the basic vowels in the Ponca orthography are as follows: the letters between brackets represent the standard values of the International Phonetic Alphabet, a system used by linguists around the world.

A/a                 /ä/ as in the a in “father”                                                                [ɑ]
E/e                 /ā/ as in the a in “ate”                                                                      [e]
I/i                   /ē/ as in the e in “me”                                                                       [i]
ʃ                     /ʃ/ as in the i in “tip”                                                                          [ɪ]
O/o               /ō/ as in the o in “go”                                                                       [o]
U/u               /ü/ as in the u in “flu”                                                                       [u]
ə                   /ə/ schwa as in the initial and final sounds in “America”            [ə]

Nasalized vowels are indicated by the diacritic ogonek [˛]. Standard English vowels are pronounced with the velum (or soft palate) blocking the nasal passage such that air passes only through the mouth. The nasalized vowels in Ponca are pronounced in the same way as their counterparts above except that the velum is lowered and air passes through both the mouth and the nose:

​Ą/ą

​Ę/ę

​Į/į

​ʃ̨

​Ǫ/ǫ

​Ų/ų

​/oⁿ/ as in the vowel of “father” and “on,” but pronounced
with air passing through both the mouth and nose
​/āⁿ/ as in the vowel of “ate” and “main,” but pronounced
with air passing through both the mouth and nose
​/ēⁿ/ as in the vowel of “me” and “mean,” but pronounced
with air passing through both the mouth and nose
​/ʃ ⁿ/ as in the vowel of “tip” and “in,” but pronounced with
air passing through both the mouth and nose
​/ōⁿ/ as in the vowel of “go” and “own,” but pronounced
with air passing through both the mouth and nose
​/üⁿ/ as in the vowel of “fl u” and “moon,” but pronounced
with air passing through both the mouth and nose

[ɑ̃]

​[ẽ]

​[ĩ]

​[ɪ̃]

​[õ]

​[ũ]

The stress placed on a vowel is a significant factor when speaking Ponca (or any language) with a natural- sounding accent. Therefore, throughout this work,  vowels in Ponca words are consistently marked for stress, sometimes in conjunction with nasalization. Primary stress is indicated with an acute accent [´], while secondary stress is marked with a grave accent [`]—meaning that adjacent syllables are generally pronounced at different timing and volume, creating a melodic effect. The mid- stress remains unmarked. For some speakers pitch plays a role in the articulation of these sounds, with the tonal qualities rising and falling in proportion to the relative stress—that is, the higher the stress, the higher the pitch assigned to the vowel. For this reason outside scholars, going back to the time of Dorsey, have sometimes described Ponca as a tone language. Yet most speakers today experience these sounds mostly as “stress,” with emphasis on the relative timing and duration of the vowel (and the adjacent syllable). Illustrative examples are given below for the letter A/a, though the same principles apply to all of the vowels.

Á/á
​Ą́ /ą́
A/a
​Ą/ą
À/à
​Ą̀ /ą̀
​

primary stress
primary stress with nasalization
​mid- stress (no stress in relation to other syllables)​
​​mid- stress (no stress in relation to other syllables) with nasalization
secondary stress
​secondary stress with nasalization

​The diacritic hacek (ˇ) is used to modify the letters s, z, and c as shown below:

S/s
Z/z
Š/š
​Ž/ž
Č/č

/s/ as in the s in “see”
/z/ as in the z in “zest”
/sh/ as in the sh in “show”
/zh/ as in the s in “leisure”
​/ch/ as in the ch in “church”

[s]
[z]
[ʃ ]
[ʒ]
​[tʃ ]

Several other letters in the Ponca alphabet require special explanation for the English speaker, since these sounds do not occur normally in English speech.

