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'Michif' (also 'Mitchif', 'Mechif', 'Michif-Cree', 'Métif', 'Métchif', 'French Cree') is the language of the Métis people of Canada and the northern United States, who are the descendants of First Nations women (mainly Cree, Nakota and Ojibwe) and fur trade workers of European ancestry (mainly French Canadians and ). Nowadays; Michif is spoken in scattered Métis communities in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and in North Dakota (there are some 230 speakers of Mitchif in the United States [down from 390 at the 1990 census[1]], 178 of whom live in North Dakota, particularly the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation[2]). Michif emerged over two hundred years ago as a mixed language (not to be confused with a creole). The language solidified sometime between 1820 and 1840.
Michif combines Cree and Canadian French, with some additional borrowing from English and First Nation languages such as Ojibwe and Assiniboine. In general, Michif noun phrase phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax are derived from Canadian French, while verb phrase phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax are from a southern variety of Plains Cree. (Plains Cree is a western dialect of Cree.) Articles and adjectives are also of Canadian French origin , but demonstratives are of Plains Cree.
The Michif language is unusual (and possibly even unique) among mixed languages, in that, rather than forming a simplified grammar it developed by incorporating the most complex and demanding elements of the chief languages from which it was born. French origin noun phrases retain lexical gender and adjective agreement; Cree origin verbs retain much of their polysynthetic structure. This suggests that instead of haltingly using words from another's tongue the people who gradually came to speak Michif were fully fluent in both French and Cree.
The number of speakers is estimated at fewer than 1,000; it was probably double or triple this number around the turn of the century but never much higher.

Contents

Phonology

Morphology

Vocabulary

Syntax

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Word order

Lexicon

Language genesis

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Phonology

Michif may combine two separate phonological systems: one for French origin elements, and one for Cree origin elements. For instance, /y/, /l/, /r/ and /f/ exist only in French words, whereas preaspirated stops such as and exist only in Cree words. There is some Cree influence on French words in the stress system.

Morphology

Vocabulary

A comparison of some common words in French, Cree, and Michif:^[1]

'English'	'French'	'Michif'	'Cree'
One	Un	Haen, Peeyak	Peyak
Two	Deux	Deu	Nîso
Three	Trois	Trwaa	Nisto
Four	Quatre	Kaet	Newo
Five	Cinq	Saenk	Nîyânan
Man	Homme	Lom	Napew
Dog	Chien	Shyeñ, Shyen	Atim
Sun	Soleil	Saley	Pîsim
Water	Eau	Dilo	Nîpîy
White	Blanc	Blan	Wâpiskâw
Yellow	Jaune	Zhun	Osâwâw
Red	Rouge	Ruzh	Mihkwâw
Black	Noir	Nwer	Kaskitewâw
Eat	Manger	Miichishow	Michisiw
See	Voir	Waapow	Wâpiw
Hear	Entendre	Peehtam	Pehtam
Sing	Chanter	Nakamow	Nikamew
Leave	Partir	Atishipweeteew	Nakatew

Syntax

Noun phrase

Nouns are almost always accompanied by a French-origin determiner or a possessive. Cree-origin demonstratives can be added to noun phrases. Adjectives are French-origin (Cree has no adjectives), and as in French they are either pre- or postnominal. Prenominal adjectives agree in gender (like in French), however, postnominal adjectives do not agree in gender (unlike French).

Verb phrase

The verb phrase is that of Plains Cree-origin with little reduction (there is no dubitative or preterit verb forms).

Word order

Michif word order is basically that of Cree (relatively free). However, the more French-origin elements are used, the closer the syntax seems to conform to norms of spoken French.

