Bungee language
Encyclopedia
Bungi is a creole
of Scottish English
strongly influenced by Orcadian
, Gaelic
, Cree
and Ojibwe, and spoken by the Red River Métis
in present-day Manitoba
, Canada
. Bungi has been categorized as a “post-creole”; the distinctive features of the language have been gradually abandoned
by successive generations of speakers, in favour of standard Canadian English
. Today the creole exists in varying degrees of significant decline, mostly survived in the speech of a few elders and limited to non-standard pronunciations and some terminology.
persons generally, or those with mixed European and First Nations ancestry (regardless of perceived cultural affiliation). In these colloquial uses the term may have mildly pejorative connotations, even when used by speakers to describe themselves.
The major difference with other dialects is in the phonology
(sound system & pronunciation). Voice quality differences are noticeably apparent.
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
of Scottish English
Scottish English
Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....
strongly influenced by Orcadian
Orcadian dialect
Orcadian dialect is a dialect of Insular Scots, itself a dialect of the Scots language. It is derived from Lowland Scots with a degree of influence from the Norn language, which is an extinct North Germanic language. Orcadian is spoken in Orkney, north of mainland Scotland.The other Insular Scots...
, Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
, Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...
and Ojibwe, and spoken by the Red River Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
in present-day Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Bungi has been categorized as a “post-creole”; the distinctive features of the language have been gradually abandoned
Language death
In linguistics, language death is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language variety is decreased, eventually resulting in no native and/or fluent speakers of the variety...
by successive generations of speakers, in favour of standard Canadian English
Canadian English
Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians , and more than 28 million are fluent in the language...
. Today the creole exists in varying degrees of significant decline, mostly survived in the speech of a few elders and limited to non-standard pronunciations and some terminology.
Name
The name derives from either , or , both words signifying “a little bit” in English. In addition to describing the language, Bungi can refer to First NationsFirst Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
persons generally, or those with mixed European and First Nations ancestry (regardless of perceived cultural affiliation). In these colloquial uses the term may have mildly pejorative connotations, even when used by speakers to describe themselves.
Description
The lexicon is mostly English with words from Cree and Ojibwa interspersed throughout.Social Context
Many speakers in Blain’s studies were ashamed to speak the dialect as the speech community members were discriminated against by other groups.The major difference with other dialects is in the phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
(sound system & pronunciation). Voice quality differences are noticeably apparent.
Scholarship
The main linguistic documentation of this dialect lies within Blain (1987, 1989) and Walter (1969–1970).See also
- Ojibwe languageOjibwe languageOjibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
- Cree languageCree languageCree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...
- Red River ColonyRed River ColonyThe Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
- Michif languageMichif languageMichif is the language of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations women and fur trade workers of European ancestry...
- MétisMétisA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
- Anglo-MétisAnglo-MétisA 19th-century community of the Métis people of Canada, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of fur traders; they typically had Orcadian, Scottish, or English fathers and Aboriginal mothers. Their first languages were generally those of their mothers: Cree, Saulteaux,...
- Métis National CouncilMétis National CouncilThe Métis National Council is the representative of the Northwest Métis people within Canada.-History:The National Council was formed in 1983, following the recognition of the Métis as an aboriginal people in Canada, in Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982...
- Scottish Gaelic
- Newfoundland IrishNewfoundland IrishNewfoundland Irish is an extinct dialect of the Irish language specific to the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It was very similar to Munster Irish, as spoken in the southeast of Ireland, due to mass immigration from the counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Cork.-Irish settlement...
- Canadian Gaelic
- Chinook JargonChinook JargonChinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...
- Beurla Reagaird