DOCSLIB.ORG

ALGONQUIAN TRADE LANGUAGES Richard Rhodes Eastern Ojibwa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ALGONQUIAN TRADE LANGUAGES Richard Rhodes Eastern Ojibwa 1 ALGONQUIAN TRADE LANGUAGES Richard Rhodes Eastern Ojibwa Dictionary Project University of Michigan In this paper,1 I will turn from my more usual concerns of linguis­ tic analysis to a question of language use—a question of perhaps broader interest to the current audience since the implications of this paper touch on the domains of anthropology and ethnohistory as well as on linguistics. I will develop the hypothesis that intertribal contact among Algonquians in the Great Lakes area was mediated via trade languages or koines rather than through interpreters or by some other means.2 By the term trade language I mean a language customarily used for communication between speakers of different languages, even though it may be that neither speaker has the trade language as his dominant language. Some familiar examples include Greek, which in Roman times was the trade langauge of the Medi­ terranean, and Latin, which was the trade language of Europe. More recently Portuguese, French, and English have served as trade lan­ guages in various parts of Africa and Asia. Other well-known non- Indo-European trade languages include Swahili in East Africa and Fulani in West Africa, and one could argue that Modern Standard Arabic and Mandarin Chinese constitute trade languages in their respective parts of the world. It is characteristic of trade languages that there is a relatively high degree of bilingualism involving the trade language. As we will see later, this fact lends significant support to our position on Algonqui­ an trade languages. The hypothesis that certain midwestern Algonquian languages and dialects once served as trade languages arose out of an incongruity in my field work that has bothered me for a number of years, namely that most of the speakers of Ottawa that I have been working with are descendants not of Ottawas, but of Potawatomis and Chippewas, i.e. American Ojibwas.3 Moreover, many of these people say that 1 Earlier versions of this paper were read by Fred Lupke. The paper has bene­ fited immensely from his suggestions. The preparation of this paper was sup­ ported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities grant RT20086- 81-2179. 2The medium of communication on the plains is sign language, but there is no evidence that such a thing existed among the woodlands Algonquians. 3Those who live on the various Canadian reserves, Walpole Island up through Sarnia to Cape Croker, are descended from Indians who came to Canada mostly 2 Richard Rhodes they speak a mixture of Ojibwa and Ottawa, but they call the lan­ guage Chippewa. The obvious question is: why are these people speaking Ottawa? And why do they call it Chippewa? This paper is an attempt to provide an explanation for how this situation arose, and to examine the implications of this explanation for Algonquian studies. Specifically, I want to propose that in the early 19th century there were four general regions in the Great Lakes area with respect to lan­ guage use: an eastern region covering the area east of Georgian Bay; a southern region covering the area between Lake Erie and Lake Huron along with the lower penisula and the eastern end of the upper peninsula of Michigan, Manitoulin Island, the north shore of Georgian Bay, and various islands adjacent to this area; a western re­ gion extending from the western part of the upper peninsula of Mich­ igan through northern Wisconsin and out to the Mississippi River; and a northern region of indeterminate extent north of the lakes. These regions each had a different language or dialect as their koine: in the eastern region the trade language was called Algonquin, but it is now know to be part of the Eastern Ojibwa dialect rather than part of the true Algonquin dialect (Rhodes and Todd 1982). In the south the trade language was Ottawa. In the west the trade language was Southwestern Ojibwa. And in the north the trade language was some dialect of Cree, possibly Plains Cree. Perhaps it would be more cor­ rect to say that these languages, Eastern Ojibwa (called Algonquin or Nipissing) in the east, Ottawa in the south, Southwestern Ojibwa in the west, and Cree in the north were the trade languages among Al­ gonquians, as there is, to the best of my knowledge, no evidence whatever that the speakers of Siouan or Iroquoian languages of these areas spoke Algonquian languages.4 A map giving the approximate regions for each trade language is given in Figure 1. The evidence I will present in support of the hypothesis of this pa­ per varies for the different regions in kind and weight. Let us start during the period 1830-1840, and therefore often do not realize that their an­ cestors came from territory claimed by the United States. Of historical interest is the fact that the terms "Ojibwa(y)" for Ojibwas in Canadian territory and Chippewa for Ojibwas in United States territory must have been well estab­ lished by the time of the migrations to have remained to the present. 