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01

Pronunciation

02

The consonants may be divided into two exclusive classes: (1) stops (both "pure" and "impure") and (2) continuants. This latter division may be subdivided into four sub-classes, each defined by a characteristic shared exclusively by all itsʾ members. The four sub-classes are (1) fricatives, (2) nasals, (3) liquids, and (4) semi-vowels. In this lesson we will take up one of these sub-classes, fricatives. Three consonants, f, s, x, constitute the class called fricatives. The first of these occurs only in words borrowed from Spanish, and in these it occurs in initial and medial, but never in final position. Note that this sound is very similar to our f. Listen carefully to the Maya and repeat it.

The next two fricatives, s and x, may be grouped together as sibilants. These are very similar to the sibilants in the words signand shine, respectively. Again, to demonstrate the near but not exact identity of these Maya sibilants with their nearest equivalents in English, the following two pronunciation exercises will give before each Maya word an English word of similar shape. Listen carefully to the differences in the Maya sibilants and imitate them as closely as you can.

The next two fricatives, s and x, may be grouped together as sibilants. These are very similar to the sibilants in the words signand shine, respectively. Again, to demonstrate the near but not exact identity of these Maya sibilants with their nearest equivalents in English, the following two pronunciation exercises will give before each Maya word an English word of similar shape. Listen carefully to the differences in the Maya sibilants and imitate them as closely as you can.

In the Basic Sentences of this and previous lessons you have encountered a number of examples of alternate pronunciations of certain words. Some of these alternate pronunciations can be accounted for by a rule we can label optional reduction of vowel clusters. By optional is meant that the speaker may choose from among a number of possible variants which form the word will take.

More on Consonants - Optional Reduction of Vowel Clusters