Mi'kmaq language

Mi'kmaq
Míkmawísimk
Spoken in Canada, United States
Region Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Gaspe Peninsula (Quebec), Newfoundland, northern Maine, Boston (Massachusetts)
Ethnicity Mi'kmaq people
Native speakers 10,850 (8,750 in Canada, 2,100 in the United States) [1][2]  (2006)
Language family
Language codes
ISO 639-2 mic
ISO 639-3 mic
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The Mi'kmaq language (spelled Micmac in English, and Míkmaq, Míkmaw or Mìgmao in Mi'kmaq) is an Eastern Algonquian language spoken by nearly 11,000 Mi'kmaq in Canada and the United States out of a total ethnic Mi'kmaq population of roughly 20,000.[1][2] The word Mi'kmaq is a plural word meaning 'my friends' (singular Míkm[3]); the adjectival form is Míkmaw.[4] The language's native name is Lnuismk, Míkmawísimk [5] or Míkmwei[3] (in some dialects).

Contents

Phonology

The phonemic inventory of Mi'kmaq is shown below.

Vowels

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː ə o oː
Open a aː

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
plain lab.
Plosive p t k kʷ
Affricate t͡ʃ
Fricative s x xʷ
Nasal m n
Approximant w l j

The obstruents (/p, t, k, kʷ, t͡ʃ, s, x, xʷ/) are voiceless initially or next to another obstruent, but allophonically voiced [b], [d], [ɡ], [ɡʷ], [d͡ʒ], [z], [ɣ], [ɣʷ] between sonorants (vowels or the voiced consonants /m, n, w, l, j/). Thus ⟨Mi'kmaq⟩, phonemically /miːkmax/, is pronounced [miːɡmax].

Writing system

Mi'kmaq is written using a number of Roman alphabet schemes based on those devised by missionaries in the 19th century. Previously, the language was written in Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing, a script of partially native origin. The Francis-Smith orthography used here was developed in 1974, and adopted as the official orthography of the Míkmaq Nation in 1980. It is the most widely used orthography, used by Nova Scotian Mikmaq and by the Míkmaq Grand Council. It is quite similar to the "Lexicon" orthography, differing from it only in its use of the straight apostrophe ⟨'⟩ or acute accent ⟨´⟩ instead of the colon ⟨:⟩ to mark vowel length. When the Francis-Smith orthography was first developed, the straight apostrophe (often called a "tick") was the designated symbol for vowel length, however due to software applications incorrectly auto-correcting the tick to a curly apostrophe, a secondary means of indicating vowel length was formally accepted: the acute accent. The barred-i ⟨ɨ⟩ is sometimes replaced by the more common circumflex-i ⟨î⟩. In Listuguj orthography, an apostrophe marks long vowels, and the letter ⟨g⟩ is used instead of the letter ⟨k⟩. The 19th-century Pacifique orthography omits ⟨w⟩ and ⟨y⟩, using ⟨o⟩ and ⟨i⟩ for these. It also ignores vowel length. The 19th-century orthography of Silas Tertius Rand is also given in the table below; this orthography is more complex than the table suggests, particularly as far as vowel quantity and quality is concerned.

Mi'kmaq orthographies
IPA a aː e eː i iː ə tʃ k l m n o oː p x s t u uː w j
Francis-Smith a a'/á e e'/é i i'/í ɨ j k l m n o o'/ó p q s t u u'/ú w y
Listuguj a a' e e' i i' ' j g l m n o o' p q s t u u' w y
Lexicon a a: e e: i i: ɨ j k l m n o o: p q s t u u: w y
Pacifique a e i tj g l m n ô p s t o
Rand ă a â ĕ ā ĭ e ŭ ch c k l m n ŏ o ō b h s d t ŏŏ oo u w y

Notes

  1. ^ a b Statistics Canada 2006
  2. ^ a b Indigenous Languages Spoken in the United States
  3. ^ a b Micmac Teaching Grammar. Delisle / Metallic 1976.
  4. ^ Native Languages of the Americas: Mi'kmaq (Mi'kmawi'simk, Mi'kmaw, Micmac, Míkmaq)
  5. ^ Chris Harvey's page on Míkmawísimk

References

External links