THE MOHAWK LANGUAGE. 5 



I ouglit, perhaps, here to explain that the name Mohawk was 

 given to ns by foreigners, and that the signification or derivation is 

 entirely unknown to us. Some writers, I believe, have conjectured 

 it to mean ^nan eaters, but if it is implied by this that the Mohawks 

 were cannibals, I have no hesitation, in pronouncing it to be 

 a libel. 



The name by which we are known among Indians is, perhaps, 

 not quite so euphonious, but much more complimentary. It is 

 Ka-nyen-ke-hc(r-ka, which means " flint-people," or " people derived 

 from the flint," given no doubt by those who had experienced some- 

 thing of the flinty character and the scalping propensities of the 

 Mohawk when upon the war-path. 



The following comprises all the letters of the alphabet, viz. : — 



VOWELS. 



A as (J in f^-. Vowels followed by h have a short, quick, explosive 



E " a " fate. sound, e.g. Eh as e in met. 



I " e " meet. Ih " i " pin. 



O " " old. E followed by n has the sound of m in under. 



IT " u " tune. 



CONSONANTS. 



dhjknqrstwxz. 



It will thus be seen that bcfglmpvz are wanting, leaving 

 seventeen letters in the alphabet. 



Writers who have gone before me have, as a general thing, retained 

 c and g, but I conceive uselessly, as I think where former writers 

 would employ these letters, j and k could be used quite as correctly. 



It will be my object not so much to exhibit the language in some 

 particular form, or according to certain preconceived grammatical 

 notions, as to examine and analyze the language, and afterwards 

 deduce rules founded upon such analysis. With most of the works, 

 upon the subject that I have been able to examine, I have found this, 

 difiiculty, that instead of truly exliibiting the language as it exists, 

 it has been distorted and made to assume new forms to suit the pur- 

 poses of the author. 



In order to indicate the connection between the language of the 

 Mohawks with the other dialects of the Six Nations, I have prepared 

 a comparative table of the numerals, and of a few common words, 

 from which it will be seen that the Mohawk and Oneida are the 

 most alike, while the Tuscarora is most unlike the rest. 