4Bloomfield (1927) mentions at least one instance of a Menominee who also spoke Winnebago. Paul Voorhis (personal communication) cites a number of b ox families with partial Winnebago ancestry who are still bilingual in Fox and Winnebago. Sagard-Theodat (1936:86) mentions Ojibwas who spoke Huron in contrast with Huron monolinguals. This suggests that contact between Algonqui­ ans and non-Algonquians (e.g. Menominee-Winnebago, Spindler 1978 719) was carried on through Algonquian interpreters. This was certainly true in the main of Algonquian-English contact. ' Algonquian Trade Languages 3 (Boundaries only approximate) (ca. 1830-1880) (Map adapted from Hanzeli 1969) FIGURE I with the situation in the western region, where the evidence is most straightforward. There Menominees have historically used Ojibwa (presumably Southwestern Ojibwa) as their trade language (Goddard 1978a:584). As mentioned above, trade languages characteristically involve a high degree of bilingualism, and that is still the case with Southwestern Ojibwa among the Menominee (Bloomfield 1928 :xii; Nichols, personal communication).5 Furthermore, at least some Po- 5For an example in the literature, see Medler's texts 8 and 9 (Bloomfield 1957) whose point is that at the Carlisle Indian School he met a Menominee girl who spoke Ojibwa. 4 Richard Rhodes tawatomis living in this area who still speak Potawatomi also speak Southwestern Ojibwa (Nichols, personal communication), which shows that speaking Ojibwa is not just a peculiarity of the Menomi­ nee. It is also worth noting that although the Southwestern Ojibwa, Menominee, and Potawatomi had all been contacted by the middle of the 17th century, only the Ojibwa language was recorded before the 19th century (Pilling 1891). No extensive recording of either Menominee or Potawatomi was done before well into the 20th cen­ tury, a stark contrast with the extensive 19th century recording of Southwestern Ojibwa. We take this difference as reflecting the fact that Southwestern Ojibwa was a trade language, while Menominee and Potawatomi were not. In the south we have both circumstantial evidence and direct evi­ dence that Ottawa was the trade language of the region. There are three pieces of circumstantial evidence: 1) all Algonquians whose forebearers were in this area in the 19th century and who still speak an Algonquian language either speak Ottawa as their sole language, or in the case of some Potawatomis, speak Ottawa as a second language; 2) speakers of the Ottawa dialect call their language by two names: on Manitoulin Island, where the population is predominantly of Ot­ tawa descent, the language is called Ottawa; elsewhere in the dialect area, where the people of Chippewa and Potawatomi descent pre­ dominate, the language is called Chippewa;6 and 3) there are a num­ ber of phonological differences, co-extensive with the naming diffe­ rence, that set Ottawa Ottawa off from Chippewa Ottawa. The spea­ kers of Ottawa Ottawa have a distinctive "accent" which consists of: 1) the deletion of intervocalic semivowels, 2) the glottalization of /w/ in preconsonantal position, 3) a very noticeable adjustment of vowel quality adjacent to /w/, and 4) a difference in intonation.7 6The confusion of names seems to be fairly recent. To this day, older spea­ kers, especially those of Potawatomi descent, still call the language Ottawa. Of course, it might be correctly observed that the confusion in names was there as early as the 1930's. Andrew Medler, Bloomfield's informant, called his lan­ guage Chippewa, whence the name of Bloomfield's (1957) work, Eastern Ojibwa, but subsequent inquiry has shown that Medler later realized that this was a mis­ take and that the language he spoke was properly called Ottawa. Volney Jones, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Michigan who arranged for Medler to be Bloomfield's informant, has repeatedly verified this, expressing some embarrassment at having failed to get a "real" Chippewa speaker as Bloom­ field had requested. 