A Fifteen Minute Choctaw Lesson
Choctaw is a very complex language, but the following will give you a very brief
description of its sounds and how they are written and used by the Choctaw Nation of
Oklahoma. Our examples are not perfect, but they are about as good an idea as one
can get without spending a long time with a native speaker.
Choctaw is an oral language that was first reduced to writing in the nineteenth century
by Cyrus Byington, a Presbyterian missionary. He was able to use the letters of the
roman alphabet to represent most of the sounds in Choctaw. The main differences are
that he used the Greek letter upsilon for the short a sound (sort of like the a in against).
The Choctaw language does not use the English consonants or letters C, D, G, J, Q, R,
V, X or Z. There are essentially three vowels - a, i and o, each of which has three
sounds - long, short and nasal.
Choctaw does not have any plurals. The only way to make a noun plural is to add a
number or a quantity. Ofi can be one dog or a hundred dogs. You must say ofi tuklo for
two dogs, or ofi laua for a lot of dogs.
Likewise, Choctaw does not have any gender specific nouns except hattak (man) and
ohoyo (woman). To make the generic cow (wak) male you must add nakni and to make
her female you must add tek, giving wak nakni, the bull, and wak tek, the moo cow.
Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek/Seminole are all members of the Muskogean language
family. Choctaw and Chickasaw are very similar because they separated very recently
in the archaeological sense. They are very different from Creek/Seminole because their
predecessors separated a very long time ago. However, they all still share a basic set of
sounds and grammatical construction.
Choctaw does not have nearly as many words as English, so one word may have many
meanings. Anumpa, for example not only means word, but it can also mean a language,
news, and all sorts of things connected with words. Choctaw language is Chahta
anumpa, but Chahta anumpa could also mean a Choctaw word.
You may see or hear the word na hullo, which is the Choctaw term for a European
(white) man. Since English is the predominant European language in the United States
you will also see the English language referred to as na hullo anumpa or simply as na
hullo.
And, here is the phrase that everyone wants to know:
"I love you" is "Chi hollo li."
A Few Choctaw Words and Phrases
Halito!
Chim achukma?
Amachukmahoke.
Chisnato?
Amachukma akinli.
Yakoke!
Ome.
Chi pisa lachike.
A
Keyu
Oka
Illimpa
Corn
Chukka
Bvnna
_____ sv bvnna.
Example: Oka sv
bvnna.
_____ chi bvnna.
Example: Illimpa chi
bvnna.
Nanta?
Hello!
How are you?
I am fine.
And you?
I am fine too.
Thank you!
All right, you're
welcome, general
assent
Goodbye (Literally
"I'll see you soon.")
Yes
No
Water
Food
Tanchi
House
To want or to need
I want/need _____.
Example: I want
some water.
You want/need
_____. Example:
You need some
food.
What?
Nanta chi bvnna?
Oka sv bvnna.
Hattak
Ohoyo
Nakni
Tek
Vlla
Vlla nakni
Vlla tek
Svshki
Aki
Svpokni
What do you want?
I want some water.
Man
Woman
Adjective for male
Adjective for female
Child
Boy (male child)
Girl (female child)
My mother
My father
My grandmother
Amafo My grandfather
Achvffa
Tuklo
Tuchena
Ushta
Tahlapi
Hannali
Ontuklo
Ontuchena
Chakkali
Pokkoli
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Contents ©Copyright 2008-2010 OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance, Inc. ©Copyright 2008-2010 Ira H.
Bryant III. All rights reserved.