The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Basque language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Basque phonology and Basque dialects for a more thorough look at the sounds of Basque.
Consonants
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| b |
bat |
best |
| β |
alaba[1] |
between baby and bevy |
| c |
kuttun |
roughly like Tuesday in RP |
| d |
doa |
dead |
| ð |
adar[1] |
this |
| f |
foru |
face |
| ɡ |
gauak |
got |
| ɣ |
hego[1] |
between go and ahold |
| h |
hamar[2] |
hot |
| ɟ |
onddo |
roughly like due in RP |
| k |
ke |
scan |
| l |
lagun |
lean |
| ʎ |
zailenak |
roughly like million |
| m |
maixu |
mother |
| n |
naharo |
need |
| ɲ |
ikurrina |
roughly like canyon |
| p |
piztu |
spouse |
| r |
urre |
trilled r |
| ɾ |
zauri |
ladder in American English |
| s̺ |
uso |
sack[3] |
| s̻ |
zeru |
| ʃ |
xehe |
shine |
| t |
talde |
stand |
| ts̺ |
urretsu |
cats[3] |
| ts̻ |
aitzin |
| tʃ |
tximist |
choice |
| x |
jakintsu[4] |
you, just, loch, shine, roughly like due in RP, vision |
Diphthongs
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| ai |
bai |
eye |
| oi |
doinu |
boy |
| ei |
leiho |
ray |
| au |
hau |
house |
| eu |
euri |
eh-oo or ey-oo |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lenition of /b d g/ occurs in regular speech in most Southern Basque dialects. Hualde (1991:99-100).
- ↑ Silent in Southern Basque dialects.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Basque contrasts two consonants that sound similar to the /s/ of Englishː /s̺/, which is apical, and /s̻/, which is laminal. Similarly, /ts̺/ and /ts̻/ are contrasted in the same way.
- ↑ /x/ is frequently heard due to its prevalence in Gipuzkoan but the realisation of the grapheme j varies depending on dialect and also includes [j, ʝ, ɟ, dʒ, ʒ, ʃ, χ]. The last, which resembles Scottish English loch, is typical of Gipuzkoan and the dialect of Gernika.
- ↑ The Basque /e/ doesn't quite line up with any English vowel, though the nearest equivalents are the vowel of play (for most English dialects) and the vowel of bed; the Basque vowel is usually articulated at a point between the two.
- ↑ The Basque /o/ doesn't quite line up with any English vowel, though the nearest equivalents are the vowel of coat (for most English dialects) and the vowel of raw; the Basque vowel is usually articulated at a point between the two.
References
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