Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 89. Chapters: Algonquian languages, Kickapoo people, Pequot, Ottawa language, Ojibwe writing systems, Ojibwe language, Ojibwe grammar, Delaware languages, Onondaga language, Ojibwe dialects, Ottawa phonology, Powhatan, Munsee language, Oneida language, Munsee grammar, Ojibwe phonology, Tuscarora language, Eastern Algonquian languages, Odawa people, Oji-Cree language, Great Lakes Algonquian syllabary, Ottawa oral literature and texts, Potawatomi language, Penobscot people, Menominee language, Quiripi language, Mohawk language, Chipewyan language, Algonquin language, Mi'kmaq language, Algic languages, Passamaquoddy people, Iroquoian languages, Miami-Illinois language, Western Abnaki language, Podunk people, Central Algonquian languages, Innu language, Agawam, Tutelo language, Massachusett language, Laurentian language, Shawnee language, Cayuga language, A Key Into the Language of America, Nashaway people, Eastern Cree syllabics, Nipissing Ojibwe language, Fox language, Malecite-Passamaquoddy language, Swampy Cree language, Western Ojibwa language, Abenaki language, Eastern Ojibwa language, Wyandot language, Beothuk language, Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language, Naskapi language, Berens River Ojibwe language, Piscataway language, North of Superior Ojibwe language, Border Lakes Ojibwe language, Northern East Cree language, Susquehannock language, Woods Cree language, Northwestern Ojibwa language, Central Ojibwa language, Eastern Abnaki language, Moose Cree language, Southern East Cree language. Excerpt: Ottawa (or Odawa) is a dialect of the Ojibwe language, spoken by the Ottawa people in southern Ontario in Canada, and northern Michigan in the United States. Descendants of migrant Ottawa speakers live in Kansas and Oklahoma. The first recorded meeting of Ottawa speakers and Europeans occurred in 1615 when a party of Ottawas encountered explorer Samuel de Champlain on the north shore of Georgian Bay. Ottawa is written in an alphabetic system using Latin letters, and is known to its speakers as Nishnaabemwin "speaking the native language" or Daawaamwin "speaking Ottawa". Ottawa is one of the Ojibwe dialects that has undergone the most language change, although it shares many features with other dialects. The most distinctive change is a pervasive pattern of vowel syncope that deletes short vowels in many words, resulting in significant changes in their pronunciation. This and other innovations in pronunciation, in addition to changes in word structure and vocabulary, differentiate Ottawa from other dialects of Ojibwe. Like other Ojibwe dialects, Ottawa grammar includes animate and inanimate noun gender, subclasses of verbs that are dependent upon gender, combinations of prefixes and suffixes that are connected with particular verb subclasses, and complex patterns of word formation. Ottawa distinguishes two types of third person in sentences: proximate, indicating a noun phrase that is emphasized in the discourse, and obviative, indicating a noun phrase that is less prominent. Ottawa has relatively flexible word order compared with languages such as English. Ottawa speakers are concerned that their language is endangered as the use of English increases and the number of fluent speakers declines. Language revitalization efforts include second language learning in primary and secondary schools. Explorer Samuel de Champlain was the first European to record an encounter with Ottawa speakers when he met a party of three ...