For convenience in study phonetic signs have been adopted similar to those employed in the publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition on the tribes of the northwest coast of America, and for [[6]]a more particular explanation of them the reader is referred to those publications. The vowels are ā, a, ä, ᴀ, ē, e, ê, ī, i, î, ō, o, ū, u, pronounced in the continental manner. There is, however, no real distinction between corresponding e and i vowels on the one hand and o and u vowels on the other. Apparently, two continental sounds answer to one Haida sound that lies midway between them. Very slight u- or a- sounds accompanying consonants occur in the Masset dialect and in Tlingit words, and are indicated by u and a. Â (English aw) and ô (like o in stop) sometimes occur in songs. The consonants are the following:
| Sonans | Surd | Fortis | Spirans | Nasal | |
| Velar | g̣ (ʻ) | q | qꜝ | x | … |
| Palatal | g | k | kꜝ | x̣ | ñ |
| Alveolar | d | t | tꜝ | s | n |
| Dental | dj | tc | tcꜝ | … | … |
| Labial | b | p | … | … | m |
| Lateral | ʟ̣ | ʟ | ʟꜝ | ł | … |
| and l, h, y, w. | |||||
A laryngeal catch (ʻ) takes the place of g̣ in the Masset dialect: x is also pronounced softer, more like h. The fortes are accompanied by a slight pause or explosion in utterance, and the laterals are related to l’s, coming nearest in intonation, however, to the combinations dl and tl or kl; x is like German ch in ach; x̣ is formed farther forward; ñ is identical with ng in thing. The remaining sounds are similar to the English sounds which their signs represent. Prolongation of a sound is indicated by ⁺. Hyphens are used to separate some compound words, but more often to mark that two successive vowel sounds do not form a diphthong. A pause or the omission of a vowel is indicated by an apostrophe. [[7]]
TEXTS WITH FREE AND INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION
Moldy-forehead
[Told by Tom Stevens, chief of Those-born-at-House-point]
During a famine a child asked his mother for something to eat. Then his mother cut off the upper part of a dog salmon for him, and he thought it was not enough. He said it was too small and began to cry.
After he had cried for a while he went out with it. He chewed it up and put it into a swampy place by the beach. Then the dog salmon swelled up there, and there was a great quantity of it. He was sorry at having lost it. Then he began to cry.
After he had cried for a while two persons came and stopped there in a narrow canoe and invited him to get in. Then he got into it. After he had gone along with them for a while the town came in sight, and they landed in its very middle, before the chief’s house, [[8]]and he went up with them. Then they had him sit in the rear of the house and gave him some food. A person sitting in the corner of the house, who was half rock,[1] said to him: “Do not eat that. I am half rock because I ate it.” So he did not eat.