Cheyenne language
Encyclopedia
The Cheyenne language is a Native American
language spoken by the Cheyenne people, predominantly in present-day Montana
and Oklahoma
in the United States
. It is part of the Algonquian language
family. Like all Algonquian languages, it has complex agglutinative morphology
.
, which is a subphylum of the Algic languages
. Specifically, it is a Plains Algonquian language
. However, Plains Algonquian, which also includes Arapaho
and Blackfoot
, is an areal rather than genetic subgrouping.
in Montana
and in Oklahoma
. It is spoken by about 1,000 people, all adults.
is quite simple. While there are only three basic vowels, they can be pronounced in three ways: high pitch
(e.g. á), low pitch (e.g. a), and voiceless
(e.g. ė). The high and low pitches are phonemic, while vowel devoicing is governed by environmental rules, making voiceless vowels allophone
s of the voiced vowels. The phoneme /h/ is realized as [s] in the environment between /e/ and /t/ (h > s / e _ t). /h/ can also be realized as [ʃ] between [e] and [k] (h > ʃ / e _ k) i.e. /nahtóna/ nȧhtǒna alien, /nehtóna/ nėhtǒna your daughter. The digraph ‘ts’ represents assibilated /t/; a phonological rule of Cheyenne is that underlying
/t/ becomes affricated before an /e/ (t > ts/_e). Therefore, ‘ts’ is not a separate phoneme, but an allophone of /t/. The sound [x] is not a phoneme, but derives from other phonemes, including /ʃ/ (when /ʃ/ precedes or follows a non-front vowel, /a/ or /o/), and the far-past tense morpheme
/h/ which is pronounced [x] when it precedes a morpheme which starts with /h/.
The Cheyenne orthography
of 14 letters is neither a pure phonemic system nor a phonetic transcription; it is, in the words of linguist Wayne Leman, a "pronunciation orthography". In other words, it is a practical spelling system designed to facilitate proper pronunciation. Some allophonic variants, such as voiceless vowels, are shown. represents not the phoneme /e/, but is usually pronounced as a phonetic [ɪ] and sometimes varies to [ɛ]. <š> represents /ʃ/.
/tétahpetát/ tsetȧhpetȧtse ‘the one who is big’;
/mótehk/ mǒtʃėʃke ‘knife’
Devoicing occurs when certain vowels directly precede the consonants [t], [s], [ʃ], [k], or [x] that is itself followed by followed by an [e]. This rule is linked to the rule of e-Epenthesis. Which simply states that [e] appears in the environment of a consonant and a word boundary.
/kosáné/ kȯsâne sheep (pl.)’;
/mahnohtehtovot/ mȧhnȯhtsėstovȯtse ‘if you ask him’
A vowel that does not have a high pitch is devoiced if it is followed by a voiceless fricative and not preceded by [h].
/náohkeho’sóe/ náȯhkėho’soo’e ‘I regularly dance’;
/nápóahtenáhnó/ nápôȧhtsenáhno ‘I punched him in the mouth’
Non-high [a] and [o] become at least partially devoiced when they are preceded by a voiced vowel and followed by an [h], a consonant and two or more syllables.
When preceding a voiceless segment a consonant is devoiced.
tsé- ‘conjunct prefix’ + ena’he ‘old’ + tse ‘3rd pers. Suffix > tséena’ėstse ‘ the one who is old’
né + ‘you’ + -one’xȧho’he ‘burn’ + tse ‘suffix for some ‘you-me’ transitive animate forms’ > néone’xȧho’ėstse ‘ you burn me’
The [h] is absorbed when preceded or followed by voiceless vowels.
/sémón/ sêmo ‘boat’
A high pitch becomes a raised high when it is not followed by another high vowel and precedes an underlying word-final high.
/návóòmó/ návóómo ‘I see him’;
/póèsó/ póéso ‘cat’
A low vowel is raised to the high position when it precedes a high and is followed by a word final high.
/kè?é/ kē?e ‘woman’;
/éhòmòsé/ éhomōse ‘he is cooking’
A low vowel becomes a mid when it is followed by a word-final high but not directly followed by a high vowel.
/néméhó?tónè/ némêhò?tòne ‘we (incl) love him’;
/náméhósànémé/ námêhòsànême ‘we (excl) love’
A high vowel becomes low if it comes before a high and followed by a phonetic low.
