Letter YH
Letter yh is pronounced like Tanacross y except yh is voiceless (made without the vocal cords vibrating). This sound occurs only at the end of a syllable.Click on a video below to see and hear Mrs. Irene Arnold pronouncing words with YH.
aayh snowshoes
dendéyh bearberries
xeyh spruce roots
Click below to hear Mrs. Irene Arnold illustrating the difference between yh and y at the end of syllables.
Letters yh and y may occur lengthened at the end of a word, in which case they are written yy. Click below to hear Mrs. Irene Arnold illustrating this sound at the end of a word. Also, see the technical notes for more information.
Tanacross yh is a voiceless palatal approximant (sonorant) [ç]. While it may sometimes be produced with slight friction, it patterns phonologically as an approximant, not a fricative. It is restricted to syllable-final position. Tanacross y is a voiced palatal approximant [j]. It may occur in both onset and coda positions. The contrast between yh and its voiced counterpart y can be seen in pairs xeyh 'spruce roots' versus xey 'winter'.
At the end of a syllable y may occur lengthened, written yy, as in sh'ǎayy' 'my snowshoes'.
similar sounds