Mi'kmaq language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mi'kmaq |
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| Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk | ||||
| Native to | Canada, United States | |||
| Region | Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Gaspé Peninsula, the island of Newfoundland, Anticosti Island, northern Maine, Boston, Massachusetts | |||
| Ethnicity | 168,420 Mi'kmaq (2016 census) | |||
| Native speakers | 7,140, 4% of ethnic population (2016 census) | |||
| Language family |
Algic
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| Writing system | Latin Komqwejwiꞌkasikl |
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| Recognised minority language in |  Canada |
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The Mi'kmaq language (pronounced mig-mah), also called Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk, is an Eastern Algonquian language. It is spoken by about 11,000 Mi'kmaq people in Canada and the United States. The total Mi'kmaq population is around 20,000. The Mi'kmaq people call their language Lnuismk, Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk, or Miꞌkmwei. The word Miꞌkmaq means 'my friends' (the singular is miꞌkm). The word Miꞌkmaw is used to describe something related to the Mi'kmaq people.
Contents
- Sounds of Mi'kmaq: How it's Spoken
- Mi'kmaq Grammar: How Words Work Together
- Writing Mi'kmaq: Different Ways to Write It Down
- Counting in Mi'kmaq: Numbers and Their Meanings
- Keeping the Mi'kmaq Language Alive
- Mi'kmaq Language History and Connections
- Mi'kmaq Placenames: Where Words Meet Places
- Images for kids
- See also
Sounds of Mi'kmaq: How it's Spoken
The Mi'kmaq language has its own special sounds, including different vowels and consonants. These sounds can change how they are pronounced depending on where they are in a word.
Vowel and Consonant Sounds
Mi'kmaq has both short and long vowel sounds. For example, a long 'i' sound is different from a short 'i' sound.
The language also has different consonant sounds. Some consonants are pronounced without any voice, like a whisper. Others are pronounced with your voice, like a hum.
Sometimes, consonants can be doubled in writing to show they are longer. When a long consonant comes before another consonant, a small 'uh' sound (like in 'the') is added.
Word Beginnings and Endings
Some Mi'kmaq words can start with groups of consonants, like in gt'an ('ocean'). However, these groups are often spoken with a small vowel sound before them. So, gt'an sounds more like 'uhk-tan'.
At the end of words, consonant groups are usually spoken together in one smooth sound.
Mi'kmaq Grammar: How Words Work Together
Mi'kmaq has interesting rules for how sentences are put together and how words change.
Flexible Sentence Structure
In Mi'kmaq, the order of words in a sentence is very flexible. It depends on what you want to emphasize. For example, if you want to highlight the 'moose' in a sentence, you might say it earlier.
Mi'kmaq is a polysynthetic language. This means that verbs (action words) often include the subject (who is doing the action) and the object (who or what the action is done to). For instance, the word sapmiꞌk means 'I saw him'.
While word order is flexible, some parts of verbs always appear in the same place. For example, a prefix that shows when something happened (like 'already done') always comes first. The word for 'not' always comes right after the main part of the verb.
Nouns: Animate or Inanimate?
A cool feature of Mi'kmaq is that all nouns (people, places, things) are either animate (living or lifelike) or inanimate (not living). This is common in Algonquian languages.
Verbs change their form depending on whether the noun they are connected to is animate or inanimate.
- Nemitu means 'I see' an inanimate noun.
- Nemi'k means 'I see' an animate noun.
Writing Mi'kmaq: Different Ways to Write It Down
Today, Mi'kmaq is mostly written using different versions of the Latin alphabet. These alphabets were created by missionaries in the 1800s.
Before that, the Mi'kmaq people used their own unique writing system called Miꞌkmaq hieroglyphic writing. This was a special script that was partly created by the Mi'kmaq people themselves.
The most common way to write Mi'kmaq today is the Francis-Smith orthography. It was developed in 1974 and became the official way to write the language in 1980. It uses an apostrophe (⟨ꞌ⟩) or an accent mark (⟨´⟩) to show when a vowel sound is long.
Other ways of writing Mi'kmaq exist, like the Listuguj orthography, which uses the letter ⟨g⟩ instead of ⟨k⟩. Older systems from the 1800s, like the Pacifique and Rand orthographies, also existed, but they are more complex.
Counting in Mi'kmaq: Numbers and Their Meanings
Mi'kmaq uses a decimal numeral system, which means it's based on groups of ten, just like English.
Numbers 1 to 10
| 1 | newt |
|---|---|
| 2 | taꞌpu |
| 3 | siꞌst |
| 4 | neꞌw |
| 5 | naꞌn |
| 6 | asꞌgom |
| 7 | lluigneg |
| 8 | ugumuljin |
| 9 | pesgunateg |
| 10 | neꞌwtisgaꞌq |
Forming Larger Numbers
For numbers like 20, 30, or 40, a part of the number for one, two, or three is added to a word meaning 'ten'. For example, 10 is neꞌwtisgaq, and 20 is tapuisgaꞌq.
For numbers between the tens, like 28, you say the 'tens' number first, then the word jel (meaning 'and'), and then the single digit. So, 28 is tapuisgaꞌq jel ugumuljin ('twenty and eight').
For numbers like 100 or 1,000, there are special words: gasgꞌptnnaqan for 'hundred' and pituimtlnaqn for 'thousand'. So, 300 is siꞌst gasgꞌptnnaqan ('three hundred').
