Mingo Vowels

Almost all vowels can appear in one of four forms: short, long, double or double long. Long vowels and double vowels are identical in pronunciation, both of them being about twice as long as a short vowel. The reason we spell them differently is that there are certain rules which apply only to long vowels, and which do not apply to double vowels, and vice versa. Therefore, we spell them differently so that you can more easily remember which vowels will undergo a particular rule and which won't. Lastly, the "double long" vowels are pronounced about two and a half to three times as long as a regular short vowel. In faster speech, it can be hard to hear the difference between a double long vowel and a long or double vowel. But in careful, slow speech, the difference is clear.

Like many other languages, including French, Portuguese and all the other Northern Iroquoian languages, Mingo has two types of vowels, oral vowels and nasal vowels. There are six different oral vowels in Mingo. They are called "oral" vowels because they are pronounced with air coming out only through your mouth. These vowels are fairly easy to learn, as they have very close matches in English.

Aa

The oral vowel -a- is pronounced like the a in English "father". It can appear short, -a-, long -á-, double, -aa-, or double long, -áa- or -aá-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

Ææ

The oral vowel -æ- is pronounced like the a in English "hat". It can appear short, -æ-, long -â- or double, -ææ-. When -æ- is double long, it is pronounced just like a double long -a-, namely -áa-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

Ee

The oral vowel -e- is pronounced like the ai in English "bait". It can appear short, -e-, long, -é-, double, -ee- or double long, -eé- or -ée-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

Ii

The oral vowel -i- is pronounced like the ea in English "pea". It can occur short, -i-, long, -í-, double, -ii- and double long, -íi- or -ií-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

Uu

The oral vowel -u- is pronounced like the oo in English "boot". It can appear short, -u-, long, -ú-, double, -uu-, or double long, -úu- or -uú-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

There are only two nasal vowels in Mingo. Nasal vowels are pronounced by allowing the air to esacpe through your nose instead of (or along with) your mouth.

Ëë

The nasal vowel -ë- is pronounced like the e in English "when". Try saying "when", but stopping right before you make the n-sound. That sound right before the n is a good approximation of the Mingo -ë-. It can appear short, -ë-, long, -ê-, double, -ëë-, and double long, -êë- or -ëê-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

Öö

The nasal vowel -ö- is pronounced like the o in English "bone". Try saying "bone", but stopping right before you make the n-sound. That sound right before the n is a good approximation of the Mingo -ö-. It can apear short, -ö-, long, -ô-, double, -öö-, and double long, -ôö- or -öô-. It occurs at the beginning of words such as:

It occurs in the middle of words such as:

And it occurs at the end of words such as:

The Mingo Alphabet
Mingo Consonants
[JL:28March97]