Hočąk Syllabary, Transliteration, and Pronunciation

Key to Numbered Columns:

1. orthography used by the Hočąk Wazijači Language and Culture Program
2. orthography used by Reverend James Owen Dorsey
3. orthography used by Paul Radin

The examples of syllabary letters are taken from Sam Blowsnake's transcription of Radin's Notebook entry, Winnebago V, #7: 1-27.

1
Pronunciation
Syllabary

2

3
Notes

'

 glottal stop (hiyuša jikere) ' as in "'uh'oh"

'

'

 in the syllabic script, there is no independent letter for /'/ — it is represented contextually by the doubling of the vowel after the consonant having the glottal stop

a

 a as in "father"

a

a

  

'a

  

'a

'a

 when this syllabic letter follows a consonant, it has the value /'a/.

ą

 nasalized a

aⁿ

añ, ą

  

b

 b as in "boy"

b

b

 frequently used for /p/ as well 

e

 e as in "née"

e

e

  

'e

  

'e

'e

  

-

 nasalized e

eⁿ

eñ, ę

 Not recognized as either a phoneme or an allophone

č, c

 ch as in "church"
,

tc

tc

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

č', c'

 glottalized ch
,

tc'

tc'

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

g

 g as in "go"
,

g

g

 the first form is typical of initial letters

ǧ

 palatal g as in gh of the Scottish Edinburgh

gh

γ

  

h

 h as in "hotel"
,

h

h

 the second syllabic /h/ reflects the form that it takes when it elides with the previous or succeeding letter

i

 i as in "elite"
 ,

i

i

 the first form, an elevated dot following the letter, is almost universal

'i

  

'i

'i

  

į

 nasalized i
 ,

iⁿ

iñ, į

  

j

 j as in "jet"

dj

dj

 frequently used for /c/ (/č/) as well 

k

 k as in "kill"
,

k

k

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

k'

 glottalized k
,

k'

k'

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

m

 m as in "man"

m

m

  

n

 n as in "no"

n

n

  

-

    

()ⁿ, ŋ, ñ

ŋ, ñ

 the use of ñ is still found in some texts of this encyclopedia

o

 o as in "go," but often confused with "u"

o

o

 in the syllabary, the same letter stands for both /o/ and /u/
'o
'o
'o

ǫ

 nasalized o

oⁿ

oñ, ǫ

 this is not a phoneme in Hočąk, but it does occur as an allophone

p

 p as in "pen"
,

p

p

 the first form, an elevated dot following the letter, is almost universal

p'

 glottalized p
,

p'

p'

 the first form, an elevated dot following the letter, is almost universal

r

 a laterally flapped "r" that sounds similar to an "l"

r

r

  

s

 s as in "grass"
,

s

s

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

s

 glottalized s
,

s'

s'

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

š

 sh as in "should"
,

c

c

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

š'

 glottalized sh
,

c'

c'

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

t

 d as in "dog"

t, d

t, d

  

t'

 glottalized t

t'

t'

  

u

 u as in "gnu," but often confused with "o"

u

u

 in the syllabary, the same letter stands for both /o/ and /u/

'u

  

'u

'u

  

ų

 nasalized u

uⁿ

uñ, ų

 in the syllabary, the same letter stands for both /o/ and /u/

w

 w as in "wood"

w

w

  

x

 palatal k (as in the German "ch")
,  

q, x

x

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

x'

 glottalized x (palatal k)
,  

x'

x'

 the first form is used where disambiguation seems important

y

 y as in "young"
,

y

y

 the second syllabic /y/ reflects the form that it takes when it elides with the succeeding letter

z

 z as in "zebra"

z

z

  

ž

 z as in "azure"

j

j