Shawnee Language
Thomas Wildcat Alford, or Gay-nwaw-piah-si-ka, (1860-1938) was the great-grandson of Tecumseh and a member of the Shawnee tribe. He attended the Hampton Institute in Virginia and converted to Christianity. Because of his conversion, he was rejected by the Shawnee and was not permitted to become chief.
This instruction written by Thomas Alford concerning the Shawnee language was found in the Journal of George Johnston. I do not believe it was original to the Journal. It appears the journal was added to by someone collecting or cataloging information about the Shawnee Tribe.
The Vowels
The vowels only has each two length of the same sound which are a, e, i, o, r, u and v; and are divided into long and short vowels, representing the long and short length of the same sound. The long vowels are a, e, o and r; and the short are a, i, u and v. The letter a is the only one found in both long and short vowels.
The Sounds of Letters
A is sounded as a in English word hay or bay.
B is sounded the same as in English, and is always followed by long vowels, thus: ba, be, bo, br and in diphthongs as bho, bhr, bia, bir, bur, bwa, bwe, bwr and so forth.
C is sounded as chi in English word chin and is always followed by short vowels.
D is sounded same as in English, and is always followed by long vowels in every respect as that of letter B.
E is sounded as ee in English word bee or deed.
F is sounded as th in English word the or thee. (The Shawnee language has no sound as that represented by F in the English.)
G is sounded as g in English word give (always hard), and is followed by all vowels, excepting u and v.
H is sounded the same as in English, but is often silent representing a short silence of a mere aspirate pause when followed by a consonant which seem to cut short the vowel that precedes it. This is important. For instance, take the Shawnee word maci which means many; and put letter h between the vowel a and the consonant c, dividing the two syllables by this short pause, you have mahci which means have been.
I is sounded as i in English word chin or pin; and is used in place of y with short vowels,thus: ia, iu, iv and with diphthongs iah, iuh, ivh and so forth.
J is sounded as j in English word just or justice; and is always followed by long vowels, thus: ja, je, jo, jr and in every respect as that of letters B and D.
K is sounded as k in English word kind; and is always followed by the short vowels i, u and v. The syllable ki in most Shawnee words occurring at the end of a word is a sign of a plural as s in English.
L, M and N are sounded same as in English.
O is sounded as o in English word mole or note.
P is sounded same as in English, and is always followed by short vowels, thus: pa, pi,pu, pv; and pwa, pwi, pwv and so forth.
Q is sounded as qu in English word quick or quake.
R is sounded as aw in English word law or paw.
S is sounded same as in English.
T is sounded same as in English, and is always followed by short vowels in every respect as that of P.
U is sounded as oo in English word book or took.
V is sounded as u in English word tuck or luck.
W and X are sounded same as in English.
Y is sounded same as in English, and is always followed by long vowels in every respect as that of B, D and J.