| Omaha–Ponca | |
|---|---|
| Umoⁿhoⁿ | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Nebraska andOklahoma |
| Ethnicity | Omaha,Ponca |
Native speakers | 85 (2008)[1] |
Siouan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | oma |
| Glottolog | omah1247 |
| ELP | Omaha-Ponca |
 Map showing the distribution ofOklahomaIndian Languages | |
 Omaha–Ponca is classified as Critically Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| People | Umoⁿhoⁿ, Páⁿka |
|---|---|
| Language | Iyé, Gáxe |
| Country | Umoⁿhoⁿ Mazhóⁿ, Páⁿka Mazhóⁿ |
Omaha–Ponca is aSiouan language spoken by theOmaha (Umoⁿhoⁿ) people ofNebraska and thePonca (Paⁿka) people ofOklahoma andNebraska. The two dialects differ minimally but are considered distinct languages by their speakers.[2]
As of 2008, there are only 50 fluent speakers of Omaha and 35 fluent speakers of Ponca. All fluent speakers are elderly.[1]
TheUniversity of Nebraska offers classes in the Omaha language, and its Omaha Language Curriculum Development Project (OLCDP) provides Internet-based materials for learning the language.[3][4][5][6] A February 2015 article gives the number of fluent speakers as 12, all over age 70, which includes two qualified teachers; the Tribal Council estimates about 150 people have some ability in the language. The language is taught at the Umónhon Nation Public School.[7] An Omaha Basic iPhone app has been developed by the Omaha Nation Public Schools (UNPS) and the Omaha Language Cultural Center (ULCC).[8] Members of theOsage Nation of Oklahoma have expressed an interest in partnerships to use the language as a basis of revitalizing theOsage language, which is similar.[7] Louis Headman edited a dictionary of the Ponca People, published by theUniversity of Nebraska Press.[9]
| Labial | Dental | Post- alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | |
| voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | ʔ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | ||
| ejective | pʼ | tʼ | ||||
| Fricative | voiced | z | ʒ | ɣ | ||
| voiceless | s | ʃ | x | |||
| glottalized | sʼ | ʃʼ | xʼ | |||
| Approximant | w | lᶞ | h | |||
Voiceless sounds/p,t,tʃ,k/ may also be heard as tense[pː,tː,tʃː,kː] in free variation.
One consonant, sometimes writtenl orth, is avelarized lateral approximant withinterdental release,[ɫᶞ], found for example inní btháska[ˌnĩˈbɫᶞaska] "flat water" (Platte River), the source of the nameNebraska. It varies freely from[ɫ] to a light[ð̞], and derives historically from Siouan *r.
Initial consonant clusters include approximates, as in/blᶞ/ and/ɡlᶞ/.
Consonants are written as in the IPA in school programs, apart from the alveopalatalsj, ch, chʰ, zh, sh, shʼ, the glottal stop’, the voiced velar fricativegh, and the dental approximantth. Historically, thisth has also been writtendh, ð, ¢, and thesh andx asc andq; the tenuis stopsp t ch k have either been written upside-down or double (pp, kk, etc.). These latter unusual conventions serve to distinguish these sounds from thep t ch k of other Siouan languages, which are not specified for voicing and so may sound like either Omaha–Poncap t ch k orb d j g. The lettersf, l, q, r, v are not used in writing Omaha–Ponca.
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| High | oral | i | u |
| nasal | ĩ | ||
| Mid | oral | e | |
| Low | oral | a | (o) |
| nasal | ã | (õ) | |
The simple vowels are/a,e,i,u/, plus a few words with/o/ in men's speech. The letter ‘o’ is phonemically /au/, and phonetically [əw].[10]
There are two or three nasal vowels, depending on the variety. In the Omaha and Ponca Dhegiha dialects *õ and *ã have merged unconditionally as/õ/, which may range across[ã]~[õ]~[ũ] and is written⟨oⁿ⟩ in Omaha and⟨aⁿ⟩ in Ponca. The close front nasal vowel/ĩ/ remains distinct.
Nasalized vowels are fairly new to the Ponca language. Assimilation has taken place leftward, as opposed to right to left, from nasalized consonants over time. "Originally when the vowel was oral, it nasalized the consonant and a nasalized vowel never followed suit, instead, the nasalized vowel came to preceded it"; though this is not true for the Omaha, or its 'mother' language."[11]
Omaha–Ponca is a tonal language that utilizesdownstep (accent) or a lowering process that applies to the second of two high-tone syllables. A downstepped high tone would be slightly lower than the preceding high tone.”:wathátʰe/walᶞaꜜtʰe/ "food",wáthatʰe/waꜜlᶞatʰe/ "table". Vowel length is distinctive in accented syllables, though it is often not written:[nãːꜜde] "heart",[nãꜜde] "(inside) wall".[12]
Omaha–Ponca is a daughter language to the Siouan mother language but has developed some of its own rules for nasalization and aspiration. What were once allophones in Proto-Siouan have become phonemes in the Omaha–Ponca language.
Many contrasts in the Omaha–Ponca language are unfamiliar to speakers of English.[13] Below are examples ofminimal pairs for some sounds which in English would be considered allophones, but in Omaha–Ponca constitute different phonemes:
| Contrast | Word | Gloss | Word | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [p] vs.[pʰ] | [pa] | head/nose | [pʰa] | bitter |
| [i] vs.[ĩ] | [nazhi] | to go out | [nazhĩ́] | to stand |
| [t] vs.[tʼ] | [tṍde] | the ground | [t’ṍde] | during future early autumns |
In many languages nasalization of vowels would be a part of assimilation to the next consonant, but Omaha–Ponca is different because it is always assimilating.[clarification needed] For example: iⁿdáthiⁿga, meaning mysterious, moves from a nasalized /i/ to an alveolar, stop. Same thing happens with the word iⁿshte, meaning, for example, has the nasalized /i/ which does not assimilate to another nasal. It changes completely to an alveolar fricative.
The Omaha–Ponca language adds endings to its definite articles to indicate animacy, number, position and number.Ponca definite articles indicate animacy, position and number.[14]
| morphological ending | gloss meaning |
|---|---|
| -kʰe | for inanimate horizontal object |
| -tʰe | for inanimate standing object |
| -ðaⁿ | for inanimate round object |
| akʰá | for singular animate agent |
| -amá | for singular animate agent in motion or plural |
| -tʰaⁿ | for animate singular patient in standing position |
| ðiⁿ | for animate singular patient in motion |
| -ma | for animate plural patient in motion |
| -ðiⁿkʰé | for animate singular patient in sitting position |
| -ðaⁿkʰá | for animate plural patient in sitting position |
Omaha–Ponca's syntactic type issubject-object-verb.[15]
Italics indicate extinct languages * indicates extinct language in Oklahoma but still spoken elsewhere | |
| Indigenous | |
| Sign languages | |
| Non-Indigenous | |
