Nasal Vowels

Foundations

Six Guarani vowels carry a tilde and are said through the nose.

How It Works

Guarani has six oral vowels (a e i o u y) and six nasal vowels (ã ẽ ĩ õ ũ ỹ). For a nasal vowel, your mouth and tongue stay in the same place as for the oral twin. The difference is that air also goes out through your nose.

To feel it, say English man and hold the vowel, with a finger on the side of your nose. You feel a buzz. Say bad and hold the vowel, and the buzz is gone. English never uses that difference to make different words. Guarani does.

OralNasal
pytu “breath”pytũ “dark”
oke “he or she sleeps”okẽ “door”
aka “quarrel”akã “head”

A nasal vowel also makes the sounds near it nasal. That is why some prefixes and endings change their spelling in nasal words. See Nasal Harmony.

Examples (5)

  1. pytũ

    dark

    Without the tilde, pytu means “breath”.

  2. okẽ

    door

    Without the tilde, oke is a verb: “he or she sleeps”.

  3. akã

    head

    Without the tilde, aka means “quarrel”.

  4. porã

    good, beautiful

    The tilde on ã is part of the word every time it is written.

  5. mokõi

    two

    The tilde sits on the nasal vowel õ.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the tilde off a nasal vowel.

    oke
    okẽ

    Oke is a different word: “he or she sleeps”. Write okẽ for “door”.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Nasal VowelsFoundations

Learn This First

The six nasal vowels are letters of the alphabet, so the alphabet comes first.

Words in This Pattern

õẽ