Cayuga Spelling Manual

January 2007 version

Carrie Dyck and Alfred Keye

Acknowledgements

Special thanks are extended to the following people and groups for their advice on this spelling manual.

Alfred Keye for the sound bites and comments.

Lottie Keye, Frances Froman, and Amos Key, Jr. for many constructive comments.

Marianne Mithun and the late Reg Henry; this manual is based on their description of the Cayuga spelling system.

Participants of the 2005 spelling workshops held at the Woodland Cultural Centre; in particular, thanks to Tom and Tracy Deer.

This manual is made possible by SSHRC funding (grant #856-2004-1082). See the grant web page at http://www.mun.ca/~cayuga

Nyá:węh.

About this version of the spelling manual

This spelling manual is a revised and expanded version of the description originally occurring in:

Mithun, Marianne and Reg Henry. 1984. Watewayęstanih. A Cayuga teaching grammar. Brantford, Ontario: Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre.

This version of the spelling manual has been modified for the Henry orthography, and takes into account many comments provided by Cayuga speakers during spelling workshops that took place in the summer of 2005.

This version of the Cayuga spelling manual is also in html format. You can either print up the manual, or you can view it on your computer. The advantage of viewing it on your computer is that you can also listen to many of the example Cayuga words.

If you’re using this manual on your computer, you can e-mail Carrie Dyck with any comments. If you’re connected to the internet, just click on the following link: cdyck@mun.ca.

How to see and hear this manual

The Cayuga and IPA letters in this manual are displayed in unicode, and the sounds are played with Macromedia's Flash Player. In order to see and hear things right, you may need to do some fiddling around with your computer. Please consult with your resident computer expert, or check out this instruction page.

The Henry Orthography

The Henry orthography was created by the late Reg Henry (Sagohędéhta⁷).

(The first sound in Reg Henry’s name is an aspirated < s >, which sounds like an < s > followed by an < h >. In the linguistic orthography, Reg’s name would be spelled Shakohętéhtha⁷.)

Reg was a fluent speaker of Cayuga, Onondaga, and English (among other languages), and was also a natural linguist.

The Henry orthography is widely used by Cayuga speakers at Six Nations. There is also a linguistic writing system, which is used in academic articles.

Example (1) shows the main differences between the Henry and linguistic writing systems.

(1) The Henry and linguistic orthographies compared

At the end of words, both writing systems use < t > or < k >, but not < th > or < kh >.

If you’re familiar with other writing systems, you’ll notice that the linguistic orthography has a lot in common with the Mohawk and Oneida writing systems, as the examples in (2) show.

(2) Comparison of writing systems

Some background notes about this manual

Sometimes, it is necessary to make a distinction between letters (or written symbols) and how they are pronounced. For this reason, letters in the Henry orthography will be written between angle brackets; for example, < d > means ‘the written letter D in the Henry orthography’. In contrast, to describe the exact pronunciation of a letter, symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) will used; the letters from the IPA will be written between square brackets; for example, [ ɑ ] stands for ‘the vowel sound in lawn’.

If you want to learn more about the IPA, you can go to the following website, which has interactive charts: http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html. Or you can go to the website of the International Phonetic Association, which also has interactive charts and sound files illustrating what the letters of the IPA sound like: http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/ipa.html.

Cayuga Letters

In this section, you’ll find an overview of the letters and pronunciation markers used in the Henry orthography. In later sections, the pronunciation of each letter is described in greater detail.

The Cayuga vowel letters are listed in (3), and common vowel combinations are shown in (4).

(3) Vowels

            i                       u

            e, ę                   o, ǫ

            a

(4) Common vowel combinations

         ai, ae, aę, ao, aǫ, ea, ei, ęi, ęǫ ie, ię, iǫ, ia, oę, oi, ǫi

Vowels can be modified by two pronunciation markers or diacritics, which are shown in (5).

(5) Vowel pronunciation markers or diacritics

And finally, the Cayuga consonants are listed in (6).

(6) Consonants

            t,d                    k,g       ⁷ (glottal stop)

            s                                  h

            ts,j

            n

            r

            w         y

Rules for pronouncing the Cayuga letters are provided in the following sections. If you’re using the CD or web version of this manual, you can click on any word with a button beside it to hear what it sounds like.

Cayuga vowel sounds

Cayuga vowels can occur alone (see example 3) or in vowel combinations (as in 4). When they are alone, each Cayuga vowel has one main pronunciation. The main pronunciation for each vowel is described below.

