Language Samples from North America
Welcome to this collection of North American indigenous languages!
I've spent quite a bit of time tracking down some of the best web resources and summarizing them in one place. The goal of these posts is to give a brief introduction to each language in both spoken and written form. See my original post for more background and why I want to do this.
Each article follows a common format; first, a brief language description, followed by a short text or story in the native language, then an English translation. Audio clips of the text are available for most languages, so you can read along.
To keep this series to a reasonable size, I've chosen to arbitrarily pick one representative from each generally accepted language family. Furthermore, each article contains only a small fraction of the work available on the original web site - links are provided in each post.
A World of Variety: Oneida (Iroquoian)
Extent of the Iroquoian language family
is a member of the once important and extensive Iroquoian language family, originally
concentrated in the Northeast U.S. and southeast Canada around the St. Lawrence River. It's
related to Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, of the famous Five Nations Confederacy,
and is only spoken by a couple hundred people, mostly on the modern reservations in New York,
lower Ontario, and eastern Wisconsin.
A World of Variety: Ktunaxa
Ktunaxa, better known as Kootenai,
is currently spoken by less than a dozen people in the world. Its original range was the far northwestern corner
of Montana and the panhandle of Idaho, extending north into interior British Columbia. It is not known to be related to any other languages
in the region or anywhere else in the world. Like many languages in west central North America, it's heavy on
consonants and consonant clusters.
A World of Variety: Iñupiaq (Eskimo-Aleut)
Extent of the Eskimo-Aleut language family
Iñupiaq (pr: In-yoo-pee-ock) is a language spoken in the
far north of Alaska and the Yukon. It is one of the widely distributed Eskimo-Aleut languages, and lies near the western end of a dialect continuum
that sweeps from Alaska east to Greenland.
A World of Variety: Southwestern Ojibwe (Algonquian)
Extent of the Algonquian language family
Southwestern Ojibwe, or "Anishinaabemowin",
is a relatively vibrant language originally spoken in my home state of Minnesota, primarily in the north and east and extending
both directions, into Ontario, Manitoba, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It's a member of the widely spread Algonquian (Algic) language family which
has representatives all the way out to the East Coast. The very first language encountered by the occupants of the Mayflower
was undoubtedly an Algonquian language.
A World of Variety: Klallam (Salishan)
Extent of the Salishan language family
Klallam is a nearly extinct
language that was spoken along the north side of the Olympic Peninsula and in coastal areas of Vancouver Island
on the other side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It's a member of the Coast Salish language family. Like many
Salishan languages, it has a healthy dose of glottal stops together with numerous unusual consonants,
many of which are difficult for English speakers to discern or pronounce.
It's only appropriate that I picked this language to represent the Salishan family, since
I just visited the Olympic Peninsula in January. Although,
I would like to find more information on the wonderfully named Lushootseed language (indigenous
to the Seattle metro area.)
A World of Variety: Arikara (Caddoan)
Extent of the Caddoan language family
Arikara is a severely endangered language spoken only on the
Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota. It's one of the last remaining representatives of the Caddoan languages, which were, in pre-contact times,
widespread in the south central U.S., primarily in what is now Oklahoma.
A World of Variety: Tlingit (Na-Dené)
Extent of the Na-Dené language family
is a language spoken along the coast of southeastern Alaska and northern British Columbia. It's related to other languages in the interior,
the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska, but surprisingly, also to the Navajo language of the American Southwest through its membership in
the Na-Dené superfamily.
A World of Variety: Creek (Muskogean)
Extent of the Muskogean language family
Creek (not to be confused with Cree)
is a Muskogean language that was spoken in what is now the states of Alabama and Georgia. This language and its relatives such as
Miccosukee, Koasati, and even (you guessed it...) Alabama, once dominated the southeastern United States.
A World of Variety: Lakota (Siouxan)
Extent of the Siouxan language family
Lakota is probably the most iconic Native American culture.
The painted warriors on galloping horses, feathered headdresses, long braids, and itinerant tepees of TV and movies all owe their origin to
the indigenous cultures of the northern Great Plains.