6 
1888,] 15 [Hale, 
The sound of the English ch in chest is represented by ¢¢; the j and dg 
in judge by dj. 
The apostrophe (’) indicates a slight hiatus in the pronounciation of a 
word, which is often, though not always, caused by the dropping of a con- 
sonantal sound. 
In general, the diacritical marks over the vowels are omitted, except in the 
accented syllable—that is, the syllable on which the stress of voice falls. 
It is understood that when a vowel (other than the %) has a mark of arly 
kind over it, the syllable in which it occurs is the accented or emphatic 
syllable of the word. Experience shows that the variations in the sound 
of a vowel in unaccented syllables, within the limits represented by the 
foregoing alphabet, are rarely of sufficient importance to require to be 
noted in taking down a new language. The only exception is in the 
sound marked w, which occasionally .has to be indicated in unaccented 
syllables, to distinguish it from the w, with which it has no similarity of 
sound. It is, in fact, more frequently a variation of the @ than of any 
other vowel sound. 
Occasionally the accented syllable is indicated by an acute accent over 
the vowel. This method is adopted principally when the vowel has a brief 
or obscure sound, as in mésdni, I alone, which is pronounced in a manner 
midway between misani and miswit. 
Phonology. 
The Tutelo has the ordinary vowel sounds, but the distinction between 
eand ¢, and between o and w is not alwaysclear. The word for ‘‘ mother’ 
was at one time written end, and at another dma; the word for ‘‘he 
steals’? was heard as manoma and manima. In general, however, the 
difference of these vowels was sufficiently apparent. The obscure sound 
of & (or in accented syllables %) was often heard, but when the word 
in which it occurred was more distinctly uttered, this sound was frequently 
developed into a clearer vowel. Thus histo’, arm, became histd ; musteé, 
spring (the season), became masté ; astit, white, became asani, or (losing 
the nasal sound) asat, and so on. The use of the character % (or %) in this 
language could probably be dispensed with. 
The consonantal sounds which were heard were: p (or b),¢ (ord), k(org), 
h (and q), J, m, n, 8, w andy, and the nasal 7%. Neither f, 2, nor 7 was heard, 
and ¢ (sh) only as a variant of s. Harsh combinations of consonants were 
rare. The harshest was that of ¢s%, as in wagutska, child, and this was not 
frequent.* Words usually end in a vowel ora liquid. A double con- 
*In wagulska (Dakota, kogka), suntka, younger brother (Dak., sunka) ; tgotgo 
or (guiki, dog (Dak., cwfika) und many similar words, the ¢ is apparently an ad- 
scititious sound, inserted by a mere trick of pronunciation, The Hidatsa carries 
this practice further, and constantly introduces the sound of ¢ before the sharp 
s. The Tutelo isi, foot, becomes isi in Hidatsa; sant, cold, becomes tsinia, &e. 