Single vowels

a  [ ɑ ] sounds like the < a > in father

            sga:t one

            aha:k he ate it

            dasha: pass it here

e  [ e ]  sounds like the < e > in hey, or like the < ay > in way, say

            é:⁷ again

            ehswe:⁷ you all thought

i  [ i ]   sounds like the < i > in police, or like the < ea > in eat

            i:⁷ I, myself

            í:wi: I want

o  [ o ] sounds like the < o > in so, or like the < oa > in boat

            ó: oh

            ó:nęh now

u  [ u ] sounds like the < u > in blue, or like the < oo > in boot

            The [ u ] sound is rare; you are likely to hear it in just two words:

            niwú:⁷uh it is small

            niwu⁷drugyé:⁷ah it is narrow

However, there’s another case where you’ll hear a [ u ] sound: some people pronounce the following words with a [ u ] sound, while other people use an [ o ] sound instead. (Perhaps this is the Cayuga version of “You say ‘tomAYto’, I say ‘tomAHto’”)

         swanó⁷j⁷ageh, swanú⁷j⁷ageh on your (p) teeth

         swayo⁷tsá⁷geh, swayu⁷tsá⁷geh on your (p) chins

         dago:s, dagu:s cat ('dagu:s' is the preferred way to say this word)

         gonhe⁷ gunhe⁷ I am alive

Cayuga also has two nasal vowels. The nasal vowels can sound fairly different, depending on who is speaking.

ę  [ ɛ̃ ] some speakers pronounce < ę > like the < e > in English encounter, men; or like the nasal vowel sound in French frein brake.

ę [ ʌ̃ ] other speakers pronounce < ę > more like the < o > in English money or like the < u > in English pun.

            ęhę́:⁷ yes

            gę́:s generally

ǫ  [ õ ] some speakers pronounce < ǫ> like the < o > in English known, or like the nasal vowel sound in French don gift.

ǫ  [ ũ ] other speakers pronounce < ǫ> more like the < oo > in English noon.

            ǫ́:dǫh she is saying

            sǫ́:de⁷ last night

ę:, ǫ:   After long < ę:> and < ǫ: >, you might sometimes hear an [ n ]-like sound; the sound is especially obvious when the nasal vowels are before < t, d, k, g, ts, j >. For example, the word < nę:dah >here, take it! can sound a little bit like [ nę:ndah ] , and ęjéhęhs birthdays can sound a little bit like [ęnjéhęhs] .

            In contrast, you don’t usually hear the same [ n ]-like sound when < ę > and < ǫ > are short.

a  [ ɑ̃ ] There is one nasal vowel in Cayuga that doesn’t have a special spelling because it is only heard in a few words. You can hear this sound in the word hwa⁷ (as in the phrase ne⁷ hwa⁷ this one this time, this one next).

Vowels in combination

When vowels are combined, they can sound different from the way they sound when they are alone. For example, both < i > and < e > sound nearly the same in the < ai > and < ae > vowel combinations: they sound like [ ae ].

(7) < ai > and < ae > sound nearly the same

(The first < s > in daksáe⁷dohs stands for two sounds, [ s ] followed by [ h ].)

Here are some more notes on how other vowel combinations are pronounced:

First, there is an < i > sound in the following vowel combinations, < ei> and < ęi >. (It might be hard to hear the but it’s there!)

(8) Listen for the < i > sound

(The first < s > in a:yetsę́i⁷ stands for two sounds, [ s ] followed by [ h ].)

Next, some speakers use an < aǫ> vowel combination, while others use an < ęǫ > combination instead:

(9) < aǫ> or < ęǫ >

As well, some speakers say < iǫ> where others would say < iaǫ>. Similarly, some speakers say
< ię > while others would say < iaę>.

(10) Adding an < a > sound between two vowels

Finally, the following word is spelled < teá:ǫt > in the Cayuga Thematic Dictionary (Henry and Henry 1984). However, it is also pronounced as tí:aǫ:t.

(11) Muskrats

The remaining vowel combinations are relatively straightforward: they are pronounced as they are spelled. However, if the second < ę > or < i > is unaccented, it can sound a bit more like a
[ y ] sound.

(12) Other vowel combinations

Long versus short vowels

Long vowels take about twice as long to pronounce as short vowels. Long vowels are followed by a pronunciation marker called a lengthener (or colon).

In Cayuga the difference between long and short vowels is very important; in fact, sometimes length alone makes a difference in the meaning of a word (13).

(13) Vowel length can make a difference in meaning

Here are a few more remarks about long vowels.

As mentioned earlier, after long < ę⁷ > and < ǫ: >, you can sometimes hear an [ n ]-like sound; it is especially obvious when the nasal vowels are before < t, d, k, g, ts, j >. For example, the word < nę́:dah >here, take it! can sound a little bit like [ nę́:ndah ] .

Cayuga speakers also like to write a lengthener after vowel combinations, such as after < ae > in the following example. This makes sense, since vowel combinations are twice as long as a single vowel.

            satgǫhso̲háe: wash your face!

Finally, long vowels are often accented. (Of course, the words presented earlier in example 13 are exceptions to this statement!) Section §9 describes the conditions under which accented vowels can be long.

