| Potawatomi | |
|---|---|
| bodwéwadmimwen | |
| Native to | United States,Canada |
| Region | Michigan,Oklahoma,Indiana,Wisconsin,Kansas, and southernOntario, formerly NortheasternIllinois |
| Ethnicity | Potawatomi |
Native speakers | <10 (2015)[1] 5 (2018)[citation needed] |
| Revival | 2010s |
Algic
| |
| Latin (various alphabets), Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pot |
| Glottolog | pota1247 |
| ELP | Potawatomi |
| Linguasphere | (Potawatomi) 62-ADA-dc (Potawatomi) |
 Potawatomi | |
 Potawatomi 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. | |
| Person | Bodéwadmi (Neshnabé) |
|---|---|
| People | Bodéwadmik (Neshnabék) |
| Language | Bodwéwadmimwen (Neshnabémwen) |
Potawatomi (/ˌpɒtəˈwɒtəmi/ ⓘ, also spelledPottawatomie; in PotawatomiBodwéwadmimwen,Bodwéwadmi Zheshmowen, orNeshnabémwen) is aCentralAlgonquian language. It was historically spoken by thePottawatomi people who lived around theGreat Lakes in what are nowMichigan andWisconsin in theUnited States, and in southernOntario inCanada. Federally recognized tribes in Michigan and Oklahoma are working to revive the language.
Potawatomi is a member of theAlgonquian language family (itself a member of the largerAlgic stock). It is usually classified as a Central Algonquian language, with languages such asOjibwe,Cree,Menominee,Miami–Illinois,Shawnee andFox. The labelCentral Algonquian signifies a geographic grouping rather than the group of languages descended from a common ancestor language within the Algonquian family. Of the Central languages, Potawatomi is most similar to Ojibwe, but it also has borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from theSauk.
Generally, in developments sinceIndian Removal in the 19th century, Potawatomi has become differentiated in North America among separated populations. It is divided between Northern Potawatomi, spoken in Ontario, Canada; and Michigan and Wisconsin of the United States; and Southern Potawatomi, which is spoken in Kansas and Oklahoma, where certain Pottawatomi ancestors were removed who had formerly lived in Illinois and other areas east of theMississippi River.[2]
Here, the phonology of the Northern dialect is described, which differs somewhat from that of the Southern dialect, spoken in Kansas.
There are five vowelphonemes, fourdiphthongs, and nineteen consonant phonemes.
⟨é⟩, which is often written as⟨e'⟩, represents an open-mid front unrounded vowel,/ɛ/.⟨e⟩ represents theschwa,/ə/, which has severalallophonic variants. Before/n/, it becomes[ɪ]; before/kː/,/k/,/ʔ/ and word-finally, it becomes[ʌ].
⟨o⟩ is pronounced/u/ in Michigan and/o/ elsewhere. When it is in a closed syllable, it is pronounced[ʊ]. There are also four diphthongs,/ɛjɛwəjəw/, spelled⟨éy éw ey ew⟩. Phonemic/əjəw/ are realized as[ɪjʌw].
Obstruents, as in many other Algonquian languages, do not have avoicing distinction per se but what is better termed a "strong"/"weak" distinction. "Strong" consonants, written asvoiceless (⟨p t k kw⟩), are always voiceless, oftenaspirated, and longer in duration than the "weak" consonants, which are written asvoiced (⟨b d g gw⟩) and are often voiced and are not aspirated.Nasals before another consonant becomesyllabic, and/tː/,/t/, and/n/ aredental:[t̪ːt̪n̪].
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | o |
| Mid | ə | |
| Low | ɛ | a |
| Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labial | |||||
| Occlusive | p | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | ʔ |
| pː | tː | tʃː | kː | kːʷ | ||
| Fricative | s | ʃ | h | |||
| sː | ʃː | |||||
| Sonorant | m | n | j | w | ||
Lenis type consonants can frequently be voiced in various surroundings as[bddʒɡɡʷ] for plosives and affricates, and[zʒ] for fricatives.[3]
Though no standard orthography has been agreed upon by the Potawatomi communities, the system most commonly used is the "Pedagogical System" developed by theWisconsin Native American Languages Program (WNALP). As the name suggests, it was designed to be used in language teaching. The system is based on theRoman alphabet and is phonemic, with each letter or digraph representing a contrastive sound. The letters used are a b ch d e é g ' h i j k m n o p s sh t w y z zh.
In Kansas, a different system called BWAKA is used. It too is both based on the Roman alphabet and phonemic, with each letter or digraph representing a contrastive sound. The letters used are ' a b c d e e' g h i I j k m n o p s sh t u w y z zh.
Thetraditional system used in writing Potawatomi is a form of syllabic writing. Potawatomi,Odawa,Sauk,Meskwaki andHo-Chunk communities all used it. Derived from the Roman alphabet, it resembles handwritten Roman text. However, unlike theUnified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics or theCherokee alphabet, it has not yet been incorporated into theUnicode standards.
Each Potawatomi syllabic block in the system has at least two of the seventeen alphabetic letters, which consist of thirteen consonants and four vowels. Of the thirteen phonemic consonantal letters, the/h/, written⟨A⟩, is optional.
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Potawatomi has six parts of speech: noun, verb, pronoun, prenoun, preverb, and particle.[4]
There are two main types of pronoun: personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns. As nouns and verbs use inflection to describeanaphoric reference, the main use of the free pronouns is for emphasis.
