Mohawk language
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{{language |name=Mohawk |familycolor=American |states=United States, Canada |region=Southern Quebec and Quebec and northern New York |speakers=3,350 (Ethnologue) |fam1=Iroquoian |fam2=Northern Iroquoian |fam3=Proto-Lake Iroquoian |fam4=Iroquois Proper |fam5=Mohawk-Oneida |iso2=moh |iso3=moh }} Mohawk is a Native American language spoken in the United States and Canada. It is part of the Iroquoian family. Mohawk has two major dialects, Akwesasne and Kahnawake; the differences between them are largely phonological (e.g., Akwesasne has /l/ while Kahnawake has /r/).
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Phonology
The phoneme inventory is as follows (using Bonvillain's Akwesasne orthography):
Consonants
An interesting feature of Mohawk phonology is that there are no bilabials, except in a few borrowings from French and English, where /m/ and /p/ appear (e.g., májis 'matches' and aplám 'Abraham'); /m/ and /p/ are both late additions to Mohawk phonology and did not occur in pre-Columbian times.
| Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | t | k | ʔ | |
| Affricate | j | |||
| Fricative | s | h | ||
| Nasal | n | |||
| Liquid/Semivowel | l / r | y | w |
Consonant clusters in the Akwesasne dialect:
-tt, kt, -ʔt, st, -ht, tk, kk, -ʔk, sk, -hk, -ʔj, -hj, ts, ks, -ʔs, -ss, -hs, th, kh, sh, -nh, -lh, -wh, -ʔn, sn, -hn, -ʔl, sl, hl, -nl, -ʔy, jy, sy, -hy, ny, -ly, -ʔw, sw, -hw.
Those clusters preceded by a hyphen only occur word-medially; the others occur both initially and medially.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low | a |
i, e, a, and o are oral vowels, while ə and u (IPA Template:IPA and Template:IPA) are nasalized; oral versions of ə and u do not occur in the language.
Grammar
Mohawk expresses a large number of pronominal distinctions: person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular, dual, plural), gender (masculine, feminine, neuter, indefinite) and inclusivity/exclusivity on the first person dual and plural. Pronominal information is encoded in prefixes on the verbs, rather than given as separate pronoun words; there are two main paradigms of pronominal prefixes: intransitive and transitive.
Some phrases (Kahnawake dialect)
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