Here is a collection of language geek stuff.
| Basic Sounds |
Mingo is traditionally a spoken language. The individual sounds are not truly difficult but overcoming our own shock at seeing unusual combinations of letter and extremely long words can be intimidating. I am hoping the linguist will be providing tapes of the different sound for those who do not have access to the internet. Those that do have the internet can access the EGADS site to hear the sounds.
Consonants:
Hh—like h in “house” regardless of where it is in the word. Be careful not to pronounce this as “ha”. It is a very airy sound without the a after it.
Kk—Like K in Kite except when followed by W, Y, or a vowel then like G in Go.
Ss—Like S in soup
Nn– like N in Night
Ww– Like W in wail
Yy– like Y in Yes.
Tt—like T in Two except when followed by W, Y, or a vowel then like D in Do.
Special Combinations:
TH—do not say like THAT. Always separate the T and H sounds.
TS — Like DS in Suds. ( almost like DZ)
TSI — Like Jee
THS—Like TS in Cats
THSI—Like CHEE
TY — like DY in Bad Year( say it fast until it ALMOST has a J sound)
TSY — like J in Jail
THY — Like CH in Church.
‘ — The glottal stop . The sound of any letter before it gets cut off in your throat not your mouth. Careful it doesn’t sound to much like a T.
That’s it, no more consonants! Now on to Vowels:
Aa Áá—like A in Father
Ææ—like A in Hat ( harsh like a baby crying)
Ee Éé— like ai in Bait
Ii Íí—Like ea in Pea
Uu Úú — Like oo in Boot
Ëë Êê — like e in when ( this sound is in your nose not your throat)
Öö Ôô — Like o in bone ( this sound is in your nose not your throat)
That’s it! There are no more sounds in the Mingo Language.
