Unami language
Encyclopedia
Unami is an extinct Algonquian
language formerly spoken by Lenape
people in what is now the lower Hudson Valley
area and New York Harbor
area, New Jersey
, Pennsylvania
and Delaware, but later in Ontario and Oklahoma
. It is one of the two Delaware languages, the other being Munsee
. Speakers have shifted to English.
Lenape is from /lənaːpːe/, a word in the Unami dialect whose most literal translation into English
would be "common person". The Lenape names for the areas they inhabited were Scheyichbi (i.e., New Jersey), which means, "water's edge", and Lenapehoking
, meaning "in the land of the Delaware Indians", although the latter is a term coined by the Unami speaker, Nora Thompson Dean
, in 1984, to describe the ancient homeland of all Delaware Indians, both Unami and Munsee. The English named the river running through much of the traditional range of the Lenape after the first governor of the Jamestown Colony, Lord De La Warr, and consequently referred to the people who lived around the river as "Delaware Indians."
Compared to Munsee, Unami has undergone extensive phonological innovation, coupled with morphological regularization
.
The PEA vowel system consisted of four long vowels *i·, *o·, *e·, *a·, and two short vowels *a and ə. The vowel history is as follows: *i· (from PEA merger of Proto-Algonquian (PA *i· and *i to PEA *i·), *o· (from PEA merger of PA *o· and *o ), *e· (from Proto-Algonquian *e·), and *a· (from Proto-Algonquian *a·; the short vowels are*ə (from Proto-Algonquian *e), and *a (from Proto-Algonquian *a). This system was continued down to Common Delaware, but Munsee and Unami have innovated separately with respect to the vowel systems.
.
The Order of the Arrow
, an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America
, attempts to preserve some legends and language elements of the Lenape tribe. Numerous local lodges of the Order of the Arrow do not emulate the customs of the Lenape alone, but mingle the Lenape customs with those of dissimilar tribes (e.g., the Cherokee
).
consonants, although this contrast is relatively weak. A full analysis of the status of the geminates, also known as long consonants, is not available, and more than one analysis of Delaware consonants has been proposed. The long consonants are described as having low functional yield, that is they differentiate relatively few pairs of words but do occur in contrasting environments. Some examples of contrastive geminate pairs include: ná k·ə́ntka·n "then you (sg.) danced" versus ná kə́ntka·n "then there was dancing"; ní p·ɔ́·m "his thigh" versus ní pɔ́·m "the ham"; and nsa·s·a·k·ənə́mən "I stuck it out repeatedly" versus nsa·sa·k·ənə́mən "I stuck it out slowly". There are also rules that lengthen consonants in certain environments. The length mark (ː) is used to indicate gemination of a preceding consonant or vowel length
, although in the literature on Unami the raised dot (·) is often used for these purposes, as other diacritics may be used above vowels (see below).
In the following chart, the usual transcription used in the sources is given with the IPA in brackets.
- /ǐ, ě, ǒ/ - are also strong vowels because they are treated morphophonemically as long vowels, even though they are pronounced as short. In a sequence of syllables containing a short vowel followed by a consonant (C) or consonant and /w/ (Cw), the odd-numbered vowels are weak, and the even numbered vowels are strong. Furthermore, some short vowels are strong even in a weakening environment; these exceptions are often marked with a grave accent
. Additionally, some vowels which are unaffected by predicted vowel syncope are marked with an acute accent
. There is a predictable tendency, additionally, to nasalize and lengthen a vowel before /ns/ and /nš/, so that /lowé·nso/ ("his name is [such]") is realized closer to /luwé̹·su/ from underlying /ələwe·nsəw/.
Additionally, certain consonants may combine with the semivowel /w/. Note that some underlying forms may also contain /sw/ and /šw/, but these are always removed by morphophonemic processes.
A list of processes unique to Unami follow. Note that these are written in linguistic notation. Thus, {ə,a} → ∅ / _{h, x}V when {ə,a} are weak means that the sounds /ə/ and /a/ become null (disappear) in the context of when they are weak and appear before either /h/ or /x/ and another vowel. The slash means "in the context of", and the underscore _ indicates where the /ə/ or /a/ must occur. In some notations the pound symbol (#) appears, indicating word boundaries (either the beginning or end). Regular parenthesis indicate optional conditions when framing phonemes or additional information about phonemes (e.g., "C=stop"). The capital letters C, V, and N mean "consonant", "vowel", and "nasal" respectively.
versus obviative
), and presence (nonabsentative versus absentative). Generally, the inanimate, obviative, and absentative categories are more marked than their opposites (i.e. animate, proximate, and nonabsentative), however it is not clear whether animacy or inanimacy is the more marked of the opposition. The first and second persons are not marked for presence or obviation, and are always animate.
