Michif: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Mixed language of North Americanthe Métis people}}

| name = Michif

| nativename = ''Michif''

| states = [[Canada]]

| region = [[Métis]] communities in the [[Prairie Provinces|Prairies]]; mostly [[Manitoba]], [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]] Northeastern [[British Columbia]] and Northwestern [[Ontario]], [[Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation]] in North Dakota

| speakers = {{sigfig|7251845|2}}

| ref = e18

| familycolor = Mixed

| family = [[Mixed language|Mixed]] [[Plains Cree language|Plains Cree]]–[[Métis French]]

| iso3 = crg

| glotto = mich1243

| script = [[Latin alphabet]]

| glottorefname = Michif

| notice = IPA

| map = Lang Status 20-CR.svg

| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Michif is classified as Critically Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] [[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]}}}}

'''Michif''' (also '''Mitchif''', '''Mechif''', '''Michif-Cree''', '''Métif''', '''Métchif''', '''French Cree''') is one of the [[languages]] of the [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis people of Canada]] and the [[Métis people (United States)|United States]], who are the descendants of [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] (mainly [[Cree]], [[Nakota]], and [[Ojibwe]]) and [[fur trade]] workers of white ancestry (mainly [[French Canadians|French]]). Michif emerged in the early 19th century as a [[mixed language]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://voices.yahoo.com/the-turtle-mountain-michif-people-their-language-418374.html|title=The Turtle Mountain Michif: A People and Their Language|author=L. Lee Scott|date=2007-07-02|work=Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729004358/http://voices.yahoo.com/the-turtle-mountain-michif-people-their-language-418374.html|archive-date=2014-07-29|access-date=2013-03-24}}</ref> and adopted a consistent character between about 1820 and 1840.

The word ''Michif'' is from a variant pronunciation of the French word {{Lang|fr|Métis}}. Some Métis people prefer this word (''Michif'') to describe their nationality when speaking English and use it for anything related to Métis people, including any languages they happen to speak. According to the [[Gabriel Dumont Institute]] (GDI), the word ''Michif'', when used for a language, is used to describe at least three distinct types of speech. Northern Michif (in Saskatchewan) is essentially a [[Cree language|variety of Cree]] with a small number of French [[loanwords]]. [[Michif French]] is a variety of [[Canadian French]] with some Cree loanwords and [[syntax]] (word order). ''Michif'' used without any qualification can also describe the [[mixed language]] which borrows heavily from both Cree and French. According to theories of [[self-determination]] and [[self-identification]], the GDI refers to all of these speech varieties as ''Michif'' because many Métis community members use the term that way, even though these varieties are widely different in their linguistic details.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=37|title=The Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture|website=Metismuseum.ca|access-date=2021-02-09|archive-date=2021-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410111545/http://www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=37|url-status=live}}</ref> The remainder of this article deals primarily with the mixed language that has many features from both French and Cree.

TheIn 2021, the number of Michif speakers in Canada was reported to be 1,845. However, the number of fluent Michif speakers is estimated at fewer than 1,000;.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michif |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en |archive-date=2021-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411025550/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |url-status=live }}</ref> itIt was probably double or triple this number at the close of the 19th century, but never much higher. Currently, Michif is spoken in scattered Métis communities in the [[Canadian Prairies|Canadian prairie provinces]] of [[Saskatchewan]] and, [[Manitoba]], inand Canada[[Alberta]], and in [[North Dakota]] in the U.S.,. There withare about 50 speakers in [[Alberta]], all over age 60.<ref>{{cite news

