FACTOID # 26: Most Zambians don't live to see their 40th birthday.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS    Advanced view

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Blackfoot language
Blackfoot (Siksiká)
Spoken in: United States, Canada 
Region: Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and in southern Alberta
Total speakers: 5,100
Language family: Algic
 Algonquian
  Blackfoot
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: bla
ISO/DIS 639-3: bla 

Blackfoot is the name of any of the Algonquian languages spoken by the Blackfoot tribe of Native Americans, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America. Official language(s) English Capital Helena Largest city Billings Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 4th 381,156 km² 410 km 1,015 km 1 44°26 N to 49° N 104°2 W to 116°2 W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 44th 902,195 2. ... Motto: Fortis et Liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 642,317 km² 19,531 km² (2. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Algic languages are an indigenous language family of North America. ... Pre-contact distribution of Algonquian languages The Algonquian (also Algonkian) languages are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic language family (the two Algic languages that are not Algonquian are Wiyot and Yurok of northwestern California). ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... The Algonquian (also Algonkian) languages are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic language family (others are Wiyot and Yurok of northwestern California). ... Bear Bull The Blackfoot Confederacy is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana. ... An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...


Like the other Algonquian languages, Blackfoot is typologically polysynthetic. Whorf hypothesized that it was oligosynthetic, but mainstream linguistics has rejected this. Linguistic typology is the typology that classifies languages by their features. ... Polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i. ... Benjamin Lee Whorf (April 24, 1897 – July 26, 1941) was an American linguist. ... Oligosynthetic (from the Greek ὀλίγος, meaning few, little) is a hypothetical designation for a language using an extremely small array of morphemes, perhaps numbering only in the hundreds, which combine synthetically to form statements. ...


Of all the Algonquian languages, Blackfoot is often said to have diverged most drastically from Proto-Algonquian. It is significantly different both phonologically and, especially, grammatically from the other languages in the family. Proto-Algonquian is the name given to the posited proto-language of the languages of the Algonquian family. ...

Contents


Sounds

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Stop [ p ] [ pː ] [ t ] [ tː ] [ k ] [ kː ] [ ʔ ]
Fricative [ s ] [ sː ] [ x ]
Nasal [ m ] [ mː ] [ n ] [ nː ]
Semivowel [ w ] [ j ]

Blackfoot also has two coarticulated consonants, /ts͡/ and /ks͡/. The velar consonants become palatals [ç] and [c] when preceded by front vowels. Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips (bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). ... Alveolars are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the internal side of the upper gums (known as the alveoles of the upper teeth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... The vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the human larynx. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... (adj. ... Semivowels (also called semiconsonants or glides) are vowels that function phonemically as consonants. ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ...


Vowels

Front Central Back
Close [ i ] [ iː ]
Close-Mid [ o ] [ oː ]
Open-Mid [ ɔ ] [ ɔː ]
Open [ æ ] [ æː ] [ a ] [ aː ]

Some allophonic changes among the vowels: /a/ is raised to [a̝] when followed by a long consonant, /i/ becomes [ɪ] in closed syllables, /æ/ becomes [e] when followed by /ʔ/ and [ɛ] in closed syllables, and /o/ becomes [ʊ] when followed by a long consonant. Blackfoot is pitch accent based, meaning every word has at least one high-pitched vowel, and high pitch is contrastive with non-high pitch. At the end of a word, non-high pitched vowels are devoiced. Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ... For pitch accent in music, see: accent (music). ...


External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Blackfoot Language and the Blackfoot Indian Tribe (Siksika, Pikuni, Piegan, Kainai, Blackfeet, Niitsipussin) (630 words)
Blackfoot Language and the Blackfoot Indian Tribe (Siksika, Pikuni, Piegan, Kainai, Blackfeet, Niitsipussin)
Language: Blackfoot, or Siksika, is an Algonquian language spoken by 8000 people in southern Alberta and northern Montana.
Nevertheless, in the face of these travails the Blackfoot have not lost their culture, and the Blackfoot Indian language is one of the few indigenous languages in Canada and the United States which has a good chance for survival.
Blackfoot Nation - Crystalinks (1909 words)
The Blackfoot were fiercely independent and very successful warriors whose territory stretched from the North Saskatchewan River along what is now Edmonton Alberta, Canada, to the Missouri River of Montana, and from the Rocky Mountains and along the Saskatchewan river and down into the state of Montana to the Missouri river.
The Blackfoot maintained this traditional way of life based on hunting bison, until the near extinction of the bison by 1881 forced them to change and finally adapt to the coming of Europeans.
Blackfoot music, the music of the Blackfoot tribes, (best translated in the Blackfoot language as nitsínixki - "I sing", from nínixksini - "song") is primarily a vocal kind of music, using few instruments (called ninixkiátsis, derived from the word for song and associated primarily with European-American instruments), only percussion and voice, and few words.
  More results at FactBites »


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.