Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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 Stops: [vce] [+vce] Fricatives Affricates Nasals: Glides: m w n y s h p Alveolar t Palatal Velar k Glottal

Table 2: Blackfoot Vowels (Pronunciation) Front High: Middle: Low: Blackfoot Diphthongs 1 i i a (before double consonant) a Central Back o (before double consonant) o

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

Ai: o Before double consonants Ao o In general: a, with more rounding of lips o Before glottal stop: u Oi o In general: i: 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 pssiwa apsswa its an arrow its a fig aohkwa hkiwa its water hes barking e : In general a: Northern Blackfoot reserve : Blood reserve e: Blackfoot Reserve o Before glottal stop

o Other positions:

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

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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 / 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: hkotok + yi hkotoki rock ps + wa psa cat sska + wa sska pail

Glides are not, however, nullified after . Observe: wayiwa shes pointing Ktayimmiwaatsiksi Did she laugh? ipiaohpiyi fall forward with considerable momentum

B. i-Absorption i / 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 opa: [durative] + oskasi [run] + opa [1st person, plural, inclusive] skasopa we (inclusive) run 3

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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 akookaawa 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: sska pail sskaiksi pails ksisakoyi meat ksisakoitsi meats nnaawa man nnaiksi men aohkyi water aohkstsi 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 nouns 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 sska, 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 4

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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 Animate Singular Particular Plural 3 (Major 3p) -wa -iksi 4 (Minor 3p) -yi -iksi -yi -itsi -i Inanimate

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, nitssptaa means Im 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 nitakahkayi Im going home nit [1st person, singular] + akahka [go home] + yi [minor 3rd person, singular] 5

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

o nitstsiniki I related (a story) nit [1st person, singular] + s [s-insertion] + ii [past tense] + itsiniki [relate] Second person, singular: kit- (prefix) o kitakahkayi You are going home kit [2nd person, singular] + akahka [go home] + yi [m3rd person, singular] o kitstsiniki
nd

You related (a story)

kit [2 person, singular] + s [s-insertion] + ii [past tense] + itsiniki [relate]

Third person, singular, major: -wa (suffix) o tsinikiwa He related (a story) [past tense] + itsiniki [relate] + wa [M3rd person, singular] He is going home

Third person, singular, minor: -yini (suffix) o akahkayiyini akahka [go home] + yi [m3rd person, singular] + yini [m3rd person, singular] o tsinikiyini He related (a story) [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 nitstsiniki and kitstsiniki). Plurality First person, plural, exclusive: -hpinnaana (suffix) o nitoyi
st

Im eating We (exclusive) are eating

nit [1 person, singular] + oyi [eat] nit [1st person] + oyi [eat] + hpinnaana [plural - we (exclusive)] Im eating 6

o nitoyihpinnaana

First person, plural, inclusive: -opa, deletion of nit- prefix o nitoyi

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

nit [1st person, singular] + oyi [eat] We (inclusive) are eating oyi [eat] + opa [we (inclusive)] You (s) are eating You (pl) are eating o oyopa

Second person, plural: -hpoaawa o kitoyi o kitoyihpoaawa kit [2nd person, singular] + oyi [eat] kit [2nd person] + oyi [eat] + hpoaawa [plural] He is eating They are eating

Third person, plural, major & minor yaawa or -yi o oyiwa oyi [eat] + oyi [eat] + yaawa [3rd person plural, major] o oyiyaawa

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 nitakitsiniki
st

I will tell a story You will enter

nit [1 person] + yaak [future] + itsiniki [noun stem] kit [2nd person], yaak [future], ipii [enter] Im about to dance

o kitaaksipii

Imminent future: yaak- (prefix) o nitayaakihpiyi

st

nit [1 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.

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

2. Replacement of a stem-initial vowel by ii, or addition of ii before a steminitial 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 n. (Blackfoot Reserve dialect only.) Examples: A. okskasi run a. nitkskasi [1] I ran i. Nit [1st person, singular] + okskasi [stem] + added accent to . b. kskasiwa [2] He ran i. [past tense marker] + okskasi [stem] o [stem-initial vowel] + wa [3rd person, singular, major, animate] B. ipottaa fly a. ipttaawa [1] he flew i. ipottaa [stem] + accent on the + wa [3rd person, singular, major, animate] b. payttaawa [3] she flew i. ..ay.. [past tense marker] i [stem-initial vowel] + pottaa [verb stem] + wa [3rd person, singular, major, animate] c. npottaawa [4] he flew i. n [past tense marker] + ipottaa [stem] + wa [3rd person, singular, major, animate] Aspect Durative: - (prefix) o yimmiyaawa They are laughing [durative], yimmi [laugh], yaawa [3rd person, plural]

