Assiniboine language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Assiniboine
Assiniboin, Hohe, Nakota, Nakoda, Nakon, Nakona, or Stoney Nakʰóda
Native to	Canada, United States
Region	Saskatchewan, Canada Montana, United States
Ethnicity	3,500 Assiniboine (2007)
Native speakers	150, 4.3% of ethnic population  (2007)e18
Language family	Siouan Western Siouan (Core) Mississippi Valley Siouan Dakotan Assiniboine
Assiniboine is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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The Assiniboine language is also known as Nakota. It is a language spoken by the Assiniboine people, who live in the Great Plains region of North America. The name "Assiniboine" comes from an Ojibwe word meaning 'Stone Siouans'. This name came about because the Assiniboine people used hot stones to cook their food.

In Canada, Assiniboine people are often called Stoney Indians. However, they call themselves Nakota or Nakoda, which means 'allies'.

Understanding the Assiniboine Language

The Assiniboine language is part of the Siouan language family. It is closely related to Sioux and Stoney. These languages are all part of the Dakotan group.

How Assiniboine is Classified

The Dakotan group has five main parts:

• Dakota (Santee-Sisseton)
• Dakota (Yankton-Yanktonai)
• Lakota (Teton)
• Nakoda (Assiniboine)
• Nakoda (Stoney)

Assiniboine and Stoney are called "n" varieties of the Dakotan languages. This means their own name for themselves starts with an "n" sound, like Nakʰóta. Other related languages might start with "d" or "l" sounds.

The Siouan Family of Languages

Official Status of Assiniboine

The Assiniboine language is not an official language in any state or region where Assiniboine people live. For example, in Montana, the official language is English.

Sadly, there are not many people who speak Assiniboine today. Estimates suggest there are only about 150 speakers left. Most of these speakers are elderly. This means the language is in danger of disappearing.

Languages Related to Assiniboine

Sioux, Assiniboine, and Stoney are all closely related. Some experts even think Assiniboine and Stoney are different forms of the same language. However, speakers of Assiniboine and Stoney usually cannot understand each other. This means they are not "mutually intelligible."

Here's a simple way to look at the main groups:

Where Assiniboine is Spoken

The languages of the Dakotan group are spoken in parts of Canada and the United States.

• Canada

* Alberta * Manitoba * Saskatchewan

• United States

* Minnesota * Montana * Nebraska * North Dakota * South Dakota

Here are some of the places where these languages are spoken:

The D-N-L Sound System

Assiniboine, Dakota, and Lakota languages are often grouped by how they pronounce certain sounds. This is called the D-N-L system. It refers to how some words might use a 'd', 'n', or 'l' sound.

For example, look at the word for 'greasy':

As you can see, Dakota uses 'd', Lakota uses 'l', and Assiniboine (Nakota) uses 'n'.

Why the D-N-L System Isn't Perfect

Some experts say the D-N-L system isn't always exact. The languages of the Siouan group often blend into each other. This means it's not always a clear cut difference between them. For example, the Yankton-Yanktonai languages sometimes use both 'd' and 'n' sounds.

Here's another example showing how words can be different, not just by the D-N-L rule:

Sounds of Assiniboine (Phonology)

The Assiniboine language has many different sounds. It has 27 consonant sounds and 8 vowel sounds (5 oral and 3 nasal).

The language does not use words like "a" or "the" (articles). It also doesn't change words much to show if they are a subject or object. Verbs don't change to show past, present, or future tense in the same way English verbs do. Instead, they use special endings to show if something is happening now or might happen later.

Vowel Sounds

Assiniboine has five main vowel sounds, similar to English:

It also has three nasal vowel sounds. These are like saying a vowel while letting air go through your nose, similar to the 'an' in French enfant.

How Assiniboine is Structured (Grammar)

Assiniboine grammar uses a lot of "agglutinating" processes. This means words are built by adding many small parts (morphemes) together. Each part has a specific meaning.

Word Order (Syntax)

In Assiniboine, the usual word order is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). This means the person or thing doing the action comes first, then the thing the action is done to, and finally the action itself.

For example, in English, we say "The boy ate a banana" (Subject-Verb-Object). In Assiniboine, it would be more like "The boy a banana ate."

Sometimes, the order might change if a speaker wants to emphasize a certain part of the sentence. But if a sentence sounds strange, speakers will usually still understand it in the SOV order. For example, if you say "banana a boy ate," a native speaker would likely think "A banana ate the boy" unless you really stressed the word "banana" to show it was the object.

Assiniboine Words (Vocabulary)

Here are some basic words in Assiniboine:

• wąži – one
• nųba – two
• yamni – three
• tópa – four
• záptą – five
• šákpe – six
• iyušna – seven
• šaknoğą – eight
• napcuwąga – nine
• wikcémna – ten
• saba – black
• ska – white
• ša – red
• to – blue

You can find more words in a Dakota-English Dictionary.

How Assiniboine is Written (Writing System)

The Assiniboine writing system uses different prefixes (small parts added to the beginning of words) to show who is doing or receiving an action.

• Class 1

* wa- means "I" (first person singular) * ya- means "you" (second person)

• Class 2

* ma- means "I" (first person singular) * ni- means "you" (second person)

• For both classes

* ũ- means "we" (first person plural) * o- means "he/she/it" (third person) * wica- means "them" (third person plural) * ci- means "I...you" (I do something to you)