Seneca language

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Seneca
Onödowága
Spoken in: United States, Canada 
Region: Western New York and the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario
Total speakers: 175
Language family: Iroquoian
 Northern Iroquoian
  Proto-Lake Iroquoian
   Iroquois Proper
    Seneca-Cayuga
     Seneca
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: iro
ISO/FDIS 639-3: see

Seneca (in Seneca, Onödowága or Onötowáka) is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. About 10,000 Seneca live in the United States and Canada, primarily on reservations in western New York state, with others living in Oklahoma and near Brantford, Ontario.

Contents

[edit] Phonology

There are several methods to write the Seneca Language and variations of dialect between territories and regions. The orthography described here is the one used by the Seneca Bilingual Education Project.

[edit] Consonants

Seneca has three stops, /t/, /k/, and /ʔ/. /t/ and /k/ become voiced ([d] and [ɡ]) before vowels or approximants.

Dental &
Alveolar
Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal n
Stop t k ʔ
Affricate ʣ ʤ <j>
Fricative s ʃ h
Approximant j w

[edit] Vowels

Front Back
Oral Nasal Oral Nasal
Close i
Close-mid e o õ
Open-mid æ̃
Open a

The nasal vowels are represented with diareses on top: <ë ö ä>). Long vowels are indicated with a following <:>.

[edit] External links