Inuktitut is a syllabary, part of the group of North American (mainly Canadian) languages using the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics writing system. As a syllabary, each glyph is a combo of consonant followed by vowel(s). It is spoken pretty much exactly as it is written, making transcribing and pronouncing it straightforward from reading material.
Here are all of the glyphs organized into their standard form table.
| short | short | long | short | long | short | long | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Here are the 14 fundamental consonants used when speaking Inuktitut.
For a complete list of possible consonants a human voice might make while speaking a natural language, check out the consonants page.
| bilabial | labiodental | dental | alveolar | postalveolar | retroflex | velar | uvular | pharyngeal | glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| voiced nasal | |||||||||||
| quiet plosive | |||||||||||
| voiced palatalized plosive | |||||||||||
| quiet sibilant fricative | |||||||||||
| quiet non-sibilant fricative | |||||||||||
| voiced non-sibilant fricative | |||||||||||
| quiet lateral fricative | |||||||||||
| voiced lateral approximant | |||||||||||
| quiet lateral approximant |
These are the 7 base vowels used when speaking Inuktitut.
Also, a complete list of possible vowels a human voice might make while speaking can be found here.
| manner | front unrounded | front rounded | front central unrounded | front central rounded | central unrounded | central rounded | back central unrounded | back central rounded | back unrounded | back rounded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| close | |||||||||||
| close-mid | |||||||||||
| open-mid | |||||||||||
| open |