Personal pronouns, because of vowelsyncope, resemble those ofOdaawaa but structurally resemble more those in theSwampy Cree language:
| Swampy Cree | Ojibwe | Odaawaa | Potawatomi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | singular | nîn | niin | nii | nin | |
| plural | exclusive | nînanân | niinawind | niinwi | ninan | |
| inclusive | gînanân | giinawind | giinwi | ginan | ||
| 2nd person | singular | gîn | giin | gii | gin | |
| plural | gînawâ | giinawaa | giinwaa | ginwa | ||
| 3rd person | singular | wîn | wiin | wii | win | |
| plural | wînawâ | wiinawaa | wiinwaa | winwa | ||
| Independent | Conjunct | |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg | nmaji | majiyan |
| 2sg | gmaji | majiyen |
| 3sg | maji(wak) | majit |
| 3sg.obv | majin | majinet |
| 1sg.excl | nmajimen | majiyak |
| 1pl.incl | gmajimen | majiygo |
| 2pl | gmajim | majiyék |
| 3pl | majik | majiwat |
The relatively-recent split from Ojibwe makes Potawatomi still exhibit strong correspondences, especially with theOdaawaa (Ottawa) dialect.
| Fiero Double Vowel System | Rhodes Double Vowel System | Potawatomi WNALP System | Potawatomi BWAKA System | IPA Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a (unstressed) | (none) | (none) | (none)/u | ∅ |
| a (stressed) | a (stressed) | e (ë) | e/u | ə |
| aa | aa | a | a/o | a~ʌ |
| b | b | b | b/p | b |
| ch | ch | ch | c | tʃ |
| d | d | d | d/t | d |
| e (secondary stress) | e (secondary stress) | e (ė) | e | ə |
| e (primary stress) | e (primary stress) | é/e' | e' | ɛ |
| g | g | g | g/k | ɡ |
| gi (unstressed) | g | j | j/ch | dʒ |
| g | g | j (from gy*) | j/c (from gy*) | dʒ |
| -g | -g | -k | -k | k |
| h | h | h | h | h |
| ' | h | ' | ' | ʔ |
| i (unstressed) | (none) | (none) | (none)/I | ∅ |
| i (stressed) | i (stressed) | e | e/I | ə |
| ii | ii | i | i | ɪ |
| j | j | j | j/ch | dʒ |
| k | k | k | k | k |
| ki (unstressed) | k | ch | c | tʃ |
| k | k | ch (from ky*) | c (from ky*) | tʃ |
| m | m | m | m | m |
| mb | mb | mb | mb | mb |
| (not fromPA *n) n/(none) | n/(none) | n/y | n/y | n~j |
| (fromPA *n) n | n | n | n | n |
| nd | nd | nd/d | nd/d | nd~d |
| ng | ng | ng/g | ng/g | ŋɡ~ɡ |
| nj | nj | nj/j | nj/j | ndʒ~dʒ |
| ns | ns | s | s | s |
| nz | nz | z | z | z |
| ny/-nh | ny/-nh | (none) | (none) | ∅ |
| nzh | nzh | zh | zh | ʒ |
| o (unstressed) | (none)/w/o (unstressed) | (none)/w/o/e | (none)/w/o/e | ∅~w~o~ʊ~ə |
| o (stressed) | o (stressed) | o (ê) | o | o~ʊ |
| oo | oo | o | o | o |
| p | p | p | p | p |
| s | s | s | s | s |
| sh | sh | sh | sh | ʃ |
| shk | shk | shk | shk | ʃk |
| shp | shp | shp | shp | ʃp |
| sht | sht | sht | sht | ʃt |
| sk | sk | sk | sk | sk |
| t | t | t | t | t |
| w | w/(none) | w/(none) | w/(none) | w~∅ |
| wa (unstressed) | wa (unstressed)/o | w/o | w/o | w~o~ʊ |
| waa (unstressed) | waa (unstressed)/oo | wa/o | wa/o | wa~o~ʊ |
| wi (unstressed) | wi (unstressed)/o | w/o | w/o | w~o~ʊ |
| y | y | y (initial glide) | y (initial glide) | j |
| (none) | (none) | y (medial glide) | y (medial glide) | j |
| z | z | z | z/s | z |
| zh | zh | zh | zh/sh | ʒ |
Cecelia Miksekwe Jackson, one of the last surviving native speakers of Potawatomi, died in May 2011, at the age of 88. She was known for working to preserve and teach the language.[5]
Donald Neaseno Perrot, a native speaker who grew up in thePowers Bluff, Wisconsin, area, has a series of Potawatomi videos, a website, and books available to preserve the language.[6]
The federally recognizedPokégnek Bodéwadmik Pokagon Band of Potawatomi started amaster-apprentice program in which a "language student (the language apprentice) will be paired with fluent Potawatomi speakers (the language masters)" in January 2013.[7] In addition, classes in the Potawatomi language are available, including those at theHannahville summer immersion camp,[8] with webcast instruction and videoconferencing.[7]
There are also free online language courses onMango Languages from the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi,[9] released in October 2022,[10] and onMemrise from theCitizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma.[11]
We also have two courses at memrise.com. One called "A Day in the Life" and the other "Conversational Potawatomi." They can be found after signing up on Memrise then searching for Potawatomi.
Italics indicate extinct languages * indicates extinct language in Oklahoma but still spoken elsewhere | |||||||||||||||
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Authority control databases: National |
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