Mohawk language

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Mohawk is a Native American language spoken in the United States and Canada. It is part of the Iroquoian family.

Contents 1 Phonology 1.1 Consonants 1.2 Vowels 2 Some phrases 3 External links

Phonology

Based on sound files available at http://www.ohwejagehka.com/lang.htm, the phoneme inventory appears to be as follows (using IPA notation):

Consonants

1. There are no bilabials (unless one counts /w/ as labial rather than velar).
2. It is unclear whether aspiration is phonemic or a realization of C + /h/; probably the latter as ‘nh’ is /n/ + /h/, and ‘sh’ is /s/ + /h/ (not IPA /ʃ/).
3. Listening to the syllabification of careful speech suggests that orthographic "ʦ" is indeed an affricate, since "tsh" corresponds to IPA /ʧ/ — though it raises the question of why not use a single symbol for each of these? (After all, with such a small inventory, there are lots of Latin letters available!)

	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	t		k	ʔ
Affricate	ʦ	ʧ
Fricative	s			h
Nasal	n
Liquids	l		w

Vowels

1. Length is contrastive.
2. Nasalization is contrastive.
3. There appear to be a high and low tone. (See tonal language.)

	Front	Central	Back
High	i
Mid		ɛ	o
Low			a

Some phrases

Naho:ten ken:ton'? - What does it mean?
Tiohrhen:sa sata:ti. - Say it in English, Speak in English.
Onkwehonwehneha sata:ti. - Say it in Indian. Speak in Indian.
Sa'nikonhraien:tas ken? - Do you understand?
Seni'nikonraien:tas ken? - Do you (d) understand?
Sewa'nikonhraien:tas ken? - Do you (p) understand?
Iah tewake'nikonhraien:ta's. - I don't understand.
Onhka thi? - Who's that?
Onhka ki? - Who's this?
Ontiaten:ro' ne thi. - That is my friend. (m to m)
Ontiaten:ro' ne ki. - This is my friend. (m)
Ontiatshi ne thi. - That is my friend. (f talking about f)
Ontiatshi ne ki. - This is my friend.(f)
Raterihwaienstha ken? - Is he a student?
Ionterihwaienstha ken? - Is she a student?
Saterihwaienstha ken? - Are you a student?
Ronterihwaienstha ken? - Are they (p,m) student?
Hen. - Yes
To:ka - I don't know.
Iah tewakaterien:tare'. - I don't know. (polite form)
Tanon' onhka ne: nakaonha? - And who is she?
Tanon' onhka ne: ne raonha? - And who is he?
Tanon' onhka ni:se'? - And who are you?
Tanon' onhka ne: ne rononha? - And who are they(p,m)?
Raterihwaienstha ni' ne'e. - He's a student, too.
Ionterihwaienstha ni ne'e. - She's a student, too.
Katerihwaienstha ni ne'e. - I'm a student, too.
Ronterihwaienstha ni ne'e - They (p,m) are students, too.
Ontiatshi ne'e. - She is my friend(f).
Ontiaten:ro' ne'e - He's my friend(m).
Ontiaten:ro' ne ki. - This is my friend(m).
Onkwaten:ro ne'e - They (p,m) are my friends

External links

• Instant Mohawk Translations 200,000 and growing
• Mohawk - English Dictionary