Perfective: kaa- or -ikaa (prefix) 8

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

o niktoohpinnaan We have arrived n [1st person], ikaa [perfective], otoo [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 - yi Examples: A. Nohkiksi ksspitaayaawa My sons are tall. ksspitaa [verb stem] + yi [3rd person, plural] + aawa [non-DTP] B. Nohkwa akohpommatoomyi My son will buy it [y]aak [future tense] + ohpommatoo [verb stem] + m [theme (not discussed yet)] + wa [3rd, singular] + yi [singular, DTP] C. Otspioyiistsi ksikksinttsiyaitsi His houses are white 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 9 ksikksinattsi [verb stem] + yi [3rd, plural] + aitsi [plural, inanimate, DTP] Animate Plural -aiksi Inanimate Plural -aitsi

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

Intransitive Transitive AI TA II 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. Niistwa, nitohpmmatoohpa amoyi npioyisi. I bought this house You bought this house I bought these houses. You bought these houses. B. Kiistwa, kitohpmmatoohpa amoyi npioyisi. C. Niistwa, nitohpmmatoohpi amostsi npioyiistsi. D. Kiistwa, kitohpmmatoohpi amostsi npioyiistsi.

Syntax*
Negation Negation prefix has five distinct forms, occurring in complementary distribution 1. mt / imt: Used in verbs of independent clauses, if no prefix other than a person prefix precedes it in the verb mtomyokaawaiksaawa They arent asleep yet mt [negation] + om [yet] + yokaa [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. 10

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

2. kt/ ikt: 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 Niktnaayihtopi Were I not a chef n [1st person] + ikt [negation] + inaa [chief] + yi [be] + htopi [unreal] 3. miin / piin: Used in imperative form if not preceded by any other prefixes Miinasnit Dont cry! miin [negation] + wasaini [cry] + t [2nd singular imperative] 4. sta: Used only when proceded by the non-factive prefixes hk and ak Ntssmo, kksstaisakssi I forbid you to go out Ntssmo [I forbid] + k [2nd person] + k [might] + sta [negation] + saksi [exit] + his [conjunction] 5. say / saw / sa: Occurs in all other environments Aakssayinakowa It will be invisible yak [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. ooyosiwaatsiksi Is she cooking? 1. [durative] + ooyosi [cook AI] + waatsiksi [3rd singular, non-affirmative]

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Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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. kitsikakomimmokihpa 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. kakkwa pigeon B. imitwa D. mamwa E. aakwa F. inwa dog fish buffalo C. ponokmitaawa horse kakkksi imitksi mamksi inksi pigeons dogs fish (pl) women buffalo (pl)

ponokmitaiksi horses

woman aakksi

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

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Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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'ks C. naam D. mam Morphology Problem Set I Consider the following Blackfoot words: A. imitwa B. aakwa C. pistotookwa D. yimmiwa E. oyiwa F. sokpiwa dog woman Creator he is laughing she is eating it is good bird bee fish piksksi birds naamksi bees mamtsi fish

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.

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Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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) nyapiwa he saw (stem = yapi) 1. Method 1 (absence of tense marks + moved accent) b) nitsstosi I had a cold (stem = sstosi) 1. Method 2 (addition of ii before stem-initial consonant) c) kitksisawoo - 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) nkinakiwa he had legs (stem = ikinaki) 1. Method 4 (addition of the prefix n) 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 doesnt). a. ippataa be bashful i. AI (animate intransitive) b. satsistoto attempt to distract i. TA (animate, transitive) c. aawoyihitsi be misaligned 14

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

i. II (inanimate, intransitive) d. niisitoyi be five i. AI (animate, intransitive) e. otoitsikatoo tend to i. TI (inanimate, transitive) f. apii 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. nitaooyihpa I am eating a. nimtooyihpa B. yokaawahtopiyaawa If I were asleep a. ktyokaawahtopiyaawa C. ohkotkit Give it to me! a. miinohkotkit D. kitsksstato kisstaipottaahsi I want you to fly (only negate the second word) a. kitsksstato khksstaipottaahsi E. akswahkayiwaatsiksi will she not go home? a. akssawahkayiwaatsiksi 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. kt/Ikt B. We will not shoot the buffalo. a. say/saw/sa C. He is not my brother. 15

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

a. mt/imat D. Dont eat that! a. miin/piin E. He might not be the real chief. a. say/saw/sa F. This village is not safe. a. mt/imat G. Do not ask me why. a. miin/piin H. If you were not my wife a. kt/Ikt I. He had not been forbidding us to do so. a. sta

Syntax Problem Set II

Consider the following simple Blackfoot questions: A. yokwaiksaawa? B. Kitaksstsisoohpowa? C. Ktaokskaswaatsiksi? D. Kiktayakohkottsspommhpa? E. Ktaisootwaatsiksi 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? 16

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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.

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