Naskapi (also known as ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ/Iyuw Iyimuun in the Naskapi language) is an Algonquian language spoken by the Naskapi in Quebec and Labrador, Canada.[3] It is written in Eastern Cree syllabics.
Naskapi | |
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ᓇᔅᑲᐱ naskapi, ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ iyuw iyimuun | |
Native to | Canada |
Region | St'aschinuw (Quebec, Labrador) |
Ethnicity | Naskapi |
Native speakers | 1,230 (2016 census)[1] |
Language family | Algic
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | nsk |
Glottolog | nask1242 |
Linguasphere | 62-ADA-ba |
Naskapi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. |
The term Naskapi is chiefly used to describe the language of the people living in the interior of Quebec and Labrador in or around Kawawachikamach, Quebec. Naskapi is a "y-dialect" that has many linguistic features in common with the Northern dialect of East Cree, and also shares many lexical items with the Innu language.
Although there is a much closer linguistic and cultural relationship between Naskapi and Innu than between Naskapi and other Cree language communities, Naskapi remains unique and distinct from all other language varieties in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula.
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
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Nasal | m | n | |||
Stop/ Affricate | p | t | tʃ | k | |
Fricative | s | h | |||
Approximant | w | (ɹ) | j | ||
Lateral | (l) |
Each stop has voiced allophones as [b, d, ɡ, dʒ].[4]
There are two writing systems used for Naskapi language. One is Latin, similar to Innu Language (Montagnais), and the other is Cree syllabics, similar to James Bay Cree, as well as other dialects of Cree across Canada.
Naskapi Latin Alphabet consists of 3 vowels, a, i, and u, in short form and in long form. The long form is either written with a Circumflex accent, e.g. â, or by simply writing the vowel twice, e.g. aa. The vowel also consists of 12 consonants (including the Ch digraph)
Uppercase | A | Â/AA | Ch | H | I | Î/II | K | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | U | Û/UU | W | Y |
lowercase | a | â/aa | ch | h | i | î/ii | k | l | m | n | p | r | s | t | u | û/uu | w | y |
IPA | /ʌ~ə/ | /a~æ/ | /tʃ, dʒ/ | /h/ | /ɪ~ə/ | /i/ | /k, g/ | /l/ | /m/ | /n/ | /p, b/ | /ɹ/ | /s, ʃ/ | /t, d/ | /o~ʊ/ | /u/ | /w/ | /j/ |
Naskapi Syllabics (ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ, naskapi iyuw iyimuun) is derived from Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, and while having its unique characteristics, shares many features with other Canadian Cree Syllabic systems. Unlike other Cree Syllabics, long and short vowels are not distinguished. The final forms in Naskapi Syllabics are similar to other varieties of Eastern Cree syllabics.
_a | _i | _u | _wa | _wi | _w | s_wa | - | |
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- | ᐊ | ᐃ | ᐅ | ᐛ | ᐎ | ᐤ | ||
p | ᐸ | ᐱ | ᐳ | ᑈ | ᔌ | ᑉ | ||
t | ᑕ | ᑎ | ᑐ | ᑥ | ᔌ | ᑦ | ||
k | ᑲ | ᑭ | ᑯ | ᒂ | ᒄ | ᔎ | ᒃ | |
ch | ᒐ | ᒋ | ᒍ | ᒠ | ᔏ | ᒡ | ||
m | ᒪ | ᒥ | ᒧ | ᒺ | ᒻ | |||
n | ᓇ | ᓂ | ᓄ | ᓏ | ᓐ | |||
s | ᓴ | ᓯ | ᓱ | ᔄ | ᔅ | |||
y | ᔭ | ᔨ | ᔪ | ᔽ | ᔾ | |||
ᐟ | ||||||||
Other Symbols | ||||||||
h | ᐦ | |||||||
hk | ᑾ | ᑶ | ᑴ | |||||
l | ᓚ | ᓕ | ᓗ | ᓪ | ||||
r | ᕋ | ᕆ | ᕈ | ᕐ |
Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum | ||
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Classification |
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Western variants (Cree) |
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Eastern variants (Montagnais-Naskapi) |
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Contact languages |
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See also |
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Languages of Canada | |||||||||||||||
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Official languages |
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Indigenous languages |
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Pidgins, creoles and mixed |
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Immigrant languages |
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Sign languages |
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