Everything about Mohawk Language totally explained
» This article is about the language spoken by the Mohawk people; for other uses, see Mohawk.
Mohawk is a
Native American language spoken by the
Mohawk nation in the
United States and
Canada. It is part of the
Iroquoian family.
Dialects
Mohawk has three major dialects: Western (Six Nations and Tyendinaga), Central (Ahkwesáhsne), and Eastern (Kahnawà:ke and Kanehsatà:ke); the differences between them are largely phonological. The pronunciation of /r/ and several consonant clusters may differ in the dialects.
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Underlying Phonology |
Western |
Central |
Eastern |
| seven | /tsjata/ |
[ˈʤaːda] |
[ˈʤaːda] |
[ˈʣaːda]
|
| nine | /tjohtu/ |
[ˈdjɔhdũ] |
[ˈgjɔhdũ] |
[ˈʤɔhdũ]
|
| I fall | /kjaʔtʌʔs/ |
[ˈgjàːdʌ̃ʔs] |
[ˈgjàːdʌ̃ʔs] |
[ˈʤàːdʌ̃ʔs]
|
| dog | /erhar/ |
[ˈɛɹhaɹ] |
[ˈɛlhal] |
[ˈɛɹhaɹ]
|
Phonology
The phoneme inventory is as follows (using the
International Phonetic Alphabet). Phonological representation (underlying forms) are in /slashes/, and the standard Mohawk orthography is in bold.
Consonants
An interesting feature of Mohawk (and Iroquoian) phonology is that there are no
labials, except in a few adoptions from French and English, where [m] and [p] appear (for example,
mátsis matches and
aplám Abraham); as such, these sounds are late additions to Mohawk phonology and were introduced after widespread European contact.
Consonant clusters in the Central (Ahkwesáhsne) dialect:
/-tt/, /kt/, /-ʔt/, /st/, /-ht/, /tk/, /kk/, /-ʔk/, /sk/, /-hk/, /-ʔʤ/, /-hʤ/, /ts/, /ks/, /-ʔs/, /-ss/, /-hs/, /th/, /kh/, /sh/, /-nh/, /-lh/, /-wh/, /-ʔn/, /sn/, /-hn/, /-ʔl/, /sl/, /hl/, /-nl/, /-ʔj/, /ʤj/, /sj/, /-hj/, /nj/, /-lj/, /-ʔw/, /sw/, /-hw/.
Those clusters preceded by a hyphen only occur word-medially; the others occur both initially and medially.
The consonants /k/, /kw/, /t/, /ts/ are pronounced voiced before any voiced sound (for example a vowel or /j/). They are voiceless at the end of a word or before a voiceless sound. /s/ is voiced word initially and between vowels.
» car –
kà:sere [ˈgàːzɛrɛ]
that –
thí:ken [ˈthiːgʌ̃]
» hello, still –
shé:kon [ˈshɛːgũ]
Note that
th and
sh are pronounced as consonant clusters,
not single sounds like in English
thing and
she.
Vowels
i,
e,
a, and
o are
oral vowels, while
ʌ̃ and
ũ (see ) are
nasalized; oral versions of
ʌ̃ and
ũ don't occur in the language.
Orthography
The Mohawk alphabet consists of only twelve letters:
a e h i k n o r s t w y. The orthography was standardized in 1993. The standard allows for some variation of how the language is represented, most notably:, and the clusters /ts(i)/, /tj/, and /ky/ are written as pronounced in each community. The orthography matches the phonological analysis as above except:
- The glottal stop /ʔ/ is written with an apostrophe ’, it's often omitted at the end of words, especially in Eastern dialect where it's typically not pronounced.
- /dʒ/
- /dʒ/ is written ts in the Eastern dialect (reflecting pronunciation). Seven is tsá:ta [dzaːda].
- /dʒ/ is written tsi in the Central dialect. Seven is tsiá:ta [dʒaːda].
- /dʒ/ is written tsy in the Western dialect. Seven is tsyá:ta [dʒaːda].
- /j/
- /j/ is typically written i in the Central and Eastern dialects. Six is ià:ia’k [jàːjaʔk].
- /j/ is usually written y in the Western dialect. Six is yà:ya’k [jàːjaʔk].
- The vowel /ʌ̃/ is written en, as in one énska [ʌ̃ska].
- The vowel /ũ/ is written on, as in eight sha’té:kon [shaʔdɛːgũ].
Stress, length, and tone
Stress, vowel length and tone are linked together in Mohawk. There are three kinds of stressed vowels: short-high tone, long-high tone, and long-falling tone. Stress is always written and only occurs once per word.
Short-high tone usually (but not always) appears in closed syllables or before /h/. It is written with an acute accent: stick kánhia, road oháha.
Long-high tone generally occurs in open syllables. It is written with a combination acute accent and colon: town kaná:ta, man rón:kwe. Notice that when it's one of the nasal vowels which is long, the colon appears after the n.
Long-falling tone is the result of the word stress falling on a vowel which comes before a /ʔ/ or /h/ + a consonant (there may be, of course, exceptions to this and other rules). The underlying /ʔ/ or /h/ reappears when stress is placed elsewhere. It is written with a grave accent and colon: stomach onekwèn:ta (from /onekwʌʔta/).
Grammar
Mohawk expresses a large number of pronominal distinctions: person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular, dual, plural), gender (masculine, feminine/indefinite, feminine/neuter) and inclusivity/exclusivity on the first person dual and plural. Pronominal information is encoded in prefixes on the verbs; separate pronoun words are used for emphasis. There are three main paradigms of pronominal prefixes: subjective (with dynamic verbs), objective (with stative verbs), and transitive.
Current number of speakers
As of 1994 there were approximately 3,000 speakers of Mohawk, primarily in Quebec, Ontario and western New York.
Learning Mohawk
A few resources are available for self-study of Mohawk by a person with no or limited access to native speakers of Mohawk. Here is a collection of some resources currently available:
Kanyen'keha Tewatati (Let's Speak Mohawk) by David Kanatawakhon Maracle (ISBN 0-88432-723-X) (Book and 3 companion tapes are available from Audio Forum
) (high school/college level)
A Grammar of Akwesasne Mohawk by Nancy Bonvillain (Available from Schoenhofs) (professional level)
Sathahitáhkhe' Kanien'kéha (Introductory Level Mohawk Language Textbook, Eastern Dialect) by Chris W. Harvey (ISBN 0-968-38142-1; available from Schoenhofs) (high school/college level)
Kanien'kéha Iakorihonnién:nis by Josephine S. Horne (Book and 5 companion CDs are available from [email:kor@korkahnawake.orgKahnawà:ke Cultural Center]) (secondary/high school level)
Mohawk: A Teaching Grammar by Nora Deering & Helga Harries Delisle (Book and 6 companion tapes are available from [email:kor@korkahnawake.orgKahnawà:ke Cultural Center]) (high school/college level)Further Information
Get more info on 'Mohawk Language'.
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