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Omaha–Ponca language

{{Short description|Siouan language spoken by the Omaha (Umoⁿhoⁿ) people and the Ponca (Paⁿka) people}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Omaha–Ponca

| nativename = {{lang|oma|Umoⁿhoⁿ}}

| states = United States

| region = Nebraska and Oklahoma

| ethnicity = Omaha, Ponca

| speakers = 85

| date = 2008

| ref = {{cite web |title=Omaha-Ponca |url=https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1920#:~:text=There%20are%20fewer%20than%2050,area%20of%20south%20central%20Oklahoma. |website=Endangered Languages Project |access-date=8 January 2025}}

| familycolor = American

| fam1 = Siouan

| fam2 = Western Siouan

| fam3 = Mississippi Valley

| fam4 = Dhegiha

| iso3 = oma

| glotto = omah1247

| glottorefname = Omaha-Ponca

| notice = IPA

| map = Oklahoma Indian Languages.png

| mapcaption = Map showing the distribution of Oklahoma Indian Languages

| map2 = Lang Status 20-CR.svg

| mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Omaha–Ponca is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

| dia1 = Omaha

| dia2 = Ponca

}}

{{Infobox ethnonym|person= |people= Umoⁿhoⁿ,
Páⁿka|language= Iyé,
Gáxe|country=Umoⁿhoⁿ Mazhóⁿ,
Páⁿka Mazhóⁿ}}

Omaha–Ponca is a Siouan language spoken by the Omaha (Umoⁿhoⁿ) people of Nebraska and the Ponca (Paⁿka) people of Oklahoma and Nebraska. The two dialects differ minimally but are considered distinct languages by their speakers.Rudin & Shea (2006) "Omaha–Ponca", in the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics

Use and revitalization efforts

As of 2008, there are only 50 fluent speakers of Omaha and 35 fluent speakers of Ponca. All fluent speakers are elderly.

The University of Nebraska offers classes in the Omaha language, and its Omaha Language Curriculum Development Project (OLCDP) provides Internet-based materials for learning the language.{{Cite news

| title = Omaha language classes keep culture alive

| last = Overmyer

| first = Krystal

| work = Canku Ota

| access-date = 2013-08-15

| date = 2003-12-13

| url = http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co12132003/CO_12132003_OmahaLanguage.htm

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140612021133/http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co12132003/CO_12132003_OmahaLanguage.htm

| archive-date = 2014-06-12

| url-status = usurped

}}{{Cite news

| last = Abourezk

| first = Kevin

| title = Woman travels 1,100 miles to learn Omaha language

| work = The Lincoln Journal Star Online

| access-date = 2013-08-15

| date = 2011-10-09

| url = http://journalstar.com/news/local/education/woman-travels-miles-to-learn-omaha-language/article_4e1a4a4d-a691-5d41-a963-1308dfb92939.html

}}{{Cite news

| last = Florio

| first = Gwen

| title = Culture-thief? Or help to tribe? Non-Native American Omaha language teacher stirs debate

| work = The Buffalo Post

| access-date = 2013-08-15

| url = http://www.buffalopost.net/?tag=university-of-nebraska

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140914210842/http://www.buffalopost.net/?tag=university-of-nebraska

| archive-date = 2014-09-14

| url-status = dead

}}{{Cite web

| title = Omaha Language Curriculum Development Project

| access-date = 2013-08-15

| url = http://omahalanguage.unl.edu/

}} A February 2015 article gives the number of fluent speakers as 12, all over age 70, which includes two qualified teachers; the Tribal Council estimates about 150 people have some ability in the language. The language is taught at the Umónhon Nation Public School.{{Cite web| last = Peters| first = Chris| title = Omaha Tribe members trying to revitalize an 'endangered language'| work = Omaha.com: Living| access-date = 2015-03-03| date = 2015-02-15| url = http://www.omaha.com/living/omaha-tribe-members-trying-to-revitalize-an-endangered-language/article_32633da3-9ce6-5755-bcc2-a8b006ad79ea.html}} An Omaha Basic iPhone app has been developed by the Omaha Nation Public Schools (UNPS) and the Omaha Language Cultural Center (ULCC).{{Cite web| title = Omaha Basic on the App Store on iTunes| work = iTunes Preview| access-date = 2015-03-03| url = https://apps.apple.com/us/app/omaha-basic/id705614006}} Members of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma have expressed an interest in partnerships to use the language as a basis of revitalizing the Osage language, which is similar. Louis Headman edited a dictionary of the Ponca People, published by the University of Nebraska Press.{{Cite web|url= https://www.poncacitynews.com/news/louis-v-headman-receive-honorary-doctorate-bacone-college-spring-2021-commencement|title= Louis V. Headman to receive Honorary Doctorate at Bacone College Spring 2021 Commencement|work= Ponca City News|date=April 14, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210501043333/https://www.poncacitynews.com/news/louis-v-headman-receive-honorary-doctorate-bacone-college-spring-2021-commencement |archive-date=1 May 2021}}