Consonants

Cayuga consonants usually have two main pronunciations each; for example < d > can sound like [ d ] before regular vowels, but it can also sound like [ t ] before whispered vowels. The main pronunciation rules for consonants are described in this section. Section §8 provides details about when to expect pronunciations that are different from the spelling.

d          sounds like [ d ] in dad before some consonants and before regular (voiced) vowels:

            drę́:na: skunk

            do:gá⁷ I don’t know

d          sounds like [ t ] before whispered (devoiced) vowels:

            de̲hadí:hwa̲hkwa⁷ choir         

            There are no < d >’s word-finally: you will see < t >’s instead:

            gra̲he:t tree

t           sounds like [ t ] in take

            sá:tǫ: lie down!

            sahsnęht get down!

g          sounds like hard [ g ] before some consonants and before regular (voiced) vowels:

            degrǫ⁷ eight

            agi⁷ I said

g          sounds like [ k ] before whispered (devoiced) vowels (even if there's a consonant between the < g > and the devoiced vowel:

            ga̲hsǫ́wa̲hda⁷ wire; nail; needle

            gra̲he:t tree

            There are no < g >’s word-finally: you will see < k >’s instead:

            aha:k he ate it

k          sounds like the [ k ] in king.

            knó:ha⁷ my mother

            odé:ka⁷ it is burning

s          sounds like the < sh > [ ʃ ] in shirt when it is before < y > or < r >:

            sa̲hsyǫ⁷ you returned (it is hard to hear the first syllable < sa̲ > in this word)

             ęhsrę⁷ you will set it on something

s          sounds like the [ s ] in sing almost everywhere else:

            só:wa:s dog

            sgę́:nǫ⁷ hello

s          might sound like a [ z ] in some words, especially when the < s > is between vowels. However, the following word is a counterexample:

            í:so⁷ many, lots

h          sounds like [ h ] in hello.

            knó:ha⁷ my mother

            hahdo:s he dives

h          is an important consonant in Cayuga, and it’s important to pronounce any < h >’s you see in the Cayuga spelling. Notice, for example, that Cayuga can have an < h > sound at the end of a word, as in shę́h how . In contrast, English never has an < h > sound at the end of the word.

            For a more detailed description of pronunciation changes involving syllables with < h >, see §8.4 and §8.5

sh        is a bit complicated. First, let’s talk about what < sh > does not sound like: in English, the < sh > spelling stands for the first sound in the word shirt; in contrast, the < sh > spelling never stands for this sound in Cayuga.

sh        Next, let’s talk about the linguistic orthography. (Recall from §3 that the linguistic orthography for Cayuga is a bit different from the Henry orthography.) The linguistic orthography has an < sh > spelling. It sounds like an [ s ] followed by an [ h ], as in the phrase less heat. For example, the following two words are spelled the linguistic way.

            shę́h how (This word is also written as tsę́h, in which case it is pronounced as [ tshę́h ].)

            shehó:wi: tell her

s          In contrast, the same sounds — the [ s ] sound followed by the [ h ] sound — are often just spelled with an < s > in the Henry orthography. The following two words are spelled the ‘Henry way.’

            sę́h how

            sehó:wi: tell her

            As you can see, the Henry orthography has no way to spell the difference between a plain [ s ] sound and the sounds [ s ] followed [ h ]. This isn’t a bad thing, but if you’re trying to sound out a Cayuga word that is spelled the Henry way, you will have to get a speaker to pronounce the word for you so that you can tell whether to pronounce just an [ s ], or an [ s ] followed by an [ h ].

j           can sound like the < j > [ dʒ ] in judge, or like the soft < g > in Gerald, especially before the vowels < i > and < e >; it can also sound like the [ dz ] sound in adze or the < ds > in leads, especially before the vowels < a > and < o >. However, speakers will also use either one of the two < j > sounds with no difference in meaning. (Maybe this is another ‘tomAYto — tomAHto’ difference.)

            onajagę́:t rice

            ęjéhehs birthdays

            ęhsna⁷jó:dę⁷ you will boil something

j           can sound like the < ch > [ tʃ ] in church, or like the < ts > in cats before whispered vowels:

            jo̲hsí⁷da:t one

             jo̲hsra:t one year

ts         is the spelling for three consonants, [ t ], [ s ], and [ h ], as in the phrase let’s hit.

            gadi:tsé:nę⁷ farm animals

            tsiséde̲hjih earlier this morning

n          sounds like the [ n ] in nod.

            ne:⁷ it is that

            í:nǫh it is far

n          sounds like the < n > [ n̥ ] in snore before < h > or whispered vowels:

            gǫnhe⁷ I am alive

            deganǫ̲hsá:ge: two houses

r          [ ɹ ] sounds like the [ r ] in unrest, drain, or grow:

            onráhda⁷ leaf

            gwadre:⁷ my grandchild

            o⁷gra⁷ snow; snowflake

r           sounds like the < r > [ ɹ̥ ] in train in the < tr > spelling, or when < dr > is before a whispered vowel:

            atriht you broke

            hęnódra̲hta⁷ they (m) sprinkle on

r           sounds like the < r > [ ɹ̥ ] in creek in the < kr > spelling, or when < gr > is before a whispered vowel:

