The Letter H

An important feature of Oneida is the letter H, which works the same way as it does in English, with breath coming out of a speaker‘s throat but no sound. English speakers are not aware of how many times they say an H when they speak, and they don't write all the Hs they say. For example, they say an H (a breath but no sound) in the words “king,” “queen,” “top”, and “tie” but they don‘t hear the H and they don‘t write it.

In Oneida we write all the Hs that follow Ks and Ts. Example:

We also write most of the Hs that occur after a vowel and before a consonant. Examples:

Not all of the Hs that are spoken in a word get written by all speakers, however. It seems to be a matter of personal preference.