A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language, the language spoken by the Chippewa Indians: which is also spoken by the Algonqin, Otawa and Potawatomi Indians, with little difference

576 Pages·1850·28.149 MB·

by  Frederick Baraga

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL
OF THE
OTCHIPWE
LANGUAGE,
THE LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS; WHICH I*
ALSO SPOKEN BY THE ALGONQUIN, OTAWA AND
POTAWATAMI INDIANS,
WITH LITTLE DIFFERENCE.
FOR THE USE OF MISSIONARIES
AND OTHER PERSONS LIVINGAMONG THE INDIANS
Oftheabovenamedtribes.
BY THE REV. FREDERICK BARAGA,
Missionary at L'jlnse, Lake Superior.
DETROIT
:
JABEZ FOX, PRINTER.
1850.
BREVE ITER PER EXEMPLA, LONGUM PER PR.ECEPTA.
Quintil.
NEG.LECTA PRUDENS CORRIGAT LECTOR.
PREFACE.
This is, I think, the first and only Otchipwe Grammar
that ever was published in the United States. It was ra-
ther a hard work to compose it ; I had to break my road
all through. Writers ofother Grammars avail themselves
ofthe laborsoftheir predecessors, and collect, like thebee,
the honey outofthese flowers of literature, leavingthe dust
in. I had no such advantage I had nothing before me.
;
No wonder then, if all be not correct in this first essay.
Those who shall find errors or omissions in this Grammar,
will oblige me very much by sending me their corrections
and remarks, which will be thankfully received and duly
considered.
My principal intention in publishing this Grammar is, to
assist Missionaries in the acquirement ofthe Otchipwe lan-
guage and itskindreddialects, as I know by experience how
useful it is to the Missionary to know the language ofthe
peoplewhom he is endeavoring toconvert to God.
At thesame time it is my wish to do, for my part andin
mysphere,whatIwishshould bedone byotherMissionaries
or competent persons, in their respective spheres; that is,
that complete Grammars and Dictionaries should be com-
posed and published, of all the different Indian languages
in the Union. It is thejudiciousopinion of Mr. HENRY R.
SCHOOLCRAIT, (\vlio has done, and is doing yet, much for
the Indian history,) '* thatthe true fiixt<n/ of the Indian
tribes andtheir internationalrelation*, muxtrest, .va basis,
upon the light obtained from their language*.'9 This is
true; and to obtain this light from the Indian languages,
Grammars and Dictionaries would render the surest ser-
vices.
And finally I wish to do a service to the Philologist, to
whom it affords pleasure and acquirement, to compare the
grammatical systems of different languages.
THE AUTHOR.
G R AM M A R
OF THE
OTCHIPWE LANGUAGE.
INTRODUCTION.
The Otchipwe language is spoken by the tribe of In-
dians, called Chippcwa Indians * which was once a nume-
rous and powerful tribe. It is now reduced to the small
number of about 15,000 individuals, who are scattered
round Lake Superior, and far round in the inland, over a
large tract of land. Several other tribes ofIndians speak
the same language, with little alterations. The principal
of these are, the Algonquin, the Otaiva, andthePotoivata-
mi tribes. He that understands well the Otchipwe lan-
guage, will easily converse with Indians of these tribes.
The Otchipwe Grammar, which is here presented to the
reader, teaches the art ofspelling and writing correctly the
Otchipwe language. This Grammar is divided into three
parts, viz : Orthography, Etymology and Syntax.
pr*oTnhouenpcreodpearccnoarmdiengofttohtehseeoIrntdhioagnsraips,hyOtscthatiepdweinItnhdiisabn*o.ok,Bywethiwsilnlacmael,l
this Grammarandlanguagei
PART FIRST.
ORTHOGRAPHY.
Orthography, (according to the meaning of this Greek
word, correct writing,) teaches the artofspelling thewords
of a language with correctness and propriety. To speak
and write is the faculty and art ofexpressing thoughts with
words. Wordsthen aresignsofour thoughts. These signs
are either sounds uttered by the mouth, or marks formed
by the hand.
Words are composed of letters, which are the represen-
tatives ofsounds formed by the organs of speech.
There are only seventeen letters in the Otchipwe alpha-
bet; and no more are required to write correctly and plain-
ly all the words of this expressive language. These letters
are divided into vowels arid cosonants.