             ękrę⁷ I will set it

            gra̲he:t tree

w         sounds like the [ w ] in wash:

            wa⁷ne:⁷ today

            ǫ́:wi: I think so

w         sounds like the < w > [ w̥ ] in swish, or like the sound you make when you blow out a candle, before whispered vowels:

            wa̲hshę: ten

             niyohwi̲hsdá⁷e: o’clock

hw       sounds like < h > followed by < w > (the same sounds you hear at the beginning of words such as what and which in some varieties of British English):

            hwihs five

            ganéhwa⁷ hide; animal skin

y          sounds like the < y > in yes:

            í:yę: she wants, wishes

            ó:ya⁷ other

y          sounds like the < y > [ j̥ ] in the expression ‘Can I help you?’ or like the [ y ] before the ‘oo’ sound in English pure or cure, when it’s before whispered vowels.

            gyo̲hdǫ: nine

            dę⁷ ni̲hságye̲ha⁷? what are you doing?

hy        sounds like [ h ] followed by [ y ]. You can also hear these sounds before the ‘oo’ sound in English human or humour in some types of English:

            hyéi:⁷ six

            ohya⁷ fruit, berries

⁷           is the glottal stop [ ʔ ] (some people call this a slow marker). This sound can be heard in English before the vowels in the words uh-uh (meaning no) and oh-oh (meaning oops), but English does not spell the glottal stop. When you pronounce a glottal stop, you might be able to feel the vocal folds deliberately closing in your Adam’s apple.

            ha⁷nih my father

            onǫ́⁷a:⁷ a head

⁷           In Cayuga, the glottal stop is as important as any other consonant; for example, it can make the difference between a statement and a command:

            satgǫhso̲háe: wash your face! (command; no glottal stop at the end)

            asatgǫhsóhae:⁷ you have washed your face (statement; ends with a glottal stop)

            Another language that uses glottal stop for a consonant is Hawai’ian.

A more detailed description of pronunciation changes involving syllables with glottal stop can be found in the following sections.

Syllables with h or glottal stop

Syllables ending with < h > or glottal stop < ⁷ > can sound quite different from the way they are spelled. Syllables ending with < h > can be whispered, while syllables ending with < ⁷ > can undergo several types of pronunciation changes — to give one example, the glottal stop < ⁷ > sound can disappear in such syllables.

In order to describe the sound changes, the next section describes what a syllable is. Then, the following section describes where you can expect to hear syllables that are pronounced differently from the way they are spelled. Finally, the remaining sections provide examples of how syllables with < h > or glottal stop < ⁷ > are spelled and pronounced.

What is a syllable?

A syllable always contains a vowel, and can (but don’t have to) begin or end with a consonant (or two). Example (14) lists some of the most common syllables of Cayuga.

(14) Common Cayuga syllables

Cayuga has many more syllables than the ones listed in (14): for one thing, the table in (14) doesn’t list any syllables ending with a consonant. You can add almost any consonant to the syllables listed in (14) in order to create more syllables. For example, you can create syllables such as < da⁷>, < dah >, < dak >, < dahs >, < dat >, or < dan > by adding consonants to end of the syllable < da >. (Any syllable ending with an < n >, such as < dan >, will always be followed by an < r > or by a < y >.)

When do syllables sound different from the way they are spelled?

Syllables can (but might not) sound different from the way they are spelled if all three of the following conditions are met:

    -the syllable ends with < h > or glottal stop < ⁷ >and

    -the syllable is not accented and

    -the syllable is ‘odd-numbered’. To find out if it is odd-numbered, count from the beginning of the word: the first, third, fifth, etc. syllable is odd-numbered.

Even if the above conditions are true, there are regular exceptions — cases where the syllable still sounds just the way it is spelled:

    -The last syllable of the word always sounds the way it is spelled, even if it is odd-numbered.

    -A syllable that begins with < h > or glottal stop < ⁷ > sounds just the way it is spelled (even if it ends with < h > or glottal stop …)

    -If the first syllable of the word begins with a vowel, it sounds just the way it is spelled (even if it ends with < h > or glottal stop…)

The Henry orthography has a way of ‘warning’ the reader that a syllable is pronounced differently than it is spelled: for syllables ending in < h >, the vowel is underlined; for syllables ending with glottal stop < ⁷ >, the glottal stop is either deleted or moved leftwards when spelling words: Cayuga speakers tend to delete the glottal stop < ⁷ >, and linguists tend to move it instead, but these aren’t hard-and-fast rules.

The pronunciation changes described in the following section are collectively known to linguists as ‘Laryngeal Metathesis’. A more technical description of Laryngeal Metathesis can be found in this article:

Foster, Michael.  1982.  Alternating weak and strong syllables in Cayuga words.  International Journal of American Linguistics 48, 1:59-72.

Examples (and other exceptions) are provided in following sections.

Why do syllables sometimes sound different from the way they are spelled?

