h has the sound of German ch in machen.
l is an aspirated l unknown in English, hl imperfectly represents it. It is formed with the side rather than with the tip of the tongue.
s has the sound of English sh in shot.
t has the sound of English th in thing.
z has the sound of English z in azure.
c, j, q, r, and x are not used. The sound of English ch in church is represented by ts; that of English j in jug, by dz.
SPELLING OF NAVAHO.
126. In the many papers about the Navahoes which the author has previously written he has spelled the name of the tribe according to the Spanish system “Navajo,” with the plural also in Spanish form, “Navajos.” In the present work he spells it, according to English orthography, “Navaho,” with an English plural, “Navahoes,” and he thus intends to spell it in the future. This he does because the Spanish spelling is misleading to the majority of English readers. It may properly be asked why he should adopt an English orthography for Navaho, a name of Spanish origin, while he retains the misleading Spanish orthography of San Juan. It is not sufficient, in reply, to say that the territory of the Navaho has been in the possession of the United States since 1848, and that we have thus acquired the right to spell this name in our own way; for a thousand other names of Spanish origin have marked our map as long, which we never ventured to change, either in spelling or pronunciation. Perhaps the best defence to be made of our course is that the name Navaho exists nowhere but within our borders. If we change the spelling here, we do not conflict with the spelling elsewhere. But there are scores of San Juans in Spanish America. We could not change the spelling of our San Juan without confusion. It were better that we should follow the example of Lord Byron and pronounce it Jew′an; but this the people of the Southwest will probably never do. They will speak of the stream as the “San Wŏn” or the “San Whŏn” for all time. Furthermore, the English spelling of Navaho is not a new thing with the writer. Many have already adopted it.