Clusters resulting from vowel deletion

When the letters I, U or A are silent, you often hear consonant clusters as a result. Such clusters are not obvious from the spelling. For example, neither of the following words contain a ‘spelled’ cluster. However, you can hear a cluster in each word because the letter I is not pronounced.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐹᑎᑯᑦ		paatikut	paati-kut	[ ˈpaːtʰ - kʊtʰ ]
ᒦᐱᑎᓲᑉ		miipitisuup	mii – piti-suup	[ miː - ˈpɪt - su̞pʰ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐙᐱᒥᓱᐎᓐ		waapimisuwin	waapi – misuwin
ᑯᐦᑕᒻ		kuhtam	kuh – tam

Here are more examples where silent vowels result in audible consonant clusters. (Many more types of clusters are possible, but not shown here.) Notice that in some cases, you can hear up to four consonants in a row:

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐱᒋᔅᑎᐦᐙᐤ		pichistihwaau *	pichistih-waau	[ pɨtstʰ - wɔw ]
ᑎᐦᑳᐤ		tihkaau	tihkaau	[ ̚tʰkaw ]
ᐙᐱᐦᔮᐤ		waapihyaau **	waapih-yaau	[ ˈwap - j̥aw ]
ᐃᔨᑭᔥᑳᐤ		iyikishkaau	i – yikish-kaau	[ i - ˈjɪkʃ - kaw ]
ᐋᐦᑯᓯᐤ		aahkusiu	aahku-siu	[ ˈaːkʷ - suː ]
ᐋᐱᑯᔒᔥ		aapikushiish ***	aa – piku-shiish	[ a - ˈpʊkʷ - ʃiʃ ]
ᑳᒋᔅᑐᐦ		kaachistuh	kaachistuh	[ ˈkaːtstʰ ]
ᒀᔥᑯᐦᑎᐤ		kwaashkuhtiu	kwaashkuh-tiu	[ ˈkɔʃkʰ - tuʔ ]
ᓂᑐᐦᑎᐙᐤ		nituhtiwaau	nituh-ti – waau	[ ɨntʰ - ˈtɪ - wɔw ]
ᑆᓂᔥ		pwaanish	pwaanish	[ ˈpɔːntʃ ]
ᐅᑯᐦᑎᔥᑯᐃ		ukuhtishkui	u – kuhtish-kui	[ u - ˈkʊtʃ - kʊy ]
ᒫᒫᐱᓱᓐ		maamaapisun	maa – maapi-sun	[ ma - ˈmap - sʊn ]
ᐃᔨᑭᔅᒋᓰᐤ		iyikischisiiu ****	i – yikischi-siiu	[ i - jɪkst - suʔ ]
ᐊᒥᔅᒄ		amiskw	amiskw	[ ˈɛmskʷ ]
ᐊᒥᔥᑯᔑᔥ		amishkushish	ami – shkushish	[ ɛmʃ - ˈkʊʃː ]
ᐊᓂᒋᒄ		anichikw *****	ani - chikw	[ ˈɛn - tʃʊkʷ ]
ᑳᓰᓂᑭᓐ		kaasiinikin	kaa – siini-kin	[ ka - ˈsiːn - kɪn ]
ᐐᐐᑎᒫ		wiiwiitimaa	wii – wiiti-maa	[wiː - wit - maːʔ ]
ᔖᐳᒥᓐ		shaapumin ******	shaapu-min	[ ˈʃaːp - mɪn ]

1. * See the page on CH for the TS pronunciation of CHIS.
2. ** here, PIHY sounds like the initial ‘py’ sounds in English pure.
3. *** See the page on single vowels for the [ u ] pronunciation of I.
4. **** Also see the pronunciation of CHIS for this example.
5. ***** See the page on single vowels for the [ u ] pronunciation of I.
6. ****** You might hear a bit of a vowel sound between the B and M.

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐦᒋᔅᑖ		aahchistaa	aahchis – taa
ᐋᐸᐦᐌᐤ		aapahweu	aapah – weu
ᒋᒥᔑᑎᓐ		chimishtin	chimish – tin
ᒋᔥᑖᐹᐅᑖᐤ		chishtaapaautaau	chishtaa – paau – taau
ᐋᐦᑯᓲ		aahkusuu	aahku – suu
ᒥᑐᐦᑕᐌᐤ		nituhtaweu	nituh – ta – weu
ᑳᐦᐄᐦᒀᓂᔥ		kaasiihkwaanish	kaa – siih – kwaa – nish
ᒫᐦᑯᐱᔥ		maahkupish	maah – ku – pish
ᐊᔅᑎᓴᒡ		astisach	as – tisach
ᓂᒋᒄ		nichikw	ni – chikw
ᐋᓂᔅᑯᑖᐹᓐ		aaniskutaapaan	aanis – ku – taa – paan
ᐐᔥᑯᔥᑌᓲ		wiishkushtesuu	wiish – kush – te – suu

Finally, at the end of the word (but not elsewhere), consonants followed by W sound like a consonant cluster.

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