}}</ref> There are some 230 speakers of Michif in the United States (down from 390 at the 1990 census),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/crg|title=Michif|website=Ethnologue|access-date=2021-02-13|archive-date=2021-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309141102/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/CRG|url-status=live}}</ref> most of whom live in North Dakota, particularly in the [[Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26lang_id%3D816 |title=Data Center States Results<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2020-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522224016/http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26lang_id%3D816 |archive-date=2011-05-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There are around 300 Michif speakers in the [[Northwest Territories]], northern [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/michif-metis-nwt-official-language-1.3475320|title=Fort Smith man wants Michif made an official language of N.W.T.|website=Cbc.ca|access-date=2021-11-30|archive-date=2021-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031115051/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/michif-metis-nwt-official-language-1.3475320|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Michif language was first brought to scholarly attention in 1976 by John Crawford at the [[University of North Dakota]].<ref>Michif: A new language. ''North Dakota English'' 4.1:3-103–10.</ref> Much of the subsequent research on Michif was also related to UND, including four more pieces by Crawford, plus work by Evans, Rhodes, and Weaver.

Michif lacks a unified spelling standard. Aside from local language differences, lack of a uniform spelling system can be attributed to Michif’s history as an oral language.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Michif |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en |archive-date=2021-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411025550/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |url-status=live }}</ref> Generally, Michif-speaking communities spell words as they are pronounced in regional dialects, creating much variation in spelling.<ref name=":0" /> Some systems are phonetic, with each letter having only one sound (often based on English standards), while other are etymological, with French-derived words [[French orthography|spelled by French standards]], and Cree-derived words spelled using the "Standard Roman Orthography" system.

In 2004, Robert Papen proposed a new system that was mostly phonetic.<ref>Robert Paper, Linguistica atlantica No. 26. 2005 75-9775–97</ref>

{{blockquote|{{Lang|crg|"Chimooshakinitoohk" aen itwayhk Kwaayeshchi Kanawaapinitoohk, chi nishtotaatoohk paarmii lii atoktonn pi lii blaan pour chi ooshitaahk chi li Trustiihk, mina kayaash chi nishtotamihk ka kii itawyhk mina chi kii kayhk pi mina kaahkiiyow chi maamoo atooshkayhk.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/inr/reports-and-expenses/pubs/ptr-annual-progress-report-2016-2017-michif.pdf|format=PDF|title=Li shmayn chi Mooshakahkinitoohk Ayshkum awn achimoohk daan laanii|website=Gov.mb.ca|access-date=2021-11-30|archive-date=2021-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420044324/https://www.gov.mb.ca/inr/reports-and-expenses/pubs/ptr-annual-progress-report-2016-2017-michif.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

|+ '''Oral vowels in Manitoba Michif'''<ref>Rosen 2008:617</ref>

| '''Open''' || {{IPA|a}} link|| || {{IPA|ɑœ}}

A comparison of some common words in English, French, Michif, and Cree:<ref>Taken from: {{cite web |url=http://www.native-languages.org/michif_words.htm |title=Vocabulary Words in Native American Languages: Michif |work=Native-Languages.org |author=Redish, Laura and Orrin Lewis |access-date=2007-08-08 |archive-date=2007-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222655/http://www.native-languages.org/michif_words.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nouns: 83-9483–94% French-origin; others are mostly Cree-origin, Ojibwe-origin, or English-origin<br />

Verbs: 88-9988–99% Cree-origin<br />

In languages of mixed ethnicities, the language of the mother usually provides the grammatical system, while the language of the father provides the lexicon.<ref>Bakker, Peter. ''A Language of Our Own: The Genesis of Michif, the Mixed Cree-French Language of the Canadian Metis'', Oxford University Press, 1997.</ref> The reasons are as follows: children tend to know their mother's language better;{{dubious|date=October 2017}}<!-- what about Father-Tongue hypothesis--> in the case of the Métis, the men were often immigrants, whereas the women were native to the region.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion and Darren Préfontaine. Métis Legacy: A Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications Inc. and Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-894717-03-1}}</ref> If the bilingual children need to use either of their parents' languages to converse with outsiders, it is most likely to be the language of their mothers. Thus, the model of language-mixing predicts that Michif should have a Cree grammatical system and French lexicon. Michif, however, has Cree verb phrases and French noun phrases. The explanation for this unusual distribution of Cree and French elements in Michif lies in the polysynthetic nature of Cree morphology. In Cree, verbs can be very complex with up to twenty morphemes, incorporated nouns and unclear boundaries between morphemes. In other words, in Cree verbs it is very difficult to separate grammar from lexicon. As a result, in Michif the grammatical and bound elements are almost all Cree, and the lexical and free elements are almost all French; verbs are almost totally Cree, because the verb consists of grammatical and bound elements. Seen in this way, it can be argued that Michif is fundamentally Cree, but with heavy French borrowing (somewhat like [[Maltese language|Maltese]], a mixed Arabic-Italian language classified as fundamentally Arabic). The Métis in addition have their own variety of French with Cree borrowings --– [[Métis French]].

