Western Abnaki language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Western Abnaki Wôbanakiôdwawôgan |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Canada | |
| Region: | on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec | |
| Total speakers: | 20 (1991 M. Krauss) | |
| Language family: | Algic Algonquian Eastern Algonquian Abnaki Western Abnaki |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | – | |
| ISO 639-3: | abe | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Western Abnaki (also known as St. Francis) is an indigenous language spoken by around 20 individuals along the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City. It is being supplanted by French and is considered nearly extinct.
Contents |
[edit] Phonology
[edit] Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near-Close | [ɪ] | [ʊ] | |
| Mid | [ə] | ||
| Open mid nasal | [ɔ̃] | ||
| Open | [a] |
[edit] Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | [p] [b] | [t] [d] | [k] [g] | ||
| Affricate | [ts] [dz] | ||||
| Fricative | [s] [z] | [h] | |||
| Nasal | [m] | [n] | |||
| Lateral approximant | [l] | ||||
| Semivowel | [w] | [j] |
[edit] Writing systems
Several different writing systems have been developed by various authors for writing the sounds of Abenaki: Pial Pol Wzokihlain, Sozap Lolô, Henry Lorne Masta, and Gordon Day (author of the Western Abenaki Dictionary) each use a slightly different system.[1] Common to all four are the characters A, B, D, E, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, S, T, U, W, and Z. Wzokihlain, Lolô, and Masta all have an additional digraph CH, which corresponds to Day's C.[1] Lolô writes I for /j/ and /i/; where confusion could result, he writes Ï for /i/.[1]
Lolô and Masta use both W and U for the semivowel /w/. Day consistently writes lax stops using voiced symbols: B, D, G, J, Z; the other three write lax consonants using P, T, K, Ch, S word-initially and word-finally.[1] Day also consistently writes the schwa /ə/ with E, while the others leave it unwritten when not stressed.[1] Lolô and Day write the nasal vowel /ɔ̃/ as Ô, while Wzokihlain writes O and Masta writes ȣ.[1]
| IPA | Wzokihlain | Lolô | Masta | Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [p] | p | p | p | p |
| [b] | b/p | b/p | b/p | b |
| [t] | t | t | t | t |
| [d] | d/t | d/t | d/t | d |
| [k] | k | k | k | k |
| [g] | g/k | g/k | g/k | g |
| [ts] | ch | ch | ch | c |
| [dz] | j/ch | j/ch | j/ch | j |
| [s] | s | s | s | s |
| [z] | z/s | z/s | z/s | z |
| [h] | h | h | h | h |
| [m] | m | m | m | m |
| [n] | n | n | n | n |
| [l] | l | l | l | l |
| [w] | w | w/u | w/u | w |
| [j] | y | i | y | y |
| [ɪ] | i | i/ï | i | i |
| [ʊ] | o | o | o | o |
| [ə] | e/Ø | e/Ø | e/Ø | e |
| [ɔ̃] | o | ô | ȣ | ô |
| [a] | a | a | a | a |
[edit] Notes
[edit] See also
- Abenaki (tribe)
- Abenaki language
[edit] External links
- Abenaki orthography and phonology
- Native Languages page for Abenaki
- Western Abnaki language at Ethnologue
[edit] References
- Day, Gordon M. 1994a. Western Abenaki Dictionary. Volume 1: Abenaki to English. Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 128.
- Day, Gordon M. 1994b. Western Abenaki Dictionary. Volume 2: English to Abenaki. Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 128.
- Laurent, Joseph. 1884. New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues. Quebec: Joseph Laurent. Reprinted 2006: Vancouver: Global Language Press, ISBN 0-9738924-7-1