Sometimes syllables such as < dǫ̲h > or < de̲h > can sound just like a [ t ] (an example where < de̲h > sounds like a [ t ] is shown in 15): the spelling is quite different from the pronunciation! The reason why the spelling is so different from the pronunciation lies in the meaning:

(15) Spelling and meaning

      de̲hęnáǫha⁷ they (males only) are racing

      degęnáǫha⁷ they (animals) are racers

Pairs of words like de̲hęnáǫha⁷ and degęnáǫha⁷ in (15) are related in the sense that they have very similar meanings. The Henry orthography, like other writing systems, obeys the following rule of thumb:

(16) Words (or parts of words) that are nearly identical in meaning have very similar spellings.

One advantage of the rule of thumb in (16) is that it makes it easier to ‘see’ the parts of the word. To illustrate, compare examples (17) and (18). (The terms ‘phonemic’ and ‘phonetic’ have been added for those of you who have a linguistics background.) The words in (17) are spelled in a more meaning-based way, while the words in (18) are spelled more like they are pronounced.

(17) Meaning-based spelling (more phonemic)

            de̲-hęn-áǫha⁷              de-gęn-áǫha⁷             

(18) Sound-based spelling (more phonetic)

            t-ęn-áǫha⁷                   de-gęn-aǫha⁷

Notice that it’s fairly easy to figure out the parts of the word in (17) from the spelling, but it’s not so obvious in (18). In (17), the de- and -aǫha⁷ parts together mean ‘are racing’; the -hęn- part means ‘they (males only)’ and the -gęn- part means ‘they (animals).’ In (18), it’s harder to see the part of the word that means ‘they (males only)’.

There are advantages to both ways of spelling. Reg Henry designed the spelling system so that it reflected the meaning more than the pronunciation.

More details on the pronunciation of syllables with an < h > or with a glottal stop < ⁷ > are provided in the following sections.

Syllables ending with h

To get an idea about what kinds of pronunciation changes can affect syllables ending with < h >, here are some examples of whispered and regular syllables. (You can listen to these if you’re using the html version of this manual on your computer. Listen especially to the bolded syllables.)

(19) Whispered and regular syllables, compared

After you have compared the whispered and regular syllables, you will notice that in the whispered syllables:

    -Whispered syllables can sound just like single a consonant (as in de̲hęnáǫha⁷ or ehyádǫ̲hkwa⁷). For example, the syllables < de̲h > and  < dǫh > can sound just like a
[ t ].

    -Regular < g > can sound like < k > when it’s whispered (as in gǫ̲hswáhęhs).

    -Regular < d > can sound like < t > when it’s whispered (as in ehyádǫ̲hkwa⁷).

    -The < h > disappears as a separate sound in whispered syllables (as in ehyádǫ̲hkwa⁷).

    -Particularly at the beginning of the word, it can be hard to even hear a whispered syllable (as in sa̲hsgá:ne:s).

You can see that whispered syllables often sound very different from the way they are spelled. Some particularly difficult cases are described in the next section.

Two vowels with an < h > in between

The pronunciation of two vowels with an < h > in between is quite different from the spelling, particularly when the first vowel is whispered. In fact, two vowels with an < h > in between can often sound more like a single vowel than two.

The words in the following examples were chosen to help you focus in on the pronunciation of vowels with an < h > in between. If you are using the html version of this manual, you can click on the buttons in order to hear the words.

The words in (20) illustrate the pronunciation of whispered < i̲h > and < e̲h >. The words in the first column in (20) have a whispered syllable followed by a regular one (in bold). In contrast, the words in last the column in (20) have two regular syllables in bold. The words in the middle column are the same as the words in the first column, except that the words in the middle column are spelled more like they are pronounced.  Notice that whispered i̲h and e̲h can sound like a whispered ‘y’ (as in niyokde̲hú:⁷uh). (You can also hear a whispered ‘y’ sound after the ‘f’ in fjord, after the ‘c’ in cure, or after the ‘p’ in pure; however, the ‘y’ sound isn’t spelled out in cure and pure.)

(For the words marked with an asterisk, the accent placement is an exception to the rules described in a later section.

(20) Comparison of whispered < îh, éh > and regular < ih, eh >

The words in (21) illustrate the pronunciation of whispered < √h >. The main thing to notice here is that the whispered syllables can just sound like a single consonant (as in deyagwi̲hsragę̲hé:yǫ: and howęhgę̲hę:⁷). Also note that < j > can sound like a ‘ch’ [ tʃ ] (as in sadejęhí:yohs), < g > like a [ k ] (as in howę́hgę̲hę:⁷), and < d > like  [ t ] (as in degahsdęhodá:gye⁷).

