Natchez phonology

Natchez has a relatively simple consonant inventory. But it stands out by having a voicing distinction in its sonorants but not in its obstruents, the opposite of most languages in the world.

There were six vowels,, and a length distinction. treats vowel length as a separate phoneme because it can represent a morpheme, and because it may occur stem initially and segment away from the vowel that it lengthens. The sixth vowel, schwa is a harmonizing vowel which is pronounced the same as the vowel in the preceding syllable. Natchez pronunciation has nasal vowels, but they are not phonemic, and originate from a previous word final /-n/.

Accent in Natchez is based on pitch rather than stress. Accent falls predictably on the penultimate syllable if it contains a long vowel, on the otherwise ante-penultimate. Accented short vowels are pronounced with high pitch, accented long vowels are pronounced with rising pitch, unaccented vowels have mid pitch, and certain forms such as imperatives and interrogatives have falling pitch.