Let's Speak Mohawk/Kanyen'keha Tewatati CDs & Book [CD] [Audio CD]

David Kanatawakhon-Maracle (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1579702392 | ISBN-13: 978-1579702397 | Publication Date: June 30, 2005 | Edition: Bilingual

This beginning-level course in conversational Mohawk by David Kanatawakhon-Maracle provides the pronunciation, grammar, structures, and vocabulary needed for everyday situations. The Mohawk used in the text is standard script. A pronunciation key is given for each Mohawk entry. Unlike English, which has several words to describe, for example, an article of clothing, Mohawk uses only one. The word At ya'tawi refers to anything that covers the upper part of the body. The Iroquoian culture places little emphasis on objects of things. 3 audio CDs (3 hrs.) & 40-p. text. Product no. AFMH10D

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Audio-Forum; Bilingual edition (June 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579702392
• ISBN-13: 978-1579702397
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,916,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good grammar, not textbook, November 28, 2010

By 

ksiezycowy (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Speak Mohawk/Kanyen'keha Tewatati CDs & Book (Audio CD)

This is a pretty good grammar of the Mohawk language. It doesn't go into great detail, nor does it give many examples, but as a quick reference to Mohawk grammar, this book is pretty good. Although I would not recommend anyone use this book exclusively to learn Mohawk, it does make a good supplement to other texts. I would steer people interested in learning Mohawk to use 'Mohawk: A Teaching Grammar,' which is still available through the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Culture Center (search google for it).

Though I do recommend 'A Thousand Useful Words of Mohawk' by Maracle as a useful 'dictionary' for Mohawk.

As far as the spelling system used in the two texts by Maracle, for the modern spelling system, use the 'phoentic spelling.' The 'phonetic spelling' used in the two books represents the way the language is actually written in parts of Canada and also represents how it is pronounced in a better fashion.