A table of the personal pronouns is given below. Note that the first person plural ("we") may be either inclusive
- that is, including the addressee, - or exclusive.
Following are tables exemplifying verbal paradigms in Unami in the independent order, indicative mood and present tense.
Prefixes are mutually exclusive and are selected based on the following rule: if one of the participants is second person, the second person prefix is used; if not, if one of the participants is the first person, then the first person prefix is used; if none of these applies, other forms, if they take a prefix, take the third person prefix. This is the well-known Algonquian 2-1-3 precedence rule.
The first position (theme signs) is filled only for transitive verbs - these help describe the relationship between the two participants, indicating which is the agent
and which is the object
. The direct and inverse theme signs indicate the direction of the verb along a spectrum what might be called distance. From least to most distant the participants are: (1) first or second; (2) indefinite (only as subject); (3) proximate 3rd person; (4) obviative 3rd person; (5) farther obviative 3rd person; (6) inanimate (subject only). If the subject is less distant than the object, the direct theme is used; if the subject is more distant, the inverse signs are used. After transitive animate (TA) verb stems appear one of the four following theme signs:
For transitive inanimate (TI) verbs there appears the theme sign pertaining to the appropriate TI class:
NB that for Class 2 TI theme signs, in certain derivational categories, the theme sign is retained even when the thematic element is dropped. The contrast between the two categories is sharper in the Central Algonquian languages, in which the theme sign has a more complex series of alternants.
The second position consists of diminutives in ₂/-tī/ and pejoratives in ₂/-šī/ (in both of these, the /-ī/ is unstable.) An example of a diminutive is /pé·t·o/ ("the little one comes"), contrasted with the pejorative /pé·šo/ ("the undesirable one came"). The use of /t/ in the formation of dimunitives seems to be an innovation of Unami, as many other Algonquian languages use */s/ or */ʃ/ (in fact, the diminutive of Munsee is /-šī/).
In position three are the affixes ₃/-lī/, which marks the obviative third person, and ₃/-h(ə)tī/, which marks the plural.
Position four contains the negative affix ₄/-(ō)w(ī)/ and prohibitive imperative and future imperative forms, which have complex series of alternants.
Position five contains the central endings which index the central participant of each form, except those using TA theme signs ₁/-i·/ and ₁/-əl/;
Position six contains the affix endings: /-pan/ marks the preterite, and /sa/ ~ /shan/ mark the present.
Position seven contains peripheral endings, which are used to mark the nominal category of some 3rd person participants in forms in the independent and conjunct (but not imperative) orders.
Position eight reflects the subjunctive, prohibitive, and future modes.
, polysynthetic and highly agglutinative. This means that most of the information is encoded in the verb (sometimes with whole words being incorporated into the stem), making word order more fluid than in English. Unfortunately, syntax is one of the least studied aspects of the Unami language; there is much more data on morphology, because of an especial focus on reconstructing Proto-Algonquian.
Some examples of complex sentences in Unami include:
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...
language formerly spoken by Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
people in what is now the lower Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
area and New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
area, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Delaware, but later in Ontario 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...
. It is one of the two Delaware languages, the other being Munsee
Munsee language
Munsee is an endangered language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself a branch of the Algic language family. Munsee is one of the two Delaware languages...
. Speakers have shifted to English.
Lenape is from /lənaːpːe/, a word in the Unami dialect whose most literal translation into 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...
would be "common person". The Lenape names for the areas they inhabited were Scheyichbi (i.e., New Jersey), which means, "water's edge", and Lenapehoking
Lenapehoking
Lenapehoking is a term for the lands historically inhabited by the Native American people known as the Lenape in what is now the Northeastern United States...
, meaning "in the land of the Delaware Indians", although the latter is a term coined by the Unami speaker, Nora Thompson Dean
Nora Thompson Dean/Touching Leaves Woman
Nora Thompson Dean , whose Lenape name translates as "Touching Leaves Woman," was a member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians...
, in 1984, to describe the ancient homeland of all Delaware Indians, both Unami and Munsee. The English named the river running through much of the traditional range of the Lenape after the first governor of the Jamestown Colony, Lord De La Warr, and consequently referred to the people who lived around the river as "Delaware Indians."
