More on the alphabet: p, t, k, c, s

Linda Sulphur Bear; Jack B. Martin

10

In Muskogee, the letters p, t, k, c, and s have two different pronunciations. In most positions, such as at the beginning of a word, they sound like English p, t, k, ch, and s.

Muskogee letter		English sound
p	penwv ‘turkey’	pin
t	tvffo ‘grasshopper’	tough
k	kute ‘frog’	kit
c	cvto ‘rock’	chip
s	sokhv ‘hog’	sit

Between vowels, Muskogee p, t, k, c, s may sound like English b, d, g, j, z. This is called voicing: p, t, k, c, s are voiced between vowels.

Muskogee letter		English sound
p	topv ‘bed’	robot
t	eto ‘tree, wood’	soda
k	cuko ‘house’	cigar
c	fuco ‘duck’	jet
s	hvse ‘sun’	zip

The Muskogee letters p, t, k, c, s are also voiced when they are preceded by l, m, or n and followed by a vowel.

Muskogee letter		English sound
p	kvlpe ‘brain’, cvmpē ‘sweet’	robot
t	entopv ‘his/her bed’	soda
k	enke ‘his/her hand’, hvmken ‘one’	cigar
c	encuko ‘his/her house’	jet
s	vlsē ’embarrassed’	zip

The Muskogee letter f generally sounds like English f, but it is pronounced like English v when it is between a long vowel (a, o, ē) and another vowel. This happens in words like ofv ‘inside’ or tafv ‘feather’.

Exercises

Based on the rules above, try pronouncing each word. Then listen to the recording.