| Menominee | |
|---|---|
| omǣqnomenēweqnæsewen | |
| Pronunciation | [omæːʔnomeneːw] |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Northeastern Wisconsin |
| Ethnicity | 800 Menominee (2000 census)[1] |
Native speakers | 35 (2007)[1] 25 L2 speakers (no date)[2] |
Algic
| |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Menominee Language & Culture Commission |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mez |
| Glottolog | meno1252 |
| ELP | Menominee |
 Menominee is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Menominee /mɪˈnɒmɪniː/ mih-NOM-ih-nee,[3] also spelled Menomini (In Menominee language: omǣqnomenēweqnæsewen)[4] is an endangered Algonquian language spoken by the historic Menominee people of what is now northern Wisconsin in the United States. The federally recognized tribe has been working to encourage revival of use of the language by intensive classes locally and partnerships with universities. Most of the fluent speakers are elderly. Many of the people use English as their first language.
The name of the tribe, and the language, derived from Oma͞eqnomenew, comes from the word for 'wild rice'. The tribe has gathered and cultivated this native food as a staple for millennia. The Ojibwa, their neighbors to the north who are one of the Anishinaabe peoples and also speak an Algonquian language, also use this term for them.
The main characteristics of Menominee, as compared to other Algonquian languages, are its extensive use of the low front vowel /æ/, its rich negation morphology, and its lexicon. Some scholars (notably Bloomfield and Sapir) have classified it as a Central Algonquian language based on its phonology.
Good sources of information on the Menominee tribe and their language include Leonard Bloomfield's 1928 bilingual text collection, his 1962 grammar (considered a landmark study), and Skinner's earlier anthropological work.
- ^ a b Menominee at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Menominee at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ^ "Menominee". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Center for Menominee Language, Culture, and Art, Language Materials www.menomineelanguage.com/dictionaries-word-lists Archived 2023-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, Menominee Dictionary - English - Menominee Link() - Menominee, Menominee Language Pg. 144
