Stoney language

Stoney
Nakoda, Nakota, Isga, Îyethka Îabi, Îyethka wîchoîe, Isga Iʔabi
Native toCanada
EthnicityNakota: Stoney
Native speakers
3,025 (2016)[1]
Siouan
Language codes
ISO 639-3sto
Glottologston1242
ELPStoney
The location of Stoney / Nakoda
Stoney is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Nakota / Nakoda // Îyârhe[2]
"ally / friend" // "mountain"
PersonÎyethka[3]
PeopleÎyethkabi
(Îyethka Oyade)
LanguageÎyethka Îabi / wîchoîe
Îyethka Wowîhâ[4]
CountryÎyethka Makóce

Stoney—also called Nakota, Nakoda, Isga, and formerly Alberta Assiniboine—is a member of the Dakota subgroup of the Mississippi Valley grouping of the Siouan languages.[5] The Dakotan languages constitute a dialect continuum consisting of Santee-Sisseton (Dakota), Yankton-Yanktonai (Dakota), Teton (Lakota), Assiniboine, and Stoney.[6]

Stoney is the most linguistically divergent of the Dakotan dialects[7] and has been described as "on the verge of becoming a separate language."[citation needed] Ullrich considers Stoney and Assiniboine distinct languages, saying "The Nakoda language spoken by the Assiniboine is not intelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers, unless they have been exposed to it extensively. The Stoney form of the Nakoda language is completely unintelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers. As such, the two Nakoda languages cannot be considered dialects of the Lakota and Dakota language."[8] The Stoneys are the only Siouan people that live entirely in Canada,[6] and the Stoney language is spoken by five groups in Alberta.[9][7] No official language survey has been undertaken for every community where Stoney is spoken, but the language may be spoken by as many as a few thousand people, primarily at the Morley community.[10]

  1. ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Mountain". Stoney Nakoda Dictionary Online. Stoney Education Authority. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Stoney Nakoda". Stoney Nakoda Dictionary Online. Stoney Education Authority. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ "wowîhâ". Stoney Nakoda Dictionary Online. Stoney Education Authority. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ Parks, Douglas R.; Rankin, Robert L. (2001). "Siouan languages". In DeMaille, Raymond J.; Sturtevant, William C. (eds.). Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 94–114.
  6. ^ a b Parks, Douglas R.; DeMallie, Raymond J. (1992). "Sioux, Assiniboine, and Stoney Dialects: A Classification". Anthropological Linguistics. 34 (1/4): 233–255. JSTOR 30028376.
  7. ^ a b Taylor, Alan R. (1981). "Variation in Canadian Assiniboine". Siouan and Caddoan Linguistics Newsletter.
  8. ^ Ullrich, Jan (2008). New Lakota Dictionary (Incorporating the Dakota Dialects of Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee-Sisseton). Lakota Language Consortium. pp. 2, 4. ISBN 978-0-9761082-9-0.
  9. ^ Andersen, Raoul R. (1968). An inquiry into the political and economic structures of the Alexis band of Wood Stoney Indians, 1880-1964 (PhD dissertation). Columbia: University of Missouri.
  10. ^ Cook, Eung-Do; Owens, Camille C. (1991). "Conservative and innovative features in Alexis Stoney". Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences Held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August 1991. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University. pp. 135–146.