7Some of the phonological features distinguishing the subdialects in question are known to be more recent than the population shifts which they seem to mark. For example, a number of them follow the deletion of unstressed vowels, a change which itself is less than 100 years old. That these changes should follow the lines of the naming of the language, and the other, possibly older sound changes points all the more strongly to the validity of recognizing a true break between the subdialects, with all the historical implications that this points to. Algonquian Trade Languages 5 The parallel split in both name and accent suggests that there is a native" area whose inhabitants' ancestors have always spoken the Ottawa dialect, and a trade language area whose inhabitants' ances­ tors gave up their native dialect for the trade language dialect, Otta­ wa.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Kwakwaka'wakw Storytelling: Preserving Ancient Legends
    MARCUS CHALMERS VERONIKA KARSHINA CARLOS VELASQUEZ KWAKWAKA'WAKW STORYTELLING: PRESERVING ANCIENT LEGENDS ADVISORS: SPONSOR: Professor Creighton Peet David Neel Dr. Thomas Balistrieri This report represents the work of WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of a degree requirement. WPI routinely published these reports on its website without editorial or peer review. For more information about the projects program at WPI, seehttp://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Projects Image: Neel D. (n.d.) Crooked Beak KWAKWAKA'WAKW i STORYTELLING Kwakwaka'wakw Storytelling: Reintroducing Ancient Legends An Interactive Qualifying Project submitted to the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science. Submitted by: Marcus Chalmers Veronika Karshina Carlos Velasquez Submitted to: David A. Neel, Northwest Coast native artist, author, and project sponsor Professor Creighton Peet Professor Thomas Balistrieri Date submitted: March 5, 2021 This report represents the work of WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of a degree requirement. WPI routinely published these reports on its website without editorial or peer review. For more information about the projects program at WPI, see http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Projects ABSTRACT ii ABSTRACT Kwakwaka'wakw Storytelling: Preserving Ancient Legends Neel D. (2021) The erasure of Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations' rich culture and history has transpired for hundreds of years. This destruction of heritage has caused severe damage to traditional oral storytelling and the history and knowledge interwoven with this ancient practice. Under the guidance of Northwest Coast artist and author David Neel, we worked towards reintroducing this storytelling tradition to contemporary audiences through modern media and digital technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School College Of
    The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education A COMPARATIVE SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONTENT ANALYSIS OF TREATIES AND CURRENT AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION LEGISLATION WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STATE OF MICHIGAN A Thesis in Educational Leadership by Martin J. Reinhardt ©2004 Martin J. Reinhardt Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December, 2004 ii The thesis of Martin J. Reinhardt has been reviewed and approved by the following: John W. Tippeconnic III Professor of Education Thesis Advisor Chair of Committee William L. Boyd Batschelet Chair Professor of Education Susan C. Faircloth Assistant Professor of Education Edgar I. Farmer Professor of Education Nona A. Prestine Professor of Education In Charge of Graduate Programs in Educational Leadership *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT This study is focused on the relationship between two historical policy era of American Indian education--the Constitutional/Treaty Provisions Era and the Self- Determination/Revitalization Era. The primary purpose of this study is the clarification of what extent treaty educational obligations may be met by current federal K-12 American Indian education legislation. An historical overview of American Indian education policy is provided to inform the subsequent discussion of the results of a content analysis of sixteen treaties entered into between the United States and the Anishinaabe Three Fires Confederacy, and three pieces of federal Indian education legislation-the Indian Education Act (IEA), the Indian Self-Determination & Education Assistance Act (ISDEA), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures …………………………………………………………………...... vii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………… .........
