Nominal Classification in Michif by Olivia Nathene Sammons A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Linguistics University of Alberta © Olivia Nathene Sammons, 2019 Abstract The maintenance of multiple systems of nominal classification is typologically uncommon, as is the transfer of noun class systems in language contact situations (Corbett 1991; Good 2012). Michif (ISO 639-3: crg), a critically endangered language spoken by members of the Métis Nation on the northern Great Plains, presents an exception to both of these generalizations, having inherited two systems of nominal classification from its source languages—French-derived gender (masculine/feminine), and Algonquian-derived animacy (animate/inanimate) (Bakker 1997; Papen 2003a). This study investigates Michif nominal classification in detail, considering both the relationship between the animacy and gender values observed in Michif and their equivalents in Cree and French, and the assignment of animacy and gender values to loanwords from English. Corbett (1991) questions whether or not any clear-cut examples of languages with “two independent gender systems” (188) can be identified cross- linguistically, and others have claimed that masculine-feminine gender in Michif is either weakening (Gillon & Rosen 2018) or fossilized (Stoltzfus & Boissard 2016). However, through quantitative investigation of animacy and gender assignment patterns, this study finds that Michif has two independent and productive grammatical categories of noun classification, each inherited from a different source language. The data analyzed in this study are drawn from a subset of a 60-hour multimodal corpus of contemporary spoken Michif, developed by the author in collaboration with 42 members of Métis communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, Canada primarily during the period of 2011–2016. Statistical analysis of a dataset consisting of 261 lemmas from this corpus finds that the animacy and gender values of Michif nouns ii align with those of its Cree and French source languages in the overwhelming majority of cases. This large-scale alignment, even in cases of semantic irregularity, indicates that these systems have largely been inherited in their full complexity in Michif. With more than one source language introducing syntactic and semantic categories into Michif, this finding underscores the importance of (a)symmetry in speakers’ linguistic competence in the development of models of language genesis in contact situations. Additional statistical tests find no signs of interaction between animacy and gender systems, motivating a treatment of Michif as having two separate, co-existing systems of nominal classification, rather than a single, merged gender system—a cross- linguistically uncommon result which has relevance to current typologies of nominal classification (e.g., Corbett 1991). This is further substantiated by the observation of a statistically significant difference between gender assignment patterns in French-origin lemmas as compared to English-origin lemmas, while no such difference is found in animacy assignment patterns. In addition, the synchronic results of this study partially corroborate the hypothesis that French-derived gender will be less stable than animacy over time (cf. Gillon & Rosen 2018), although it is found that animacy is also not immune to regularization to a default grammatical value. This study concludes that animacy and gender remain productive categories in Michif, rather than appearing only as fossilized elements in nominal constructions. This is supported by the observations that a) every lemma in the language must have values for animacy and gender, as indicated by the mandatory nature of grammatical agreement for these categories; b) with few exceptions, these values are stable and shared by speakers; and c) these values are always assigned to new lexical items brought into the iii language, even when the resulting classifications cannot be easily attributed to inheritance, as in the case of English borrowings. iv Preface This dissertation is an original work by Olivia N. Sammons. The research project, of which this dissertation is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, Project Name “Michif Language Documentation”, No. 10819, February 12, 2010 (renewed March 22, 2011; February 15, 2012; March 13, 2013; March 13, 2014; March 10, 2015; and March 22, 2016). No part of this dissertation has been previously published. v Acknowledgements This work has been the result of several influences and sources of support over the last several years. First and foremost, I would like to thank Verna DeMontigny, my primary Michif teacher and collaborator. Thank you for welcoming me into your home and family, and for being so generous with your time, experiences, stories, language, and humour. I am forever grateful. I would also like to acknowledge the many other Michif speakers who participated in this project, without whom this work would not be possible: Eliza Aubichon, Cecile Burroughs, †Daniel