Letter I , II
Letter i is has two pronunciations. In prefix syllables preceding an n, short i may be pronounced as in English 'sit'. Otherwise short i is pronounced as the ee of English 'see'. Short i is always pronounced as in English 'see' when it occurs before glottal stop (apostrophe) or h. Long ii is always pronounced as in English 'see' regardless of where it occurs. In addition, letter ii has a longer duration than i.Click on a video below to see and hear Mrs. Irene Arnold pronouncing words with I , II.
díi what
xdeldiix she or he is learning
łii dog
shí' meat
yéhnih she or he says to him or her
sínt'eh he, she or it is
Short i and long ii both represent a high front vowel [i]. Short i may be lowered to [ɪ] in prefix syllables preceding a n. However, short i is never lowered when it corresponds to the second-person singular subject prefix. Also, short i is never lowered when it precedes a glottal consonant (apostrophe or h). Elsewhere i represents [i]. varies quite a bit in height, ranging from a high front vowel to a mid-high front vowel.
shtthí' [ʃtƟhiʔ] ‘my head’
xdéltth'ih [xtéltƟ'ih] ‘they are sitting’
sínt'eh [sɪnt'eh] ‘he/she/it is’
intsax [ʔintshax] ‘you are crying’
ihtsax [ʔihtshax] ‘I am crying’
similar sounds