​/
​
​X/x

/th/ as in the th in “them” (in the past it may have been pronounced laterally with air also passing over the sides of the tongue)
​/x/ as in the ch of German “Bach”

[ð]

​[x]

The apostrophe (ʼ) indicates a glottalized release (or “ejective”) when it follows the consonants p, t, or k (and sometimes x). These glottalized sounds do not occur in standard English and are best illustrated by listening to recordings or mimicking fluent speakers. Physically they are produced by releasing a short puff of air that has been built up in the mouth by briefly closing off the vocal cords. While the vocal cords are closed, air from the lungs presses up on them. This pressure of air is suddenly released from the point of closure in the mouth, such as the tip of the tongue, when making the glottalized tʼ. When making the sound properly you can feel the “voice box” (larynx) rise quickly and then fall like a plunger. 

Pʼ/pʼ
​Tʼ/tʼ
​Kʼ/kʼ

/pʼ/ as in the Ponca word Pʼáxe ‘I made’
​/tʼ/ as in the Ponca word Tʼáʼ ‘dehydrated meat’
​/kʼ/ as in the Ponca word Kʼą́ deʼ ‘plums’

[pʼ]
​[tʼ]
[kʼ]

Following all other letters, the apostrophe indicates a glottal stop, which is a brief closure of the vocal cords, as in the English expression uh- oh [ʌʔoʊ].
​as in the Ponca expression hąį́ ʼ
Note: this a male expression of surprise, as when something slips from the hand
This Ponca alphabet may impose a steep learning curve on some readers. Thus, for ease of access we have further clarifi ed all of the pronunciations with symbols that will be easily mastered by English speakers—considering that English is now the fi rst language for many members of the Ponca community and thus a critical point of entry for learning this heritage language. Each entry is therefore followed with symbols that are meant to be self- explanatory, though for ease of use they are summarized below:

/ä/
/oⁿ/
/ā/
/āⁿ/
/b/
/ch/
/d/
/ē/
/ēⁿ/
/g/
/h/
/ʃ/
/ʃ̨ /
/j/
/kʼ/
/k/
/m/
/n/
/ⁿ/
​
/ō/
/ōⁿ/
/pʼ/
​/p/
​/s/
/sh/
/tʼ/
​
/t/
/th/
/ü/
/üⁿ/
/ə/
/w/
/x/
/y/
/z/
/zh/
/- /
/’/

​
​/·/

as in the a in “father”
as in the a in “father,” but nasalized
as in the a in “ate”
as in the a in “ate,” but nasalized
as in the b in “book”
as in the ch in “church”
as in the d in “dog”
as in the e in “me”
as in as in the e in “me,” but nasalized
as in the g in “go”
as in the h in “hat”
as in the i in “tip”
as in the i in “tip,” but nasalized
as in the j in "judge"
as in the Ponca word Kʼą́ deʼ ‘plums’ (/k/ with glottalized release)
as in the k in “kin”
as in the m in “milk”
as in the n in “no”
​pronounce the preceding vowel with nasalization, as in the
pronunciation guide for /oⁿ/
as in the o in “go”
as in as in the o in “go,” but nasalized
​as in the Ponca word Pʼáxe ‘I made’ (/p/ with glottalized release)
​as in the p in “put”
as in the s in “see”
as in the sh in “she”
​as in the Ponca word Tʼáʼ ‘dehydrated meat’ (/t/ with glottalized
release)
as in the t in “tall”
similar to the th in “them”
as in the u in “flu”
as in the u in “flu,” but nasalized
schwa as in the initial and final sounds in “America”
as in the w in “walk”
as in the ch in German “Bach”
as in the y in "yes"
as in the z in “zest”
as in the s in “leisure”
boundary between syllables
When following a vowel or nasalized vowel in the pronunciation guides, the apostrophe marks stress or accent, and you should
pronounce the preceding syllable with greater volume than neighboring syllables and for a slightly greater duration. When following a p, t, or k in the pronunciation guides, an apostrophe still indicates an ejective sound.
​pronounce and hold the preceding vowel for a slightly longer duration

For ease of pronunciation, primary stress is marked with an apostrophe [’] in the pronunciation guides (as opposed to the system of acute and grave accents in the Ponca words themselves); these syllables are drawn out a little more perceptually, meaning they may be articulated with slightly greater volume and for a slightly greater moment of time.
Now, take a moment to return to the following example: Šą́ge tʼanąhà      /shoⁿ’- gā t’ä- noⁿ- hä’/ n., wild horse, mustang