Onondaga language facts for kids

The Onondaga language (Onoñdaʼgegáʼ nigaweñoʼdeñʼ, IPA: [onũdaʔɡeɡáʔ niɡawẽnoʔdẽʔ]) is the language spoken by the Onondaga people. They are one of the original five tribes that formed the Iroquois League, also known as the Haudenosaunee.

You can find people speaking Onondaga in both the United States and Canada. Most speakers live on the reservation in central New York State and near Brantford, Ontario.

Keeping the Onondaga Language Alive

The Onondaga language is considered endangered. This means that not many people speak it as their first language anymore. In 2007, there were only about 50 native speakers. This happened because people were encouraged to speak English instead.

In the past, especially in the 1800s and 1900s, young Indigenous children in Canada were sent to special schools called residential schools. At these schools, they were often punished for speaking their own languages, like Onondaga. This made it very hard for the language to be passed down.

Luckily, people are working hard to bring the Onondaga language back! Since 2010, the Onondaga Nation Language Center has been leading these efforts. Its name, Neʼ Eñhadiweñnayeñdeʼnhaʼ, means "they will get to know the language."

Today, children at the Onondaga Nation School learn the language. There are also classes for adults. In 2015, fifteen adults started a full-time program to learn Onondaga. Their goal was to become teachers themselves! In Canada, a project called Gawęnahwishe' Onǫda'gega' started in 2017. It's an immersion program for adults. They even help translate for the local radio station and work with schools to teach the language.

Sounds of Onondaga

Every language has its own special sounds. Onondaga has a set of consonant sounds, which are sounds made by blocking air in your mouth.

In Onondaga, the sounds /t/ and /k/ (like the 't' in 'top' and 'k' in 'cat') can sometimes change. When they appear before vowels or certain other sounds, they become [d] (like the 'd' in 'dog') and [ɡ] (like the 'g' in 'go').

Onondaga also has vowel sounds. Vowels are sounds made with an open mouth.

Onondaga has five regular vowel sounds: /i e o æ a/. It also has two special "nasal" vowels: /ẽ/ and /ũ/. Nasal vowels are sounds where some air comes out through your nose, like the 'on' in the French word 'bon'.

How Words are Built

Onondaga is a polysynthetic language. This means that words are often very long and can have many parts, or "morphemes," stuck together. It's like building a word out of many small LEGO bricks, where each brick adds a bit of meaning.

Verbs: Actions and States

Onondaga verbs (action words) are very complex. They tell you not just what happened, but also when (tense) and how it happened (aspect).

• Tense tells you if something happened in the past, present, or future.
• Aspect tells you if an action is finished, still happening, or happens often.

There are four main aspects in Onondaga:

• Habitual: For actions that happen repeatedly or are ongoing.
• Punctual: For actions that are completed. If it's in the past, it means it's "over and done."
• Stative: For actions that are ongoing, incomplete, or have an effect on the present.
• Purposive: For actions that are about to happen, often showing intent.

Onondaga verbs are built with many parts. They always start with a "pronominal prefix" and end with an "aspect suffix." For example, to say "he plants":

Here, "ha-" means "he," "yę́thw-" means "plant," and "-as" means it's a "habitual" action.

Prefixes and What They Mean

Onondaga uses many prefixes (parts added to the beginning of a word) to add different meanings.

• Modal Prefixes: These show how sure the speaker is about an event.
  • Future: Shows something will happen.

• • Factual: Shows the speaker knows for sure something happened.

• • Optative: Shows something should or might happen, or something that didn't happen.

• Other Prefixes: These add more specific meanings:
  • Repetitive: Means "again" or "repeating something."

• • Cislocative: Shows movement towards the speaker.
  • Translocative: Shows movement away from the speaker.
  • Dualic: Often means there are "two of something" or a "back-and-forth" action.

Pronominal Prefixes: Who Did What?

These prefixes are super important! They tell you who is doing the action (the agent) and who or what the action is happening to (the patient).

Onondaga has:

• Person:
  • First person: "I" or "we."
  • Second person: "you."
  • Third person: "he," "she," "it," or "they."
• Inclusive vs. Exclusive "We": Onondaga has two ways to say "we":
  • Inclusive "we": Means "you and I."

• • Exclusive "we": Means "someone else and I" (but not you, the listener).

• Number:
  • Singular: One person or thing.
  • Dual: Two people or things.
  • Plural: Three or more people or things.

• Gender: For third person (he, she, it, they), Onondaga has three genders:
  • Masculine: For male humans and some animals.
  • Feminine: For female humans, some animals, or an unknown person.
  • Neuter: For most animals and objects.

Reflexive and Reciprocal Actions

• Reflexive: This is when someone does something to themselves. For example, "I kicked myself."

• Reciprocal: This is when people do something to each other. For example, "They made each other laugh."

• Semireflexive: This is used in special cases, like when you do something to your own body part ("I raised my arm") or for actions that happen by themselves ("The door closed").

Nouns: People, Places, and Things

Nouns in Onondaga also have different parts. A basic noun has a "noun prefix," a "root" (the main part of the word), and a "noun suffix." For example, to say "pail":

Nouns are grouped into two main types: human and non-human. Non-human nouns are then split into natural objects (like trees) and man-made objects (like a table). The prefix and suffix on the noun change depending on which group it belongs to.

Noun Incorporation: Combining Words

One cool thing about Onondaga is called noun incorporation. This is when a noun (like "corn") and a verb (like "plant") are joined together to make one new word. It's like saying "corn-plant" instead of "plant corn."

For example:

This is one word. Compare it to:

Here, "corn" is a separate word.

Noun incorporation is very common in Onondaga. Some nouns are often combined with verbs, while others are almost never. It can also be used to make certain information less important in a sentence.

Word Order

The order of words in an Onondaga sentence is usually quite flexible. It can change depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize.

Asking Questions

To ask "Wh-questions" (like "where" or "what"), you start the sentence with the question word.

• "Where is the house?"

• "What are you doing?"

For "Yes-no questions" (questions you can answer with "yes" or "no"), you add a special question particle to the end of the word you're asking about.

• "Are you asleep?"