A
a · /a/
Navajo Alphabet
Explore the modern Navajo alphabet, see how tone and nasal marks change vowels, check how digraphs and ejectives are pronounced, and copy any character.
Latin script · 16 vowel forms · 33 consonants
Vowels
A with High Tone
a · /a/ (high tone)
An acute accent marks high tone.
Nasal A
a · /ã/ (nasal)
The ogonek marks a nasal vowel, pronounced with air through the nose.
Nasal A with High Tone
a · /ã́/ (nasal, high tone)
A nasal vowel with high tone: the ogonek marks nasality and the acute marks high tone.
E
e · /e/
E with High Tone
e · /e/ (high tone)
An acute accent marks high tone.
Nasal E
e · /ẽ/ (nasal)
The ogonek marks a nasal vowel, pronounced with air through the nose.
Nasal E with High Tone
e · /ẽ́/ (nasal, high tone)
A nasal vowel with high tone: the ogonek marks nasality and the acute marks high tone.
I
i · /i/
I with High Tone
i · /i/ (high tone)
An acute accent marks high tone.
Nasal I
i · /ĩ/ (nasal)
The ogonek marks a nasal vowel, pronounced with air through the nose.
Nasal I with High Tone
i · /ĩ́/ (nasal, high tone)
A nasal vowel with high tone: the ogonek marks nasality and the acute marks high tone.
O
o · /o/
O with High Tone
o · /o/ (high tone)
An acute accent marks high tone.
Nasal O
o · /õ/ (nasal)
The ogonek marks a nasal vowel, pronounced with air through the nose.
Nasal O with High Tone
o · /ṍ/ (nasal, high tone)
A nasal vowel with high tone: the ogonek marks nasality and the acute marks high tone.
Consonants
B
b · /p/
A voiceless unaspirated stop, closer to English p without the puff of air.
Ch
ch · /tʃ/
Ejective Ch
ch' · /tʃʼ/
Ejective ch: the modifier letter apostrophe marks a glottal release.
D
d · /t/
A voiceless unaspirated stop, closer to English t without the puff of air.
Dl
dl · /tɬ/
An unaspirated lateral affricate, close to a quick tl sound.
Dz
dz · /ts/
An unaspirated affricate, like ts without the puff of air.
G
g · /k/
A voiceless unaspirated stop, closer to English k without the puff of air.
Gh
gh · /ɣ/
A voiced velar fricative, like the g in Spanish lago.
H
h · /h/
Hw
hw · /xʷ/
A labialized h, pronounced with rounded lips.
J
j · /dʒ/
K
k · /kʰ/
Ejective K
k' · /kʼ/
Ejective k: the modifier letter apostrophe marks a glottal release.
Kw
kw · /kʷʰ/
L
l · /l/
Barred L
l · /ɬ/
A voiceless lateral fricative, made with air flowing around the sides of the tongue.
M
m · /m/
N
n · /n/
Syllabic N
n · /n/ (syllabic, high tone)
A syllabic n carrying high tone; it stands as its own syllable.
S
s · /s/
Sh
sh · /ʃ/
T
t · /tʰ/
Ejective T
t' · /tʼ/
Ejective t: the modifier letter apostrophe marks a glottal release.
Tł
tl · /tɬʰ/
An aspirated lateral affricate, like tl with a puff of air.
Ejective Tł
tl' · /tɬʼ/
Ejective lateral affricate: the modifier letter apostrophe marks a glottal release.
Ts
ts · /tsʰ/
An aspirated affricate, like the ts in cats with a puff of air.
Ejective Ts
ts' · /tsʼ/
Ejective ts: the modifier letter apostrophe marks a glottal release.
W
w · /w/
X
x · /x/
A voiceless velar fricative, like the ch in German Bach.
Y
y · /j/
Z
z · /z/
Zh
zh · /ʒ/
Like the s in English measure.
Glottal Stop
' · /ʔ/
A glottal stop, the catch in the middle of English uh-oh.
How the Navajo Alphabet Works
Navajo, or Diné Bizaad, had no widely used written form until the twentieth century. The modern Latin-based orthography was developed in the 1930s and 1940s with Navajo speakers and is now used in schools, dictionaries, and literature.
The alphabet records what speakers hear. Each of the four vowel qualities can appear plain, with an acute accent for high tone, with an ogonek for nasality, or with both. Consonants include digraphs such as ch, tł, and zh, ejectives written with the modifier letter apostrophe (ʼ), and the barred ł. Stops written b, d, and g are unaspirated, while t and k are aspirated.
Sources and further reading
Letter names, plain spellings, and sound values are concise learning references; pronunciation and spelling can vary by speaker and community.
- The Unicode Consortium, Latin Extended-A (U+0100–U+017F)
- Young & Morgan, The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary