Stoney language

Stoney—also called Nakota, Nakoda, Isga, and formerly Alberta Assiniboine—is a member of the Dakota subgroup of the Mississippi Valley grouping of the Siouan languages.[3] The Dakotan languages constitute a dialect continuum consisting of Santee-Sisseton (Dakota), Yankton-Yanktonai (Dakota), Teton (Lakota), Assiniboine, and Stoney.[4]

Stoney
Nakoda, Nakota, Isga
Native toCanada
EthnicityNakota: Stoney
Native speakers
3,025 (2016)[1]
Siouan
Language codes
ISO 639-3sto
Glottologston1242
ELPStoney[2]
The location of Stoney / Nakoda

Stoney is the most linguistically divergent of the Dakotan dialects[5] and has been described as “on the verge of becoming a separate language”. The Stoneys are the only Siouan people that live entirely in Canada,[4] and the Stoney language is spoken by five groups in Alberta.[6][7] No official language survey has been undertaken for every community where Stoney is spoken, but the language may be spoken by as many as a few thousand people, primarily at the Morley community.[8]

Relationship to Assiniboine

Stoney’s closest linguistic relative is Assiniboine.[9] The two have often been confused with each other due to their close historical and linguistic relationship, but they are not mutually intelligible.[3] Stoney either developed from Assiniboine, or both Stoney and Assiniboine developed from a common ancestor language.[10][11]

Phonology

Very little linguistic documentation and descriptive research has been done on Stoney. However, Stoney varieties demonstrate broad phonological similarity with some important divergences.

For example, the following phonemes are reportedly found in Morley Stoney, spoken on the Morley Reserve:

Morley Stoney consonants[12]
Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
Stop voiceless pt k
voiced b d g
Affricate voiceless t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless sʃ ħh
voiced z ʒ ʕ
Nasal mn
Approximant w j
Morley Stoney vowels[12]
Front Central Back
High i, ĩu, ũ
Mid eo
Low a, ã

For comparison, these phonemes reportedly characterize the Stoney spoken at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, which maintains the common Siouan three-way contrast[13] between plain, aspirated, and ejective stops:

Alexis Stoney consonants[14]
Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
Stops p, pʰ, pʼt, tʰ, tʼk, kʰ, kʼʔ
Affricates t͡ʃ, t͡ʃʰ, t͡ʃʼ
Fricatives s, zʃ, ʒx, ɣh
Nasals mn
Glides wj

Notice that Alexis Stoney, for example, has innovated contrastive vowel length, which is not found in other Dakotan dialects.[15] Alexis Stoney also has long and nasal mid vowels:[16]

Alexis Stoney vowels[17]
Front Central Back
High i, ī, ĩu, ū, ũ
Mid e, ē, ẽo, ō, õ
Low a, ā, ã

Word Set (includes numbers)
  • One — Wazhi
  • Two — Nûm
  • Three — Yamnî
  • Four — Ktusa
  • Five — Zaptâ
  • Man — Wîca
  • Woman — Wîyâ
  • Sun — Wa
  • Moon — Hâwi
  • Water — Mini

Phonetic differences from other Dakotan languages

The following table shows some of the main phonetic differences between Stoney, Assiniboine, and the three dialects (Lakota, Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee-Sisseton) of Sioux.[18][4]

Sioux Assiniboine Stoney
Lakota Western Dakota Eastern Dakota gloss
Yanktonai Yankton Sisseton Santee
Lakȟóta Dakȟóta Dakhóta Nakhóta Nakhóda self-designation
lowáŋ dowáŋ dowáŋ nowáŋ to sing
ló dó dó nó assertion
čísčila čísčina čístina čúsina čúsin small
hokšíla hokšína hokšína hokšída hokšína hokšín boy
gnayáŋ gnayáŋ knayáŋ hnayáŋ knayáŋ hna to deceive
glépa gdépa kdépa hdépa knépa hnéba to vomit
kigná kigná kikná kihná kikná gihná to soothe
slayá sdayá sdayá snayá snayá to grease
wičháša wičháša wičhášta wičhášta wičhá man
kibléza kibdéza kibdéza kimnéza gimnéza to sober up
yatkáŋ yatkáŋ yatkáŋ yatkáŋ yatkáŋ to drink
hé hé hé žé žé that

References
  1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Stoney.
  3. Parks, Douglas R.; Rankin, Robert L. (2001). "Siouan languages". In DeMaille, Raymond J.; Sturtevant, William C. (eds.). Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 94–114.
  4. Parks, Douglas R.; DeMallie, Raymond J. (1992). "Sioux, Assiniboine, and Stoney Dialects: A Classification". Anthropological Linguistics. 34 (1/4): 233–255. JSTOR 30028376.
  5. Taylor, Alan R. (1981). "Variation in Canadian Assiniboine". Siouan and Caddoan Linguistics Newsletter.
  6. Andersen, Raoul R. (1968). An inquiry into the political and economic structures of the Alexis band of Wood Stoney Indians, 1880-1964. Columbia: University of Missouri PhD dissertation.
  7. Taylor, Alan R. (1981). "Variation in Canadian Assiniboine". Siouan and Caddoan Linguistics Newsletter.
  8. Cook, Eung-Do; Owens, Camille C. (1991). "Conservative and innovative features in Alexis Stoney". Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences Held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August 1991.: 135–146.
  9. DeMallie, Raymond; Miller, David Reed (2001). "Assiniboine". In DeMaille, Raymond J.; Sturtevant, William C. (eds.). Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 572–595.
  10. Cook, Eung-Do; Owens, Camille C. (1991). "Conservative and innovative features in Alexis Stoney". Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences Held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August 1991.: 135–146.
  11. Erdman, Corrie Lee Rhyasen (1997). Stress in Stoney. Calgary: University of Calgary MA thesis.
  12. Bellam, Ernest Jay (1975). Studies in Stoney phonology and morphology. Calgary: University of Calgary MA thesis.
  13. Parks, Douglas R.; Rankin, Robert L. (2001). "Siouan languages". In DeMaille, Raymond J.; Sturtevant, William C. (eds.). Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 94–114.
  14. Erdman, Corrie Lee Rhyasen (1997). Stress in Stoney. Calgary: University of Calgary MA thesis.
  15. Cook, Eung-Do; Owens, Camille C. (1991). "Conservative and innovative features in Alexis Stoney". Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences Held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August 1991: 135–146.
  16. Erdman, Corrie Lee Rhyasen (1997). Stress in Stoney. Calgary: University of Calgary MA thesis.
  17. Erdman, Corrie Lee Rhyasen (1997). Stress in Stoney. Calgary: University of Calgary MA thesis.
  18. Ullrich, Jan (2008). New Lakota Dictionary (Incorporating the Dakota Dialects of Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee-Sisseton). Lakota Language Consortium. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-9761082-9-0. To be precise, Ullrich states that Stoney "is completely unintelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers", while Assiniboine is not comprehensible to them, "unless they have been exposed to it extensively" (p. 2).
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