History
Unami is an Eastern Algonquian language. The hypothetical common ancestor language from which the Eastern Algonquian languages descend is Proto-Eastern Algonquian (PEA). An intermediate group Delawarean that is a descendant of Proto-Eastern Algonquian consists of Mahican and Common Delaware, the latter being a further subgroup comprising Munsee Delaware and Unami Delaware. The justification for Delawarean as an intermediate subgroup rests upon the high degree of similarity between Mahican and the two Delaware languages, but relatively little detailed argumentation in support of Delawarean has been adduced.Compared to Munsee, Unami has undergone extensive phonological innovation, coupled with morphological regularization
Regularization (linguistics)
In linguistics, regularization is a phenomenon in language acquisition and language development, whereby irregular forms in morphology, syntax, etc., are replaced by regular ones. Examples are "gooses" instead of "geese" in child speech and replacement of the Middle English plural form for "cow",...
.
The PEA vowel system consisted of four long vowels *i·, *o·, *e·, *a·, and two short vowels *a and ə. The vowel history is as follows: *i· (from PEA merger of Proto-Algonquian (PA *i· and *i to PEA *i·), *o· (from PEA merger of PA *o· and *o ), *e· (from Proto-Algonquian *e·), and *a· (from Proto-Algonquian *a·; the short vowels are*ə (from Proto-Algonquian *e), and *a (from Proto-Algonquian *a). This system was continued down to Common Delaware, but Munsee and Unami have innovated separately with respect to the vowel systems.
Revival attempts
The dominant modern version of the Southern Unami dialect called 'Lenape' was spoken and is taught by the Delaware Tribe of Indians, headquartered in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The same dialect was spoken by the Delaware Indians in the western part of Oklahoma, around Anadarko. Both Oklahoma Delaware tribes have recorded native speakers and produced written lessons for instruction, which are available for sale. These efforts, in conjunction with other community efforts comprise an attempt to preserve the language. Some descriptions of the Northern Unami dialect as spoken during the 18th century are given by Moravian missionary John HeckewelderJohn Heckewelder
right|thumb|350px|sketch by [[Henry Howe]]John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder was an American missionary.He was born in Bedford, England. He came to Pennsylvania in 1754, and, after finishing his education, was apprenticed to a cooper. After a visit to Ohio with Christian F...
.
The Order of the Arrow
Order of the Arrow
The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America . It uses American Indian-styled traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the ideals of Scouting. The society was created by E. Urner Goodman, with the...
, an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
, attempts to preserve some legends and language elements of the Lenape tribe. Numerous local lodges of the Order of the Arrow do not emulate the customs of the Lenape alone, but mingle the Lenape customs with those of dissimilar tribes (e.g., the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
).
Consonants
Unami has been analyzed as having contrastive geminate and non-geminate obstruentObstruent
An obstruent is a consonant sound formed by obstructing airflow, causing increased air pressure in the vocal tract, such as [k], [d͡ʒ] and [f]. In phonetics, articulation may be divided into two large classes: obstruents and sonorants....
consonants, although this contrast is relatively weak. A full analysis of the status of the geminates, also known as long consonants, is not available, and more than one analysis of Delaware consonants has been proposed. The long consonants are described as having low functional yield, that is they differentiate relatively few pairs of words but do occur in contrasting environments. Some examples of contrastive geminate pairs include: ná k·ə́ntka·n "then you (sg.) danced" versus ná kə́ntka·n "then there was dancing"; ní p·ɔ́·m "his thigh" versus ní pɔ́·m "the ham"; and nsa·s·a·k·ənə́mən "I stuck it out repeatedly" versus nsa·sa·k·ənə́mən "I stuck it out slowly". There are also rules that lengthen consonants in certain environments. The length mark (ː) is used to indicate gemination of a preceding consonant or vowel length
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...
, although in the literature on Unami the raised dot (·) is often used for these purposes, as other diacritics may be used above vowels (see below).