| work = GabrielThinking Dumontin InstituteMichif

| access-date = 2013-03-246 November 2020

* Bakker, Peter and Robert Papen. 1997. Michif: A mixed language based on Cree and French. In S. Thomason (ed.) ''Contact languages: A wider perspective.'' Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 295-363295–363.

* Crawford, John. "Linguistic and sociolinguistic relationships in the Michif language." ''Proceedings of the Linguistic Circle of Manitoba and North Dakota'' 3 (1973): 8-228–22.

* Evans, Donna. 1982. "On coexistence and convergence of two phonological systems in Michif." Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, 26, p. 158-173158–173.

* Papen, Robert. 2003. "Michif: One phonology or two?" In Y. Chung, C. Gillon and R. Wokdak (eds) University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 12, Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop on Structure and Constituency in Language of the Americas, p. 47-5847–58.

* Papen, Robert. 2004. "Michif spelling conventions: Proposal for a unified Michif writing system. In L. Barkwell (ed.) L''a lawng: Michif peekishkwewin.'' Winnipeg, MB: Pemmican Publications, p. 29-5329–53.

* Rhodes, Richard A. 1977. French Cree—a case of borrowing. ''Actes du Huitième Congrès des Algonquinistes.'' Wm. Cowan (ed.), Ottawa: Carleton University. p. 6-256–25.

* Rhodes, Richard A. 1986. Métif—a second look. ''Actes du Septième Congrès des Algonquinistes.'' Wm. Cowan (ed.), Ottawa: Carleton University. p. 287-296287–296.

* Rhodes, Richard A. 1987. Les Contes Metif—Metif Myths. ''Papers of the Eighteenth Algonquian Conference.'' Wm. Cowan (ed.), Ottawa: Carleton University. p. 297-301297–301.

* Rhodes, Richard A. 1992. Language Shift in Algonquian. ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language.'' 93:87-9287–92.

* Rhodes, Richard A. 2001. Text Strategies in Métchif. Papers of the Thirty-second Algonquian Conference. H. C. Wolfart (ed.), Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. p. 455-469455–469.

* Rosen, Nicole. 2006. Language Contact and Stress Assignment. ''Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung.'' 59:170-190170–190.

* Papen, Robert. 2005. Le mitchif: langue Franco-crie des Plaines. In A. Valdman, J. Auger & D. Piston-Hatlen (eds). Saint-François, QC: Presses de l'Université Laval, p. 327-347327–347.

* Weaver, Deborah. 1982. Obviation in Michif. ''Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session'', 26, p. 174-262174–262.

* Weaver, Deborah. 1983. The effect of language change and death on obviation in Michif. In W. Cowan (ed.) ''Actes du Quatorzième Congrès des Algonquinistes.'' Ottawa: Carleton University Press, p. 261-268261–268.

*Zoldy, Grace. 2003. The Lord's Prayer. In [https://web.archive.org/web/20171011051528/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/source/michif-source.htm ''Li Liivr Oche Michif Ayamiiawina -– The Book of Michif Prayers'']. Camperville Michif Cree Ritual Language Project.

*[http://www.learnmichif.com/ LearnMichif.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224201120/http://www.learnmichif.com/ |date=2007-12-24 }}