/téhnémènétó/ tséhnêmenéto ‘when I sang’;
/násáàmétòhénòtò/ /nádâamétȯhênoto ‘I didn’t give him to him’
According to Leman, "some verbal prefixes and preverbs go through the process of World-Medal High-Raising. A high is raised if it follows a high (which is not a trigger for the High Push-Over rule) and precedes a phonetic low. One or more voiceless syllables may come between the two highs. (A devoiced vowel in this process must be underlyingly low, not an underlyingly high vowel which has been devoiced by the High-Pitch Devoicing rule.)”
words but as affix
es on the verb
. Its pronominal system uses typical Algonquian distinctions: three grammatical person
s (1st, 2nd, 3rd) plus obviated 3rd (3', also known as 4th person), two numbers (singular, plural), animacy (animate and inanimate) and inclusivity and exclusivity on the first person plural. The 3' (obviative) person is an elaboration of the third; it is an "out of focus" third person. When there are two or more third persons in an expression, one of them will become obviated. If the obviated entity is an animate noun, it will be marked with an obviative suffix
, typically -o or -óho. Verbs register the presence of obviated participants whether or not they are present as nouns.
es in Cheyenne:
ná- First person
né- Second person
é- Third person
These three basic prefixes can be combined with various suffixes to express all of Cheyenne's pronominal distinctions. For example, the prefix ná- can be combined on a verb with the suffix -me to express the first person plural exclusive ("we, not including you"), as with nátahpetame, "we.EXCL are big."
(often abbreviated "PA"). The sound changes on the road from PA to modern Cheyenne are complex, as exhibited by the development of the PA word *erenyiwa "man" into Cheyenne hetane:
missionary based in Lame Deer, Montana
from 1916.
5
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
language spoken by the Cheyenne people, predominantly in present-day Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and 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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is part of the Algonquian language
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
family. Like all Algonquian languages, it has complex agglutinative morphology
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
.
Classification
Cheyenne is one of the Algonquian languagesAlgonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
, which is a subphylum of the Algic languages
Algic languages
The Algic languages are an indigenous language family of North America. Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian family, dispersed over a broad area from the Rocky Mountains to Atlantic Canada...
. Specifically, it is a Plains Algonquian language
Plains Algonquian languages
The Plains Algonquian languages are commonly grouped together as a subgroup of the larger Algonquian family, itself a member of the Algic family. Though this grouping is often encountered in the literature, it is an areal grouping rather than a genetic one...
. However, Plains Algonquian, which also includes Arapaho
Arapaho language
The Arapaho language or hinono'eitiit is a Plains Algonquian language spoken almost entirely by elders in Wyoming, and to a much lesser extent in Oklahoma. It is in great danger of becoming extinct. As of 1996, there were approximately 1,000 speakers of theNorthern Arapaho...
and Blackfoot
Blackfoot language
Blackfoot, also known as Siksika , Pikanii, and Blackfeet, is the Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot tribes of Native Americans, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America...
, is an areal rather than genetic subgrouping.
Geographic distribution
Cheyenne is spoken on the Northern Cheyenne Indian ReservationNorthern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, formerly named the Tongue River Indian Reservation, is an Indian reservation that is home to the Northern Cheyenne tribe of the Native Americans. It is located around the small towns of Lame Deer and Ashland, Montana, in parts of Rosebud and Big Horn...
in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and in 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...
. It is spoken by about 1,000 people, all adults.
Phonology
Cheyenne phonologyPhonology
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...
is quite simple. While there are only three basic vowels, they can be pronounced in three ways: high pitch
Pitch accent
Pitch accent is a linguistic term of convenience for a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a syllable or mora within a word. The placement of this tone or the way it is realized can give different meanings to otherwise similar words...
(e.g. á), low pitch (e.g. a), and voiceless
Voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...
(e.g. ė). The high and low pitches are phonemic, while vowel devoicing is governed by environmental rules, making voiceless vowels allophone
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
s of the voiced vowels. The phoneme /h/ is realized as [s] in the environment between /e/ and /t/ (h > s / e _ t). /h/ can also be realized as [ʃ] between [e] and [k] (h > ʃ / e _ k) i.e. /nahtóna/ nȧhtǒna alien, /nehtóna/ nėhtǒna your daughter. The digraph ‘ts’ represents assibilated /t/; a phonological rule of Cheyenne is that underlying
Underlying representation
In some models of phonology as well as morphophonology, the underlying representation or underlying form of a word or morpheme is the abstract form the word or morpheme is postulated to have before any phonological rules have applied to it. If more rules apply to the same form, they can apply...