Daigneault, †Victoria Daigneault, †Louis Ducharme, Louise Dufour, Liz Durocher, Tony Durocher, James Favel, Marie Favel, †Rita Flamand, Edna Fleury, George Fleury, Harvey Fleury, Irene Fleury, Lawrance Fleury, Mary Fleury, †Mervin Fleury, Norman Fleury, Angus Gardiner, †Victoria Genaille, Louise Gregory, Thérèse Laliberté, Tony Laliberté, Shirley LaRocque, George Lavallée, †Clifford Ledoux, Grace Ledoux-Zoldy, Yvonne Longworth, Lawrence Morin, Max Morin, R.J. Morin, George Pelletier, Harvey Pelletier, Louis Roy, Thomas (“T.J.”) Roy, Stanley Smith, Edwin St. Pierre, Harriet St. Pierre, Marie Tanner, and Gail Welburn. Of these, I am particularly indebted to †Mervin Fleury and T.J. Roy for introducing me to other members of their communities, and for their overall enthusiasm, support, and facilitation of our sessions. Kihchi-marsii! This dissertation would not be what it is today without the help of my supervisory committee members—David Beck, Terry Nadasdi, and Nicole Rosen. David Beck, my committee chair, has been supportive at every stage of this research, from the conceptualization (and subsequent reconceptualizations) of this project, to providing advice on fieldwork and other professional matters. He has also spent countless hours providing detailed and thoughtful feedback throughout the writing process, substantially improving the overall quality of this work. Terry Nadasdi introduced me to Canadian French, guided me through my first attempts at sociolinguistic research, and has generally offered support whenever needed. Nicole Rosen provided me with the opportunity to work on the Michif Dictionary Project, helped introduce me to Verna DeMontigny, and also provided helpful comments on earlier drafts of this dissertation. I am also grateful to the external members of my committee, Peter Bakker and Evangelia Daskalaki, for their time and input. This research was primarily funded by a grant from the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, and was supplemented by grants from the Jacobs Research Fund and the Phillips Fund for Native American Research. Thanks are due to the linguistics department at the University of Alberta for hosting these grants, and particularly to Elizabeth French for her help in navigating the administrative aspects of this funding. vi Outside of my committee, I would like to thank Conor Quinn for advice on grant writing and for stimulating discussions at various stages of writing and analysis. I am also grateful to Christopher Cox and Yvonne Lam for their help with statistics. Thank you to Tracy Hirata-Edds for checking in from time to time and for providing feedback on very early drafts of several of the chapters in this dissertation. You are a saint. Thanks also go to my fellow graduate students in the linguistics department at the University of Alberta, particularly Simon Fung, Michelle Garcia-Vega, Sullay Kanu, Kevin Penner, Conor Snoek, Tamara Sorenson-Duncan, and Corey Telfer. I would also like to thank the Sauk Language Department team for their understanding and willingness to temporarily put other projects on hold while I completed this dissertation. There are several other influences which have guided me over the years and which continue to do so. Heartfelt thanks are due to Marcellino Berardo for providing me with my first introduction to Algonquian linguistics; to Heather Souter for introducing and encouraging me to work on Michif; and especially to Mary Linn, for modelling what it is to be a good researcher, mentor, colleague, and friend. With the last several years having been somewhat transient, finding good places in which to pursue this work has been challenging at times. I would like to thank CoSpace North in Whitehorse for providing me with a workspace at a discounted rate so that I could have a dedicated place to work in the company of others. This was a lifesaver for me, especially in the dark Yukon winter months. I would also like to thank Jeff Mühlbauer for generously letting me use his office at Brandon University during the summer months to meet with speakers and to have a place to work while “in the field.” To my in-laws, Doug and Adeline Cox, thanks for letting me store my fieldwork supplies in your basement, and for allowing me to keep my car parked in your driveway for months at a time while I was living in Whitehorse so that I would be able to get around for fieldwork when “down South”. This made everything so much easier. To my parents, Oliver and Paula Sammons, thank you for your constant love and support throughout these many, many years of schooling. I’m finally done! To Charlotte, my sunshine girl, and to the little one on the way. I’m so lucky to be your mama. Finally, to Chris – my rock, my love, my constant source of encouragement and support. You’ve been there every step of the way, whenever I needed a sounding board, technical advice, a diversion, or just a good dose of perspective. You never seemed to doubt that I would finish even when I doubted myself. Your love and support mean the world to me. Thank you for everything.