    [Show full text]
  • Downloads/2010-Report-On-The-Status-Of-Bc-First- Nations-Languages.Pdf
    Ḵ̓A̱NGEX̱TOLA SEWN-ON-TOP: KWAK’WALA REVITALIZATION AND BEING INDIGENOUS by PATRICIA CHRISTINE ROSBOROUGH B.A., University of Victoria, 1993 M.A., Bastyr University, 1995 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Educational Leadership and Policy) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2012 © Patricia Christine Rosborough, 2012 ABSTRACT Kwak’wala, the language of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw, like the languages of all Indigenous peoples of British Columbia, is considered endangered. Documentation and research on Kwak’wala began more than a century ago, and efforts to revitalize Kwak’wala have been under way for more than three decades. For Indigenous peoples in colonizing societies, language revitalization is a complex endeavour. Within the fields of language revitalization and Indigenous studies, the practices and policies of colonization have been identified as key factors in Indigenous language decline. This study deepens the understanding of the supports for and barriers to Kwak’wala revitalization. Emphasizing Indigenization as a key aspect of decolonization, the study explored the relationship between Kwak’wala learning and being Indigenous. The study was conducted through a Ḵ̓a̱ngex̱tola framework, an Indigenous methodology based on the metaphor of creating a button blanket, the ceremonial regalia of the Kwaka̱ka̱’wakw. The research has built understanding through the author’s experience as a Kwak’wala learner and the use of various approaches to language learning, including two years with the Master-Apprentice approach. The research employs the researcher’s journals and personal stories, as well as interviews with six individuals who are engaged in Kwak’wala revitalization.
    [Show full text]
  • Topics in Potawatomi Grammar
    Topics in Potawatomi Grammar TOPICS IN POTAWATOMI GRAMMAR home | reference | PLSC | forum 1. Introduction to the Potawatomi Language 2. The Sounds of Potawatomi 3. Writing Systems 4. Sound Rules 5. Grammatical Categories 6. Parts of Speech 7. Introduction to Word Structure [more on this subject soon] 8. The Inflection of Nouns 9. The Inflection of Verbs 10 Introduction to Sentence Structure [more on this subject soon] 11. Adverbial Clauses 12. Complement Clauses 13. Relative Clauses [more on this subject soon] 14. Conjunction [more on this subject soon] 15. Disjunction [more on this subject soon] 16. Adversatives Verb Paradigm Charts A Note on Paradigms and Attrition file:///D|/My%20Documents/anishinaabe/TRIBES/languages/potawatomi/grammartopics.html2007.01.26. 23:36:54 Introduction 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE POTAWATOMI LANGUAGE home | reference | PLSC | forum | grammar topics 1. Communities of Speakers 2. Dialects 3. Potawatomi an Endangered Language 4. Language Families and the Algonquian Language Family 5. Language Family Trees 6. Some Distinctive Features of Potawatomi Grammar 6.1. Animacy 6.2. Preference for Verbal Constructions 6.3. Inflections vs. Pronouns 6.4. Word-Building 6.5. Word Order 6.6. Linguistic Research 1. COMMUNITIES OF SPEAKERS [top] Neshnabémwen, commonly known as Potawatomi, is the heritage language of the Bodéwadmik, or Potawatomi people. In the early 1800's, the Potawatomi area extended over a large territory centered around Lake Michigan. After removal, the tribes were dispersed over much of the midwest of the United States and adjacent Ontario in Canada. In the United States there are six federally recognized Potawatomi Tribes: the Forest County Potawatomis in Wisconsin, Hannahville Indian Community in northern Michigan, the Huron Band Potawatomis in southwestern Michigan, the Pokagon Band Potawatomis (which are also in southwestern Michigan but also extend to northwestern Indiana) the Prairie Band Potawatomis in Kansas, and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma.