/t/ becomes affricated before an /e/ (t > ts/_e). Therefore, ‘ts’ is not a separate phoneme, but an allophone of /t/. The sound [x] is not a phoneme, but derives from other phonemes, including /ʃ/ (when /ʃ/ precedes or follows a non-front vowel, /a/ or /o/), and the far-past tense morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
/h/ which is pronounced [x] when it precedes a morpheme which starts with /h/.
The Cheyenne orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
of 14 letters is neither a pure phonemic system nor a phonetic transcription; it is, in the words of linguist Wayne Leman, a "pronunciation orthography". In other words, it is a practical spelling system designed to facilitate proper pronunciation. Some allophonic variants, such as voiceless vowels, are shown.
| Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Dental | Postalveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
p | t | k | ʔ | |
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
v | s | ʃ | (x) | h |
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m | n |
| Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-low | e | o | |
| Low | a |
Voicing
Cheyenne has 14 distinct phonemic sounds, several of which can be devoiced. Devoicing naturally occurs in the last vowel of a word or phrase. It can also occur in vowels at the penultimate and prepenultimate positions within a word. Non-high [a] and [o] can also become at least partially devoiced. The [h] can be absorbed by a voiceless vowel. Examples are given belowPenultimate Devoicing
/hohkox/ hȯhkoxe ‘Ax';/tétahpetát/ tsetȧhpetȧtse ‘the one who is big’;
/mótehk/ mǒtʃėʃke ‘knife’
Devoicing occurs when certain vowels directly precede the consonants [t], [s], [ʃ], [k], or [x] that is itself followed by followed by an [e]. This rule is linked to the rule of e-Epenthesis. Which simply states that [e] appears in the environment of a consonant and a word boundary.
Prepenultimate Devoicing
/tahpeno/ tȧpeno ‘flute’;/kosáné/ kȯsâne sheep (pl.)’;
/mahnohtehtovot/ mȧhnȯhtsėstovȯtse ‘if you ask him’
A vowel that does not have a high pitch is devoiced if it is followed by a voiceless fricative and not preceded by [h].
Special [a] and [o] Devoicing
/émóheeohtéo/ émôheeȯhtseo’o ‘they are gathering’;/náohkeho’sóe/ náȯhkėho’soo’e ‘I regularly dance’;
/nápóahtenáhnó/ nápôȧhtsenáhno ‘I punched him in the mouth’
Non-high [a] and [o] become at least partially devoiced when they are preceded by a voiced vowel and followed by an [h], a consonant and two or more syllables.
Consonant Devoicing
émane [ímaṅi] ‘it is yellow’When preceding a voiceless segment a consonant is devoiced.
h-Absorbtion
pėhévoestomo’he ‘’kind’’ + tse ‘imperative suffix’ > pėhévoestomo’ėstsetsé- ‘conjunct prefix’ + ena’he ‘old’ + tse ‘3rd pers. Suffix > tséena’ėstse ‘ the one who is old’
né + ‘you’ + -one’xȧho’he ‘burn’ + tse ‘suffix for some ‘you-me’ transitive animate forms’ > néone’xȧho’ėstse ‘ you burn me’
The [h] is absorbed when preceded or followed by voiceless vowels.
Pitch
There are several rules that govern pitch use in Cheyenne. Pitch can be ˊ = high, ˋ = low, ˉ = mid, ˇ = hanging low and ˆ = raised high.High-Raising
/ʃé?ʃé/ ʃê?ʃe ‘duck’;/sémón/ sêmo ‘boat’
A high pitch becomes a raised high when it is not followed by another high vowel and precedes an underlying word-final high.
Low-to-High Raising
/máʃèné/ méʃéne ‘ticks’;/návóòmó/ návóómo ‘I see him’;
/póèsó/ póéso ‘cat’
A low vowel is raised to the high position when it precedes a high and is followed by a word final high.
