Kanienkehaka Pronounciation Chart

PRONOUNCIATION TABLE

Vowels	Approximate English Equivilant	Mohawk Example
a	as a in father	kasere' [ka:-se-re'] car ahta' [ah-ta'] shoe(s)
e	(1)as e in they, or ay in say (2)as e in met, bet	(1) wake' [wa:-ke'] I am going kenenhskwas [ke-nenhs-kwas] I steal (2) kasere [ka:-se-re'] car ohere [o-he-reh] corn stalk
i	as ee in see, or ea in meat	ise [i:-se'] you owira [o-wi:-ra'] baby
o	as o in note, poke	okonhsa [o-konh-sa'] face okara [o-ka:-ra'] story
NASAL en	as sound similar to u in sun when pronounced through nose	owenna [0wen:na'] word kenenhskwas [kenenhs-kwas] I steal
on	as a sound similar to oo in moon when pronounced through the nose	oronya' [o-ron:ya'] blue ohonte [o-hon-teh] green, grass
k	(1)as g in gate: when occurring between vowels, when followed by a vowle, or when occurring before a w (2)as k in skate: when occurring before a consonant	wake' [ wa:-ke'] I am going ka:sere' [ka:-se-re'] car ikkwas [ik-kwas] I pick
t	(1)as d in dog: when occurring between vowles, when follwoed by a vowel, or when occuring before y (2)as t in take: when occurring before a consonant	(1) tare' [ta:-re'] her is coming akta [ak-ta'] near, beside o'tara [o'-ta:-ra'] clay atyatawi' [a-tya:-ta-wi'] coat (2) katstha' [kats-tha'] I use it ketshenryes [kets-hen-ryes] I find
s	(1) as s in say: when occurring before another consonant, or before a vowel (2) as a soft z sound when occurring after a long stress (ie. see: in bracket samples) (3) as sh in she: when occurring before a consonant y and in some dialects when occurring before vowel i	(1) wakatste' [wa:-kats-te'] I used it ohsera [oh-se-ra'] year (2) kasere' [ka:-se-re'] car (3)katstahsyons [kats-tah-syons] I finish using athsyana [athsya:-na'] a handful ahsita' [oh-si:ta'] foot
SONORANTS n	as n in now, note, never	onen [o:-nenh] now, already ohna [oh-na'] skin
r	as an rl combination: in some dialects it occurs more line an r, while in others it may occur like an l	raksa'a [rak-sa:-'ah] boy ohere [o-he-reh] corn stalk
SEMI-VOWELS w	as w in way, win NOTE: w will change to vowel when it occurs between consonants	wahenron' [wa-hen:-ron'] he said wake' [wa-:ke'] I am going o'waronk [o'wa:-ronk] meat
y	as y in yet, yellow	oyente [o:yen-teh] firewood yehninons [yeh-ni:nons] she buys atyatawi' [a-tya:ta-wi'] coat
h	(1) as in hat, hard (2) as a puff of air after a vowel, or directly after a consonant before a vowel	(1) ohere [o-he-reh] corn stalk wahenron' [wa-hen:ron'] he said (2) ahta' [ah-ta'] shoes(s) wakhrorih [wak-hro:-rih] I did say
GLOTTAL '	as a stop occurring directly after vowels	wakko' [wa:k-ko'] I picked o'tara [o'ta:-ra'] clay, clan
COMBINATIONS hw	as wh in where	onhwentsya [on-hwen-tsya'] earth kahwenkare [ka-hwen:-ka-reh] snowshoes
kh	as c in cat, c in cow	khekens [khe:-kens] I see her wa-khrori' [wa'-khro:ri'] I hold
khw	as qu in queen, quiet	kakhwa [ ka-khwa'] food
kw	should be pronuonced as a *g /gate/* plus *w /way/* combination	okwaho [okwa-hoh] wolf akwekon [a-kwe:-konh] all
ky	should be pronounced as a *g /gate/* plus *y /yet/* combination	wakyen' [wa:kyen'] I put down anokyen [a-no-kyen'] muskrat
ny	should be pronounced as a *n /now/* plus *y /yet/* combination	ohnyara [oh-nya:-ra'] throat onyare [o-nya-reh] snake
ry	each consonant should be pronounced seperately: r as per Mohawk pronounciation, and y as in yet.	wat'kathroryana' [wa'-kat-hro-rya:-na'] I am going to tell about it
sh	should be pronounced seperately as a *s /say/* plus *h /hat/* combination	ohshehs [ohs-hehs] syrop enshiken' [ens-hi:ken'] I see him again
sy	as sh in she, show, but with more of a sh plus y combined sound.	ohsya [oh-sya'] palm of the hand wahsyen' [wah-syen'] you put down
th	each consonant in this combination should be pronounced seperately: t as in take, h as in hat	wakthare' [wak-tha-re'] I am speaking thonne's [thon:-ne'] they are about
tsy	(1)this combination represents the j sound (a sound midway between English j an ch) (2)when *tsy* occurs between consonants as it will be represented as *tsi* with a sound similar to *gee*	(1)kanatsyonk [ka-na:--tsyonk] pail tsyatak [tsya:-tak] seven (2)otsitsya [0-tsi:-tsya'] flower ostinekwar [0-tsi:-ne-kwar] yellow
tshy	this consonant combination provides a sound very similar to the English ch as in *church*	wat'tshyatkahtho' [wa'tshyat-kah-tho'] I saw him
ty	each consonant in this combination should be pronounced seperately: t as in dog, y as in yet	satyen [sa-tyen] sit down atyatawi' [a-tya:-ta-wi'] coat
wh	as a soft f sound, as pronounced by slightly touching the lower lip to the upper teeth	ohwhare [oh-wha-reh] fur o'whahsa [o'whah-sa'] skirt

NOTE: Both the apirate and glottal are features of the language that can be best acquired through listening and practice with a fluent speaker.

NOTE: Material contained within this section has been taken from "More Than One Thousand MOHAWK VERBS" by David Kanatawakhon Maracle, please support his efforts and purchase his book. Book information has been linked to the above highlighted book title.

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