In the following chart, the usual transcription used in the sources is given with the IPA in brackets.
| Bilabial | Dental | Postalveolar | Velar | 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 [p] | t [t̪] | č [tʃ] | k [k] | |
| Fricative | s [s] | š [ʃ] | x [x] | h [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 [m] | n [n] | |||
| Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
l [l] | ||||
| Glide Semivowel In 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:... |
w [w] | j [j] | |||
Vowels
Unami vowels are presented as organized into contrasting long-short pairs. One asymmetry is that high short /u/ is paired with long /oː/, and the pairing of long and short /ə/ is noteworthy. It is worth noting that /ə/ and /o/ are not distinguishable before /w/, /m/, and /kw/. Additionally, vowels are classified as strong and weak, which plays an important role in determining stress (see below). Long vowels and vowels before consonant clusters are automatically strong. Certain short vowels, which are differentiated with a breveBreve
A breve is a diacritical mark ˘, shaped like the bottom half of a circle. It resembles the caron , but is rounded, while the caron has a sharp tip...
- /ǐ, ě, ǒ/ - are also strong vowels because they are treated morphophonemically as long vowels, even though they are pronounced as short. In a sequence of syllables containing a short vowel followed by a consonant (C) or consonant and /w/ (Cw), the odd-numbered vowels are weak, and the even numbered vowels are strong. Furthermore, some short vowels are strong even in a weakening environment; these exceptions are often marked with a grave accent
Grave accent
The grave accent is a diacritical mark used in written Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Dutch, French, Greek , Italian, Mohawk, Norwegian, Occitan, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic, Vietnamese, Welsh, Romansh, and other languages.-Greek:The grave accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient...
. Additionally, some vowels which are unaffected by predicted vowel syncope are marked with an acute accent
Acute accent
The acute accent is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts.-Apex:An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels.-Greek:...
. There is a predictable tendency, additionally, to nasalize and lengthen a vowel before /ns/ and /nš/, so that /lowé·nso/ ("his name is [such]") is realized closer to /luwé̹·su/ from underlying /ələwe·nsəw/.
| 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... |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| High-long | iː | oː | |
| Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel... -long |
eː | əː | ɔː |
| Low-long | aː |
| 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... |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel... |
e | ə | ɔ |
| Low | a |
Syllable structure
Syllable structure is diverse, permitting a certain amount of consonant clustering. The following consonant clusters can occur:- /m, n/ (which are realized as homorganic nasals) + /p, t, k, s, č, š/
- /h/ + /p, t, č, k, m, l/
- /s/ + /p, k/
- /x/ + /p, k/
- /š/ + /k/
Additionally, certain consonants may combine with the semivowel /w/. Note that some underlying forms may also contain /sw/ and /šw/, but these are always removed by morphophonemic processes.
- /p, m, k, h/ + /w/
Stress
Stress is generally predictable in Unami. The rightmost nonfinal strong vowel is stressed, or a strong vowel in final position if it is the only one in the word. Often when stress would be expected to fall on the antepenult it is shifted to the penult. This change is found in three conjunct endings: /-ak/, /-at/, and /-an/. In the last case, the accent shifts to the penultimate /-an/ only if it would otherwise fall on an antepenultimate short vowel, and if the consonant between them is voiced.Phonological processes
Unami phonology is extremely complex, with various morphophonological rules, which is to say, a theoretical form will undergo a set of predictable phonological processes to produce the true form found in speech (there are some exceptions to these rules, however.) There are about 17 such rules common to both Munsee and Unami, and another 28 unique to Unami, though this analysis ignores predictable exceptions, such as the class of static words which may skip many of these rules. These rules govern things such as consonant lengthening/shortening, vowel syncopation, metathesis, vowel coloring, etc.A list of processes unique to Unami follow. Note that these are written in linguistic notation. Thus, {ə,a} → ∅ / _{h, x}V when {ə,a} are weak means that the sounds /ə/ and /a/ become null (disappear) in the context of when they are weak and appear before either /h/ or /x/ and another vowel. The slash means "in the context of", and the underscore _ indicates where the /ə/ or /a/ must occur. In some notations the pound symbol (#) appears, indicating word boundaries (either the beginning or end). Regular parenthesis indicate optional conditions when framing phonemes or additional information about phonemes (e.g., "C=stop"). The capital letters C, V, and N mean "consonant", "vowel", and "nasal" respectively.
- U-1: Weak and strong vowel marking
- U-2: Weak short vowel loss before gutturals /h/ and /x/: /kənalhó·xwe/ ("you walk upstream") versus /nalahó·xwe·(w)/ ("he walks upstream")
- {ə,a} when /ə,a/ are weak→ ∅ / _{h, x}V
- U-3: Vowel-coloring; underlying /ə/ may be color to /i/ /o/ or /a/ in various environments.
