A BRIEF PRONUNCIATION GUIDE TO NAHUATL

The present pronunciation guide comes from a phonetic transcription of the Nahuatl language made in the 16th century by the Spanish friars.

Nahuatl words usually have no accent mark, and bear the stress on the penultimate syllable.

Vowels 

The vowels are pronounced as in Spanish

  a is pronounced “ah”, as in “ash” or “park”

  e is pronounced “eh”, as in “ace”

  i is pronounced “ee”, as in “seek”

  o is pronounced “oh”, as in “old”

  u is pronounced “oo” as in “wood”

Consonants

All consonants save ll and x are pronounced the same as in Spanish, and therefore the same as in English, except for these notable exceptions:

c is pronounced “s” when it comes before e or i

cu is pronounced “kw” as in “query”

c is pronounced “k” when it comes before any other vowel

h is pronounced “w” as in “wild”

  ll is pronounced like a long English “l” as in “fully”

  que is pronounced “kay” as in “case”

  qui is pronounced “kee” as in “keep”

  tl is pronounced as a unit like the “tl” in “battle”

  tz is pronounced as in “pretzel”

  x is pronounced “sh” as in “shell”

z is pronounced a hissy, soft “c”, halfway between “zap” and “cite”