    [Show full text]
  • From Head-Final to Head-Initial in Algonquian: Evidence and Implications*
    From head-final to head-initial in Algonquian: Evidence and implications* Will Oxford University of Manitoba This paper shows that the Algonquian languages display evi- dence of a long-term shift from head-final to head-initial order in three domains: the PP, the DP, and the clausal spine. Each do- main displays traces of an original analytic head-final construc- tion whose head directionality became opaque when the heads became affixes. The new analytic constructions that have sub- sequently developed in each domain consistently display head- initial order rather than head-final order. The paper discusses the causes and implications of this shift in head directionality. 1 Introduction The flexible word order of the Algonquian languages may give the impression that these languages have little to tell us about the issue of head directionality. The purpose of this paper is to show that this is not the case. I argue that there is diachronic evidence for a long-term change in head directionality in Algonquian, from head-final to head-initial. The recognition of this long-term change deepens our understanding of the synchronic structure of the Algonquian languages and connects to interesting theoretical questions. The proposal is speculative, however, due to its basis in internal reconstruction. The paper has two goals. The first goal is descriptive. Building on work by Rhodes (2006) and God- dard (2007), I propose that a shift from head-final to head-initial order has taken place in three domains: PP, DP, and the clausal spine. The shift to head-initial order was well underway by the time of Proto-Algonquian (c.
    [Show full text]
  • 8 Obviation in Potawatomi
    8 Obviation in Potawatomi 8.1 Introduction Obviation is an aspect of Potawatomi grammar worth examining in this study, since, like the use of independents, conjuncts, and the preverb é-, it has different uses in syntax and discourse. In Chapter 10, I will argue that these uses are related to each other. The goal of this chapter is to describe obviation in Potawatomi in some detail, since this is an important topic in Algonquian studies, and its use in Potawatomi has not been given much attention in the descriptive literature. Potawatomi also provides an important case study, since its use of obviation places it between such languages as Fox, with significant discourse obviation, and Ottawa, with predominantly syntactic obviation. Based on a detailed study of a traditional narrative, I present a mechanism that would allow a language with discourse obviation to become reanalyzed as a syntactic obviation language, and argue that Potawatomi is an example of this change in progress. 8.2 Background Obviation is a grammatical phenomenon found in Algonquian languages that signals disjoint reference in third persons.1 In a given context, one third person will be designated proximate, and others are marked obviative.2 The marking of obviative status 1 Kutenai (a linguistic isolate spoken in British Columbia, Idaho and Montana) also has obviation (involviing first and second as well as third persons) and inverse marking (see Dryer, 1992). Some Algonquianists speculate that Kutenai was a source of diffusion for obviation in Algonquian. 2 The earliest use of the term ‘obviative’ is in Cuoq (1866). 146 occurs on nouns, and is co-indexed by verbal agreement marking.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Perspective on Indigenous Blackfoot Participation in Museums and Heritage Sites in Alberta, Canada Bryony Annette Onciul
    Unsettling Assumptions about Community Engagement: A New Perspective on Indigenous Blackfoot Participation in Museums and Heritage Sites in Alberta, Canada Bryony Annette Onciul International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies School of Arts and Cultures Newcastle University Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2011 Abstract In post-colonial nations such as Canada, sharing power and authorship is increasingly used as a strategy by museums to attempt to pluralise, democratise and decolonise relations with, and representations of, Indigenous peoples. While honourable in its intentions, the increasingly ubiquitous practice of community engagement in museums has been under analysed, and its difficulties and complexities understated. This thesis critically analyses engagement in museum and heritage practice and carefully unpicks the nuances of, and naturalised assumptions about, collaboration and self-representation. Power relations and their tangible manifestations in the form of exhibits, employment, relations, and new curatorial practices, are at the core of the analysis. As a comparative study the research provides a cross-disciplinary analysis of mainstream and community museums and heritage sites through four case-studies. Each of the case-studies engaged with Indigenous Blackfoot communities in southern Alberta, Canada, through consultation, partnership, co-ownership or community control. Between 2006 and 2009 I spent twenty-four months in Alberta researching the case- studies and conducting forty-eight in-depth interviews with museum and community members. This research makes a new contribution to the field through its emphasis on community participants’ perspectives; the importance of inter-community collaboration; and its development of the concept of ‘engagement zones’ which builds on James Clifford’s theory of the museum as contact zone.
