Part 3: Stress and Tone

There is more to the sounds of Kanien’kéha than letters. It is also important to learn about syllable structure and stress.

Syllables

Syllables are combinations of consonants and vowels. There are two types of syllables: open and closed. This is important for determining stress. Watch this video for an explanation:

Syllable Type	Example	Pronunciation	Example Word	Meaning
Open	khe		khenó:’a	my step-daughter
Closed	ket		sewá:ket	you all scrape it!

Types of Syllables

Stress

One syllable in every word carries stress. Essentially, the stressed syllable will be more prominent. You may have noticed that most Kanien’kéha words have an accent on one of their vowels. This indicates the stress on the word. You can watch this video to learn how it works:

Type of Stress	English Name	Example	Pronunciation	Meaning
Kawennakará:tats	Short Upstress/High Tone	ká’tstha’		I use it
Kawennakará:tats tánon teiotsistóhkwake	Long Upstress/High Tone	kiatá:wens		they two females are swimming
Kawennénhtha tánon teiotsistóhkwake	Downstress/Falling Tone	akwè:ri		my heart

Types of Stress

← Part 2: Sound Combinations

Part 4: Dialect Variation →

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