(21) Comparison of whispered < ę̲h > and regular < ęh >

The words in (22) illustrate the pronunciation of whispered < ǫ̲h > and < o̲h >. Notice that whispered ǫ̲h and o̲h can sound like a whispered ‘w’ (as in dwaknigǫ̲hí:yo:). (You can also hear a whispered ‘w’ sound after the < s > in swish, after the < t > in twenty, or after the < q > in queen; however, the [w] sound is spelled as a < u > in queen.) One interesting point to note is that < gǫ̲ha⁷ > in words such as g⁷anígǫ̲ha⁷ sound like [ kwɑ̃ ]; the [ ɑ̃ ] sound is the same nasal vowel as in the French word an year.

You’ll also notice that, as before, < d > sounds like [ t ], etc., and two syllables sound like one (as in ęhohdoga⁷dǫ̲hǫ́:gye⁷).

(22) Comparison of whispered < ǫ̲h, o̲h > and regular < ǫh, oh >

Finally, the words in (23) illustrate the pronunciation of whispered < a̲h >. The main points to notice are that, as before, < gr > sounds like [ kr ] (as in gra̲hé:t), etc., and two syllables can sound like one (as in dehsáhya̲hiht).

(23) Comparison of whispered < a̲h > and regular < ah >

By now, you’ve probably noticed several endings that are spelled the same, but which sound quite different. Here are the most common ones:

(24) Comparison of pronunciation and spelling of two endings

The examples in (24) also illustrate the principle (in example 16) that words (or parts of words) should be spelled similarly if they have similar meanings. The words hadihǫwa⁷ge̲hó:nǫ⁷ and hahędagehó:nǫ⁷ both have the same ending (which means something like people of the or people who live in a certain place); the ending sounds quite different in these words, though, because the first syllable of the ending is whispered in hadihǫwa⁷ge̲hó:nǫ⁷ but not in hahędagehó:nǫ⁷. The words ęhohdoga⁷dǫ̲hǫ́:gye⁷ and go̲hdogadáhǫgye⁷ share two endings -dǫh-ǫgye⁷, which collectively mean go along doing something. The words howę́hgę̲hę:⁷ and agawęgę́hę:⁷ share the ending -gęhę:⁷, which means formerly or used to be.

Disappearing or hard-to-hear glottal stops

The words in the following examples were chosen to help you focus in on the pronunciation of syllables ending with a glottal stop < ⁷ >. You should listen to the following examples, especially to the bolded syllables.

(25) Disappearing versus non-disappearing glottal stops

Once you have compared the two types of syllables, you will notice that in the syllables with a disappearing glottal stop you can sometimes hear a trace of the glottal stop:

    -Sometimes the consonant before the glottal stop has a ‘popped’ release sound.

    -Sometimes the vowel after the glottal stop sounds ‘swallowed’.

You can see that syllables with a disappearing glottal stop often sound very different from the way they are spelled. More examples are described in the next section.

Two vowels with a glottal stop in between

The pronunciation of two vowels with a glottal stop < ⁷ > in between can be quite different from the spelling; in particular, the first vowel can sound ‘swallowed’. In fact, two vowels with a glottal stop < ⁷ > in between can sound more like a single vowel than two.

The words in the following examples were chosen to help you to focus in on the pronunciation of vowels with a glottal stop < ⁷ > in between. If you are using the html version of this manual, you can click on the buttons in any column in order to hear the sound.

(26) Comparison of syllables with a disappearing glottal stop and syllables with a non-disappearing glottal stop

After listening to the sounds, you will notice that:

    -It can be hard to hear the syllable with the disappearing glottal stop (as in ga̲⁷áhdra⁷).

    -Consonants in the syllable containing the disappearing glottal stop can sound different from the spelling: < g > can sound like [ k ] (as in ageg⁷éaji:h), and < d > can sound like [ t ] (as in sayę́de̲⁷ǫh).

Recall from section §8.2 that disappearing glottal stops are most likely to be heard in odd-numbered syllables ending with a glottal stop. However, this is not a hard and fast rule: sometimes there is no difference between the pronunciation of odd-numbered and even-numbered syllables ending with a glottal stop. For example, the pronunciation of the syllable
< rę⁷> in hodidrę⁷í:ga:⁷ and odrę⁷í:ga:⁷ is identical, even though the syllable < rę⁷ > is odd-numbered in the case of hodidrę⁷í:ga:⁷, and even-numbered in the case of odrę⁷í:ga:⁷. Here are some more examples:

(27) No disappearing glottal stops, even in odd-numbered syllables

So far, we’ve looked at Cayuga consonant and vowel pronunciation. Now we’ll discuss which vowel gets the accent marker < ´ > and the lengthener.

Accent and length

Most words have an accented vowel — a vowel which is pronounced with higher pitch. (Some shorter words have no accented vowel; these words are described later.)

The ‘C’ and ‘D’ notes on a musical scale are examples of what pitch is; the difference between ‘C’ and ‘D’ is a difference in pitch, and ‘D’ has a higher pitch than ‘C’.

The pronunciation marker or diacritic for an accented vowel is the acute accent mark  < ´ >, also sometimes called a stress point.

