Orthography

The alphabet currently in use to teach Huichol-speaking children to be literate in their native language is
a e h i ɨ k kw m n p r t ts u w x y ʔ^[8]

For x an alternative spelling rr is seen, even in recent linguistic scholarship and lay publications. When the IPA symbol for the glottal stop, ʔ, is not available with the typing device being used, the apostrophe is substituted.^[9]

Syllable structure

Syllables have one of the following structures (C = consonant, V = vowel, V^ = long vowel): CV; CV^; CVV (the two vowels differ in articulation), at least in the base form of words; in speech and sometimes in writing, the elision of vowels creates sequences in violation of these syllable canons. In syllables of the last type, the two vowels form a diphthong in which the first vowel is the most prominent. The language has a large number of diphthongs; both ascending diphthongs and descending diphthongs occur. Examples (period marks syllable boundary):

• ʔɨi.tɨa 'to give';
• niɨ.tɨa 'to lend';
• xei.ya 'to see';
• xie.te 'bee'

(the diphthongs are different in the initial syllables of ʔɨi.tɨa and niɨ.tɨa^[10]). The sequences /wV/ are distinct from /uV/, likewise /yV/ is distinct from /iV/. /uV/ and /iV/ are diphthongs, and to form a valid syllable in Huichol, they must be preceded by a consonant.

Vowels

There are five vowel phonemes: /i, ɛ, a, u, ɨ/; /ɛ/ is spelled 'e'. /ɨ/ is phonetically [ɨ], a high central unrounded vowel, similar to the 'e' in the word 'roses' in English English.

Suprasegmental phonemic contrasts

Length is phonemic for vowels. A long vowel is marked by a pair of identical vowel letters. Some minimal pairs:

• ʔiiya 'to drink', ʔiya 'to chew';
• ʔeetsiya 'to cook', ʔetsiya 'sown field';
• pukuʔeewiene 'looking for a place to get out of the rain', pukuʔewiene 'walking around tending to things'.

Stress accent is phonemic.^[13][14] The default position for word stress in Huichol is the penultimate syllable (the next to last syllable),^[15] as in Spanish and English. When a word has primary stress on the penult, the orthography does not mark it. When the primary stress of the word falls on a syllable other than the penult, the stress is marked with the acute accent (as in Spanish). When there is a need to mark stress on a long vowel, the acute accent is placed on the second vowel letter. Minimal pairs showing phonemic syllable stress:

• tuaxa 'to shoot', tuaxá 'oak';
• kɨpi 'close one's eyes', kɨpí 'butterfly'.

Consonants

There are thirteen consonant phonemes. /t͡s/ has two allophones, the affricate, [ts] by default and the fricative, [s] when it immediately precedes another consonant. /h/, which Grimes (1955) groups with /w y/ for morphophonemic reasons, is phonetically the glottal voiceless fricative, [h]. The boldfaced symbols in parentheses are the symbols used in the Huichol orthography, where these differ from the linguists' symbols.^[16][8]

Intonation

Grimes (1959) investigated the affective use of intonation.