Ashaninka is an Arawakan language, related to other languages like Arawak and Guajiro. We have included twenty basic Ashaninka words here, to compare with related American Indian languages.

Ashaninka Word Set

Ashaninka Pronunciation and Spelling Guide (Campa)

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Ashaninka orthography used on our site, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites.

Ashaninka Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Ashaninka pronunciation:
a		a	Like the a in father.
aa	a·	a	Like a only held longer.
e		e	Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in gate.
ee	e·, e:	e	Like e only held longer.
i		i	Like the i in police.
ii	i·, i:	i	Like i only held longer.
o		o	Like the o in note.
oo	o·, o:	o	Like o only held longer.

Ashaninka Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Ashaninka pronunciation:
c	s, k	s ~ k	As in the Spanish alphabet (from which the Ashaninka alphabet was adapted), c represents both a ‘hard c’ (as in cold) and a ‘soft c’ (as in city). It is pronounced hard before a, o, or u and soft before e or i.
ch	č	t	Like ch in chair.
cu	kw, qu	kw ~ kw	Like qu in English queen.
j		h	Like h in hay.
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
p		p	Like the p in pie.
qu	k	k	As in the Spanish alphabet (from which the Ashaninka alphabet was adapted), both qu and c can represent the k sound in English key).
r			Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter.
s	s	s	Like s in sun.
sh	x		Like sh in shell.
t		t	Like the t in tell.
ts	tz	ts	Like the ts in tsunami. In some dialects, this sound is not distinct and is pronounced the same as ch.
v	w, hu	w ~ v	Like w in wail or v in veil, depending on the dialect and the following vowel.
y		j	Like y in yes).
’			A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word “uh-oh.”