It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Nahuatl in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.
Distinction is made between Classical Nahuatl (nci; the one used in colonial times), Huasteca Nahuatl (nhe; the most spoken variant) and Orizaba Nahuatl (nlv; the second most spoken), which are the main Nahuan languages, so this pronunciation guide is based on the phonology of the three. Neither variant is preferred at Wikipedia, except in cases where a pronunciation is clearly more relevant, such as an individual in the Aztec Empire or a town in La Huasteca.
↑Consonants can be geminated, including [lː] (spelled as ll, but not pronounced as in Spanish) (Andrews 2003, p. 33).
↑⟨h⟩ is always pronounced [ʔ] in Classical Nahuatl in the middle of a word.
↑⟨h⟩ is pronounced [h] in Huasteca and Orizaba Nahuatl in the middle of a word and [ç] when it comes before ⟨y⟩.
↑⟨k⟩ is always pronounced [k] in Classical Nahuatl.
↑⟨k⟩ is pronounced [h] in Huasteca Nahuatl only when it comes before another ⟨k⟩ or it represents a third person singular specific object prefix and is followed by a consonant. Second ⟨k⟩ may be pronounced as [h] too.
↑⟨k⟩ is pronounced [k] in Orizaba Nahuatl. There may be variation with [kʼ]~[kʰ].
↑⟨k⟩ is pronounced [k] in Huasteca Nahuatl when it comes before a vowel.
↑⟨kw⟩ is always pronounced [kʷ] in Classical Nahuatl.
↑⟨kw⟩ is pronounced [k] in Huasteca and Orizaba Nahuatl before another consonant. In Huasteca, when it comes before a ⟨k⟩, it is pronounced [h].
↑⟨kw⟩ is pronounced [kʷ] in Huasteca and Orizaba Nahuatl before a vowel. There may be variation with [kꟹ]~[gʷ]. In some towns of La Huasteca it is pronounced [ɓ].
↑⟨l⟩ is always pronounced [l] when it comes before a vowel, ⟨m⟩ or ⟨n⟩. When there's a double L, it is geminated.
↑⟨l⟩ is always pronounced [ɬ] when it comes before a consonant (that is neither ⟨m⟩ or ⟨n⟩) or is at the end of a word.
↑⟨n⟩ is always pronounced [n] when it comes before a vowel, and pronounced [m] when it comes before ⟨m⟩ or ⟨p⟩. In Huasteca Nahuatl, when it comes before ⟨y⟩, it is pronounced [j].
↑⟨n⟩ is always pronounced [n̥] in Classical Nahuatl at the end of a word. This is why ⟨n⟩ is considered the weakest consonant in Nahuatl.
↑⟨n⟩ is pronounced [ŋ] in Orizaba Nahuatl at the end of a word.
↑⟨n⟩ is always pronounced [ŋ] when it comes before a ⟨k⟩.
↑⟨p⟩ is pronounced [p]. In Orizaba Nahuatl there may be variation with [pʼ]~[pʰ].
↑⟨t⟩ is pronounced [t]. In Orizaba Nahuatl there may be variation with [tʼ]~[tʰ]. In Huasteca Nahuatl there are some cases where it is pronounced [h] only when it comes before another ⟨t⟩.
↑⟨tl⟩ is pronounced [t͡ɬ]. In some towns of La Huasteca it is pronounced [t].
↑⟨ch⟩ is pronounced [t͡ʃ]. It may become [ʃ] before another consonant (this depends on the variant, region and speaker).
↑⟨ts⟩ is pronounced [t͡s]. It may become [s] before another consonant (this depends on the variant, region and speaker).
↑⟨w⟩ is always pronounced [w] in Classical and Huasteca Nahuatl before a vowel. In some towns of La Huasteca it is pronounced as in Orizaba.
↑⟨w⟩ is pronounced [β] in Orizaba Nahuatl before a vowel but never after ⟨h⟩ or ⟨l⟩. There may be variation with [w]~[v].
↑⟨w⟩ is pronounced [ɸ] in Orizaba Nahuatl after ⟨h⟩ or ⟨l⟩. There may be variation with [w]~[f].
↑⟨w⟩ is always pronounced [ʍ] in Classical Nahuatl when it is before another consonant or at the end of a word.
↑⟨w⟩ is always pronounced [h] in Huasteca and Orizaba Nahuatl when it is before another consonant or at the end of a word.
↑These are phonemes that are not common or can only be found in loanwords.
12Closer to fat in most British and Irish accents; closer to father in most North American, Australian and New Zealand accents.
↑⟨e⟩ is generally pronounced [ɛ], but before any semiconsonant it is pronounced [e].
↑⟨i⟩ is generally pronounced [i], but at the end of a word it is pronounced [ɪ]. This is why ⟨i⟩ is considered the weakest vowel in Nahuatl.
↑⟨o⟩ is generally pronounced [o], but in some regions it is pronounced [u]. Native speakers of Nahuatl hear these two vowels as a single sound. In Huasteca Nahuatl, when it comes before a ⟨w⟩, it is generally pronounced [u].
↑Primary stress nearly always occurs on the penultimate (second to last) syllable. The only exceptions are vocative forms, in which case the final syllable is stressed, and words composed of two monosyllables. In Orizaba Nahuatl there are many words that stress the antepenultimate syllable, when the root of the nouns is two syllables or more and ends in a consonant.
↑All ending vowels are pronounced with a glottal stop. This is not to be confused with the midword glottal stop found in Classical, which is written with ⟨h⟩.
↑This only occurs with final ⟨h⟩ if it is the plural suffix of verbs in present tense, the plural suffix of nouns, the plural suffix of the preterite tense and of agentive nouns, the ending of the preterite nucleus of class 3 verbs (including agentive nouns), and the end of Spanish loanwords that end in a vowel.
↑Nasalization only occurs when a word ends with ⟨n⟩ in Huasteca Nahuatl.
↑This occurs mainly with words ending in -ia / -iya and -oa / -owa, where phonemes [j] and [w] may disappear (this depends on the variant, region and speaker).
Lockhart, James (2001). Nahuatl as written: lessons in older written Nahuatl, with copious examples and texts (Orig. printed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press [u.a.] ISBN0-8047-4282-0.
