Naskapi language
Cree language of eastern Canada
| People | Naskapi Iyuw ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ |
|---|---|
| Language | Naskapi Iyuw Iyimuun ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ |
| Country | St'aschinuw ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ |
Naskapi (also known as ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ/Iyuw Iyimuun in the Naskapi language) is an Algonquian language spoken by the Naskapi in Quebec and Labrador, Canada. It is written in Eastern Cree syllabics.
The term Naskapi is chiefly used to refer to the language of the people living in the interior of Quebec and Labrador in or around Kawawachikamach, Quebec. Naskapi is a "y-dialect" that has many linguistic features in common with the Northern dialect of East Cree, and which also shares many lexical items with the Innu language.
Although there is a much closer linguistic and cultural relationship between Naskapi and Innu than between Naskapi and other Cree language communities, Naskapi remains unique and distinct from all other language varieties in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula.
01Phonology
02Orthography
There are two writing systems used for Naskapi language. One is Latin, similar to the Innu language (Montagnais), and the other is Cree syllabics, similar to James Bay Cree, as well as other dialects of Cree across Canada.
Latin
The Naskapi Latin alphabet consists of three vowels, ⟨a⟩, ⟨i⟩, and ⟨u⟩, in short form and in long form. The long form is either written with a circumflex accent, e.g. ⟨â⟩, or by simply writing the vowel twice, e.g. ⟨aa⟩. In addition there are twelve graphemes to represent the consonants, including the digraph ⟨Ch⟩.
| Uppercase | A | Â/AA | Ch | H | I | Î/II | K | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | U | Û/UU | W | Y |
| lowercase | a | â/aa | ch | h | i | î/ii | k | l | m | n | p | r | s | t | u | û/uu | w | y |
| IPA | /ʌ~ə/ | /a~æ/ | /tʃ, dʒ/ | /h/ | /ɪ~ə/ | /i/ | /k, g/ | /l/ | /m/ | /n/ | /p, b/ | /ɹ/ | /s, ʃ/ | /t, d/ | /o~ʊ/ | /u/ | /w/ | /j/ |
- Ch, K, P, and T are also used to write the voiced allophones.
- L and R are only used in loanwords from other languages.
Syllabary
Naskapi Syllabics (ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ, naskapi iyuw iyimuun) is derived from Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, and while having its unique characteristics, shares many features with other Canadian Cree Syllabic systems. Unlike other Cree Syllabics, long and short vowels are not distinguished. The final forms in Naskapi Syllabics are similar to other varieties of Eastern Cree syllabics.
| _a | _i | _u | _wa | _wi | _w | s_wa | - | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ᐊ | ᐃ | ᐅ | ᐛ | ᐎ | ᐤ | ||
| p | ᐸ | ᐱ | ᐳ | ᑈ | ᔌ | ᑉ | ||
| t | ᑕ | ᑎ | ᑐ | ᑥ | ᔍ | ᑦ | ||
| k | ᑲ | ᑭ | ᑯ | ᒂ | ᒄ | ᔎ | ᒃ | |
| ch | ᒐ | ᒋ | ᒍ | ᒠ | ᔏ | ᒡ | ||
| m | ᒪ | ᒥ | ᒧ | ᒺ | ᒻ | |||
| n | ᓇ | ᓂ | ᓄ | ᓏ | ᓐ | |||
| s | ᓴ | ᓯ | ᓱ | ᔄ | ᔅ | |||
| y | ᔭ | ᔨ | ᔪ | ᔽ | ᔾ | |||
| ᐟ | ||||||||
| Other Symbols | ||||||||
| h | ᐦ | |||||||
| hk | ᑾ | ᑶ | ᑴ | |||||
| l | ᓚ | ᓕ | ᓗ | ᓪ | ||||
| r | ᕋ | ᕆ | ᕈ | ᕐ | ||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Naskapi language”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Naskapi children in class with teacher, Quebec Enfants naskapis et enseignante (Québec) (14096952968).jpg by BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives, CC BY 2.0
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