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Mohegan/Pequot Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

Welcome to our Mohegan alphabet page! The Mohegan orthography we have used is the one developed by the language revival program of the Mohegan tribe. Native Americans from other tribes with the same ancestral language, such as the Pequot, Niantic, Shinnecock and Montaukett, may use different spellings. Since the Mohegan language was traditionally unwritten, the spellings of Mohegan words in English can sometimes vary a lot. The following charts show the pronunciation for the orthography on our website, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites. You may also like to visit our Algonquian languages homepage to see how Mohegan relates to other languages from the Algonquian family.

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Mohegan Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Mohegan pronunciation:
a		a	Like the a in father.
á	aa, a:, o	a	Like the a in father, only held longer.
i	ii, ee	i	Like the i in police.
o	u, ou, oo	u	Like the u in flute.
ô	8, oⁿ, o, ou		This vowel does not exist in English. The Mohegan pronunciation sounds a little like aw in dawn, but nasalized like the end of the French words bon and Jean.
u	e		Like the u in cut.

Mohegan Diphthongs

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Mohegan pronunciation:
áw	aw, ow, au	aw	Like ow in English cow.
áy	ay, ai	aj	Like English eye.

Mohegan Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	Mohegan pronunciation:
c	ch, č, j	t	Like the soft ch in mischief.
h		h	Like h in English hay.
k	g	k	Like the soft k in skate.
l		l	Like l in English light.
m		m	Like m in English moon.
n		n	Like n in English night.
p	b	p	Like the soft p in spill.
q	kw	kw~k^w	Usually it is pronounced like the soft qu in square. At the end of a word, it is pronounced more like k with a puff of air after it.
s	z	s ~ z	Like s in Sue or z in zoo.
sh	š, sch, ch		Like sh in shy.
t	d	t	Like the soft t in star.
w		w	Like w in English way.
y		j	Like y in English yes.

Mohegan-Pequot Pronunciation and Vocabulary Resources

   Mohegan words
   Mohegan picture dictionary
   Mohegan body words
   Mohegan numbers
   Algonquian history
   Eastern Woodland Native Americans
   Native Americans of Connecticut