CONSONANTS
The consonants are as follows:
| b | bá (for him) | like | p | in spot |
| d | díí (this) | like | t | in stop |
| g | gah (rabbit) | like | k | in sky |
These sounds are not truly voiced as are the sounds represented by these letters in English, but are like the wholly unaspirated p, t, and k in the English words given as examples.
| t | tó (water) | tea |
| k | ké (shoe) | kit |
The t and k in Navaho are much more heavily aspirated than in the English words given in the examples, so that the aspiration has a harsh fricative quality.
| ' | glottal stop | yá'át'ééh (it is good) | unh unh, oh oh |
In the American colloquial negative unh unh, and in the exclamatory expression oh oh, the glottal stop precedes the u and the o respectively. Or, in actual speech, the difference between Johnny earns and Johnny yearns, is that the former has a glottal closure between the two words.
| t' | yá'át'ééh (it is good) |
This letter represents the sound produced by the almost simultaneous release of the breath from the closure formed by the tip of the tongue and the teeth and the glottal closure described previously.
| k' | k'ad (now) |
This sound is produced in the same way as the t', except that the k closure is formed by the back of the tongue and the soft palate.
| m | mósí (cat) | man |
| n | naadą́ą́' (corn) | no |
| s | sis (belt) | so |
| sh | shash (bear) | she |
| z | zas (snow) | zebra |
| zh | 'ázhi' (name) | azure |
| l | laanaa (would that) | let |
| ł | łid (smoke) |
This sound is made with the tongue in exactly the same position as in the ordinary l, but the voice box or larynx does not function. The difference between these two l's is the same as the difference between the b and p, d and t, or s and z. If one attempts to pronounce th as in thin followed by l without an intervening vowel a ł is produced. Thus athłete.
| h | háadi (where) | hot |
In Navaho there are two sounds represented by the letter h. The difference is in the intensity or fricativeness. Where h is the first letter in a syllable it is by some pronounced like the ch of German. This harsh pronunciation is the older, but the younger generation of Navahos tends to pronounce the sound much as in English.
| gh | hooghan (hogan) |
This is the voiced equivalent of the harshly pronounced variety of h, the functioning of the voice being the only difference between the two sounds.
| j | jádí (antelope) | jug |
This sound is an unaspirated ch, just as d and g represent unaspirated t and k.
| ch | chizh (wood) | church |
| ch' | ch'il (plant) | |
This sound is produced in a fashion similar to the t' and k', but with the release of the breath from the ch position and from the glottal closure.
| dz | dził (mountain) | adze |
| ts | tsa (awl) | hats |
ts occurs in the beginning and middle of Navaho words, but only in final position in English.
| ts' | ts'in (bone) |
This sound is similar to ch', except for the tongue position, and involves the release of the breath from the glottal closure in the same way as the other glottalized sounds.
| dl | beeldléí (blanket) |
The dl is produced as one sound, as gl is in the word glow.
| tł | tła (grease) |
This sound is pronounced as unvoiced dl.
| tł | tł'ízí (goat) |
This sound involves the release of the breath from the t position of the tongue tip and teeth, from the contact of the sides of the tongue inside the back teeth (normal l position), and the glottal closure. It has a marked explosive quality. The sound is produced as a unit, as in the gl of glow, cited above.
| y | yá (sky) | you |
| w | 'awéé' (baby) | work |