This section describes where to put the accent mark, or where accent occurs in words. The description only applies to situations where the speaker is making a fairly neutral statement — the speaker isn’t asking a question, isn’t too emotional, isn’t emphasizing the word, etc. You can find more information about non-neutral statements in a later section.

Here are some rules of thumb about accent placement. (Examples are provided later.)

(28) Rules of thumb for accent placement

a.         Words which are pronounced alone or “in isolation” have a non-final accent: accent does not fall on the final syllable;

b.         Words the end of a phrase also have a non-final accent;

c.         Words which are not at the end of a phrase have a final accent: accent is on the final syllable of the word.

‘Non-final accent’ means an accent that falls on the second-last vowel, the third-last vowel, or even on the fourth vowel from the end of the word. Some examples are provided in (29), and the rules for non-final accent placement are described in detail in a later section.

(29) Examples of non-final accent placement

a.         Accent falls on the vowel that is second from the end

           hahá:wi⁷ he is carrying it

           hodá:wę⁷ he has swum

           hahé:ha⁷ he sets it

b.         Accent falls on the vowel that is third from the end

           ohnéganohs water

           dewáhǫhde:s deer

          saya⁷dodrǫhgwáǫnihs you are always shivering

c.         Accent can sometimes fall on the vowel that is fourth from the end; in the following word, it falls on the third-to-last vowel, but in this word, it has the potential to fall on the fourth-to-last vowel, depending on the speaker.

           ganagaéda̲hkwa⁷ a whistle

‘Final accent’ means that accent is on the last vowel of the word. Examples (30) and (31) illustrate the difference between final and non-final accent. In example (30), the accent is on the final vowel of aga:tǫ:dé⁷ because this word is not at the end of the phrase.

(30) Final accent placement

         Aga:tǫ:dé⁷ tsǫ:, tę⁷ ni:⁷ degé:gę:⁷.

        I just heard it, I didn’t see it.

In contrast, example (31) shows that the same word has a non-final accent (aga:tǫ́:de⁷) when it is at the end of a phrase.

(31) Non-final accent for words that are at the end of a phrase

       Negitsǫ́: aga:tǫ́:de⁷ I just heard it

There are a few complications: for one, some words can have a final accent, but can’t have a non-final accent. Some examples are shown in (32): instead of having a non-final accent (an accent on the second-to-last vowel), these words can have no accent.

(32) Accentless words

a.         dasha: here, take this

b.         hahdo:s he dives

However, the same words can have a final accent under certain conditions. For example, while the word ahsęh in (32) is accentless when it is pronounced alone, the same word has a final accent when it is not at the end of a phrase, as shown in (33). (Here, the phrase has just two words in it.)

(33) ahsę́h niwáhshę: thirty

Another complication for the description of accent placement is particles. (Particles are small words with only one vowel.) Normally, particles can be accented when they are pronounced in isolation, as shown in (34).

(34) Examples of particles, accented when pronounced in isolation

         tę́⁷ not

         ní:⁷ I, me

In contrast, groups of particles in a phrase tend to share one accent — that is, only one of the particles in a particle group has the accent. (For this reason, some Cayuga speakers sometimes spell particle groups as if they were one word, which is kind of like English speakers spelling cannot as one word).

To illustrate, the particle groups in (35), which have been taken out of their sentence contexts, contain three particles each. The particle tsǫ: is accented in (35.a) while the same particle tsǫ: is unaccented in (35.b). Basically, the particle group in (35.a) is accented as if it were a single word with final accent. In contrast, the particle group in (35.b) is accented just like a word with non-final accent: the only difference is that the particle groups in (35) contain several words (particles) each.

(35) Accent in particle groups

a.         Negitsǫ́:… it’s just that &hellip; (non-phrase-final particle group; consists of ne⁷ gi⁷ tsǫ:)

b.         gyę⁷nétsǫ:, … just that, … (phrase-final particle group; consists of gyę⁷ ne⁷ tsǫ:)

So, to summarize, there are basically two types of accent: final and non-final. The rule for final accent replacement is easy:

(36) Rule for final accent placement: accent the final vowel of words that are not at the end of a phrase.

In contrast, the rules for non-final accent placement are fairly complicated, since either the second-last, third-last, or fourth-last vowel can be accented. The rules are described in the following section.

Non-final accent placement

In this section, we’ll see not only where the accent mark goes, but also where the vowel lengthener goes: accented vowels — and vowels preceding the accented one — are sometimes long, and there are rules to describe this.

First of all, it’s important to consider the second-to-last vowel: most of the time, that vowel is accented, but not always. To find out if it is or not, we need to ask a few questions such as: is the second-to-last vowel even-numbered or odd-numbered? To find this out, we need to count from the beginning of the word: for example, the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc., vowel from the beginning of the word is even-numbered.

Now, if the second-to-last vowel is even-numbered, it is accented. It’s that simple!

The rules for the lengthener are a bit more complicated, though. An even-numbered, second-to-last vowel will also have a lengthener, but only if it is followed by a consonant… as long as the consonant is not< h > or glottal stop < ⁷ >. This is beginning to sound complicated, so let’s use a decision-tree to figure out where to put the accent marker and the lengthener. (See 37.)

