little", a very light l,
(tongue touches teeth)
l a heavier l, as in "lost" or "ball"
m m, as in "man"
m in the neighborhood of the m+w, as in "com e with"
(lips rounded)
n n, as in "need", (tongue tip touches the upper teeth)
n no English equivalent,
(tongue tip touches the roof of the mouth)
ñ somewhere near the ng in the word "E nglish"
o o, short, as in "show "
o o, long, as in "dog"
ö between the i in "k in "and the e in "k en "
p the distinction between b and p is a fine point
r r, as in "rest", but heavier, more trilled
t t, somewhere between English d and t: "had to "
u oo, as in "cool"
ü u, as in "curl"
w w, as in "way", or oo, as in "cool"
y y, as in "yes"
Please note: the sound of a consonant with a subscript (l , m , n )
is"heavier" than that of its unsubscripted counterpart (l, m , n ). When vowels
are doubled, the sound of the single letter is reinforced.
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