- ə → o / _ {(k)w} -- although Goddard notes that this orthography may be imperfect because surface-phonemic /ə/ and /o/ are not distinct before /w/, /m/ and /kw/. Cf. /pko/ ("vegetable gum", underlying /pəkəw/) with /mpok·ó·yom/ ("my gum") but /mpək·ó·he/ ("I gather gum").
- ə → i / _ {y}
- ə → o / _ h{p, kw, m, w}
- ə → i / _ h elsewhere
- ə → o / _ {Np, Nkw} and // w_Nk
- ə → i / _ Nk elsewhere
- ə → o / _x{p, kw}
- ə → a / _x elsewhere
- U-4: Vowel shortening before primary cluster of a nasal and another consonant
- V̅ → V̌ / _ NC
- U-5: Semivowel assimilation
- {w, y}h → hh / V̌_
- U-6: Stop lengthening
- C^(vl≠h) → C· / V_(s, š, x) where V is strong
- U-7: /h/-metathesis
- V̌hC → hV̌C except / VC_ where V is weak
- U-8: An adjustment in vowel length before /hC/ (i.e. an /h/ and another consonant)
- V → V̌ / _hC (voiced C)
- V → V̅ / _hC (voiceless C)
- U-9: /h/-loss before stop consonant
- hC (C=stop) → C
- U-10: Nasal assimilation, part 1
- NC (C=stop) → homorganic nasal + voiced stop
- NC (C=continuantContinuantA continuant is a sound produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract. That is, any sound except a stop or nasal. An affricate is considered to be a complex segment, composed of both a stop and a continuant.-See also:...
) → ⁿC / V_
- U-11: Vowel-weakening and syncopeSyncopeIn phonology, syncope is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word; especially, the loss of an unstressed vowel. It is found bothin Synchronic analysis of languages and Diachronics .-Found synchronically:...
(with certain exceptions)- a → ah / CV (/a/ is weak; C=voiceless) except some a (a=weak) → ∅ / #n_CV (C=voiceless)
- ə → ∅ / _CV (/ə/ is weak; C=voiceless) and / l_{n, l}, y_l, w_w, m_m and / #(n)_{n, l}V
- U-12: Nasal assimilation, part 2
- nC (C=voiceless; C≠/x,h/) → homorganic nasal + C (C=voiced) / #_
- VⁿC → Ṽ·C (most speakers)
- U-13: Voiced consonant assimilation
- C(x)C(y) (C=voiced constituant) → CʸCʸ
- U-14: Vowel syncope before /xCV/, in which exceptions are marked with a grave accent
- V̌ → ∅ / _{x, s, š}CV except / VC_ (where V=weak)
- U-15: /h/-loss in clusters
- h → ∅ / _{CC, C#, Cah}
- U-16: Vowel shortening
- V̅ → V̌ / _h(ə)CV and // _CC (C=voiced) and / _C·ah
- U-17: /mə/-loss
- V́hməna· → V́hna·
- U-18: /ə/-insertion
- ∅ → ə / h_{l, n, m} and / #{l, m}_C (C≠h)
- U-19: MetathesisMetathesis (linguistics)Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:...
of /w/. Does not affect the roots /wəl-/ 'well' and /wət-/ 'pull'.- w(ə)C¹(w) → Cw / #_V if C¹=/p, m, k, h/
- w(ə)C → Cw / #_{ah, a, a·}
- {/nəw/, /kəw/} → {nw, kw} / #_{ah, a, a·}
- w{h, x} → {hw, xw} / C_
- x → xw / o(·)_
- (k)wx(k) → (k)x(k)w / #_
- U-20: /w/-coloring of /a/-vowels and /w/-loss
- w{ah, a, a·} → {oh, ɔ, ɔ·} / {#,C,V}_ where C is not /w/ and V is not /o(·)/
- w → ∅ / V¹_V² where V¹ is not /o(·)/ and V² is not /ə/
- w → ∅ / (C)_o(·)
- U-21: /y/-adjustment
- y → ∅ / V̄_V¹ where V¹ is not /ə/
- ∅ → y / V¹_V² where V¹ is a front vowel and V² is a back vowel
- w → y / _k (only in the suffixes ₁/-əkw/ and ₁/-əke·/)
- U-22: Final /l/-loss. The dropping of the /l/ is optional, but the option is exploited differently by the two morphemes it affects.
