Chapter 1 - Sounds of the Language

Pronounciation

Vowels

Miami-Illinois has 4 short vowels and 4 long vowels.
The vowels are a, e, i, and o plus the long versions which are pronounced twice as long aa, ee, ii, and oo. The exact quality of these vowels can vary but generally they are as follows:

• a is a low back vowel [ɑ ~ a] like in "bot"
• e is front vowel [æ ~ ɛ] like in "bat" or "bet"
• i is a high front vowel [ɪ] like in "bit"
• o is a back vowel [ʊ ~ u ~ o] kind of like "put," "boot," or a spanish o
• aa is a long low back vowel [ɑ:] like in "father"
• ee is a long front vowel [æ: ~ ɛ:] and sometimes even [e:] which is kind of like bait without the off-glide.
• ii is a long high front vowel [i:] like in "beat"
• oo is a long back vowel [u:] but sometimes [o:]

Consonants

There are 12 consonants in Miami-Illinois.
The Consonants are m, p, w, n, t, s, š [ʃ], c [tʃ], l, y, k, h.

Stong and Weak syllables

Miami-Illinois has a system of strong and weak syllables. To find syllable strength start from the begining of a word and count each even syllable as strong. Long vowels are always strong and restart the count with the next short vowel being weak.
When the next syllable is pre-asperated, a weak short vowel will be devoiced. This can be thought of like whispering.

Accent

Accent, or stress, starts at the end of a word and counts even syllables. However, devoiced syllables are skipped when counting.