Pawnee language
Encyclopedia
The Pawnee language is a Caddoan language
spoken by some Pawnee Native Americans now located in north central Oklahoma
. Their traditional historic lands were along the Platte River
in what is now Nebraska
. Once the language of thousands of Pawnees, today Pawnee is spoken by a shrinking number of elderly speakers. As more young people learn English
as their first language, the status of Pawnee declines towards extinction
.
divisions are evident in Pawnee: South Band and Skiri. The distinction between the two dialects rests on differences in their respective phonetic
inventory and lexicon
.
phoneme
s, and according to one analysis of medial- and final-position glottal stops, one may posit a ninth consonant phoneme.
is predictable when it occurs in the middle of words. However, since /ʔ/ is not completely predictable at the ends of words, it may also need to be considered as a (phonemic) consonant.
vowel
phonemes and four long
counterparts (also phonemic).
consists of 9 consonants and 8 vowels. The letters are relatively similar in pronunciation to their English counterparts.
and displays ergativity
between nouns and verbs.
Caddoan languages
The Caddoan languages are a family of Native American languages. They are spoken by Native Americans in parts of the Great Plains of the central United States, from North Dakota south to Oklahoma.-Family division:...
spoken by some Pawnee Native Americans now located in north central Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Their traditional historic lands were along the Platte River
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
in what is now Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. Once the language of thousands of Pawnees, today Pawnee is spoken by a shrinking number of elderly speakers. As more young people learn English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as their first language, the status of Pawnee declines towards extinction
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
.
Dialects
Two important dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
divisions are evident in Pawnee: South Band and Skiri. The distinction between the two dialects rests on differences in their respective phonetic
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
inventory and lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
.
Consonants
Pawnee has eight consonantConsonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s, and according to one analysis of medial- and final-position glottal stops, one may posit a ninth consonant phoneme.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t | k | (ʔ) |
| Affricate | ts | |||
| Rhotic | r | |||
| Fricative | s | h | ||
| Approximant | w |
is predictable when it occurs in the middle of words. However, since /ʔ/ is not completely predictable at the ends of words, it may also need to be considered as a (phonemic) consonant.
Vowels
Pawnee has four shortVowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
phonemes and four long
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
counterparts (also phonemic).
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i/iː | u/uː |
| Mid-low | e/eː | a/aː |
Alphabet
The Pawnee alphabetAlphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
consists of 9 consonants and 8 vowels. The letters are relatively similar in pronunciation to their English counterparts.
Consonants
| Spelling | Sound (IPA) | English equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| p | p | poke, cup |
| t | t | top, cat |
| k | k | cool, stuck |
| c | ʃ ~ ts | shell, push ~ pants |
| s | s | silly, face |
| h | h | heart, ahead |
| r | r | car, ferry |
| w | w | wacky, away |
| ′ | ʔ | The "-" in uh-oh |
Vowels
| Spelling | Sound (IPA) | English equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| i | ɪ | sit |
| ii | i | feed |
| e | ɛ | red |
| ee | eɪ | paid |
| a | ʌ | nut |
| aa | ɑ | father |
| u | u | shoot |
| uu | u | rude |
Grammar
Pawnee is a polysynthetic languagePolysynthetic language
In linguistic typology, polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i.e., languages in which words are composed of many morphemes. Whereas isolating languages have a low morpheme-to-word ratio, polysynthetic languages have extremely high morpheme-to-word ratios.Not all languages can be...
and displays ergativity
Ergative-absolutive language
An ergative–absolutive language is a language that treats the argument of an intransitive verb like the object of a transitive verb, but differently from the agent of a transitive verb.-Ergative vs...
between nouns and verbs.