- l → (l) / _#
- U-23: Final-vowel shortening
- V̄ → V̆ / _#
- U-24: Final /h/-, /w/-, and /y/-loss
- h → ∅ / _#
- w → (w) / V̄_#
- w → ∅ / o(·)_#
- w → ∅ / #_tə{l, n}
- y → ∅ / i_#
- U-25: Initial cluster and syllable loss. Initial clusters arising from morphophonemic rules U-11 and U-14 above are simplified; many initial weak-vowel syllables are lost. There are many exceptions, however, such that Goddard does not attempt to describe the pattern.
- U-26: Consonant-shortening
- C·(w) → C(w) / _{ah, oh, C, #}
- U-27: Consonant-lengthening
- C (C=stop) → C· / #(C)hV̆_V(C)#
- U-28: Negative vowel assimilation in forms with ₅/-(o·)w(i·)/, which was a recent innovation at the time Goddard was writing.
- V̄ˣ(w)i → V̄ˣV̆ˣ / _#
Nouns
Third person participants are marked for gender (animate versus inanimate), obviation (proximateProximate
Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents.What people consider proximates may vary, but usually includes:* Water* Carbohydrates* Proteins* Dietary fibres...
versus obviative
Obviative
Obviate third person person is a grammatical person marking that distinguishes a non-salient third person referent from a more salient third person referent in a given discourse context...
), and presence (nonabsentative versus absentative). Generally, the inanimate, obviative, and absentative categories are more marked than their opposites (i.e. animate, proximate, and nonabsentative), however it is not clear whether animacy or inanimacy is the more marked of the opposition. The first and second persons are not marked for presence or obviation, and are always animate.
Obviation
The first mentioned and/or primary animate third person is proximate; all other third persons are obviative, unless they act in conjunction with the proximate participant. Verbs are also inflected to indicate whether the verbal action is proximate on obviate or obviate on proximate.Presence
Third person participants can be marked with a special set of endings indicating their absence from the general area of the focus of discourse. For example, absentative endings are used when speaking of the deceased (even if the corpse is physically present), as in the sentence no·lăčahko·ná·na nkahe·səná·na ("our (excl.) mother (abv.) treated us well"), in which both verb and noun are marked with the absentative /-a/ ending.Gender
Nouns in Unami are classified as either animate or inanimate, and this is reflected in verbal conjugation. Animate nouns denote human beings, animals, spirits, and trees, as well as certain fruits, tubers, root vegetables and other unpredictable exceptions like /ko·n/ ("snow") and /nhíkaš/ ("my fingernail"). (Note, however, that berries, nuts, and vegetables growing above ground are generally inanimate.) Thus, /té·hi·m/ ("strawberry"), /xáskwi·m/ ("corn"), /ke·skúnthak/ ("pumpkin"), /mpi/ ("water"), and /nhíka·t/ ("my leg") are inanimate, while /lə́nu/ ("man"), /xho·k/ ("snake"), /mahtán'tu/ ("Devil") and /hɔ́pəni·s/ ("potato") are animate. However, traditionally inanimate nouns which are directly addressed or personified are treated as animate. Thus, traditionally inanimate /ăsǝ́n/ ("stone") is treated as animate in the sentence šá·i a· ăsǝ́nak kǝnčí·mowak ("the stones would immediately cry out").Verbs
Unami is a highly agglutinative, polysynthetic language. Verbs in Unami are marked for person and number, and contain inflectional elements of order (independent, conjunct, and imperative), aspect, and the negative.A table of the personal pronouns is given below. Note that the first person plural ("we") may be either inclusive
Clusivity
In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...
- that is, including the addressee, - or exclusive.
| Person | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | ni· | ni·ló·na (exclusive) | ki·ló·na (inclusive) |
| Second | ki· | ki·ló·wa | |
| Third | né·k·a | ne·k·a·ɔ | |
| Indefinite | ∅ (zero ending) | ∅ (zero ending) | |
Following are tables exemplifying verbal paradigms in Unami in the independent order, indicative mood and present tense.
