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Mohawk Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Mohawk spellings we have used on our site, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites.

˜Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
a		a	Like the a in father.
a:	a, a·	a	Like the a in father, only held longer.
e		ε ~ e	Like the e in get or the a in gate.
e:	e, e·	e	Like the a in gate, only held longer.
i		i	Like the i in police.
i:	i, i·	i	Like the i in police, only held longer.
o		o	Like the o in note.
o:	o, o·	o	Like the o in note, only held longer.

˜Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels don't really exist in English, but you may be familiar with them from French (or from hearing people speak English with a French accent.) They are pronounced just like oral ("regular") vowels, only using your nose as well as your mouth. To English speakers, a nasal vowel often sounds like a vowel with a half-pronounced "n" at the end of it. You can hear examples of nasal vowels at the end of the French words "bon" and "Jean," or in the middle of the word "Français."

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:
en	ę, , enh
en:	en, ę:, :
on	ų, , onh	ũ
on:	on, ų:, :	ũ

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
h		h	Like h in English hay.
k	g	g~k~k^h	Like g in gate, soft k in skate, or hard k in Kate.
kw	gw, khw	gw ~ kw	Like the gw in Gwen or the qu in queen.
r	l	l ~	Like r in right in some dialects, but like l in light in others.
n		n	Like n in night.
s	sh, c	s ~	Like s in sell. Before y or i it is pronounced more like the sh in shell.
t	d	d~t~t^h	Like d in die, soft t in sty, or hard t in tie.
ts	j, ch	ts~t~d	Like ts in tsunami. Before y or i it is pronounced more like the j in jar, and before hy or hi it is pronounced more like the ch in char.
w		w	Like w in way.
wh		f ~	Some Mohawk speakers pronounce this sound with the voiceless "breathy w" that many British speakers use in words like "which," but others pronounce it like the f in English fair.
y		j	Like y in yes.
’	, ?		A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."

Note that in this spelling system, h is always pronounced-- th is pronounced like the th in "outhouse," never the th in "think", and sh is pronounced like the sh in "mishap," not the sh in "shell."

˜Dialect Variation

In different Mohawk communities, the language is spoken slightly differently. The most noticeable difference is the letter r, which is pronounced as an l in Ahkwesahsne. Another difference is the pronunciation of ts. In Kahnawake, this sound is always pronounced like the ts in tsunami, but on other reserves it varies. A third difference is the pronunciation of the consonants k and t. In most dialects, these consonants are pronounced voiced (like English g and d) before a vowel. But in Tyendinaga, some speakers pronounce them as unaspirated voiceless consonants before some vowels (like k in English skate or t in English stake.) The differences between Mohawk dialects are comparable to the differences between English dialects spoken in Canada and the United States.

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