Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
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Transcript of Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
1
Tori Neuman
ANTH 402
Pertinent Facts About Blackfoot • ISO 639-3: bla
• Speakers: ~ 4600
• Regions: South Alberta; Montana; Blackfoot, Piegan, and Blood Reserves
• Language Family: Algic – Algonquian - Plains
Pronunciation
Table 1: Blackfoot Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stops: [-
vce]
p t k ‘
[+vce]
Fricatives s h
Affricates
Nasals: m n
Glides: w y
Table 2: Blackfoot Vowels (Pronunciation)
Front Central Back
High: i i o (before double
consonant)
Middle: a (before double
consonant)
o
Low: a
Blackfoot Diphthongs
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• Ai:
o Before double consonants
ɛ
o Before glottal stop
e : In general
aɪ: Northern Blackfoot reserve
o Other positions:
æ : Blood reserve
e: Blackfoot Reserve
• Ao
o In general: a, with more rounding of lips
o Before glottal stop: u
• Oi
o In general: ɔi:
o Before a long consonant: same as I
Pitch Accent System: Accent mark = prominence of a vowel, slightly higher pitch /
unmarked = less prominent, slightly lower pitch
ápssiwa “it’s an arrow” aohkííwa “it’s water’
apssíwa “it’s a fig” áóhkiwa “he’s barking”
Pronunciation Notes:
• It is difficult to tell the length of vowels at the ends of words. Whether they are
long or short is dependant on how they behave in front of suffixes, in situations
when it can be easily told
• p, t, and k are never aspirated
• The differences in pronunciation of a, i, and o before double consonants continues
even if there is an s between the vowel and the double consonants
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• Doubled vowels simply mean the vowel is held for twice as long – it denotes no
difference in pronunciation. Same for doubled consonants. All consonants
except h and ‘ occur distinctively long.
Orthography: Blackfoot has a distinct alphabet, containing non-Roman characters, in
which predictable variations are not indicated. For the sake of clarity, Blackfoot sounds
and spellings have been transliterated into their approximate English counterparts.
Phonology
A. Semivowel Loss
G ⇨ Ø / C_, where C ≠ ‘
Glides are nullified after nearly all consonants. Thus, when adding the animate,
singular suffix –wa or the inanimate suffix –yi to noun stems ending in consonants:
• óóhkotok + yi ⇨ óóhkotoki ‘rock’
• póós + wa ⇨ póósa ‘cat’
• ísska + wa ⇨ ísska ‘pail
Glides are not, however, nullified after ’. Observe:
• áwa’yiwa ‘she’s pointing’
• Káta’yimmiwaatsiksi ‘Did she laugh?’
• ipiaohpi’yi ‘fall forward with considerable momentum’
B. i-Absorption
i ⇨ Ø / s_V, where i is short and unaccented, and V ≠ i
i is nullfied when it occurs between an s and a vowel which is not also an i. This can
be seen especially in verb stems ending in -si in the inclusive, first person, plural, which
has the ending –o’pa:
• á [durative] + oska’si [run] + o’pa [1st person, plural, inclusive]
⇨ áska’so’pa ‘we (inclusive) run’
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C. Vowel Shortening
Vi: ⇨ Vi / _+V, where + indicates a morpheme follows boundary
Long vowels in Blackfoot are signified simply by writing the vowel twice, as in
áakookaawa ‘he will rope’. When a long vowel occurs at the end of a morpheme, to be
followed by another morpheme which begins with a vowel, that vowel will become
shortened.
This can be seen in the formation of noun plurals, as:
• ísska ‘pail’ ⇨ ísskaiksi ‘pails’
• í’ksisakoyi ‘meat’ ⇨ í’ksisakoitsi ‘meats’
• nínaawa ‘man’ ⇨ nínaiksi ‘men’
• aohkííyi ‘water’ ⇨ aohkíístsi ‘waters’
Morphology
A. Nouns
Important Concepts in Blackfoot Nouns
• Grammatical Gender: In Blackfoot, nouns are divided by gender not on a scale
of masculine and feminine, but on one of animate and inanimate. Just as in the
more commonly known examples of gender in languages such as French, a
noun’s gender only occasionally depends on its actual properties. Many nouns
which are animate in Blackfoot would not be considered animate objects by most,
such as ísska, ‘pail’. The endings for animate and inanimate nouns are almost
always different.
