This month, we are exploring a language known as Tut or Tutnese. It is a unique linguistic system that emerged from enslaved African Americans 250 years ago in the United States. Originally developed as an oral and written code, Tut served as both a means of communication and a secret method of teaching reading and spelling among slaves, especially during a time when these skills were strongly suppressed.
Gloria McIlwain is a linguist, educator, and one of the foremost scholars of the Tut language. She describes the language’s function as a phonetic cipher. In her book, “Tut Language” McIlwain describes how each English letter or sound is represented by a distinct syllable, thus creating an encoded form of English that sounds melodic and rhythmic to an untrained ear. For example, the word cat might be rendered as cusahut, with each consonant and vowel transformed according to a set of sound rules. This structure allowed speakers to “spell out” English words aloud in a form that outsiders could not easily decipher. McIlwain also makes note on her website that, “the word TUT may have originated from the word talk.”
Tut is more than just a code; however, it is an act of cultural preservation and intellectual defiance. Historically, Tut became a way to safeguard knowledge and build community, while enabling enslaved African Americans to teach the skills of reading and writing in secret. In this way, the language itself became a tool of resistance and empowerment.
Documentation of the Tut language remained largely an oral tradition, passed quietly through families and within communities. Only in recent years has the language been formalized with standard structure and printed in literature, as well as being taught at a scholastic level (Nakhti University).
In the 2020s, Tut experienced a digital renaissance, gaining attention through platforms like TikTok, where young African Americans rediscovered and shared the language as part of a broader effort to reconnect with cultural heritage. Today, the Tut language stands as both a linguistic curiosity and a symbol of resilience. It reminds us that even in the darkest eras of American history, creativity and intellect flourished in defiance of oppression. Through Tut, a hidden language of the past is finding new life—and new voices—in the present.
Listen to the language here:
For more on the Tut language
McIlwain, Gloria. “Tut Language, Sound Spelling Language.” Tut Language, Sound Spelling Language, www.tutlanguage.com/#
Daniells, Elise. “Tutnese: The Lost Language of the Enslaved.” ASU Library: Arizona State University, Oct. 2021, lib.asu.edu/news/tutnese-lost-language-enslaved-elise-daniells.
Nakhti University. “Tut Language for Black Americans.” Nakhti University, nakhtiuniversity.com/course/tut-language?utm_.