Page:A Sketch of Mota Grammar.djvu/7

 I. ALPHABET.

letters are used on the principle of representing the sound of the Mota by the letter which represents not the same, but the corresponding sound in English. The power of the letters in the two languages is very rarely identical, but in most cases the difference is slight. The following are the most important differences:—

Before r, after n and l, there is an euphonic sound of d; as nan ra sounds nandra; and pul rua, puldrua; but the d is not written, as the words are nan and ra, pul and rua, and it is only a way of pronouncing r to please the ear. m is often pronounced very broadly, as if mw.

The vowel sounds represented by a e i o u are perhaps ten; a e i o having a long or short sound, u only a long 2