• Particularity: Nouns are also categorized into particular and non-referring. If
discussing a particular noun, a speaker is referring to a specific thing or group of
things. If discussing a non-referring noun, a speaker is being very general about a
type of thing – even number is flexible here.
• Major vs. Minor Third Person: When two or more animate nouns occur in the
same sentence, one of them is classified as major third person, while the others
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are relegated to minor third person. This decision is made by the speaker on the
grounds of what he or she wishes to emphasize in the sentence.
Noun Endings
Non-particular -i
Animate Inanimate
3 (Major 3p) 4 (Minor 3p) Singular
-wa -yi -yi
Particular
Plural -iksi -iksi -itsi
N.B. Some nouns insert an –m, -n, or –s in front of specific noun endings, especially the
plural, making such seemingly new endings as –mi, and –na.
B. Verbs
Important Concepts in Blackfoot Verbs:
• Inclusivity: The first person plural has two forms in Blackfoot. The first is the
inclusive, that which refers to a “we” that involves at least the speaker and the
addressee, with the potential for others to also be included. The exclusive “we”
specifically refers to the speaker and at least one one person who is not the
addressee.
• Predicates: Predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives in Blackfoot are not
separate adjectival words, but rather verbs in and of themselves (for example,
nitsspítaa means “I’m tall”).
• Aspect: How continual an action is. Durative aspect refers to continual action,
while perfective action refers to completed action.
Person Markers
• First person, singular: nit- (prefix)
o nitáakahkayi ‘I’m going home’
nit [1st person, singular] + áakahka [go home] + yi [minor 3rd
person, singular]
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
6
o nitsíítsiniki ‘I related (a story)’
nit [1st person, singular] + s [s-insertion] + ii [past tense] + itsiniki
[relate]
• Second person, singular: kit- (prefix)
o kitáakahkayi ‘You are going home’
kit [2nd person, singular] + áakahka [go home] + yi [m3rd person,
singular]
o kitsíítsiniki ‘You related (a story)’
kit [2nd person, singular] + s [s-insertion] + ii [past tense] + itsiniki
[relate]
• Third person, singular, major: -wa (suffix)
o íítsinikiwa ‘He related (a story)’
íí [past tense] + itsiniki [relate] + wa [M3rd person, singular]
• Third person, singular, minor: -yini (suffix)
o áakahkayiyini ‘He is going home’
áakahka [go home] + yi [m3rd person, singular] + yini [m3rd
person, singular]
o íítsinikiyini ‘He related (a story)’
íí [past tense] + itsiniki [relate] + yini [m3rd person, singular]
N.B. The sound combination –ti is not allowed in Blackfoot, so for the first and second
person, singular of verbs whose stem begins with –i, an s is inserted between the –t and
the –i, (as in the case of nitsíítsiniki and kitsíítsiniki).
Plurality
• First person, plural, exclusive: -hpinnaana (suffix)
o nitáóoyi ‘I’m eating’
nit [1st person, singular] + áóoyi [eat]
o nitáóoyihpinnaana ‘We (exclusive) are eating’
nit [1st person] + áóoyi [eat] + hpinnaana [plural - we (exclusive)]
• First person, plural, inclusive: -o’pa, deletion of nit- prefix
o nitáóoyi ‘I’m eating’
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nit [1st person, singular] + áóoyi [eat]
o áóoy’opa ‘We (inclusive) are eating’
áóoyi [eat] + opa [we (inclusive)]
• Second person, plural: -hpoaawa
o kitáóoyi ‘You (s) are eating’
kit [2nd person, singular] + áóoyi [eat]
o kitáóoyihpoaawa ‘You (pl) are eating’
kit [2nd person] + áóoyi [eat] + hpoaawa [plural]
• Third person, plural, major & minor –yaawa or -yi
o áóoyiwa ‘He is eating’
áóoyi [eat] +
o áóoyiyaawa ‘They are eating’
áóoyi [eat] + yaawa [3rd person plural, major]
N.B. In the case of the first person, plural, inclusive ending, the –i disappears due to a
pronunciation rule about –i being deleted between a vowel, then a y and another vowel
which is not i.