(37) Decision-tree for deciding where to put the accent mark and lengthener

The rules in example (37) work for most words, but there are several exceptions, which are described in the following sections.

Words without an accent

What happens if there is no third-to-last vowel to accent? In this case, the word is sometimes pronounced without any accent; at other times, the final vowel of such words is accented. Here are some examples and explanations.

(38) Accentless words

a.         dasha: here, take this The first vowel is second-to-last and odd-numbered. It is followed by a consonant cluster, < sh >, and so the third-to-last vowel should be accented. However, there is no third-to-last vowel, so this word is acc.

b.         hahdo:s he dives The first vowel is second-to-last and odd-numbered. However, it is also the vowel < a > and so the third-to-last vowel should be accented instead. Since there is no third-to-last vowel, this word remains without accent.

(38) Words that can be accentless, or accented on the final vowel

a.         ohya⁷ berries (no accent)

b.         ohyá⁷ berries (final accent)

The vowel-to-be-accented is immediately preceded by another vowel

Here’s a small addition to the rules in (37): if the vowel-to-be-accented is immediately preceded by another vowel, then the accent shifts to that vowel. ‘Immediately preceded’ means that there is no consonant between the accented vowel and the vowel right before it. An example is provided in (39). 

(39) If the vowel that is normally accented according to the rules  in (37) is immediately preceded by another vowel, then the accent can shift to the preceding vowel (that is, the fourth-to-last vowel). In the following word, it falls on the third-to-last vowel, but in this word, it has the potential to fall on the fourth-to-last vowel, depending on the speaker.

         ganagáeda̲hkwa⁷a whistle  The second-to-last, odd-numbered vowel < e > would normally be accented, but since it is immediately preceded by another vowel, < a > in this case, the < a > can be accented instead. (However, in this speaker's pronunciation, the third-to-last vowel is accented.)

Just plain exceptions

There are always exceptions to accent placement! Some common exceptions are listed in example (40). 

(40) Exceptions

a.         Vowels before the endings -k⁷ah and -s⁷ah are always accented and long (even when odd-numbered).

            ganǫhsá:k⁷ah beside the house

            onǫhsatgí:s⁷ah an ugly house

b.         The first vowel of the ending -shǫ́:⁷ǫh /-sǫ́:⁷ǫh or -shǫ́:⁷ah / -sǫ́:⁷ah is always accented and long, even when odd-numbered.

            gwęni̲hshǫ́:⁷ǫh change (money)

c.         The vowels in some words are always accented and long, regardless of whether they are odd- or even-numbered, even if they are followed by < h > or < ⁷ >.

            knó:ha⁷ my mother

            hahé:ha⁷ he sets it

d.         The vowel < a > can sometimes be accented and lengthened even when it is odd-numbered, as long as it is followed by only one consonant; this is particularly true if
< a > is the first vowel of a two-vowel word.

            gá:yę⁷ it is lying there

            sá:węh it is yours

Non-neutral statements

The rules (and exceptions) described earlier only apply to the way Cayuga speakers talk when they are making neutral statements. If speakers are being emphatic, or asking a question, etc., things can change. Here are some examples.

One type of exception has to do with emphasized words. As shown in (41), people often say do:gá⁷ with final accent, even when the word is by itself. (This is an exception to the rule in 28.a). Similarly, they might accent í:⁷ in the phrase Do: í:⁷ . In both cases, it seems that words that are emphasized can have a final accent.

 (41) Non-neutral statements (emphasis)

a.         Do:gá⁷ I don’t know

b.         Do: í:⁷ Let me (do it)!

Another type of accent pattern can happen with questions. As shown in (42), “[ in questions ] the tone [or pitch] of voice is perfectly level, not falling at the end the way it does in statements.  This … is often the only difference between a statement and a question.” (Mithun and Henry 1984:27; emphasis added). Based on this description, we can say that words at the end of a question might not have any accent at all. (In contrast, recall from 28.b that such words would normally have a non-final accent.)

(42) Level pitch in questions (Mithun and Henry 1984:35; orthography modified)

However, in some questions, the final word is accented:

(43) Final accent (high pitch) in questions

For further reference

If you know another Ǫgwehǫ́:weh language such as Mohawk, you will notice that Cayuga accent placement is more complicated than in Mohawk, where typically, the second-to-last vowel is accented. (There are exceptions in Mohawk, of course, but usually the third-to-last vowel is accented if the second-to-last isn’t.) This is one of the major differences between Mohawk and Cayuga. Another major difference is Cayuga’s whispered syllables and the syllables with disappearing glottal stops (see §8): glottal stops can disappear in Mohawk, but not in the same way as in Cayuga. If you want to learn more about the differences between Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida accent, etc., the following book is an excellent source:

Michelson, K. 1988. A comparative study of Lake-Iroquoian accent. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.