Phonology

=Consonants=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
colspan="2" |

! Labial

! Dental

! Post-
alveolar

! Velar

! Glottal

colspan="2" | Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}} || {{IPAlink|n}} || || ||

rowspan="4" | Plosive

! {{small|voiced}}

| {{IPAlink|b}} || {{IPAlink|d}} || {{IPAlink|dʒ}} || {{IPAlink|ɡ}} ||

{{small|voiceless}}

| {{IPAlink|p}} || {{IPAlink|t}} || {{IPAlink|tʃ}} || {{IPAlink|k}} || {{IPAlink|ʔ}}

{{small|aspirated}}

| {{IPAlink|pʰ}} || {{IPAlink|tʰ}} || {{IPAlink|tʃʰ}} || {{IPAlink|kʰ}} ||

{{small|ejective}}

| {{IPAlink|pʼ}} || {{IPAlink|tʼ}} || || ||

rowspan="3" | Fricative

! {{small|voiced}}

| || {{IPAlink|z}} || {{IPAlink|ʒ}} || {{IPAlink|ɣ}} ||

{{small|voiceless}}

| || {{IPAlink|s}} || {{IPAlink|ʃ}} || {{IPAlink|x}} ||

{{small|glottalized}}

| || {{IPAlink|sʼ}} || {{IPAlink|ʃʼ}} || {{IPAlink|xʼ}} ||

colspan="2" | Approximant

| {{IPAlink|w}} || {{IPA|lᶞ}} || || || {{IPAlink|h}}

Voiceless sounds {{IPA|/p, t, tʃ, k/}} may also be heard as tense {{IPA|[pː, tː, tʃː, kː]}} in free variation.

One consonant, sometimes written l or th, is a velarized lateral approximant with interdental release, {{IPA|[ɫᶞ]}}, found for example in ní btháska {{IPA|[ˌnĩ ˈbɫᶞaska]}} "flat water" (Platte River), the source of the name Nebraska. It varies freely from {{IPA|[ɫ]}} to a light {{IPA|[ð̞]}}, and derives historically from Siouan *r.

Initial consonant clusters include approximates, as in {{IPA|/blᶞ/}} and {{IPA|/ɡlᶞ/}}.

Consonants are written as in the IPA in school programs, apart from the alveopalatals j, ch, chʰ, zh, sh, shʼ, the glottal stop ’, the voiced velar fricative gh, and the dental approximant th. Historically, this th has also been written dh, ð, ¢, and the sh and x as c and q; the tenuis stops p t ch k have either been written upside-down or double (pp, kk, etc.). These latter unusual conventions serve to distinguish these sounds from the p t ch k of other Siouan languages, which are not specified for voicing and so may sound like either Omaha–Ponca p t ch k or b d j g. The letters f, l, q, r, v are not used in writing Omaha–Ponca.

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan="2" |

! Front

! Back

rowspan="2" | High

! {{small|oral}}

| {{IPA link|i}}

| {{IPA link|u}}

{{small|nasal}}

| {{IPA link|ĩ}}

|

Mid

! {{small|oral}}

| {{IPA link|e}}

|

rowspan="2" | Low

! {{small|oral}}

| {{IPA link|a}}

| ({{IPA link|o}})

{{small|nasal}}

| {{IPA link|ã}}

| ({{IPA link|õ}})

The simple vowels are {{IPA|/a, e, i, u/}}, plus a few words with {{IPA|/o/}} in men's speech. The letter ‘o’ is phonemically /au/, and phonetically [əw].Bruce, Benjamin. "[http://hello-oklahoma.benjaminbruce.com/index.php Ponca Alphabet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106094938/http://hello-oklahoma.benjaminbruce.com/index.php |date=2011-11-06 }}." The Hello Oklahoma! Project. Web. 24 Oct. 2011.

There are two or three nasal vowels, depending on the variety. In the Omaha and Ponca Dhegiha dialects *õ and *ã have merged unconditionally as {{IPA|/õ/}}, which may range across {{IPA|[ã] ~ [õ] ~ [ũ]}} and is written {{angle bracket|oⁿ}} in Omaha and {{angle bracket|aⁿ}} in Ponca. The close front nasal vowel {{IPA|/ĩ/}} remains distinct.

Nasalized vowels are fairly new to the Ponca language. Assimilation has taken place leftward, as opposed to right to left, from nasalized consonants over time. "Originally when the vowel was oral, it nasalized the consonant and a nasalized vowel never followed suit, instead, the nasalized vowel came to preceded it"; though this is not true for the Omaha, or its 'mother' language."Michaud, Alexis. "[http://docs.exdat.com/docs/index-73578.html Historical Transfer of Nasality between Consonantal Onset and Vowel]." Diachronica 2012th ser. 29.2 (2011): 1-34. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.

Omaha–Ponca is a tonal language that utilizes downstep (accent) or a lowering process that applies to the second of two high-tone syllables. A downstepped high tone would be slightly lower than the preceding high tone.”: wathátʰe {{IPA|/walᶞaꜜtʰe/}} "food", wáthatʰe {{IPA|/waꜜlᶞatʰe/}} "table". Vowel length is distinctive in accented syllables, though it is often not written: {{IPA|[nãːꜜde]}} "heart", {{IPA|[nãꜜde]}} "(inside) wall".Crystal, David. A Dictionary of Linguistics & Phonetics. 5th ed. Blackwell, 2003. Print.