Counting Animate and Inanimate Things
Just like with nouns, numbers in Mi'kmaq also change based on whether you are counting animate or inanimate things. For example, to say 'two people' (animate), you use taꞌpusijik. But to say 'two days' (inanimate), you use taꞌpugnaꞌq. Different endings are added to numbers depending on what you are counting.
Keeping the Mi'kmaq Language Alive
The Mi'kmaq language is considered "vulnerable" by UNESCO. This means it's not always used, and English is often spoken instead. However, it is still spoken by some younger generations.
In the past, the Canadian government created residential schools. These schools tried to force Indigenous children to give up their culture and language. This caused a big drop in the number of people who could speak Mi'kmaq fluently.
Today, there are many efforts to bring the language back.
- In Wagmatcook, Cape Breton, they are creating children's books in Mi'kmaq.
- They also have Mi'kmaq immersion schools. In these schools, children learn all their subjects in Mi'kmaq. This helps them become fluent speakers and feel more connected to their Indigenous identity.
- Teachers in the community are also taking special courses to improve their Mi'kmaq language skills.
- Cape Breton University has a college that focuses on Mi'kmaq history, culture, and education.
- In 2013, a Mi'kmaq language instructor shared that parents were excited to hear their children speaking Mi'kmaq in the car. Mi'kmaq language classes are now required from kindergarten to grade 12 at some schools.
- In 2021, a young woman named Emma Stevens from the Eskasoni First Nation recorded a version of the Beatles song "Blackbird" in Mi'kmaq. She did this to help raise awareness and encourage more people to learn the language.
Mi'kmaq Language History and Connections
Mi'kmaq belongs to a large language family called Algic languages. This family includes languages spoken across North America. Within this family, Mi'kmaq is part of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup, which are spoken along the Atlantic coast.
Mi'kmaq is related to other languages like Malecite-Passamaquoddy, Massachusett, and Munsee. The Mi'kmaq people also had a special alliance with other Eastern Algonquian tribes, called the Wabanaki Confederacy. This long history of living and working together meant their languages influenced each other.
Many words are similar between Mi'kmaq and its related languages. For example, the Mi'kmaq word for 'woman' is eꞌpit, which is similar to the Maliseet word ehpit. Words for colors, like 'white', also sound alike across these languages.
Animate and Inanimate Words
Like many Native American languages, Mi'kmaq uses a system where words are classified as either 'animate' (living) or 'inanimate' (not living). While this system is common, the specific rules in Mi'kmaq can be different from even closely related languages. For example, in Mi'kmaq, both the word for 'sun' (naꞌguꞌset) and 'earth' (ugsꞌtqamu) are considered animate.
Language Borrowings
Over time, Mi'kmaq has influenced other languages, especially Acadian French and Chiac. This happened because the Acadians and Mi'kmaq people lived together for a long time. You can still find Mi'kmaq words in place names in areas like Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Some Mi'kmaq words have even made their way into English! The words caribou and toboggan come from Mi'kmaq. The word caribou likely comes from the Mi'kmaq word xalibu or Qalipu, meaning 'the one who paws'.
Before Europeans arrived, Mi'kmaq was one of the few Native American languages that had its own writing system, the hieroglyphic writing.
Historians have also found two Basque words in Mi'kmaq. This is probably because Basque sailors and Mi'kmaq people traded a lot in the 1500s. This trading even led to a mix of the two languages, called an Algonquian–Basque pidgin, which was used for a long time.
Mi'kmaq Placenames: Where Words Meet Places
Many places in Canada and the United States have names that come from the Mi'kmaq language. These names often describe something about the place, like its features or what it was used for.
- Placenames ending in Mi'kmaq Quoddy often mean a fertile area. Examples include Passamaquoddy, Shubenacadie, and Tracadie.
- Amqui: From Mi'kmaq amqui, meaning 'place of amusement or pleasure'.
- Aroostook County: From Mi'kmaq, meaning 'beautiful/clear water'.
- Bouctouche: From Mi'kmaq Tjipogtotjg, meaning 'great little harbour'.
- Cascapédia: From Mi'kmaq kaska ('broad') and pegiag ('river').
- Causapscal: From Mi'kmaq Goesôpsiag, meaning 'stony bottom' or 'swift water'.
- Gaspé Peninsula: From Mi'kmaq Gespedeg, meaning 'land recently acquired'.
- Gaspé, Quebec: Gespeg, meaning 'land's end'.
- Kouchibouguac, New Brunswick: From Mi'kmaq Pijeboogwek, meaning 'river of long tides'.
- Matapédia: From Mi'kmaq matapegiag, meaning 'river junction'.
- Paspébiac: From Mi'kmaq papgeg ipsigiag, meaning 'split flats' or 'lagoon'.
- Quebec: From Mi'kmaq Gepèèg.
- Restigouche: From Mi'kmaq Listuguj.
- Lac-Humqui: From Mi'kmaq amqui, meaning 'place of amusement or pleasure'.
- Sayabec: From Mi'kmaq Sakpediak.
- Shediac: From Mi'kmaq Es-ed-ei-ik, meaning 'running far in' (referring to the tide).
- Tatamagouche: From Takamegoochk, meaning 'barred across the entrance with sand'.
A 2012 book, The Language of this Land, Mi'kma'ki, by Mi'kmaq linguist Bernie Francis and anthropologist Trudy Sable, explores how the Mi'kmaq language is connected to the land.
Images for kids
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Micmac is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
See also
In Spanish: Idioma micmac para niños
