by Olli Salmi
i as in machine u as in rule uy kûy "wolf" ey as in hey ow as in low owy tsówy "coffee" a as in father o as in off oy khóyñ "bark, rind" ya as in Yankee ay páy "sun"
Long vowels are written by doubling the vowel letter. DO NOT read oo, ee and ay as in English.
kíí "meat" pééy "dead" p'óó "river; moon" towdôwm "floor" tóów "house" gúú "wise" thóówñgúl "soda pop" thóówñgul "wagon" tówgúl "young man" thalíí "boy" thaalíi "Grandmother!"
k as in skin kh as in khan k' like k with a catch
t as in stone th as in Thompson t' like t with a catch
p as in spin ph as p in pin p' like p with a catch
ts' like ts with a catch
táádey "eye" thóów "lap" t'óów "cold" ts'óów "rock, stone"
B, d, g, ts, s, z, m, n, h and y as in English. Sy as sh in short. L is often pronounced as ddl in fiddle. Nasalization is indicated by ñ. It is not used if there is an n or m in the same syllable.
tséeyñ "horse" gúúñ "horn" syân "small"
High tone is indicated by ´ on the only or both vowels of the syllable, falling tone by ´ on the first vowel or by ^ on the only vowel of the syllable.
k'óó "cold" k'óo "knife" pháyñ "dust, dirt" phâyñ "tie" ahóów "Kill him!" aahóow "thank you"
The hyphen is used after prefixes. The middle dot is used, when necessary, to show that two letters belong to different syllables.
bey-sóó "sit down" só·olkya "mouth" béyt·hoo "unknowing" k'ówp·éytto "big mountain, Mt. Scott"
Á-hóówaañheyl no háátêyl t'áp hówlheyl. Á-peeyñneey no k'yátáyk'ii tsánheyl. T'áp péyndoñmeeydey bóówñhêyl go oozây éy-hóóheyl. No k'íígya kóodey k'yátáyk'ii tsánheyl go oozây khóót'oodeey. No kóodey k'yátáyk'ii "hóóñnéy" tóówñnéey hón óóñnóoheyl. No kóodey "óñdéypko nó-óoñ" tóówñnéey no kóodey "hóóñnéy" tóówñnéey. Neygó ééyñdey só·ooñdeyheyl go heygó óñgóodéy-k'yaañhyowp go maayówp tééyphoy eym-tóowteyheyl go heygó éym-hóówt'alheyl. Óyhogo háyá éym-hóówoozownheyl neygó hón gya-háygóo háyá á-báákyádey. Món hágyá á-t'óó. Oozát'ooñhowp an éym-khóoñmo. Hágyá á-t'óódéey Kóygú.
This version of the story from Laurel Watkins, 1990, Noun Phrase Versus Zero in Kiowa Discourse, International Journal of American Linguistics 56:410 - 426.