The Innu place names on this website are written in the common spelling system so that they can be used by all the Innu people of Nitassinan no matter what dialect they speak. Generally speaking, Labrador Innu speak two dialects – Mushuau-aimun in Natuashish and Sheshatshiu-aimun in Sheshatshiu. The common spellings reflect the structure of the Innu language and not local pronunciations which change as one moves from one part of Nitassinan to another. This guide is intended to help you pronounce these names.
When you have clicked on one of the place names on the list, a record will open containing information about the place name. You can learn how to pronounce the name by looking at the line that says “Pronunciation.” The name is spelled out using letters from the International Phonetic Alphabet.
You will see an audio symbol at the end of this line. 
You can hear how the place name is pronounced by clicking on the audio symbol.
Try it! By listening to the pronunciation many times, and practicing it yourself, you will become very good at pronouncing the word.
Here’s some help with the letters in the pronunciation line, to help you figure out how to pronounce the Innu names.
a: is pronounced as in English at. After w, a: is pronounced as in English water.
ã is pronounced like the ‘ang’ in English hang.
ə is pronounced as in English just.
e: is pronounced as in English ever or ate.
i: is pronounced as in English eat.
i is pronounced as in English bit.
u: is pronounced as in English tone or tune.
u is pronounced as in English put.
h is pronounced as in English hot.
k is pronounced as in English kitten or g as in gobble. It may sometimes be pronounced as h as in English hot by Mushuau-aimun speakers.
The raised w as in kw is only found at the end of a word and is pronounced like English quiet.
m is pronounced as in English mitten.
n is pronounced as in English nickel.
p is pronounced as in English pinch or b as in buckle.
s is pronounced as in English sip.
ʃ is pronounced as in English sheep. It may sometimes be pronounced as s as in English sip by Mushuau-aimun speakers.
t is pronounced as in English toe or d as in dog. It may sometimes be pronounced as ts (no English equivalent) or ch as in English cheese by Mushuau-aimun speakers, especially at the end of a word.
tʃ is pronounced as in English cheese or j as in jeep. It may sometimes be pronounced as s as in English sip by Mushuau-aimun speakers.
w is pronounced as in English win.
j is pronounced as in English you.
f is pronounced as in English fun.
For more detailed information on pronouncing words in the Innu language (Sheshatshiu dialect), click here (PDF, 127 KB)
This document (PDF, 436 KB), called Tan eshi-pimipanit tshitaimunnan (How Our Language Works), by Yvette Mollen, explains how the Innu language works.
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