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Fox language

Algonquian language spoken in US and Mexico From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fox language
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For the language of the animal, see Fox § Vocalization.

Fox (known by a variety of different names, including Mesquakie (Meskwaki), Mesquakie-Sauk, Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo, Sauk-Fox, and Sac and Fox) is an Algonquian language, spoken by a thousand Meskwaki, Sauk, and Kickapoo in various locations in the Midwestern United States and in northern Mexico.

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Dialects

The three distinct dialects are:

  • Fox or Meskwakiatoweni (Meskwaki language)[4] (also called Mesquakie, Meskwaki)
  • Sauk or Thâkiwâtowêweni (Thâkîwaki language) (also rendered Sac), and
  • Kickapoo or Kiikaapoa (also rendered Kikapú; considered by some to be a closely related but distinct language[5]).

If Kickapoo is counted as a separate language rather than a dialect of Fox, then only between 200 and 300 speakers of Fox remain. Extinct Mascouten was most likely another dialect, though it is scarcely attested.

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Revitalization

Most speakers are elderly or middle-aged, making it highly endangered. The tribal school at the Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa incorporates bilingual education for children.[6][7] In 2011, the Meskwaki Sewing Project was created, to bring mothers and girls together "with elder women in the Meskwaki Senior Center sewing traditional clothing and learning the Meskwaki language."[8]

Prominent scholars doing research on the language include Ives Goddard[9] and Lucy Thomason of the Smithsonian Institution and Amy Dahlstrom of the University of Chicago.

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Phonology

The consonant phonemes of Fox are given in the table below. The eight vowel phonemes are: short /a, e, i, o/ and long /aː, eː, iː, oː/.

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Other than those involving a consonant plus /j/ or /w/, the only possible consonant cluster is /ʃk/.

Until the early 1900s, Fox was a phonologically very conservative language and preserved many features of Proto-Algonquian; records from the decades immediately following 1900 are particularly useful to Algonquianists for this reason. By the 1960s, however, an extensive progression of phonological changes had taken place, resulting in the loss of intervocalic semivowels and certain other features.[10]

Grammar

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According to A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language by Gordon Whittaker,[11] the language's nouns can be divided into animate and inanimate groups. Animate nouns end in -a (ex: tîtîwa /ˈti:.ti:.wa/, "blue jay (bird)"). To pluralise most animate nouns, the ending is transformed from -a to -aki (ex: tîtîwa -> tîtîwaki). The few exceptions that exist have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.

Inanimate nouns typically end in -i (ex: mâtethi /ˈma:.tet.hi/, "knife"). To pluralise most inanimate nouns, the ending is transformed from -i to -ani (ex: mâtethi -> mâtethani). Like the animate nouns, the few exceptions that exist also have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.[12]

Verbs can be divided into transitive and intransitive; transitive involves two parties (i.e "I give it to you!" / "Kemînêwene!"), while intransitive is one party (i.e "You're alive." / "Kepemâtethi.")

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This conjugation is only for verbs that end in -amwa; all other animate transitive verbs take the same conjugation as the animate intransitive verbs.[13]

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Vocabulary

Meskwaki numerals are as follows:[14]

nekotione
nîshwitwo
nethwithree
nyêwifour
nyânanwifive
nekotwâshikasix
nôhikaseven
neshwâshikaeight
shâkanine
metâthwiten

Writing systems

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Thumb
Letter in the Kickapoo language written in Coahuila, Mexico in the 1950s

Besides the Latin script, Fox has been written in two indigenous scripts.[15]

Fox I

Thumb
The Fox I script.[16]

"Fox I" is an abugida based on the cursive French alphabet (see Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics). Consonants written by themselves are understood to be syllables containing the vowel /a/. They are:

Syllable
ℓ[a] /pa/
t /ta/
s /sa/
d /ʃa/[b]
tt /tʃa/[c]
ŋ[d] /ya/
w /wa/
m /ma/
n /na/
K /ka/
g[e] /kwa/[f]
  1. Written as a tall loop, similar to a cursive b or l.
  2. Character ⟨d⟩ for /š/ derives from French ⟨ch⟩.
  3. Character ⟨tt⟩ for /č/ derives from French ⟨tch⟩.
  4. The cursive form of capital I is a more graphically accurate approximation for /ya/; the actual character is a small clockwise loop with a long tail.
  5. The actual character for /gwa/ or /kwa/ is shaped more like a cursive g or a with a long, winding tail that goes in a loop, almost like a figure-8 shape.
  6. Character ⟨q⟩ for /kw/ derives from French ⟨q(u)⟩.

Vowels are written by adding dots to the consonant:

ℓ /pa/
ℓ. /pe/
ℓ· /pi/
ℓ.. /po/

Fox II

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The Fox II script.[17]

"Fox II" is a consonant–vowel alphabet. According to Coulmas, /p/ is not written (as /a/ is not written in Fox I). Vowels (or /p/ plus a vowel) are written as cross-hatched tally marks.

Consonants (approximately)
+ /t/
C /s/
Q /ʃ/
ı /tʃ/
ñ /v/[a]
═ /y/
ƧƧ /w/
田 /m/
# /n/
C′ /k/
ƧC /kw/
Vowels (approximately)
× /a/
II /e/[b]
III /i/[c]
IIII /o/[d]
  1. Actually like one script n stacked on another.
  2. If the cross-hatching does not show up (perhaps because this line has been copied without formatting), this is like a small capital H with the cross-bar sticking out on either side.
  3. Resembles Chinese 卅 but lower and wider.
  4. Resembles Chinese 卌, but lower and wider.
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See also

Notes

References

External links

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