There used to be two distinct dialects of Cayuga. One is still spoken in Ontario. The other, called "Seneca-Cayuga", was spoken in Oklahoma until its extinction in the 1980s.
Phonology
Modern dialects
There are two varieties of Cayuga. The Lower Cayuga dialect is spoken by those of the Lower End of the Six Nations and the Upper Cayuga are from the Upper End. The main difference between the two is that the Lower Cayuga use the sound and the Upper use the sound. Also, pronunciation differs between individual speakers of Cayuga and their preferences.
Vowels
There are five oral vowels in Cayuga, as well as four long vowels,,,, and. Cayuga also has three nasalized vowels,,, and. Both and are rare sounds in Cayuga. Sometimes, the sounds and are used interchangeably according to the speaker's preference. After long and, an sound can be heard, especially when before,,,,, and. Vowels can be devoiced allophonically, indicated in the orthography used at Six Nations by underlining them.
Long vowels
Length is important because it alone can distinguish two completely different meanings from one another. For example:
you are going
you went
Devoiced vowels
Following are some words that demonstrate what some vowels sound like when they occur before .,,, and , and sound like a whispered, and and sound like a whispered. Furthermore, the in and is nasalized because of and. The consonant before the nasalized vowel becomes voiceless. Also, odd-numbered vowels followed by are devoiced, while even-numbered vowels followed by are not.
Consonants
Allophonic variations that occur in Cayuga:
becomes devoiced before devoiced consonants. The sound does not exist word-finally.
becomes devoiced before devoiced consonants.
becomes before or. becomes and before and, respectively. Speakers may use and interchangeably according to the speaker's preference. can be voiceless The vowel is voiced when it and a following are in an even-numbered syllable and in "absolute word-initial position or in word-final position, or preceded by another." For example: 'tell her'
'she writes'
Accent
Most words have accented vowels, resulting in a higher pitch. Where the stress is placed is dependent on the "position of the word in the phrase." The default location for stress for nouns is on final vowel. "In words that are at the end of a phrase, accent falls on the 2nd last vowel, the 3rd last vowel, or occasionally, on the 4th vowel from the end of the word." For example: 'I just heard it' These sounds are long, especially in an even-numbered position. When nouns and verbs are not at the end of a phrase, accent is placed on the final vowel. For example: 'I heard it, I didn't see it'
Morphosyntax
Cayuga is a polysynthetic language. As with other Iroquoian languages, the verbal template contains an optional prepronominal prefix, a pronominal prefix, an optional incorporated noun, a verbal root, and an aspectual suffix. The nominal template consists of an agreement prefix, the nominal root, and a suffix.