Tense
• Future tense: yaak- (prefix)
o nitáakitsiniki ‘I will tell a story’
nit [1st person] + yaak [future] + itsiniki [noun stem]
o kitaaksipii ‘You will enter’
kit [2nd person], yaak [future], ipii [enter]
• Imminent future: áyaak- (prefix)
o nitayaakihpiyi ‘I’m about to dance’
nit [1st person], ayaak [imminent future], ihpiyi [dance]
• Past tense: In Blackfoot, there are several different ways of forming the past
tense. Most verbs can be made past tense using more than one of these:
1. Absence of both the future tense and durative aspect markers, often combined
with the placement of accent on a syllable not otherwise accented.
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8
2. Replacement of a stem-initial vowel by ii, or addition of ii before a stem-
initial consonant
3. When stem is word-initial: for some stems beginning with sV or ICV,
replacement of initial sequence with sayV or CayV, respectively This is
called initial change
4. When stem is word initial: addition of the prefix ná. (Blackfoot Reserve
dialect only.)
Examples:
A. okska’si – run
a. nitókska’si [1] – I ran
i. Nit [1st person, singular] + okska’si [stem] + added
accent to ó.
b. ííkska’siwa [2] – He ran
i. íí [past tense marker] + okska’si [stem] – o [stem-initial
vowel] + wa [3rd person, singular, major, animate]
B. ipottaa – fly
a. ipóttaawa [1] – he flew
i. ipottaa [stem] + accent on the ó + wa [3rd person,
singular, major, animate]
b. payóttaawa [3] – she flew
i. ..ay.. [past tense marker] – i [stem-initial vowel] +
pottaa [verb stem] + wa [3rd person, singular, major,
animate]
c. náípottaawa [4] – he flew
i. ná [past tense marker] + ipottaa [stem] + wa [3rd
person, singular, major, animate]
Aspect
• Durative: á- (prefix)
o áyimmiyaawa ‘They are laughing’
á [durative], yimmi [laugh], yaawa [3rd person, plural]
• Perfective: ákaa- or -ikaa (prefix)
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
9
o nikáó’toohpinnaan ‘We have arrived’
n [1st person], ikaa [perfective], o’too [arrive], hpinnaan [1st
person, plural]
Attached Pronouns
• If a noun serving as the subject does not immediately follow a verb in a sentence,
an appropriate pronoun will almost always be added to the end of the verb.
• When there is no other third person noun in the immediate context, the general
pronoun –aawa is used. When there is another such noun present however, a
distinct third person (DTP) pronoun must be used.
Distinct Third Person Pronouns
Singular Animate Plural Inanimate Plural
- áyi -aiksi -aitsi
Examples:
A. Nohkóiksi ííksspitaayaawa – My sons are tall.
ííksspitaa [verb stem] + yi [3rd person, plural] + aawa
[non-DTP]
B. Nohkówa áakohpommatoomáyi – My son will buy it
[y]aak [future tense] + ohpommatoo [verb stem] + m
[theme (not discussed yet)] + wa [3rd, singular] + áyi
[singular, DTP]
C. Otsáápioyiistsi ksikksináttsiyaitsi – His houses are white
ksikksinattsi [verb stem] + yi [3rd, plural] + aitsi [plural,
inanimate, DTP]
Four Verb Stem Types
• Blackfoot verbs are divided along two major divides: transitive/intransitive
and animate/inanimate (objects, that is).
• Consequently the four verb types are:
Animate Inanimate
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10
Intransitive AI II
Transitive TA TI
• N.B. In the dictionary, these are labeled as vai, vii, vta, and vti
• Intransitive verbs (AI, II) take affixes that agree with their subjects
• Transitive verbs (TA, TI) take affixes that agree with both their subjects and
objects.
Examples:
A. Niistówa, nitohpómmatoohpa amoyi náápioyisi.
• “I bought this house”
B. Kiistówa, kitohpómmatoohpa amoyi náápioyisi.
• “You bought this house”
C. Niistówa, nitohpómmatoohpi amostsi náápioyiistsi.
• “I bought these houses.”
D. Kiistówa, kitohpómmatoohpi amostsi náápioyiistsi.
• “You bought these houses.”
