Abstract

The late Dr. Parker P. McKenzie (1897-1999), a Kiowa, developed a written orthography for his tribal language, only the second American Indian to do so. McKenzie's work provides the most accurate system for writing and reading the grammatically complex and tonal Kiowa language, contains the insights of a skilled native speaker and linguist, and lays the foundation for all future works involving any extended use of Kiowa. Included are the McKenzie orthography, syllabary, pronunciation guide, and pronoun forms for the Kiowa language (Appendix).