A Simplified Vowel Pronunciation Chart for the Potawatomi Language.

A Quick Orthography Reference on Potawatomi sounds and consonants:

Bodéwadmi Anwéwéwen:

A            Ah        As in Father

É            Eh        AS in bet/let/get

I             EE        AS in peel/eel/keel

O            Oh        AS in bow/tow/bowl

E            Uh        As in put/could/would

Note:  All we can do is approximate the sounds of this language with the vowels of the Roman alphabet.

Consonants:

b  ch  d  g  j  k  m  n  p  s  t  sh  w  zh

Sounds/Anwéwéwen:

B    is sometimes pronounced like the P

Ch   is pronounced like the (ch) in church

T    is sometimes pronounced like the D

G    is often pronounced like the k

Sh   is pronounced like Shu

Zh   is pronounced like Zhu

The symbols used to write Potawatomi are very much like those in English.  They include the vowels and consonants we have listed.

a  b  ch  d  é  e  g  k  i  j  k  m  n  o  p  s  t  sh  w  zh

The symbols which are slightly different from English are b, d, g, t, p, and k among the consonants, and é, i, and e among the vowels.  Potawatomi vowels almost always represent a single sound, with the exception of é and e.  (é as in bet, and e as in put).  We have listed the vowel chart for your perusal previously.

The rest of the letters/consonants work as they do in the English language.  Consonant clusters are always pronounced, however subtle they may sound to the First Speaker of English.

Some examples:  

© Jim Thunder, Sr./Donald Perrot