Yakima practical alphabet

The Yakima practical alphabet is an orthography used to write Sahaptin languages of the Pacific Northwest of North America.

History

The Yakima practical alphabet is based on the Americanist phonetic notation as well as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Uses

The Yakima practical alphabet is currently used in research, language teaching, and language revitalization efforts. According to Jansen (2010), Sahaptian languages

[do] not have a long written tradition and the alphabet systems for writing the language are still fairly new. Words and sounds have been written by different individuals in a number of different ways. The system is not completely standardized, and, given the differences between dialects and speakers, many words have more than one “correct” spelling and pronunciation. In addition, pronunciations change depending on how carefully a person is speaking, how quickly they are speaking, and whether they are in a formal setting or at home. In telling legends or relating something that happened, words can be drawn out for emphasis, or said quickly to emphasize an abrupt or sudden event. Not every word is said the same way every time, and the variations are important to maintain.

Comparison with other orthographies

Orthography Comparison

IPA	Yakima practical alphabet	Warm Springs alphabet	CTUIR technical alphabet	Melville Jacob's technical alphabet
a	a	a	a	a
aː	aa	aa	aa	a⋅, ω⋅
t͡ʃ	ch	č, ch	č	tc
t͡ʃʼ	chʼ	čʼ, chʼ	č̓	tʼc
h	h	h	h	h
i	i	i	i	i
iː	ii	ii	ii	i⋅, ei, ɛ⋅
ə	ɨ	omitted	ɨ	ə
k	k	k	k	k, ɢ
kʼ	kʼ	kʼ	ḱ	kʼ
kʷ	kw	kw	kʷ	kw, ɢw
kʼʷ	kwʼ	kwʼ	k̓ʷ	kʼw
q	ḵ	q	q	q
qʼ	ḵʼ	qʼ	q̓	qʼ
qʷ	ḵw	qw	qʷ	qw
qʼʷ	ḵwʼ	qwʼ	q̓ʷ	qʼw
l	l	l	l	l
ɬ	ɬ	l̴	l̴	l̴
m	m	m	m	m
n	n	n	n	n
p	p	p	p	p, b
pʼ	pʼ	pʼ	p̓	pʼ
s	s	s	s	s
ʃ	sh	š, sh	š	c
t	t	t	t	t, d
tʼ	tʼ	tʼ	t̓	tʼ, t́θ
t͡ɬ	tl̴	tl̴	ƛ	tl̴
t͡ɬʼ	tl̴ʼ	tl̴ʼ	ƛ̓	t́ɫ
t͡s	ts	c	c	ts
t͡sʼ	tsʼ	cʼ	c̓	t́s
u	u	u	u	u
uː	uu	uu	uu	u⋅, ω⋅
w	w	w	w	w
x	x	x̂	x	x
χ	x̱	x	χ	x̣
xʷ	xw	x̂w	χʷ	xw
χʷ	x̱w	xw	χʷ	x̣w, xᶸ
j	y	y	y	y
ʔ	ʼ	ʼ	ʔ	ʼ