Transcript Introduction to the Cultures of North American Aboriginal

Introduction to the
Cultures of
North American
Aboriginal Peoples
Languages of North America
Languages of North America
► Prior
to the arrival of Europeans in the 15th
century:
 1,000 – 2,000 languages and dialects in North America
(Driver)
 Generalizations
► Very
difficult
► At least 7 different language families
► All oral (no written forms prior to the 18th century)
► Modern written forms
 Most use the Latin alphabet
 Cherokee
 Inuit/Cree/Ojibwa syllabic systems
Sequoyah’s (c. 1760-1843)
Cherokee syllabic system
Cree syllabic system developed by James Evans,
missionary in the 1840s. Modified in the 1870s by
James Peck for Inuktitut
Language Families of North America
► The
number varies according to the expert
 Driver: Seven plus numerous isolates and thus
far unidentified languages
► The
geographic distribution of language
families reveals something about the historic
movement of peoples
Language Families (1)
► Eskimo-Aleut
 Restricted to the Arctic Region
 Inuktitut
► Spoken
from western Alaska to Greenland
► Continuum of dialects
 Yupik (Western Eskimo)
► Spoken
in southwestern Alaska
► Four languages, including Siberia
 Grammatically quite similar but significant differences in
vocabulary and phonetics
 Aleut
► Spoken
on the Aleutian Islands
► 2 dialects (eastern and western)
Language Families (2)
► Athapaskan
/ Athabascan
 Primarily found from the interior Alaska to the Yukon
and Northwest Territories, along the Northwest Coast.
 Important outliers
► California
 Northwestern corner of the region including the Tolowa, Hupa and
a group of southern Athabascan languages)
► Southwest
 Navajo/Navaho
 Apache
► Both groups probably arrived sometime in the 15th century
► This is based both on linguistic similarity and archaeological
evidence.
Language Families (3)
► Algonquian
 Widely distributed language family
 Eastern Sub-arctic
►Cree,
Ojibwa
 Northeastern Woodlands
►Huron,
Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Delaware
 Great Lakes
►Fox-Sauk,
Cheyenne, Arapaho, Pottawatomi
 Southeastern Woodlands
►Muskogee
(Creek), Natchez, Tunica
Language Families (4)
► Siouan
 Also widely distributed
 Northeastern Woodlands
►Seneca,
Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida and Onondaga
(Iroquois)
►Huron
 Northern Great Plains
►Crow,
Dakota, Hidatsa, Mandan, Omaha, Osage
 Southeastern Woodlands/Southern Great Plains
►Caddo,
Wichita, Pawnee, Arikara, Yuchi
Language Families (5)
► Hokan
 Much more restricted in its distribution
 California, Baja California, Mexico
► Yuman,
Pomo, Chumash, Washo
► Penutian
 California, Northwest Coast, Great Basin, Southwest,
Central America
► Yokuts,
Maya
Miwok, Chinook, Tsimshian, Nez Perce, Klamath, Zuñi,
Language Families (6 )
►
Uto-Aztecan
 Great Basin
► Ute,
Paiute, Mono
 California
► Mission
 Southwest
► Hopi,
 Mexico
Pima-Papago, Tiwa/Tewa/Towa
► Nahuatl
►
Groups (Lusieño, Cupeño)
(Aztec)
Important Language Isolates
 Yuki (California)
► Yuki,
Wappo
 Keres (Southwest)
► Eastern
and Western (Laguna, Acoma)
 Salish (Northwest Coast)
Features (1)
► Highly
variable grammars
 Singular/dual/plural
 Male/Female forms of speech
►Sioux
 Agglutinating
►Word
phrases
 Noun/Verb classification
►Hopi
 Verbs indicate short duration
 Nouns indicate long duration
►Nootka
 No distinction between nouns and verbs
Features (2)
 Tenses
► Hopi
has no tenses
 Aspect
 Validity
► Speaker reporting on a completed or ongoing action or event
► Speaker expects that an action or event will take place
► Action or event is predictable or regular
 Clause linkage
► Characteristics of two or more verbs
► Earlier/later/simultaneous
► Physical distance = chronological distance
 "After long and careful study and analysis, the Hopi language is seen to
contain no words, grammatical forms, constructions or expressions that
refer directly to what we call "time." or to past, present, or future, or to
enduring or lasting, or to motion as kinematic rather than dynamic (i.e. as
a continuous translation in space and time rather than as an exhibition of
dynamic effort in a certain process), or that even refer to space in such a
way as to exclude that element of extension or existence that we call
"time," and so by implication leave a residue that could be referred to as
"time." Hence, the Hopi language contains no reference to "time," either
explicit or implicit." (Whorf BL (1956) Language, Thought & Reality. MIT
Press: Cambridge p. 57-8)
 Gender/Plural
► Navajo makes no distinction
► No plural forms for nouns
between he/she/it/theirs