Matoyo is a beautiful language in my opinion. Some words are smooth and slide out quickly. Some flow over the tongue slowly like honey. Others have a graceful force to them. Of course, to be able to say these words, you need to know what sounds letters make in Matoyo. Below, you will see both the IPA symbol and an English example for pronunciation.
"A" makes the /a/ sound like the "ah" in father.
"E" makes the /ɛ/ sound like the "eh" in bet.
"I" makes the /i/ sound like the "ee" in see.
"O" makes the /o/ sound like the "oh" in go.
"U" makes the /u/ sound like the "oo" in food.
"É" makes the /e/ sound like the "ay" in say.
When the letter "a" is doubled ("aa") or followed by double consonants (e.g. "ll" or "tt"), it becomes drawn out. For example, the word "allasc" is stressed similarly to the word "mollusc."
The letters b, d, f, g, h, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, w, y, and z are all pronounced the same as they usually are in English.
"C" always makes the /k/ sound, like in cat.
"J" makes the /x/ sound, like the "ch" in Bach.
"Ts" makes the /ts/ sound, like in tsar or tsunami.
"Sh" still makes the same /ʃ/ sound as in English, but it should be slightly voiced to sound a bit like the /ʒ/ sound made by the "s" in vision.
"Th" always makes the /θ/ sound, like in thing.
"Ch" always makes the /t̠ʃ/ sound, like in chip.
"Tch" is almost like "ch," but it is brought more forward in the mouth so that it sounds more like a "t." The tongue should lightly and briefly touch the back of the teeth.
amoné asa allasc awaang
ereju jéan fiji laajo
éoim degé waséan sélo
tchamba tchoya cheféye shantu
tsocaléashi tchamboleya sallopaan tchercha
carataasen tsyumé syeniwa
bawaam aazac allasc bann angan