Appendix:Chakobsa pronunciation

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Standard Romanization

Letter	IPA	English approximation	Notes
a	a	almost like father", but further forward in the mouth.
aa	aː	Like a but held for a longer duration.
b	b	bother	In certain circumstances (as before s), it will sound more like p, but the result will be quite natural.
ch	ʧ	each	Unlike the sound "ch" in English "chair", there is no discernible puff of air that accompanies this sound. If one holds one's breath while pronouncing the "ch" in English "chair", one will pronounce this sound correctly.
d	d	dog
dh	ð	this	Never pronounced like the "th" in "think".
e	ɛ	bet
f	f	fog
g	g	good	Never like the "g" in "genius".
h	h	ham	This grapheme is always pronounced, even if it comes after another consonant or at the end of a word. The only cases in which it is not pronounced is when it occurs in the digraphs ch, dh, sh, and th.
i	i	beet
ii	iː	Like i but held for a longer duration.
j	ʤ	judge
k	k	sky	This sound features no aspiration. Aspiration is the puff of air that occurs in the "k" in "kill". Compare the "k" in "kill" and the "k" in "skill" (try holding your hand in front of your face when pronouncing both). The Chakobsa "k" should always be pronounced like the "k" in "skill"; never like the "k" in "kill".
l	l	left
m	m	man
n	n	no
o	o	moat
q	q	Almost like sky, but further back in the mouth.
r	ɾ	Spanish pero
s	s	see
t	t	stop	This sound features no aspiration. Aspiration is the puff of air that occurs in the "t" in "take". Compare the "t" in "take" and the "t" in "stake" (try holding your hand in front of your face when pronouncing both). The Chakobsa "t" should always be pronounced like the "t" in "stake"; never like the "t" in "take".
th	θ	think	Never pronounced like the "th" in "this".
u	u	crouton
uu	uː	Like u but held for a longer duration.
v	v	voice
w	w	wave
y	j	yak
z	z	zoo
'	ʔ	Like the catch in one's throat that occurs in between the "uh" and "oh" in English "uh-oh".

Doubled Consonants

Doubled consonants, or geminates, occur frequently in Chakobsa. To pronounce a doubled consonant, simply pronounce it twice. You might think of it as lingering over the consonant. Think of the "s" sound you pronounce in "Miss Sally". It's a longer "s" than if you pronounce the similar phrase "Miss Ally". The same goes for the doubled consonants of Chakobsa.

One important note about the romanization: If a digraph (e.g. dh, sh, etc.) is doubled, only the first letter will be doubled (hence, ddh not dhdh). The consonant is pronounced like a doubled consonant, though, as actual combinations such as d followed by dh are impossible.

Phonetics

Chakobsa has 23 consonants which can also appear in a geminate form.

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m [m]		n [n]
Plosive	voiceless			t [t]	ch [ʧ]	k [k]	q [q]	' [ʔ]
	voiced	b [b]		d [d]	j [ʤ]	g [g]
Fricative	voiceless	f [f]	th [θ]	s [s]	sh [ʃ]			h [h]
	voiced	v [v]	dh [ð]	z [z]
Lateral				l [l]
Approximant		w [w]		r [ɾ]	y [j]

Vowels

Chakobsa has 5 vowels, three of which have phonetically distinct lengths:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i [i], ii [iː]		u [u], uu [uː]
Mid	e [ɛ]		o [o]
Open		a [a], aa [aː]