Syntax*
Negation
• Negation prefix has five distinct forms, occurring in complementary distribution
1. máát / imát: Used in verbs of independent clauses, if no prefix other than a
person prefix precedes it in the verb
máátomáyo’kaawaiksaawa – They aren’t asleep yet
• máát [negation] + omá [yet] + yo’kaa [sleep] + waiksaawa
[3rd person (non-affirmative)]
* My research shows that Blackfoot word order is very much disputed, as is the existence of the passive voice, so I was forced to focus on less central issues for this portion of my project.
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2. kátá’/ ikátá’: Used in verbs of the irrealis paradigm (in contrary to fact
clauses), if no prefix other than a person prefix precedes it in the verb
Nikátáí’naayihtopi – Were I not a chef
• n [1st person] + ikátá [negation] + inaa [chief] + yi [be] +
htopi [unreal]
3. miin / piin: Used in imperative form if not preceded by any other prefixes
Miinasáí’nit – Don’t cry!
• miin [negation] + wasai’ni [cry] + t [2nd singular
imperative]
4. sta’: Used only when proceded by the non-factive prefixes ááhk and ‘ak
Nítssíímo, kááksstai’sakssi – I forbid you to go out
• Nítssíímo [I forbid] + k [2nd person] + áák [might] + sta’
[negation] + saksi [exit] + his [conjunction]
5. say / saw / sa: Occurs in all other environments
Aakssayinakowa – It will be invisible
• yáak [future] + say [negation] + inako [visible] + wa
[3rdperson, singular]
Simple Questions
• When asking a simple (yes/no) question in Blackfoot, non-affirmative endings are
generally employed.
• If the subject or primary object of the verb is third person, then one of the
following is used according to the gender and number of the subject or object:
1. waatsiksi (animate/inanimate singular), waistsaawa (inanimate plural)
and waiksaawa (animate plural)
2. In addition to these endings, the final vowel of the verb stem is also
accented
i. áooyo’siwaatsiksi – Is she cooking?
1. á [durative] + ooyo’si [cook – AI] + waatsiksi [3rd singular,
non-affirmative]
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
12
• If neither the subject nor primary object is in the third person, the following
occur:
1. hpa is added if plural suffixes are not called for
2. An additional accent is placed on the penultimate syllable.
3. The final vowel of the word is voiced
ii. kitsik’akomimmokihpa – Do you (2nd singular) love me?
1. kit [2nd person, singular] + ikakomimm [love] + ok
[inversion] + hpa (non-affirmative)
Phonology Problem Set
Consider the following data set of animate and inanimate plural nouns:
A. kakkóówa ‘pigeon’ kakkóíksi ‘pigeons’
B. imitááwa ‘dog’ imitáíksi ‘dogs’
C. ponokáómitaawa ‘horse’ ponokáómitaiksi ‘horses’
D. mamííwa ‘fish’ mamííksi ‘fish (pl)’
E. aakííwa ‘woman’ aakííksi ‘women’
F. inííwa ‘buffalo’ inííksi ‘buffalo (pl)’
1. While the long vowels of examples A,B, and C are truncated when pluralized,
those of examples D, E, and F appear to remain unchanged in their plural form.
Why is this not the case?
a. The second –i indicating a long vowel is the –i from the –iksi or –itsi
ending, not the original –i from the singular word. Thus, the plural only
appears to remain unchanged; in reality, the final vowel is shortened, and
an ending applied.
2. What bearing does the position of the accent on the singular word have on the
formation of its plural?
a. Whichever syllable is accented in the singular word also becomes
accented in the plural word. If the initial accent is present on the final
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
13
long vowel in the singular form, the initial –i in the ending for the plural
form shall also become accented.
3. Keeping this in mind, how would you form plurals for the following words:
A. kaanaisskiinaa ‘mouse’ kaanaisskiinaiksi ‘mice’
B. pi'ksíí ‘bird’ pi’ksííksi ‘birds’
C. naamóó ‘bee’ naamóíksi ‘bees
D. mamíí ‘fish’ mamíítsi ‘fishí
Morphology Problem Set I
Consider the following Blackfoot words:
A. imitááwa ‘dog’
B. aakííwa ‘woman’
C. á’pistotookwa ‘Creator
D. áyimmiwa ‘he is laughing’
E. áóoyiwa ‘she is eating’
F. soká’piwa ‘it is good’
1. All of the words above consist of the word stem and the affix –wa. What parts of
speech are included? Is there a common factor shared between them?
a. The –wa affix can be attached to either verbs or nouns in Blackfoot. All of
the verbs are major third person, and all of the nouns are animate. This is
because major third person can only be applied with animate nouns, so
verbs in the major third person have to have an animate noun affix.