A
vowelistherepresentativeofan articulate sound, which
can be distinctly uttered by itself. There are only four
vowels in the Otchipwe language, namely, a, e, i, o. This
language has no u. The letter u is sounded differently by
different nations, English, French, German, etc. The Ot-
chipwe language has none of these sounds. The German
sound of the vowel it, (like oo in fool, or like u in full,) is
unknown to the Otchipwe language; so much so, thateven
in the two or three words, which these Indians have adopt-
ed from the French, the sound oo, (in French ou,) ischang-
ed into o. F. i. a handkerchief, (un moz^choir,) tnntlurc ; my
tbhutatnont,he(Gmeornmbaonutsoonu,n)dnionfub,olids ;thLeowFirse,nNcohi.andBEuntglmiosrhepryoe-t
nunciation of the same, unknown to the Otchipwe lan-
guage.
A
. consonant isthe representativeofaninarticulatesound,
which can only be perfectly uttered with the help of a vow-
el. There arc thirtcru consonants in this language, name-
ly: b, c, (1, g, hj, k, m, n,p} s} t, w. The following con-
sonants, f, L q, r, v, x, z, never occur in the words of this
lnaonugnucaegeth;ema,ndantdhemIanndyiancsanwnohtopsrpoenaokunict,ectahnemharatdlayll,preos--
pecially old Indians. They pronounce /and v like b or
p; I and rthey pronounce like n. So, for instance, when
they are asked to pronounce the French word farine,
(flour,) theywill stqgQp^r th%?ame David, they willpro-
nounceDabid;thenamemarie,Mani;thenameMarguerite,
Magit; etc.
REMARKS ON THE VOWELS,
Many methods have been tried to write Otchipwe words,
but they proved deficient, and did not express exactly the
soundsofthese words, because theEnglishorthography has
been used. It can easily be observed, and willbe acknowl-
edged, when impartially examined, by persons who under-
stand some other language, that the English orthography,
being so peculiar, can never be successfully applied to any
other but the English language. It is impossible to write
with propriety any other language but the English, accor-
dingto the English orthography, because the English vow-
els have so many different sounds, that they must necessa-
rily create difficulty and uncertainty, when applied to the
writing ofwords ofother languages.
And so, in fact, k is the case with any other language,
more or less. Every language has its own orthography,
which could not be entirely applied to another language.
Why then should the Otchipwe language (with its kind-
red dialects) not have its own orthography? This question
immediately arose in my mind,when I firstenteredthe field
omfemtiosstihoenaersytabllaibsohrisngamoofnganthoewInndoiratnhsog;raanpdhysofoonr btrhoeugOh-t
tchipwe language and its dialects. This orthography does
not entirely belong to any otherlanguage, butis takenfrom
the English and French, and adapted tothe Otchipwe.
According to this orthography I wrote my first little In-
dian work, in 1831,(with the help ofan interpreter, at that
tame,) and published it in Detroit in 1832; and have ever
since followed the same in my subsequent Indian writings ;
8
only one alteration, whirh T have adopted in writing
thisGrammar:puttingthe English>Vi insteadoftlieFrenchch.
I am satisfied, in my huiuhle opinion, that this is the ea-
and plainest method ofwritingthe Otchipwe !
It is generally aj)proved by those who have occasion to ex-
amine it ; and it was adopted hysonie writers of Indian
work ially by the ~&\. flMfljfe (Lapointe, Lake
New
Superior.) wiio pnblislied the Testament, (New-York
l^M,) almost entirely according to this simple mood of
writing the Otchipwe language.
Ifere is an explanation ofthis orthography. The sound
of the voircls never changes : they have always the same
sound. The sounding of the consonant* is adapted to the
pronunciation of the same in English and French. Thi>
will be better understood after the perusal of the follo\\mi>
remarks.
The four vowels, , r, ?", o, are pronounced as follows:
a is invariably pronounced as in the English wordyatlu-r ;
as, anakanan, mats; ta-na^aiid, he will be left behind ; ga-
sagaang, he that is gone out.
c is always pronounced as in the English word met; as,
(teg, what there is ; cta> only ; cncndang, according to his
thought or will.
i is always pronounced as in the English wordpin ; as,
mini, a man; kigi-ildt, thou hast said ; iwidi, there.
n is always pronounced as in the English word note:
odon, his mouth ; onow, these here ; okoj, its bill.
