Mikasuki language
Mikasuki | |
---|---|
Hitchiti, Hitchiti-Mikasuki | |
Native to | United States |
Region | Georgia, Southern Florida |
Ethnicity | Miccosukee, Seminole |
Native speakers | 290 (2015 census)[1] |
Muskogean
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mik |
Glottolog | mika1239 |
ELP | Mikasuki |
Mikasuki is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Mikasuki, Hitchiti-Mikasuki, or Hitchiti language is a language or a pair of dialects or closely related languages that belong to the Muskogean languages family. As of 2014[update], Mikasuki was spoken by around 290 people in southern Florida.[2] Along with the Cow Creek Seminole dialect of Muscogee, it is also known as Seminole. It is spoken by members of the Miccosukee tribe and of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The extinct Hitchiti was a mutually intelligible dialect of or the ancestor of Mikasuki.
Hitchiti was one of the many Muskogean languages spoken by peoples of what is now the southeastern United States, and is considered by many scholars to be the ancestor of the Mikasuki language. It was spoken in Georgia and eastern Alabama in the early historic period, with speakers moving into Florida during the 18th and 19th centuries. Hitchiti was the language of
It was part of the
Like Muscogee, Hitchiti had an ancient "female" dialect. The dialect was still remembered and sometimes spoken by the older people, and it used to be the language of the males as well. Their language with the "female" dialect was also known as the 'ancient language'.[5]
The language appears to have been used beyond the territorial limits of the tribe: it was spoken in Native American villages on the
Scholars believe that the Yamasee also spoke Hitchiti, but the evidence is not conclusive. Other evidence points toward their speaking a different language, perhaps one related to Guale.
Some sources list Hitchiti as an extant language in the 1990s.[7]
The Seminole and Miccosukee were made up of descendants of members of the
In the 20th century, the Florida Seminole and Miccosukee split apart, with the former moving onto reservations. The Miccosukee lived in communities that were affected by the early 20th-century construction of the Tamiami Trail, which brought tourists into the Everglades.
The Miccosukee achieved federal recognition as a tribe in 1962. Both tribes have speakers of Mikasuki today.
As of 2002, the language is taught in the local school, Miccosukee Indian School, which has "an area devoted to 'Miccosukee Language Arts'".[8] Circa 2005 the dominance of English language media was seen as a factor inhibiting Miccosukee.[9]
As of 2011, the University of Florida Department of Anthropology is home to the Elling Eide Endowed Professorship in Miccosukee Language and Culture, for Native American languages of the southeastern United States.[10]
Presentations in the language have been featured at the Florida Folk Festival.[11]
Phonology
The orthography, where it differs from the IPA, is shown in angled brackets.
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Short | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | |
High
|
i ⟨e⟩ | iː ⟨ee⟩ | ||||
Mid | o | oː ⟨oo⟩ | ||||
Low
|
a | aː ⟨aa⟩ |
There are three tones: high, low and falling. Vowel length is distinctive: eche [itʃi] ('mouth') vs eeche [iːtʃi]('deer'), ete [iti] ('eye') vs eete [iːti] ('fire').
Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n
|
|||
Stop
|
voiceless | p | t
|
k | |
voiced | b | ||||
Affricative
|
tʃ ⟨ch⟩ | ||||
Fricative
|
ɸ ⟨f⟩ | ɬ ⟨ł⟩
|
ʃ ⟨sh⟩ | h | |
Approximant | w | l
|
j ⟨y⟩ |
These phonemes are based on Sylvia Boynton's Outline of Mikasuki Grammar.[12]
Grammar
Nouns are marked with suffixes for various functions, some examples:
Suffix | Function | Example | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
embaache | battery | ||
–ot | subject marker | embaachot hampeepom | the battery has gone bad |
–on | object marker | embaachon aklomle | I need a battery |
–ee | question marker | embachee cheméèło? | do you have a battery? |
Free pronouns exist (aane "I", chehne "you", pohne "we") but are rarely used. Verb suffixes are the usual way of marking person.
Alphabet
Mikasuki is written using the Latin alphabet. The vowel characters on the left represent the sounds on the right, transcribed phonetically:
Letter | IPA symbol |
---|---|
a, aa | a, aː |
a, aa | ã, ãː |
e, ee | i, iː |
e, ee | ĩː, ĩː |
o, oo | o, oː |
o, oo | õ; õː |
ay | ai |
ao | ao |
The consonants characters are:
Letter | IPA symbol |
---|---|
b | b |
ch | t͡ʃ |
f | ɸ |
h | h |
k | k |
l | l |
ł | ɬ |
m | m |
n | n |
ng | ŋ |
p | p |
sh | ʃ |
t | t |
w | w |
y | j |
High tone is indicated with an acute accent (´), low tone with a grave accent (`), and falling tone with an acute accent followed by a grave accent. A long vowel with falling tone is represented by two accented vowel letters (áà). When the vowel is short, the grave accent is placed over the next consonant (áǹ):
High Tone | Low Tone | Falling Tone |
---|---|---|
á, áa | à, àa | áǹ, áà |
An
Vocabulary
bochonkom | he/she/it touches |
chaolom | he/she/it writes |
chayahlom | he/she/it walks |
eelom | he/she/it arrives |
empom | he/she/it eats |
eshkom | he/she/it drinks |
faayom | he/she/it hunts |
ommom | he/she/it makes |
1 | łáàmen |
2 | toklan |
3 | tocheenan |
4 | shéetaaken |
5 | chahkeepan |
6 | eepaaken |
7 | kolapaaken |
8 | toshnapaaken |
9 | oshtapaaken |
10 | pokoolen |
nakne | man, male |
ooche | son |
ooshtayke | daughter |
táàte | father |
tayke | woman, female |
wáàche | mother |
yaate | person |
yaatooche | infant |
Notes
- ^ Mikasuki at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)
- ^ "Voices of the Everglades: Indian Culture". The News-Press. 2014-03-22. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
- ^ Hann 2006, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Hardy, Heather; Scancarelli, Janine (2005). Native Languages of the Southeastern United States. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 69–70.
- ^ Gatschet, Albert (1884). A Migration Legend of the Creek Indians.
- ^ Ethridge 2003, p. 62.
- ^ Moseley, Christopher; Asher, R.E., eds. (1994). Atlas of the World's Languages. New York: Routledge. p. 6.
- ^ "Elders Seek Way to Preserve Fading Language". Canku Ota (56). 2002-03-09. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Faculty Openings in the Anthropology Department". Archived from the original on 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- ^ "Traditional Seminole Song - Rev. Josie Billie". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ProQuest 3032326112.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2009) |
References
- Derrick-Mescua, Mary Tyler (1980). A phonology and morphology of Mikasuki (PhD dissertation). University of Florida.
- Ethridge, Robbie (2003). Creek Country: The Creek Indians and Their World. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2827-0.
- Hann, John H. (2006). The Native American World Beyond Apalachee. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-2982-5.
- West, J.; Smith, N. (1978). A Guide to the Miccosukee Language. Miami: Miccosukee Corporation.
- West, John David (1962). "The Phonology of Mikasuki". Studies in Linguistics. 16 (3–4): 77–91. OCLC 29208642.