Animate Intransitive (AI) Verbs
| Person | /kəntəka·-/ 'dance' |
/wəm-/ 'come from' |
|---|---|---|
| 1,2 | nkə́ntka /n-,k--/ |
no·m /n-,k--/ |
| 3 | kə́ntke·(w) /-w/ |
wəm /-w/ |
| 1p,12 | nkəntkáhəna /n-,k--hməna·/ |
no·mhóməna /n-,k--hməna·/ |
| 2p | kkəntkáhəmɔ /k--hmwa·/ |
ko·mhómɔ /k--hmwa·/ |
| 3p | kəntké·yɔk /-wak/ |
mo·k /-wak/ |
| X | kə́ntkan /-n/ |
xahé·lən /-n/ |
Transitive Animate (TA) Verbs
| Objective /mi·l-/ 'give to' |
Absolute /lo·sw/ 'burn' |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | 3 | 3p | - |
| 1,2 | nǝmí·la /n-,k--a·/ |
nǝmi·lá·ɔk /n-,k--a·wak/ |
nló·sa /n-,k--a·/ |
| 3 | mwi·lá·ɔ /w--a·wa(l)/ |
mwi·lá·ɔ /w--a·wa(l)/ |
ló·se·(w) /-e·w/ |
| 1p,12 | nǝmi·lá·wǝna /n-,k--a·wǝna·/ |
nǝmi·la·wǝná·na(·)k /n-,k--a·wǝnă̆·k/ |
nlo·sáhǝna /n-,k--a·hmǝna·/ |
| 2p | kǝmi·láwwa /k--a·wǝwa·/ |
kǝmi·láwwa·ɔk /k--a·wǝwa·wak/ |
kǝlo·sáhǝmɔ /k--a·hmwa·/ |
| 3p | mwi·lawwá·ɔ /w--a·wǝwa·wa(l)/ |
mwi·lawwá·ɔ /w--a·wǝwa·wa(l)/ |
lo·sé·yɔk /-ǝ·wak/ |
| X | mí·la·(w) /a·w/ |
mí·l·á·ɔk /a·wak/ |
N/A |
Inanimate Intransitive (II) Verbs
| Person | /màxhe·-/ 'be red' |
/alǝt-/ 'rot' |
|---|---|---|
| IN | máxke·(w) /-w/ |
alǝ́t /-w/ |
| IN pl. | maxké·yɔ(l) /-wa(l)/ |
alǝ́t·o(·l) /-wa(l)/ |
Transitive Inanimate (TI) Verbs
The TI themes have the same inflection as AI stems for all conjuncts (NB that indefinite subject forms of consonant-final themes are not attested, but the vowel-final themes follow the AI pattern.) Three forms are illustrated from each type.| Type | Subjects | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 3pl | |
| 1a | pǝnáman /-aman/ |
pǝnánk /-ank/ |
pǝnamhíti·t /-amǝh(ǝ)ti·t/ |
| 1b | ló·sǝman /-ǝman/ |
ló·sink /-ǝnk/ |
lo·sǝmíhti·t /-ǝmǝh(ǝ)ti·t/ |
| 2 | wǝlí·taɔn /-awan/ |
wǝlí·ta·kw /-a·kw/ |
wǝli·tóhti·t /-o·h(ǝ)ti·t/ |
| 3(/-C/) | né·man /-an/ |
nenk /-ǝk/ |
ne·mhíti·t /-ǝ·h(ǝ)ti·t/ |
| 3(/-V) | mí·č·iyan /-yan/ |
mí·č·i·t /-t/ |
mi·č·íhti·t /-h(ǝ)ti·t/ |
Prefixes
Verbal prefixes are used only in the independent order, although some forms of the independent order lack a prefix. There are three of them: /n-/ (first person), /k-/ (second person), and /w-/ (third person). If a stem has an underlying initial vowel, a /t/ is inserted after the prefix, and before this and other stem-initial consonants a /ə/ is inserted. Sometimes, this /ə/ contracts with a stem-initial /wə/ to /o·/ except when the /o·/ would be phonetically shortened via rule U-4a. Examples include: /ntá·mwi/ ("I get up from lying") versus /á·mwi·(w)/ ("he gets up"). Two roots with initial /t/ extend the syllable with /-ən/ when adding prefixes; these roots are /tal-/ ("there") and /tax-/ ("so many"), e.g. náni ntəntala·wsí·ne·n ("that is where we live [our lives]") from the animate intransitive stem /tala·wəsi·/.Prefixes are mutually exclusive and are selected based on the following rule: if one of the participants is second person, the second person prefix is used; if not, if one of the participants is the first person, then the first person prefix is used; if none of these applies, other forms, if they take a prefix, take the third person prefix. This is the well-known Algonquian 2-1-3 precedence rule.
