* 



A 



«^ 



Indian Languages in JS*ortli America, 333 



accents and marks of quantity. But, \vhatevci' mode is adopted, 

 an explanation sliould be given of it, by reference to one or more 

 of the European languages, in a Table or Key, which ought, for 

 the present at least, to accompany all publications in the Indian 

 languages.* 



# There is, however, one class of sounds in some, if not in all 

 the Indian dialects, I mean the nasal sounds, for which it seems 

 absolutely necessary to introduce a new character ; though it is 

 always extremely desirable to avoid having recourse to this dan- 

 gerous expedient in any alphabetic notation, which, like the 

 present, is intended for a jjractical system. In those European 

 languages with which we are most familiar, such nasal modifica- 

 tions are commonly denoted by subjoining certain consonants to 

 the vowels thus modified 5 as n or m in the French language and 

 some others ; ng in the German and our own language. Tiut 

 nothing would be gained by adopting this method for the Indian 



* In Pryce^s Cornish Grammar and Vocabularj, published in the jrear 1790, 

 a different expedient from any above proposed is resorted to j that is, turning the 

 letters upside down. Thusj the vowel A in its natural position is sounded as in 



mariy but when inverted (y) it is to be sounded as in falL This wethod, which 



4hi 



does not seem to be a very eligible one, has been followed to a considerable ex- 

 tent in the Tsvlvki Sqclc Clv, or Cherokee Spelling Book, published by the 



(the r 







young assistant, Mr. i). Brown, who is one of that nation, and with whom I have 

 had opportunities of conversing upon the subject of his language. I will here 

 remark, by the way, as the nan\e of this nation has been variously written, Che- 

 rokee, Cheerakee^ Chelokee^ &c. that Mr. Brown stated the true name to he^ 

 (as we should write it in English) Tsuh-luh-kee' ^ sounding the u as in hut and 

 throwing the accent upon the last syllable ; and so it is to be pronounced accord- 

 ing to the orthography used in tlie title of the Spelling Book above quoted. The 

 corruption of U into tsh (or our cJij is very common in the attempts to write 

 Indian words. * ^ 





^ m 



±h 



• 



