by _th_, and which the English have also occasionally expressed by
the latter method, may possibly furnish an additional element. The Greek
_theta_ of the former is simply the English _w_.] The absence
of labials and the frequent aspirated gutturals give to the utterance of
the best speakers a deep and sonorous character which reminds the hearer
of the stately Castilian speech.

The "Book of Rites," or, rather, the Canienga portion of it, is written
in the orthography first employed by the English missionaries. The
_d_ is frequently used, and must be regarded merely as a variant of
the _t_ sound. The _g_ is sometimes, though rarely, employed
as a variant of the _k_. The digraph _gh_ is common and
represents the guttural aspirate, which in German is indicated by
_ch_ and in Spanish by _j_. The French missionaries write it
now simply _h_, and consider it merely a harsh pronunciation of the
aspirate. The _j_ is sounded as in English; it usually represents a
complex sound, which might be analysed into _ts_ or _tsi_;
_jathondek_ is properly _tsiatontek_. The _x_, which
occasionally appears, is to be pronounced _ks_, as in
English. _An, en, on_, when not followed by a vowel, have a nasal
sound, as in French. This sound is heard even when those syllables are
followed by another _n_. Thus _Kanonsionni_ is pronounced as
if written _Kanonsionni_ and _yondennase_ as if written
_yondennase_. The vowels have usually the same sound as in German
and Italian; but in the nasal _en_ the vowel has an obscure sound,
nearly like that of the short _u_ in _but_. Thus
_yondennase_ sounds almost as if written _yondunnase_, and
_kanienke_ is pronounced nearly like _kaniunke_.

The nouns in Iroquois are varied, but with accidence differing from the