Atikamekw language
{{short description|Cree language of southwestern Quebec, Canada}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{more citations|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Atikamekw
| nativename = atikamekw nehiromowin
| states = Canada
| region = Quebec
| ethnicity = Atikamekw
| speakers = {{sigfig|6,165|2}}
| date = 2016 census
| ref = e25
| familycolor = Algic
| fam1 = Algic
| fam2 = Algonquian
| fam3 = Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cree1271 |title=Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=Glottolog |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015114502/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cree1271 |archive-date=2022-10-15 |url-status=live |publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}
| iso3 = atj
| glotto = atik1240
| glottorefname = Atikamekw
| lingua = 62-ADA-c
| notice = IPA
| map = Lang Status 80-VU.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Atikamekw is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|people=Atikamekw Nehirowisiw|language=Atikamekw Nehiromowin|country=Nitaskinan (Nehirowisi Aski)}}
Atikamekw (endonym: Atikamekw Nehiromowin, literally "Atikamekw native language") is a variety of the Algonquian language Cree{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} and the language of the Atikamekw people of southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is spoken by nearly all the Atikamekw, and therefore it is among the indigenous languages least threatened with extinction, according to some studies.{{cite web|url=http://www.opitciwan.ca/index.php/menutourisme |title=Cultures et traditions |publisher=Conseil des Atikamekw d'Opitciwan |language=French |accessdate=2010-03-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040828/http://www.opitciwan.ca/index.php/menutourisme |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}
Atikamekw is a language belonging to the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi linguistic continuum, which is part of the Central branch of the Algonquian languages of the Algic family of languages. It is sometimes classified as a dialect of Cree.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
The Atikamekw reflex of Proto-Algonquian liquid ("L" sound) *l is {{IPAblink|ɾ}} (spelled 'r'). The corresponding sound in other Cree dialects is {{IPAblink|n}}, {{IPAblink|j}}, {{IPAblink|l}}, or {{IPAblink|ð}} (it is consistently one of these depending on the dialect). So, alternatively, it is also referred to as the "r-Dialect of Cree".{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} Another way in which Atikamekw is distinctive among dialects of Cree is in having many loanwords from the Anishinaabe language.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
Phonology
=Consonants=
The consonants of Atikamekw are listed below in the standard orthography and with IPA equivalents in brackets:
| class="wikitable"
|+Consonants{{sfn|Béland|1978|p=8}} |
| |
! Labial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal |
|---|
| Nasal
| style="text-align:center;"|m {{IPAblink|m}} | style="text-align:center;"|n {{IPAblink|n}} || || || |
| Stop
| style="text-align:center;"|p {{IPAblink|p}} | style="text-align:center;"|t {{IPAblink|t}} | style="text-align:center;"|tc (c) {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}} | style="text-align:center;"|k {{IPAblink|k}} || |
| Fricative
|| | style="text-align:center;"|s {{IPAblink|s}} | style="text-align:center;"|c (s̀) {{IPAblink|ʃ}} || | style="text-align:center;"|h {{IPAblink|h}} |
| Tap
|| | style="text-align:center;"|r {{IPAblink|ɾ}} || || || |
| Approximant
|style="text-align:center;"|w {{IPAblink|w}} || | style="text-align:center;"|i (y) {{IPAblink|j}} || || |
In Atikamekw, fortis and lenis consonants are not distinguished in writing, even though they are in speech. But if precise spelling is required, fortis consonant realised as a geminate is indicated with an underline on the letter of concern.
=Vowels=
The vowels of Atikamekw are listed below:
| class="wikitable"
|+Vowels{{sfn|Béland|1978|p=8}} |
| rowspan=2 |
! colspan=2|Front ! colspan=2|Back |
|---|
| long
!short !long !short |
| Close
|î {{IPAblink|iː}} ||i {{IPAblink|i}} || || |
| Mid
|e {{IPAblink|eː}} || ||ô {{IPAblink|oː}} ||o {{IPAblink|o}} |
| Open
| || ||â {{IPAblink|aː}} || a {{IPAblink|a}} |
- Vowel length (shown above with a circumflex accent) is typically not indicated in the written language.
Notes
References
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite thesis |last=Béland |first=Jean-Pierre |year=1978 |title=Atikamekw Morphology & Lexicon |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of California |location=Berkeley |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fk44815}}
{{refend}}
External links
{{InterWiki|code=atj|Atikamekw Nehiromowin}}
- [http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/atikamekw.html Atikamekw orthography and phonology (Languagegeek)]
- [http://www.native-languages.org/atikamekw.htm Native Languages page for Atikamekw]
- [http://www.language-archives.org/language/atj OLAC resources in and about the Atikamekw language]
{{Cree language}}
{{Languages of Quebec}}
Category:Central Algonquian languages
Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Subarctic