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Assiniboine
Assiniboin, Hohe, Nakota, Nakoda, Nakon, Nakona, or Stoney
Nakʰóda
Native to Canada, United States
Region Saskatchewan, Canada Montana, United States
Ethnicity 3,500 Assiniboine (2007)
Native speakers 150, 4.3% of ethnic population  (2007)e18
Language family
Siouan
Lang Status 20-CR.svg
Assiniboine is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Assiniboine language (also known as Assiniboin, Hohe, or Nakota, Nakoda, Nakon or Nakona, or Stoney) is a Nakotan Siouan language of the Northern Plains. The name Assiniboine comes from the term Asiniibwaan, from Ojibwe, meaning 'Stone Siouans'. The reason they were called this was that Assiniboine people used heated stone to boil their food. In Canada, Assiniboine people are known as Stoney Indians, while they called themselves Nakota or Nakoda, meaning 'allies'.

Classification

The Dakotan group of the Siouan family has five main divisions: Dakota (Santee-Sisseton), Dakota (Yankton-Yanktonai), Lakota (Teton), Nakoda (Assiniboine) and Nakoda (Stoney). Along with the closely related Stoney, Assiniboine is an n variety of the Dakotan languages, meaning its autonym is pronounced with an initial n (thus: Nakʰóta as opposed to Dakʰóta or Lakʰóta, and Nakʰóda or Nakʰóna as opposed to Dakʰód or Lakʰól). The Assiniboine language is also closely related to the Sioux language and to the Stoney language (likewise called Nakoda or Nakota), although they are hardly mutually intelligible.

The Family Tree
The Siouan Family of Languages

Official status

The Assiniboine language is not a government-recognized official language of any state or region where Assiniboine people live. There are two reservations located in Montana, but the official language of the state is English. An estimate of native speakers ranges from less than 50, to about 100, to about 150 Assiniboine people, most of them elderly.

Related languages

Sioux, Assiniboine, and Stoney are closely related languages of the Dakota family. Many linguists consider Assiniboine and Stoney to be dialects. However, they are mutually unintelligible. Parks and DeMallie report that they are not variant forms of a single dialect, but that Assiniboine is closer to the Sioux dialects than it is to Stoney. The exact number of interrelationships among the subdialects and dialects comprising this continuum is unknown.

Dialect group Self-designation Political designation
Santee-Sisseton Dakhóta Sioux
Yankton-Yanktonai Dakȟóta Sioux
Teton Lakȟóta Sioux
Assiniboine Nakhóta Assiniboine
Stoney Nakhóda Stoney

Geographic distribution

The languages of the Dakotan group are spoken in the following regions:

Reservation or reserve Dialect
Alberta
Alexis Stoney
Big Horn Stoney
Eden Valley Stoney
Paul Stoney
Stoney (Morley) Stoney
Saskatchewan
Carry the Kettle Assiniboine
Moose Woods (White Cap) Sioux (Sisseton, Yanktonai)
Mosquito-Grizzly Bear's Head Assiniboine
Sioux Wahpeton (Round Plain) Sioux (Sisseton, Yanktonai)
Standing Buffalo Sioux (Sisseton, Yanktonai)
Whitebear Assiniboine
Wood Mountain Sioux (Teton)
Manitoba
Birdtail Sioux (Santee)
Oak Lake Sioux (Santee)
Sioux Valley Sioux (Santee)
Sioux Village-Long Plain Sioux (Santee)
North Dakota
Devil's Lake Sioux (Sisseton, Yanktonai)
Standing Rock Sioux (Yanktonai)
South Dakota
Cheyenne River Sioux (Teton)
Crow Creek Sioux (Yanktonai)
Flandreau Sioux (Santee)
Lower Brule Sioux (Teton)
Pine Ridge Sioux (Teton)
Rosebud Sioux (Teton)
Sisseton Sioux (Teton)
Standing Rock Sioux (Teton)
Yankton Sioux (Yankton)
Nebraska
Santee Sioux (Santee)
Minnesota
Lower Sioux Sioux (Santee)
Prairie Island Sioux (Santee)
Prior Lake Sioux (Santee)
Upper Sioux Sioux (Santee)
Montana
Fort Belknap Assiniboine
Fort Peck Assiniboine, Sioux (Yanktonai, Sisseton)

D-N-L classification system

The Assiniboine language (Nakota), the Dakota language and the Lakota language are usually classified into a group with D-N-L subgroup classification. As suggested by the name of the system, the variation in pronunciations of certain words follows the D-N-L rule. A typical example is given below:

Language group 'greasy'
Santee-Sisseton sda
Yankton-Yanktonai sda
Teton sla
Assiniboine sna
Stoney sna

Santee-Sisseton and Yankton-Yanktonai are languages that belong to the Dakotan group and Teton is a language in the Lakotan group. The table above illustrates a typical variation amongst these three languages. Just as the name of these three tribes suggest, the Dakota language, the Lakota language and the Nakota (Assiniboine) language have respective inclinations towards /d/, /l/, and /n/ in some substitutable consonants.

