Phonology
The Natchez inventory is typical of the Gulf languages. It had a voicing distinction in its sonorants but not in its obstruents, the opposite of most languages in the world.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t | k | kʷ | ʔ | |
| Affricate | ts | |||||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||
| Nasal | m̥ m | n̥ n | ||||
| Approximant | l̥ l | ȷ̊ j | w̥ w |
There were five vowels which occurred long and short, /a aː e eː i iː o oː u uː/. Watt Sam had a sixth vowel, "ö", of secondary origin, which also occurred long and short.
Stress was penultimate if that vowel was long, otherwise ante-penultimate.
Read more about this topic: Natchez Language