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Creek Language

The Creek language belongs to the Muskhogean language family. Other languages in this group include the Chickasaw, Chocktaw, Tuskegee, Alabama, Natches, Miccosukee and Seminole. People speaking a dialect of the Creek language in one area may have difficulty understanding Creeks in another. About 1840, missionaries devised a writing system for the Creek language. The language had not been recorded before this time. The first publications were the Bible and other religious works. Four forms of communication were spoken: language, silence (body language), picture writing and symbols. The early Creek words were peculiar in that they appeared in the bilingual dictionaries with few vowels. The Creeks used one word to express several English words. Most of the words contained the letter "k." Hear the numbers 1 - 10 (150K) spoken in Creek by student Sandy Lee.