Lexicon

Nouns: 83-94% French-origin; Cree-origin or Ojibwe-origin, English-origin

Verbs: 88-99% Cree-origin

Question words: Cree-origin

Personal pronouns: Cree

Postpositions: Cree-origin

Prepositions: French-origin

Conjunctions: 55% Cree-origin; 40% French-origin

Numerals: French-origin

Demonstratives: Cree-origin
'The Lord's Prayer in English, French, and Michif:'

Michif	French	English
Toñ Periinaan	Notre Père	Our Father
Toñ Periinaan, dañ li syel kayaayeen kiichitwaawan toñ noo. Kiiya kaaniikaanishtaman peetoteiie kaandaweetaman taatochiikateew ota daan la ter taapishkoch dañ li syel. Miinaan anoch moñ paeniinaan poneeiiminaan kamachitotamaak, niishtanaan nkaponeemaanaanik anikee kaakiimaiitotaakoyaakuk kayakochii'inaan, maaka pashpii'inaann aayik ochi maachiishiiweepishiwin. Kaaniikaaniishtamawiiaak, kishokishiiwin, kaakichiteemiiak kiiya aniie, anoch ekwa takiine.Answichil.	Notre Père, qui es aux cieux, Que ton nom soit sanctifié, Que ton règne vienne, Que ta volonté soit faite Sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour Pardonne-nous nos offenses, Comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés, Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, Mais délivre-nous du mal.[Car c'est à toi qu'appartiennent le règne, la puissance et la gloire pour les siècles des siècles.] Amen.	Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil.[For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.] Amen.

Language genesis

In languages of mixed ethnicities, the language of the mothers usually provides the grammatical system, and the language of the fathers provides the lexicon.^[2] The reasons are following: children know mother’s language better; men are often immigrant, whereas women are native to the region, if the bilingual children need either of their parents’ language to converse with outsiders, it is most likely to be the language of the mothers. Thus, the model of language mixing predicts that Michif should have the Cree grammatical system and the French lexicon. However, Michif has Cree verb phrase and French noun phrase. The explanation lies in the polysynthetic nature of Cree morphology, which is responsible for the unusual distribution of Cree and French elements in Michif.
In Cree verbs can be very complex with up to twenty morphemes, incorporated nouns and unclear boundaries between morphemes. In other words, in Cree verbs it is very difficult to separate grammar from lexicon. As a result, in Michif the grammatical and bound elements are almost all Cree, and the lexical and free elements are almost all French; the verb is almost totally Cree, because the verb consists of grammatical and bound elements.

See also

★ Métis people

★ Cree language

★ Canadian French

★ Bungee language

★ Chinook Jargon

★ List of languages

★ List of extinct languages

★ List of endangered languages

Notes

1. Taken from: Vocabulary Words in Native American Languages: Michif Redish, Laura and Orrin Lewis
2. Bakker, Peter. ''A Language of Our Own: The Genesis of Michif, the Mixed Cree-French Language of the Canadian Metis'', Oxford University Press, 1997.

Bibliography

★ Bakker, Peter. 1997. ''A language of our own: The genesis of Michif, the mixed Cree-French language of the Canadian Métis''. New York, Oxford University Press.

★ Bakker,Peter and Robert Papen. 1997. Michif: A mixed language based on Cree and French. In S. Thomason (ed.) Contact languages: A wider perspective. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 295-363.

★ Evans, Donna. 1982. "On coexistence and convergence of two phonological systems in Michif." Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, 26, p. 158-173.

★ Papen, Robert. 2003. "Michif: One phonology or two?" In Y. Chung, C. Gillon and R. Wokdak (eds) University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 12, Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop on Structure and Constituency in Language of the Americas, p. 47-58.

★ Papen, Robert. 2004. "Michif spelling conventions: Proposal for a unified Michif writing system. In L. Barkwell (ed.) La lawng: Michif peekishkwewin. Winnipeg, MB: Pemmican Publications, p. 29-53.

★ Papen, Robert. 2005. Le mitchif: langue franco-crie des Plaines. in A. Valdman, J. Auger & D. Piston-Hatlen (eds). Saint-François, QC: Presses de l'Université Laval, p. 327-347.

★ Weaver, Deborah. 1982. ''Obviation in Michif.'' Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, 26, p. 174-262.

★ Weaver, Deborah. 1983. "The effect of language change and death on obviation in Michif."In W. Cowan (ed.) Actes du Quatorzième Congrès des Algonquinistes. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, p. 261-268.

External links

★ Michif Language Lessons

★ Learning Michif (Microsoft Word DOC)