Omaha–Ponca is a daughter language to the Siouan mother language but has developed some of its own rules for nasalization and aspiration. What were once allophones in Proto-Siouan have become phonemes in the Omaha–Ponca language.

Many contrasts in the Omaha–Ponca language are unfamiliar to speakers of English.[http://omahaponca.unl.edu/ Omaha–Ponca Dictionary Index] Below are examples of minimal pairs for some sounds which in English would be considered allophones, but in Omaha–Ponca constitute different phonemes:

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
ContrastWordGlossWordGloss
{{IPA|[p]}} vs. {{IPA|[pʰ]}}

| {{IPA|[pa]}}

| head/nose

| {{IPA|[pʰa]}}

| bitter

{{IPA|[i]}} vs. {{IPA|[ĩ]}}

| {{IPA|[nazhi]}}

| to go out

| {{IPA|[nazhĩ́]}}

| to stand

{{IPA|[t]}} vs. {{IPA|[tʼ]}}

| {{IPA|[tṍde]}}

| the ground

| {{IPA|[t’ṍde]}}

| during future early autumns

In many languages nasalization of vowels would be a part of assimilation to the next consonant, but Omaha–Ponca is different because it is always assimilating.{{clarify|date=February 2012}} For example: iⁿdáthiⁿga, meaning mysterious, moves from a nasalized /i/ to an alveolar, stop. Same thing happens with the word iⁿshte, meaning, for example, has the nasalized /i/ which does not assimilate to another nasal. It changes completely to an alveolar fricative.

Morphology

The Omaha–Ponca language adds endings to its definite articles to indicate animacy, number, position and number.

Ponca definite articles indicate animacy, position and number.Finegan, Edward, and John R. Rickford. Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print. (page 171)

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
morphological ending

! gloss meaning

{{IPA
kʰe}}

| for inanimate horizontal object

{{IPA
tʰe}}

| for inanimate standing object

{{IPA
ðaⁿ}}

| for inanimate round object

{{IPA|akʰá}}

| for singular animate agent

{{IPA
amá}}

| for singular animate agent in motion or plural

{{IPA
tʰaⁿ}}

| for animate singular patient in standing position

{{IPA|ðiⁿ}}

| for animate singular patient in motion

{{IPA
ma}}

| for animate plural patient in motion

{{IPA
ðiⁿkʰé}}

| for animate singular patient in sitting position

{{IPA
ðaⁿkʰá}}

| for animate plural patient in sitting position

Syntax

Omaha–Ponca's syntactic type is subject-object-verb.[http://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/omaha/syntax.htm Syntax]

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • Boas, Franz. [https://books.google.com/books?id=KPANAAAAIAAJ&dq=Boas+Notes+on+the+Ponka+grammar&pg=RA1-PA317 "Notes on the Ponka grammar"], Congrès international des américanistes, Proceedings 2:217-37.
  • Dorsey, James Owen. [https://archive.org/details/omahaandponkale00dorsgoog Omaha and Ponka Letters]. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891
  • Dorsey, James Owen. [https://archive.org/details/cegihalanguageth00dorsuoft The Cegiha Language]. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1890
  • Dorsey, Rev. J. Owen [https://archive.org/details/omahasociology00dorsrich Omaha Sociology]. Washington: Smithsonian, Bureau of American Ethnology, Report No. 3, 1892–1893
  • [http://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/omaha/geninfo.htm List of basic references on Omaha–Ponca]

External links

{{incubator|oma}}

  • [http://www.native-languages.org/omaha-ponca.htm Omaha–Ponca Indian Language (Cegiha, Dhegiha)], native-language.org
  • {{Cite web

| title = Omaha Language Curriculum Development Project

| access-date = 2013-08-15

| url = http://omahalanguage.unl.edu/

}}. Extensive language learning materials, including audio.

  • [http://omahaponca.unl.edu/partofspeech/browse/ Omaha–Ponca dictionary]
  • {{Cite web |title=Omaha Ponca grammar |url=https://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/omaha/op_sketch.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004165355/http://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/omaha/op_sketch.htm |archive-date=2012-10-04 |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Omaha Ponca Sketch}}
  • [http://www.language-archives.org/language/oma OLAC resources in and about the Omaha–Ponca language]
  • [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?omhbib:16:./temp/~ammem_E1Dq:: Chairman Elmer Blackbird Delivers Introduction (in Omaha–Ponca)] .mp3
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_joPkcg4IQ Ponca Hymns sung by the congregation of White Eagle United Methodist Church]

{{Omaha people|state=expanded}}

{{Languages of Oklahoma}}

{{Siouan languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omaha-Ponca language}}

Category:Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

Category:Ponca

Category:Subject–object–verb languages

Category:Indigenous languages of Oklahoma

Category:Western Siouan languages