    [Show full text]
  • Noogom Gna-Izlzi-Anisltinaabemonaaniwag: Generational Differences in Algonquin
    noogom gna-izlzi-anisltinaabemonaaniwag: Generational Differences in Algonquin by Christian Artuso A thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Department of Linguistics University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba (c) May, 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale u*m ofCanada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services seMces bibliographiques The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or seli reproduire, prêter, distn'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/lfilm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celleci ne doivent être imprimes reproduced wïthout the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. THE WIVERSITY OF MXiTOBA FACULN OF GRADUATE STIiDIES ***** COPYRIGHT PER%IISSIONPAGE noogom gaa-izhi-anishinaabemoaaaivag : Generatioual Dif ferences in Algonquin A Thesis/Practicum submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfülment of the requirements of the degree of Christian ~rtuso 01998 Permission has been granted to the Library of The University of Manitoba to lend or seii copies of this thesis/practicum, to the National Library of Canada to microfilm this thesis and to lend or sel1 copies of the film, and to Dissertations Abstracts International to publish an abstract of this thesis/practicum.
    [Show full text]
  • LCSH Section O
    O, Inspector (Fictitious character) O-erh-kʾun Ho (Mongolia) O.T. Site (Wis.) USE Inspector O (Fictitious character) USE Orhon River (Mongolia) USE OT Site (Wis.) O,O-dimethyl S-phthalimidomethyl phosphorodithioate O-erh-kʾun River (Mongolia) O-wee-kay-no Indians USE Phosmet USE Orhon River (Mongolia) USE Oowekeeno Indians O., Ophelia (Fictitious character) O-erh-to-ssu Basin (China) O-wen-kʻo (Tribe) USE Ophelia O. (Fictitious character) USE Ordos Desert (China) USE Evenki (Asian people) O/100 (Bomber) O-erh-to-ssu Desert (China) O-wen-kʻo language USE Handley Page Type O (Bomber) USE Ordos Desert (China) USE Evenki language O/400 (Bomber) O family (Not Subd Geog) Ō-yama (Kanagawa-ken, Japan) USE Handley Page Type O (Bomber) Ó Flannabhra family USE Ōyama (Kanagawa-ken, Japan) O and M instructors USE Flannery family O2 Arena (London, England) USE Orientation and mobility instructors O.H. Ivie Reservoir (Tex.) UF North Greenwich Arena (London, England) Ó Briain family UF Ivie Reservoir (Tex.) BT Arenas—England USE O'Brien family Stacy Reservoir (Tex.) O2 Ranch (Tex.) Ó Broin family BT Reservoirs—Texas BT Ranches—Texas USE Burns family O Hine Hukatere (N.Z.) OA (Disease) O.C. Fisher Dam (Tex.) USE Franz Josef Glacier/Kā Roimata o Hine USE Osteoarthritis BT Dams—Texas Hukatere (N.Z.) OA-14 (Amphibian plane) O.C. Fisher Lake (Tex.) O.K. (The English word) USE Grumman Widgeon (Amphibian plane) UF Culbertson Deal Reservoir (Tex.) USE Okay (The English word) Oa language San Angelo Lake (Tex.) O-kee-pa (Religious ceremony) USE Pamoa language San Angelo Reservoir (Tex.) BT Mandan dance Oab Luang National Park (Thailand) BT Lakes—Texas Mandan Indians—Rites and ceremonies USE ʻUtthayān hǣng Chāt ʻŌ̜p Lūang (Thailand) Reservoirs—Texas O.L.
