Since the vowels A – E – I – 0 appear with every consonant of the Potawatomi alphabet, these have been omitted as separate sounds. After we have gone through the Potawatomi alphabet, we will then put some sentences together and study some actual Indian writings.
BBa – as in bah Be – as in bet Bi – as in bee Bo – as in boat
(In some of the old Indian writings, the letter L is used for the B sound)
CIn writings by anthropologists and others, C is used to signify the S sound.
DDa – as in dawn De – as in den Di – as in dee Do – as in doe
GGa – as in gall Ge – as in get Gi – as in geek Go – as in go
HHa – as in hall He – as in hell Hi – as in heel Ho – as in hoe
KKa – as in kaw Ke – as in Ken Ki – as in key Ko – as in kola
MMa – as in mama Me – as in men Mi – as in me Mo – as in more
NNa – as in naw Ne – as in neck Ni – as in kneel No – as in no
PPa – as in Paul Pe – as in pet Pi – as in pee Po – as in pole
(Here again, some writers use the L to signify the P sound)
QAlthough there are some Indian writings using the letter Q, most of the Q sounds are made with the letters KW.
SSa – as in saw Se – as in set Si – as in see So – as in so
TTa – as in talk Te – as in ten Ti – as in tee To – as in toe
TthTtha – as in jaw Tthe – as in Jenny
Tthi – as in Jean Ttho – as in Joe
Ttha – as in chalk Tthe – as in check Tthi – as in cheat Ttho – as in cho (TTH is unique to the Potawatomi alphabet. It signifies the sounds CH/J. Sometimes it is also written as TH.)
UThe vowel U does not seem to be used very much in the Potawatomi language.
WWa – as in want We – as in wet Wi – as in weed Wo – as in woe
XI have not found the letter X used at all in any of my Indian writings.
YYa – as in yacht Ye – as in yet Yi – as in yield Yo – as in yo-yo
ZAlthough there are a lot of places the letter Z could have been used, it does not appear on any of my Indian documents.