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Potawatomi language

Potawatomi (/ˌpɒtəˈwɒtəmi/, also spelled Pottawatomie; in Potawatomi Bodwéwadmimwen, Bodwéwadmi Zheshmowen, or Neshnabémwen) is a Central Algonquian language. It was historically spoken by the Pottawatomi people who lived around the Great Lakes in what are now Michigan and Wisconsin in the United States, and in southern Ontario in Canada. Federally recognized tribes in Michigan and Oklahoma are working to revive the language.

Potawatomi

Michigan, Oklahoma, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, and southern Ontario, formerly Northeastern Illinois

Algic

62-ADA-dc (Potawatomi)

Bodéwadmi
     (Neshnabé)

Language revitalization[edit]

Cecelia Miksekwe Jackson, one of the last surviving native speakers of Potawatomi, died in May 2011, at the age of 88. She was known for working to preserve and teach the language.[1]


Donald Neaseno Perrot, a native speaker who grew up in the Powers Bluff, Wisconsin, area, has a series of Potawatomi videos, a website, and books available to preserve the language.[2]


The federally recognized Pokégnek Bodéwadmik Pokagon Band of Potawatomi started a master-apprentice program in which a "language student (the language apprentice) will be paired with fluent Potawatomi speakers (the language masters)" in January 2013.[3] In addition, classes in the Potawatomi language are available, including those at the Hannahville summer immersion camp,[4] with webcast instruction and videoconferencing.[3]


There are also free online language courses on Mango Languages from the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi,[5] released in October 2022.[6] and on Memrise from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma.[7]

Classification[edit]

Potawatomi is a member of the Algonquian language family (itself a member of the larger Algic stock). It is usually classified as a Central Algonquian language, with languages such as Ojibwe, Cree, Menominee, Miami-Illinois, Shawnee and Fox. The label Central Algonquian signifies a geographic grouping rather than the group of languages descended from a common ancestor language within the Algonquian family. Of the Central languages, Potawatomi is most similar to Ojibwe, but it also has borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from the Sauk.


Generally, in developments since Indian Removal in the 19th century, Potawatomi has become differentiated in North America among separated populations. It is divided between Northern Potawatomi, spoken in Ontario, Canada; and Michigan and Wisconsin of the United States; and Southern Potawatomi, which is spoken in Kansas and Oklahoma, where certain Pottawatomi ancestors were removed who had formerly lived in Illinois and other areas east of the Mississippi River.[8]

Writing systems[edit]

Current writing system[edit]

Though no standard orthography has been agreed upon by the Potawatomi communities, the system most commonly used is the "Pedagogical System" developed by the Wisconsin Native American Languages Program (WNALP). As the name suggests, it was designed to be used in language teaching. The system is based on the Roman alphabet and is phonemic, with each letter or digraph representing a contrastive sound. The letters used are a b ch d e é g ' h i j k m n o p s sh t w y z zh.


In Kansas, a different system called BWAKA is used. It too is both based on the Roman alphabet and phonemic, with each letter or digraph representing a contrastive sound. The letters used are ' a b c d e e' g h i I j k m n o p s sh t u w y z zh.

Traditional system[edit]

The traditional system used in writing Potawatomi is a form of syllabic writing. Potawatomi, Ottawa, Sac, Fox and Winnebago communities all used it. Derived from the Roman alphabet, it resembles handwritten Roman text. However, unlike the Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics or the Cherokee alphabet, it has not yet been incorporated into the Unicode standards.


Each Potawatomi syllabic block in the system has at least two of the seventeen alphabetic letters, which consist of thirteen consonants and four vowels. Of the thirteen phonemic consonantal letters, the /h/, written A, is optional.

Gailland, Maurice (1840). English-Potawatomi Dictionary.

Hockett, Charles Francis (1939a). The Potawatomi Language: A Descriptive Grammar (Thesis). Yale University.  46436906.

OCLC

Hockett, Charles Francis (1939b). "Potawatomi Syntax". Language. 15 (4): 235–248. :10.2307/409107. JSTOR 409107.

doi

Hockett, Charles Francis (1948a). "Potawatomi I: Phonemics, Morphophonemics, and Morphological Survey". International Journal of American Linguistics. 14 (1): 1–10. :10.1086/463970. S2CID 144356302.

doi

Hockett, Charles Francis (1948b). "Potawatomi II: Derivations". International Journal of American Linguistics. 14 (2): 63–73. :10.1086/463984.

doi

Hockett, Charles Francis (1948c). "Potawatomi III: The Verb Complex". International Journal of American Linguistics. 14 (3): 139–149. :10.1086/463995. S2CID 143596538.

doi

Hockett, Charles Francis (1948d). "Potawatomi IV: Particles and Sample Texts". International Journal of American Linguistics. 14 (4): 213–225. :10.1086/464008. S2CID 143465585.

doi

Hockett, Charles Francis (1950). "The Conjunct Modes in Ojibwa and Potawatomi". Language. 26 (2): 278–282. :10.2307/410064. JSTOR 410064.

doi

Quimby, George Irving (1939). "Some Notes on Kinship and Kinship Terminology Among the Potawatomi of the Huron". Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. 25: 553–563.

Wisconsin Native American Languages Project; Nichols, John (1975). Potawatomi Traditional Writing. Milwaukee, WI: Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council.

Potawatomi Language Vocabulary, Audio and Video, Interactive Language Games, Online Courses

Potawatomi Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The Neshnabe Institute for Cultural Studies – Dedicated to Potawatomi Language Revitalization

Smokey McKinney, 1997

Prairie Band Potawatomi Language Project

Prairie Band Potawatomi Language Department

Citizen Potawatomi Department of Language

Hannahville Indian Community Department of Culture, Language and History

Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center, Library and Museum

Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Department of Language

Pokégnek Bodéwadmik Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Department of Language and Culture

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Department of Language and Culture

OLAC resources in and about the Potawatomi language

by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Potawatomi Dictionary