2. What do your conclusions tell you about Blackfoot as a whole?
a. The idea of parts of speech is less certain in Blackfoot than it is in most
languages. Over-arching language ideas like animacy carry over parts of
speech and supercede them in importance. This also shows the
significance in the Blackfoot language placed on agreement, that it would
apply the same ending to a noun and a verb to make them agree.
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
14
3. The complementary affix –yi also occurs on both nouns and verbs. Are its
environments ruled similarly?
a. No; interestingly enough, the –yi noun ending occurs on minor 3rd person
and inanimate nouns in the singular and on 3rd person plural verbs, so
they cannot agree.
Morphology Problem Set II
1. Which method of forming the past tense has been utilized with the following
verbs?
a) náyáapiwa – he saw (stem = yáapi)
1. Method 1 (absence of tense marks + moved accent)
b) nitííssto’si – I had a cold (stem = ssto’si)
1. Method 2 (addition of ii before stem-initial consonant)
c) kitóksisawoo - you visited (stem = oksisawoo)
1. Method 1
d) sayimwa – he stabbed (stem = sim)
1. Method 3 (replacement of initial sV sequence with sayV)
e) nitiiniitsii – I was truthful (stem = niitsii)
1. Method 2
f) náíkinakiwa – he had legs (stem = ikinaki)
1. Method 4 (addition of the prefix ná)
2. Which category (AI, II, TA, TI) would the following verbs fall into? (Assuming
hypothetically that Blackfoot grammatical gender follows actual properties of the
nouns, which it doesn’t).
a. ippataa – be bashful
i. AI (animate intransitive)
b. satsistoto – attempt to distract
i. TA (animate, transitive)
c. aawoyihitsi – be misaligned
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
15
i. II (inanimate, intransitive)
d. niisitoyi – be five
i. AI (animate, intransitive)
e. otoi’tsikatoo – tend to
i. TI (inanimate, transitive)
f. a’pii – be in a specified way
i. II (inanimate, intransitive)
Syntax Problem Set I
2. Using the Blackfoot negation conventions outlined earlier, make the following
sentences negative:
A. nitáaooyihpa – I am eating
a. nimáátooyihpa
B. yo’kaawahtopiyaawa – If I were asleep
a. kátá’yo’kaawahtopiyaawa
C. ohkotkit – Give it to me!
a. miinohkotkit
D. kitsííksstato kisstai’pottaahsi – I want you to fly (only negate the second
word)
a. kitsííksstato kááhksstai’pottaahsi
E. áakswahkayiwaatsiksi – will she not go home?
a. áakssawahkayiwaatsiksi
2. Identify which type of Blackfoot negation would be utilized in each of these
sentences
A. Would that I had not gone to the lake!
a. kátá’/Ikátá
B. We will not shoot the buffalo.
a. say/saw/sa
C. He is not my brother.
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
16
a. máát/imáat
D. Don’t eat that!
a. miin/piin
E. He might not be the real chief.
a. say/saw/sa
F. This village is not safe.
a. máát/imáat
G. Do not ask me why.
a. miin/piin
H. If you were not my wife…
a. kátá/Ikátá
I. He had not been forbidding us to do so.
a. sta’
Syntax Problem Set II
Consider the following simple Blackfoot questions:
A. Áyo’kááwaiksaawa?
B. Kitáaksstsisoohpoááwa?
C. Kátao’kska’síwaatsiksi?
D. Kikáta’yáakohkottsspommóóhpa?
E. Kátai’sootááwaatsiksi
1. Identify the person, number, and gender for each of the verbs.
A. 3rd person, plural, animate (Are they sleeping?)
B. 2nd person, plural, inanimate (Are you (plural) going to town?)
C. 3rd person, singular, animate (Did he run?)
D. 2nd person, singular, animate (Will you work?)
E. 3rd person, singular, inanimate (Is it raining?)
2. Are any of these forms ambiguous?
Blackfoot Grammar Sketch
17
a. Yes – the ending for B could refer to either an animate or inanimate object.
Without knowing the meaning, a clear determination cannot be made.