    [Show full text]
  • The Syntax of Mi'gmaq: a Configurational Account
    The syntax of Mi’gmaq: A configurational account Michael David Hamilton Department of Linguistics McGill University, Montréal B.A., Carleton University, 2010 August 2015 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO MCGILL UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY c MDHamilton 2015 Contents 1 Introduction 11 1.1 Introduction.................................... 11 1.2 Mi’gmaqbackground............................... 14 1.2.1 Animacy ................................... 14 1.2.2 Theproximate-obviativedistinction . 16 1.2.3 Direct-inversesystem. 18 1.2.4 Non-configurationality . 21 1.2.5 OnthestructureofAlgonquianlanguages . 26 1.3 Outline ........................................ 27 2 The verb in Mi’gmaq 30 2.1 Introduction.................................... 30 2.2 Thepartsoftheverbstem ........................... 31 2.2.1 Background.................................. 31 2.2.2 Apreviewoftheverbalcomplex. 33 2.2.3 Clausalstructure .............................. 35 2.3 φ-indexingaffixes................................... 37 2.3.1 Verbfinal ................................... 38 2.3.2 Themesign.................................. 40 2.3.3 Innersuffix .................................. 43 2.4 Implications.................................... 47 i 2.4.1 PronominalArgumentHypothesis(PAH) . 48 2.4.2 Alternateanalyses ............................. 50 2.5 Conclusion ...................................... 51 3 Asymmetries among arguments 54 3.1 Introduction.................................... 54 3.2 PossibleAnalyses...............................
    [Show full text]
  • Decolonizing Every Day: Exploring Relationships, Stories, and Practices for Decolonization
    Decolonizing Every Day: Exploring Relationships, Stories, and Practices for Decolonization by Zoe Patricia Miller A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Adult Education and Community Development Graduate Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Zoe Patricia Miller, 2016 Decolonizing Every Day: Exploring Relationships, Stories and Practices for Decolonization Master of Adult Education and Community Development, 2016 Zoe Patricia Miller Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education University of Toronto Abstract: In this thesis I reflect ethnographically on ‘every day’ experiences and stories that have shaped my own transformational learning about colonialism and decolonization to inspire and contribute to ongoing discussions and action on decolonization. The struggle of my close friend Natasha (Kwakwa̱ ka̱ ʼwakw) to uncover where she is from originally inspired me to ask similar questions of my settler family. In this research I have learned from: family members, Ancestors, friends and mentors, archival online data and importantly, Natasha, and her friends and family in the birth community she found after years of searching. This research in our respective communities shows the relationships of my family; to one another, Indigenous people on Turtle Island, the Land, Spirit and colonialism. It also demonstrates the vitality of life-giving worldviews and relationships with land, Spirit and each other; with emphasis on the importance of supportive and accountable relationships in decolonizing work. ii Acknowledgements I want to thank my spiritual psychotherapist and teacher and friend, Tiffany Lazic. Before coming to OISE I needed help healing from trauma.
    [Show full text]
  • A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the Unversity of Minnesota By
    OJIBWE DISCOURSE MARKERS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Brendan George Fairbanks IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Jeanette Gundel, John D. Nichols August, 2009 Brendan George Fairbanks 2009 Acknowledgements I am indebted to the elders of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe without whom this work would not have been possible, and thankful for their patience as I bombarded them with my endless questions. Miigwech gidinininim: Biidaabanookwe (Marge Anderson), Okaadaak (Elfreda Sam), Naawigiizis (Jim Clark), Zhaawanigiizhigookwe (Millie Benjamin), Bebaamaashiikwe (Susan Shingobe), Biidwewidamookwe (Maggie Kegg), Mashkawigaabawiikwe (Virginia Davis), Gimiwan (Raining Boyd), Asinigaabawiikwe (Carol Nickoboine), Amikogaabaw (Larry Smallwood), Obizaan (Lee Staples), and Naawigiizis (Frank Mason). All these elders allowed me free access to their brains and their intuitions about the language data contained in this thesis. I would especially like to thank Marge Anderson for letting me text and call her anytime I wanted to ask her a million questions and to pick her brain! This was invaluable. I would also like to thank Lillian Rice (Ogimaakwe) also in helping me to understand many of the nuances existing with many of the discourse markers examined for this thesis. I would also like to thank the members of my committee who provided me with much need feedback and support. Their counsel and mentoring has allowed me to be a much better researcher. I would also like to acknowledge my father for his speeches growing up about the importance of getting an education, for my mom who always said I was smart, and for my grandma who has always inspired me by her love of education and hatred of alcohol, a liquid that has done so much destruction among my own people (the Kickapoos and Ojibwes) and among other tribes.
    [Show full text]