Osage Language

Spoken by the Osage Nation (Wazhazhe)

Thanks to Charlie Lame Deer for helping me with this language.

Ho-wa O-kla-xo-ma!

[howa (howe) oklaxoma] (ho-wah [or ho-way] oh-klah-kho-ma!)

OsageTribe.com – Official website of the Osage Nation
Osage Words & Phrases

Ho-wa-gi tha-thiⁿ-she shki i-thi-the a-ka noⁿ noⁿ e e-sho ṭa-do ha-zhoⁿ ke shki ça’ni i-the e-ba noⁿ e.

Wherever you are and whatever you do God sees you.

Source: La Flesche, Francis. 1932 [1976]. A Dictionary of the Osage Language. Washington DC: US Govt. Printing Office. Accessed at the Rosetta Project.

An Osage alphabet

This is the orthography used in A Dictionary of the Osage Language, by Francis La Flesche.

a – as in father.
b – as in bad.
ç – as in thin.
d – as in dog.
e – as in prey.
ʼe – exploded e.
g – as in go.
h – as in he.
i – as in pierce.
ʼi – exploded i.
iⁿ – nasalized i.
ʼiⁿ – nasalized exploded i.
k – as in kin.
ḳ – a medial k (between k and g).
m – as in man.
n – as in no.
ⁿ – nasalized n.
hn – the sound of the initial letter is expelled from the nostrils and is scarcely audible.
o – as in note.
ʼo – exploded o.
oⁿ – nasalized o.
p – as in pipe.
p̣ – a medial p (between p and b).
s – as in sit.
sh – as in shun.
t – as in ten.
ṭ – a medial t (between t and d).
th – as in then.
u – as in rule.
ʼu – exploded u.
w – as in wet.
x – rough German ch.
zh – as in azure

Source: La Flesche, Francis. 1932 [1976]. A Dictionary of the Osage Language. Washington DC: US Govt. Printing Office. Accessed at the Rosetta Project.