Suffixes
Suffixes are grouped into eight positional classes. These are:- Theme
- 1. Theme signs
- Thematic Affixes
- 2. Diminutive and pejorative
- 3. Obviative and plural
- 4. Negative; imperative modes
- Desinences (inflectional suffixes)
- 5. Central endings
- 6. Aspect
- 7. Peripheral endings
- 8. Mode
- First Position
The first position (theme signs) is filled only for transitive verbs - these help describe the relationship between the two participants, indicating which is the agent
Agent (grammar)
In linguistics, a grammatical agent is the cause or initiator of an event. Agent is the name of the thematic role...
and which is the object
Object (grammar)
An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon...
. The direct and inverse theme signs indicate the direction of the verb along a spectrum what might be called distance. From least to most distant the participants are: (1) first or second; (2) indefinite (only as subject); (3) proximate 3rd person; (4) obviative 3rd person; (5) farther obviative 3rd person; (6) inanimate (subject only). If the subject is less distant than the object, the direct theme is used; if the subject is more distant, the inverse signs are used. After transitive animate (TA) verb stems appear one of the four following theme signs:
-
- Theme 1: ₁/-a·/ ~ ₁/-∅/; makes direct forms
- Theme 2: ₁/-əkw/ ~ ₁/-əke·/; makes inverse forms
- Theme 3: ₁/-i·/; makes first person object forms
- Theme 4: ₁/-əl/; makes second person forms
For transitive inanimate (TI) verbs there appears the theme sign pertaining to the appropriate TI class:
-
- Class 1a: ₁/-am/
- Class 1b: ₁/-əm/
- Class 2: ₁/-o·/ ~ ₁/-aw/
- Class 3: no theme sign
NB that for Class 2 TI theme signs, in certain derivational categories, the theme sign is retained even when the thematic element is dropped. The contrast between the two categories is sharper in the Central Algonquian languages, in which the theme sign has a more complex series of alternants.
- Second Position
The second position consists of diminutives in ₂/-tī/ and pejoratives in ₂/-šī/ (in both of these, the /-ī/ is unstable.) An example of a diminutive is /pé·t·o/ ("the little one comes"), contrasted with the pejorative /pé·šo/ ("the undesirable one came"). The use of /t/ in the formation of dimunitives seems to be an innovation of Unami, as many other Algonquian languages use */s/ or */ʃ/ (in fact, the diminutive of Munsee is /-šī/).
- Third Position
In position three are the affixes ₃/-lī/, which marks the obviative third person, and ₃/-h(ə)tī/, which marks the plural.
- Fourth Position
Position four contains the negative affix ₄/-(ō)w(ī)/ and prohibitive imperative and future imperative forms, which have complex series of alternants.
- Fifth Position
Position five contains the central endings which index the central participant of each form, except those using TA theme signs ₁/-i·/ and ₁/-əl/;
- Sixth Position
Position six contains the affix endings: /-pan/ marks the preterite, and /sa/ ~ /shan/ mark the present.
- Seventh Position
Position seven contains peripheral endings, which are used to mark the nominal category of some 3rd person participants in forms in the independent and conjunct (but not imperative) orders.
- Eighth Position
Position eight reflects the subjunctive, prohibitive, and future modes.
Syntax
Unami is, like many 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...
, polysynthetic and highly agglutinative. This means that most of the information is encoded in the verb (sometimes with whole words being incorporated into the stem), making word order more fluid than in English. Unfortunately, syntax is one of the least studied aspects of the Unami language; there is much more data on morphology, because of an especial focus on reconstructing Proto-Algonquian.
Some examples of complex sentences in Unami include:
-
- ta heč tɔllí·ksi·n ne·k ma·nšá·p·iyak? (what color are those beads?)
- še· lah ni e·k·aɔ́·kwe [tali-]phɔkhakéhɔ·n ní·ša awé·ni·k (over there under the trees two people were buried)
- mi·mə́nsak šokw təli-ahi-pe·nháto·n (but the children's footprints are numerous)
- na hont náni tənnə́mən níkahke pi·lae·č·əč·ínka (then that's what those boys did)
External links
- Delaware (Lenape) Tribe of Indians
- Delaware Nation of Oklahoma
- Lenape Talking Dictionary
- History of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ Translation of the Gospels into the Delaware language. Printed by Jotham MeekerJotham MeekerJotham Meeker was a Baptist missionary, printer, who lived and proselytized among various Native American peoples, including the Delaware, Ottawa, and Shawnee...
, Shawnee Baptist Mission.