• Between vowels, p, t, k, c, s, and f are VOICED. They may sound more like English b, d, g, j, z, v.

opv ‘owl’ (O-BUH) [obə]
eto ‘wood’ (I-DO) [ido]
ekv ‘head’(I-GUH) [igə]
eco ‘deer’ (I-JO) [iʤo]
hvse ‘sun’ (HUH-ZE) [həzi]
tafv ‘feather’ (TAH-VUH) [tɑ:və]

• These letters may also be voiced between l, m, or n and a vowel.

sulkē ‘many’ (SOOL-GEE) [sʊlgi:]
hvmken ‘one’ (HUM-GIN) [həmgɪn]
enke ‘hand’ (ING-GE) [ɪŋgi]
vlsē ‘embarrassed’ (UL-ZEE) [əlzi:]

• Elsewhere, these sounds are voiceless.

hvtkē ‘white’ (HUT-KEE) [hətki:]
fvskē ‘sharp’ (FUS-KEE) [fəski:]
cvpkē ‘long’ (CHUP-KEE) [ʧəpki:]

• These rules apply within words and between words in compounds.

catē ‘red’ (CHAH-DEE) [ʧɑ:di:]
este-cate ‘Native person’ (IS-TEE-JAH-DEE) [istiʤɑ:di]

More examples.

Dragging the t

• When a word ending in t is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the t may be pronounced with the next vowel and may sound like a d.

Some people spell these words as written on the right.

Double Consonants

When a consonant is doubled, it’s held longer.

Final h

It’s hard for English speakers to pronounce h at the end of a syllable, but Mvskoke allows that.

Formal and informal pronunciation

• Sometimes the older language has om where speakers today have ow.

kometv~kowetv ‘to think, want’
ometv~owetv ‘to be’
hiyomat~hiyowat ‘now’
nvcomen~nvcowen ‘how many’

• The sequence mk is often pronounced nk in everyday speech.

hvmken~hvnken ‘one’
somketv~sonketv ‘to get lost’

• The suffix –etsk– ‘you’ is often shortened to –ecc– or –cc-. The second person plural –atsk– ‘you all’ is often shortened to –acc-.

kometsken omat~kontsken owat~konccen owat ‘if you want’

• Vowels (especially e) are often dropped at the beginnings of words.

este-hvtke~’ste-hvtke ‘white person’
ēkvn-tvckv~kvn-tvckv ‘territory’

• The syllable ye is often dropped in verbs.

ayet os~at os ‘he/she is going’
okhoyes~okhos ‘they say’

Different ways of spelling

Mvskoke spelling was never standardized. People may spell Mvskoke words differently even when they use the same alphabet.

• Some speakers tend to use more short vowels like v and u. Other speakers use more long vowels like a and o. Words like the following are very commonly spelled different ways.
  

  Written here:	Others may have:
  rakkē	rvkkē	‘big’
  lucv	locv	‘turtle’
  sukhv	sokhv	‘hog’
  mucv-nettv	mocv-nettv	‘today’

• At the beginnings and ends of words, most people use the letter o (never u). They write mēkko rather than mēkku and ocē ‘hickory nut’ rather than ucē. Usually people write oh, ok, ah, ak at the ends of syllables (instead of uh, uk, vh, vk).

• Some speakers use the spelling cc, while others may use tc.
  

  Written here:	Others may have:
  hvcce	hvtce	‘river’
  tuccēnen	tutcēnen	‘three’

• Some speakers don’t use ē (always writing e instead). Others use ē only when it could be misunderstood.
  

  Written here:	Others may have:
  fēke	feke	‘heart’

• Some people write prefixes as separate words. Others use a space or an apostrophe to separate them.
  

  Written here:	Others may have:
  cvhocefkv	cv hocefkv, cv’hocefkv	‘my name’
  vnkapv	vn kapv, vn’kapv	‘my coat’

• The diphthong spelled here as vo is sometimes spelled au in words like vhvoke/vhauke‘door’.

Dividing words into syllables

Words in Muskogee can be divided into syllables.

Mvskoke speakers follow rules for dividing words into syllables.

• The number of syllables in a word is the same as the number of vowels or diphthongs.
  

  cvmhcakv	‘bell’	3 vowels/diphthongs, so 3 syllables
  nokosuce	‘bear cub’	4 vowels/diphthongs, so 4 syllables
  ohliketv	‘chair’	4 vowels/diphthongs, so 4 syllables

• One consonant before a vowel can be included in the syllable. All other consonants are grouped with the preceding vowel.
  

  (cvmh)(ca)(kv)	‘bell’
  (no)(ko)(su)(ce)	‘bear cub’
  (oh)(li)(ke)(tv)	‘chair’

• BUT when a vowel is dropped, a syllable can begin with two consonants.
  

  (es)(te)-(hvt)(ke)	‘white person’
  (’ste)-(hvt)(ke)	(short form)

Different ways of speaking

There are a few differences in how Muscogees and Seminoles speak.