Arguments against the classification system

Some scholars argue that the D-N-L classification system may not be totally accurate due to the non-rigidness of the substitution form. Siouan Indians live on an expansive continuum such that the distinction between different languages does not manifest in a rigid, clear-cutting criterion. Historically, linguists have debated on Yankton-Yanktonai languages and their proper positions into the D-N-L classification system, but the coexistence of /d/ and /n/ phonemes made such classification doubtful. This example of lexical difference between the languages of the Siouan group illustrates another possible distinction besides the D-N-L variations.

Language group 'horse'
Santee-Sisseton súkataka
Yankton-Yanktonai sukawaka
Teton sukawaká
Assiniboine súkataka
Stoney suwatága

Phonology

The phonemic inventory has 27 consonants, which includes aspirated, plain, and ejective stops. In addition to this, it has five oral vowels and three nasal vowels. It is a structure-preserving language. Assiniboine has no definite or indefinite articles, no nominal case system, and no verbal tense marking. Clauses unmarked are "realized," while clauses marked as "potential" by means of verbal enclitic, which is successful in producing a future/non-future distinction. The verbal system is split into active and stative (split-intransitive). The active object pronominal affixes coincide with the stative verbs of the subject pronominal affixes.

Labial Alveolar Palatal or
postalveolar
Velar Glottal
Plosive Plain p t k ʔ
Ejective tʃʼ
Aspirated tʃʰ
Fricative Voiceless s ʃ x
Ejective ʃʼ
Voiced z ʒ ɣ
Nasal m n
Approximant w j h

The affricates and stops of Assiniboine are often described as voiced rather than voiceless, due to intervocalic voicing rules which result in surface voiced forms.

Oral vowels

Character used IPA symbol Assiniboine pronunciation
i i i as in police
u u oo as in book
e e e as in a in mate
o o o as in vote
a a a as in father

Nasal vowels

Character IPA symbol Also used as
ą ã an, an, aη, aN
į ĩ in, in, iη, iN
ų ũ un, on, un, uη, uN

There are five oral vowels in Assiniboine, /i u e o a/, and three nasal vowels, /ĩ ũ ã/.

Words that follow the above rules:

  • /bahá/ 'hill'
  • /pahá/ 'hair'
  • /čupó/ 'fog'
  • /ptą/ 'otter'
  • /pka/ 'heavy'
  • /psi/ 'rice'
  • /pša/ 'to sneeze'

Syllable structure

Syllables are primarily of CV structure. While codas are possible, they are restricted and uncommon, often becoming restructured as the onset of the following syllable. Onsets may include up to two consonants but codas must be simplex. Possible onset clusters are given in the following table:

Second
p t k s š c m n
First p -

ptą

ptą

otter

-

psį

psį

rice

pšA

pšA

sneeze

napcA

napcA

swallow

- -
t - -

tkA

tkA

heavy

- - - - -
k

kpamni

kpamni

serve

kte

kte

kill

-

ksuyA

ksuyA

hurt

kšikšA

kšikšA

curly

pakcA

pakcA

comb

kmųkA

kmųkA

snare

kni

kni

arrive

s

spayA

spayA

wet

stustA

stustA

tired

ską

ską

melt

- -

scu

scu

bashful

smuna

smuna

fine

sni

sni

cold

š

špą

špą

cooked

štuštA

štuštA

salty

škatA

škatA

play

- -

šcųka

šcųka

lazy

šma

šma

deep

šno

šno

melt

x

xpą

xpą

soaked

xtayetu

xtayetu

evening

- - -

xcina

xcina

tattered

xma

xma

sleepy

xni

xni

have a sore

m - - - - - - -

mnA

mnA

smell

Grammar

Morphology

Morphological processes for Assiniboine language are primarily agglutinating. In addition, the character of morpheme alternation in Assiniboine may be classified in terms of phoneme loss, phoneme shift, contraction, nasalization loss, syllable loss, syntactic contraction, and syntactic alternation.

Morphophonemics

Examples from Levin (1964).

Contraction->When two syllabics come into contact they contract as in:

/a/+/i/ > /i/
ex)

ápa

+

íyapi

>

ápayapi

ápa + íyapi > ápayapi

morning + {they go} > {they stayed awake until morning}

ex)

nakóta

+

iápi

>

nakótiapi

nakóta + iápi > nakótiapi

ally + {they speak} > {a little Indian (to speak)}

/i/+/i/ > /i/
ex)

ohómini

+

íyapi

>

(a) óhominiyapi

ohómini + íyapi > {(a) óhominiyapi}

circle + {they go} > {they circle}

/a/+/u/ > /u/
ex)

wicá

+

úkkupica

>

wicúkkupica

wicá + úkkupica > wicúkkupica

them + {we give} > {we give them}

Phoneme loss: Syllabics

when /a/ is in medial position between /k/ and /h/:

