Appendix:Sangheili pronunciation

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The Sangheili language is characterized by a large consonant inventory, ejectives and velarized consonants. Affixation frequently causes exceptions to the rules below.

Standard Romanization

Long vowels are marked by doubling letters. They have the same quality as the short ones but are held for slightly longer.

Letter	IPA	English example	Notes
a	a	father
b	b	bad
ch	tʃ	match
ch'	tʃʼ	No English equivalent	Pronounced just like ch, but with one's breath held.
chkh	tʃˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing ch, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
d	d	die
dz	dz	kids
e	e	gate
g	g	goat
gh	ɣ	Spanish fuego
h	h	hop
i	i	machine
j	dʒ	jam
k	k	sky
k'	kʼ	No English equivalent	Pronounced just like k, but with one's breath held.
kh	x	Blech!
kkh	kˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing k, but releasing it very slowly with strong frication.
l	l	love
m	m	matter
n	n	never	[ɲ] before a palatal consonant, [ɴ] before a uvular consonant.
ng	ŋ	sing
o	o	tote
p	p	spike
p'	pʼ	No English equivalent	Pronounced just like p, but with one's breath held.
pkh	pˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing p, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
q	q	No English equivalent	Like a k, but pronounced further back in the throat, with the back of the tongue contacting the uvula.
q'	qʼ	No English equivalent	Pronounced just like q, but with one's breath held.
qkh	qˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing q, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
r	ɾ	matador
s	s	sad
sh	ʃ	shack
shkh	ʃˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing sh, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
skh	sˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing s, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
t	t	stake
t'	tʼ	No English equivalent	Pronounced just like t, but with one's breath held.
tkh	tˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing t, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
ts	ts	cuts
ts'	tsʼ	No English equivalent	Pronounced just like ts, but with one's breath held.
tskh	tsˣ	No English equivalent	Like pronouncing ts, but with the back of one’s tongue contacting the soft palate.
u	u	ruminate
w	ɰ	No English equivalent	Almost like wet, but with one's lips unrounded.
y	j	young
z	z	zebra
zh	ʒ	azure
‘	ʔ	uh-oh

Phonetics

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/	(n [ɲ])	n /ŋ/	(n [ɴ])
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/	t /t/		k /k/	q /q/	' /ʔ/
	ejective	p' /pʼ/	t' /tʼ/		k' /kʼ/	q' /qʼ/
	velar release	pkh /pˣ/	tkh /tˣ/		kkh /kˣ/	qkh /qˣ/
	voiced	b /b/	d /d/		g /g/
Affricate	voiceless		ts /ts/	ch /tʃ/
	ejective		ts' /tsʼ/	ch' /tʃʼ/
	velar release		tskh /tsˣ/	chkh /tʃˣ/
	voiced		dz /dz/	j /dʒ/
Fricative	voiceless		s /s/	sh /ʃ/	kh /x/		h /h/
	velar release		skh /sˣ/	shkh /ʃˣ/
	voiced		z /z/	zh /ʒ/	gh /ɣ/
Approximant			l /l/	y /j/	w /ɰ/
Tap			r /ɾ/

Proto-Sangheili also had a phonemic /ɢ/, but it merged with /ɣ/.

Sequences of ejectives are not allowed, when one occurs, the second ejective is deglottalized.

Vowels

/e/ and /o/ are always short, but the other vowels may be short or long.

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/, i /iː/		u /u/, u /uː/
Mid	e /e/		o /o/
Open		a /a/, a /aː/

Phonotactics

Most of Sangheili's syllables are open, only three codas are allowed: /n/, /ŋ/ and /s/. /n/ has the allophones [ɲ] before palatals and [ɴ] before uvulars. Syllables may never start with consonant clusters.

Stress

Stress falls on the penultimate syllable if it is heavier than the antepenultimate, otherwise it falls on the antepenultimate. Secondary stress is placed on every other syllable radiating outward from the syllable with main stress. The final syllable never attracts stress, regardless of length.