Low-to-Mid Raising
/kòsán/ kōsa ‘sheep (sg.)’;/kè?é/ kē?e ‘woman’;
/éhòmòsé/ éhomōse ‘he is cooking’
A low vowel becomes a mid when it is followed by a word-final high but not directly followed by a high vowel.
High Push-Over
/néháóónámà/ néhâòònàma ‘we (incl) prayed’;/néméhó?tónè/ némêhò?tòne ‘we (incl) love him’;
/náméhósànémé/ námêhòsànême ‘we (excl) love’
A high vowel becomes low if it comes before a high and followed by a phonetic low.
Word-Medial High-Raising
/émésèhe/ émêsehe ‘he is eating’;/téhnémènétó/ tséhnêmenéto ‘when I sang’;
/násáàmétòhénòtò/ /nádâamétȯhênoto ‘I didn’t give him to him’
According to Leman, "some verbal prefixes and preverbs go through the process of World-Medal High-Raising. A high is raised if it follows a high (which is not a trigger for the High Push-Over rule) and precedes a phonetic low. One or more voiceless syllables may come between the two highs. (A devoiced vowel in this process must be underlyingly low, not an underlyingly high vowel which has been devoiced by the High-Pitch Devoicing rule.)”
Grammar
Cheyenne represents the participants of an expression not as separate pronounPronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
words but as affix
Affix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es on the verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
. Its pronominal system uses typical Algonquian distinctions: three grammatical person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
s (1st, 2nd, 3rd) plus obviated 3rd (3', also known as 4th person), two numbers (singular, plural), animacy (animate and inanimate) and inclusivity and exclusivity on the first person plural. The 3' (obviative) person is an elaboration of the third; it is an "out of focus" third person. When there are two or more third persons in an expression, one of them will become obviated. If the obviated entity is an animate noun, it will be marked with an obviative suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
, typically -o or -óho. Verbs register the presence of obviated participants whether or not they are present as nouns.
Pronominal affixes
There are three basic pronominal prefixAffix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es in Cheyenne:
ná- First person
né- Second person
é- Third person
These three basic prefixes can be combined with various suffixes to express all of Cheyenne's pronominal distinctions. For example, the prefix ná- can be combined on a verb with the suffix -me to express the first person plural exclusive ("we, not including you"), as with nátahpetame, "we.EXCL are big."
Historical development
Like all the Algonquian languages, Cheyenne developed from a reconstructed ancestor referred to as Proto-AlgonquianProto-Algonquian language
Proto-Algonquian is the name given to the proto-language from which the various languages of the Algonquian family are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but on the question of where it was spoken there is less agreement...
(often abbreviated "PA"). The sound changes on the road from PA to modern Cheyenne are complex, as exhibited by the development of the PA word *erenyiwa "man" into Cheyenne hetane:
- First, the PA suffix -wa drops (*erenyi)
- The geminate vowel sequence -yi- simplifies to /i/ (semivowelSemivowelIn phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:...
s were phonemically vowels in PA; when PA */i/ or */o/ appeared before another vowel, it became non-syllabicSyllabicSyllabic may refer to:*Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, a family of abugidas used to write a number of Aboriginal Canadian languages.*Syllabary, writing system using symbols for syllables...
) (*ereni) - PA */r/ changes to /t/ (*eteni)
- /h/ is added before word-initial vowels (*heteni)
- Due to a vowel chain-shift, the vowels in the word wind up as /e/, /a/ and /e/ (PA */e/ sometimes corresponds to Cheyenne /e/ and sometimes to Cheyenne /a/; PA */i/ almost always corresponds to Cheyenne /e/, however) (hetane).
Lexicon
Some Cheyenne words (with the Proto-Algonquian reconstructions where known):- ame (PA *pemyi, "grease")
- he'e (PA *weθkweni, "his liver")
- hē'e (PA **eθkwe·wa, "woman")
- hetane (PA *erenyiwa, "man")
- ma'heo'o ("sacred spirit, God")
- matana (PA *meθenyi, "milk")
Translations
Early work was done on the Cheyenne language by Rodolphe Charles Petter, a MennoniteMennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
missionary based in Lame Deer, Montana
Lame Deer, Montana
Lame Deer is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,018 at the 2000 census. Lame Deer is part of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and the home of the Chief Dull Knife College. Lame Deer is the starting location of the movie Powwow...
from 1916.
External links
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