Washo phonology

Vowels
There are six distinct vowel qualities found in the Washo language, each of which occurs long and short. The sound quality of a vowel is dependent upon their length and the consonant they precede, as well as the stress put on the vowel.

Vowels marked with the acute accent ( ´ ) are pronounced with stress, such as in the Washo ćigábut (summer).

In Washo, vowels can have either long or short length qualities; the longer quality is noted by appending a /:/ to the vowel, as in the above example míši milí:giyi. Vowels with such a mark are usually pronounced for twice the normal length. This can be seen in the difference between the words móko (shoes) mó:ko (knee). However, vowels pronounced this way may not always be followed by a colon.

Consonants
Sequences not represented by a single letter in Washo almost always tend to occur in borrowed English words, such as the nd in k'indí (candy).