These rules have noexception inthe Otchipwe language
The four vowels are inrnriabh/ pronouno .<! here;
they may occur in the first or last syllable of a word, or in
the middle; and they are mrrr silent. Which you will
plea*c to mind weJl, ifyou wish topronounce correctly and
easily the words of this language.
As the genend rule for the pronunciation of vowels
to pronounce them alwaysequally, and never to let them be
silcni, it follows that, where twoor threevowels,ofthe same
kind or ditl'.-rent. vowels, appear together in a word, they
must all be sounded
9
EXAMPLES.
Saagam, he goes out; pron. sa-ga-am.
Oossi. hehas afather ; pron. o-os-.s-/.
NOimnoaniwbacna,, Ithceayusmeakhiemhtiomslweeeepp,; pcrroyn.; npirnonn,i-obcm-oa,-a-wan.
Waiba, soon; pron. wa-i-ba.
Maingan, wolf; pron. ma-in-gan.
Nawaii, in the middle; pron. na-iva-i-i.
There are some diphtongsproper inthis language.
The letter i forms them, when it is preceded or followed
by some other vowel; ai, ci, oi; ia, ie, io. Both vowels
are pronounced in one syllable, but both must be distinctly
sounded; they areproper diphtongs.
EXAMPLES.
Misaij a loach, (fish;) pron. mi-sai.
Omodai, bottle, pron. o-mo-dai,
Apakwei, a mat to cover a lodge; pron. a-pa-kwei.
Hoi ! (iiiterj) hallo!
Saiagiad, whom thou lovest; pron, sa-ia-gi-ad.
Ebiian, thou who art; pron. c-bi-ian.
Aiaieg, where you are; pron. a-ia-ieg.
Aioiog, make use ofit; pron. a-io-iog.
ACCENTS ON VOWELS.
In order to facilitate the pronunciation of the words of
this language, and to distinguish the first person from the
second"in some moods and tenses, I make occasionally use
ofaccents in this Grammar andintheDictionary ofthislan-
guage. These accents are, the acute, the grave and the
circumflex accent.
1. I put the acute accent on that syllable in the word
which must be pronounced with more emphasis or stress
than the others. And this emphasis, put on one syllable
or on another, sometimes entirely changes the meaning of
the word, as you see in some of the following Examples.
dF.gai.m,mdgn,akownadt,heitbiesacclhou;dyar;idamnidnkya,n,onamtahet;omthienrikdsind,eseoefda; j
river, bay, lake, etc.; saoaigan, a small lake: sagdigan, a
nail; nibmyf in the water; nibiny, in summer.
10
2. I make use ofthe r/rarr accent todistinguish thefirst
person from the second in many circumstances, as will be
seen in the paradigms or patterns of the Conjugations.
Examples :
En&ndamdn, as/will orthink cnhidaman, as thou wilt.
;
Saffitoidmban,htid1 likedit; sagitviamban, hadst thouliked
it. Endaicang, where we live or dwell; (the person or
persons spoken to. are not included in the number ofthose
who dwell in the place alluded to.) Enddiang, where we
live or dwell ; (the person or persons spoken to, are in-
cluded.
2. I place the circumflex accent on some vowels,"to sig-
nify that they have the nasal sound, almost the same as in
French, when they are followed by the letter n. F. i., sr-
gniibgab-,t fsiislhk,, erticb.bonT;hepakeaxaakcttwpir',onuanchieanti;oanbionfodtjh)e,sea vcohwieldls;
cannotbegivenin writing; Youmusthearthempronounced
by persons who speak Otchipwe correctly ; and endeavor
to take hold ofthe genuinepronunciation.
I must observe here, that I don't put accents on every
Indian word in this Grammar. I put them occasionally^
for the accommodation of brginncy.*. When I am writing
for Indian readers, I never use accents, except grave
accNenots, for the distinction of the two persons ; (as above
in 2.)
REMARKS ON' THE CONSONANTS.
In- -/egard to the consonants of this language, several
remarks are to be made, which you arerequested to peruse
carefully and keep in memory, in order to read and write
correctly theOtchipve language.
I tried to reduce the Otchipwe orthography, as much
as possible, to the easiest ami plainest prmriples. No
more letters are employed than are absolutely necessary.
For this reason there are no silent letters in this ortho-
graphy, and no r///y;//Vv///o//sof letters, except ofthe loll-
!i i- indispensable. I employ the I'Yriirh /. to <tand
in Otchipwe lor the same soft sound as it does in