/a/> /∅/
ex)

waníyaka

+

hi

>

waníyakshi

waníyaka + hi > waníyakshi

{to see you} + {he comes} > {he came to see you}

when /o/ is in the medial position between /i/ and /k/:

/o/>/∅/
ex)

ukíce

+

okáxniga

>

ukícaxnigapi

ukíce + okáxniga > ukícaxnigapi

{we ourselves} + {to understand} > {we understand each other}

when /e/ is in medial position between /p/ and /k/:

/e/>/Φ/
ex)

napé

+

kóza

>

napkóza

napé + kóza > napkóza

hand + {to wave} > {to beckon}

Phoneme loss: semi-syllabics

/y/ > /∅/ when
/y/ follows /n/
ex)

mn

+

yuhá

>

mnuhá

mn + yuhá > mnuhá

I + {to have} > {I have}

Phoneme loss: non-syllabics

/k/ is in medial position between /u/ and /k/ or /u/ and /h/ or /u/ and /n/ or /u/ and /y/

/k/ > /∅/
ex)

uk

+

kágapi

>

ukágapi

uk + kágapi > ukágapi

we + {they make} > {we make}

ex)

uk

+

ya

+

naxú

>

nauyaxúpi

uk + ya + naxú > nauyaxúpi

we + you + {to hear} > {you hear us}

Phoneme shift: syllabics

/i/ > /a/ before /n/
ex)

awáci

+

ni

>

awácani

awáci + ni > awácani

{to think} + you > {you think}

Phoneme shift: non-syllabics

When /a/--/e/ is in medial position between /g/ and /š/

/g/ > /x/
ex)

okáxnige

+

-ši

>

owákaxnixeši

okáxnige + -ši > owákaxnixeši

{to understand} + -NEG > {I don't understand}

When /a/--/e/ is in medial position between /g/ and /c/

/g/ > /x/
ex)

okáxniga

+

-ce

+

wa

>

owákaxnixace

okáxniga + -ce + wa > owákaxnixace

{to understand} + -ITER + I > {I understand}

When /g/ is in medial position between /a/ and /y/

/g/ > /x/
ex)

icáge

+

-ya

>

icáxya

icáge + -ya > icáxya

{to grow} + -CAUS > {to cause to grow}

Nasalization loss exists as follows:

/ą/ > /a/
ex)

mázą

+

ska

>

mazáska

mázą + ska > mazáska

iron + white > money

Syllable loss occurs as follows:

/ye/ > /Φ/ Ex) iyópe... ye 'to pay' so, iyópe + wa + ye > iyópewa 'I pay'

Syntactic contraction: personal inflectional morphemes

wa 'I' + ni 'you' > ci 'I...you';
ex)

kku

+

ci

+

-kta

>

cicúta

kku + ci + -kta > cicúta

{to give} + {I... you} + -FUT > {I will give you}

Syntactic contraction with verbal themes occurs as follows:

/i/ + /k//kk/ > c;
ex)

i

+

kahíta

>

icáhita

i + kahíta > icáhita

{with something} + {to sweep} > broom

Syntactic alternation

/a/ > /e/ in verbal theme
ex)

wamnáka

>

wamnáke

wamnáka > wamnáke

{I saw} > {I saw}

/a/>/e/ in nomial theme
ex)

skúya

>

skúye

skúya > skúye

sweet > sweet

/a/>/e/ with the future suffix;
ex)

wicákkupikta

>

wicákkupikte

wicákkupikta > wicákkupikte

{they will be given} > {they will be given}

Syntax

Assiniboine has SOV word order. The order of elements may differ from canonical SOV; this is not free nor scrambling word order, but instead, the result of topicalization or other movements. Out-of-context sentences are always interpreted as SOV order even if it sounds odd. For example, 'the man bit the dog', unless an element is moved into a focus position. Focused element sentences are highly marked, and practically, a strange semantic reading is preferred over an interpretation of OSV. For example, the following sentence was interpreted as 'A banana ate the boy' by a native speaker, and to get the OSV reading out of it the object must be stressed, for example if the sentence was given as a reply to the question 'What did the boy eat?'.

škóškobena

banana

wãži

a

hokšína

boy

že

DET

yúda.

ate

škóškobena wãži hokšína že yúda.

banana a boy DET ate

'A banana ate the boy.' (or 'The boy ate a banana.')

Vocabulary

  1. wąži – one
  2. nųba – two
  3. yamni – three
  4. tópa – four
  5. záptą – five
  6. šákpe – six
  7. iyušna – seven
  8. šaknoğą – eight
  9. napcuwąga – nine
  10. wikcémna – ten
  11. saba – black
  12. ska – white
  13. ša – red
  14. to – blue

More words can be found in the Dakota-English Dictionary.

Writing system

Class 1

wa- 1st person+singular
ya- 2nd person

Class 2

ma- 1st person+singular
ni- 2nd person

For both class 1 and 2

ũ- 1st person-singular
o- 3rd person
wica- 3rd person
ci- 1st person + singular subject/ 2nd person object
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