User:Kpeng1/Language selection
From LING073
I want to work with Yike Li (Echo).
Seneca
- Morphological Typology
- The Seneca language is polysynthetic and agglutinative. From the book A Grammar of the Seneca Language, chapter 2 mentioned that Seneca is highly polysynthetic but also highly fusional. The Wikipedia of the Seneca language suggests that Seneca has non-trivial allomorphy across many morphemes, which suggests that the language reflects more than one phonological type. I also noticed very detailed descriptions on the prefixes of the language. There is inflectional morphology in the language. Specifically, both prefixation and suffixation are used.
- Language and its speakers
- This language is an endangered indigenous language of the United States and Canada. The language has approximately one hundred native speakers (in 2007). The Seneca language speakers primarily live in western New York, on three reservations, Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Tonawanda, and in Ontario, on the Grand River Six Nations Reserve. This language is closely related to the other Five Nations Iroquoian languages, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk (it is most closely related to Cayuga). English is the dominant language in daily life in Seneca communities. Most Seneca speakers and all learners are bilingual in English. Seneca is often used in specific domains (classes, ceremonies, signage, community programs) rather than as the sole home language.
- Status of the language
- As of summer 2012, a $200,000 federal grant for the Seneca Language Revitalization Program strengthened a partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology and helps develop a user-friendly computer catalogue allowing future generations to study and speak the language.
- UNESCO classifies Seneca as "Severely Endangered"
- In 2013, the first public sports event was held in the Seneca language.
- Orthography
- Nasal vowels /ɛ̃/ and /ɔ̃/, are transcribed with tremas on top: ⟨ë ö⟩.
- Depending on the phonetic environment, the nasal vowel ⟨ë⟩ may vary between [ɛ̃] and [œ̃], whereas ⟨ö⟩ may vary from [ɔ̃] to [ɑ̃]
- Long vowels are indicated with a following ⟨:⟩
- Stress is indicated with an acute accent over the top. /æ/ is transcribed as ⟨ä⟩.
- ISO codes
- ISO 639-3: see
- Glottolog: sene1264
Sources: Seneca language Wikipedia, Seneca Morphology and Dictionary, A Grammar of the Seneca Language
It is highly likely to find at least a few pages worth of text in this language. This is a PDF by Seneca Language department and has detailed examples of translation. I also see some small online dictionaries.
Kickapoo
- Morphological Typology
- The Kickapoo language is polysynthetic and agglutinative (A Sketch Grammar of the Kickapoo Language, page 26). There are patterns in the language that reflect more than one morphological type. There is inflectional morphology in the language as well. Kickapoo noun inflection includes prefixes and suffixes.
- Language and its speakers
- United States: about 1043 speakers reported by ACS 2017-2021
- Mexico: 60 speakers from a 2020 census.
- Around 1,100 native speakers worldwide from the Endangered Languages Project
- Speakers are spread across Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Coahuila (Mexico). Kickapoo speakers also commonly speak English and Spanish.
- Status of the language
- Kickapoo is described as endangered by the Endangered Languages Project.
- There are some revitalization efforts. In 2010, the Head Start Program at the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas reservation became the first Native American school to earn the Texas School Ready! (TSR) Project certification. However, there are no children who are first-language users of Kickapoo, as they choose to speak English instead.
- Orthography
- A Kickapoo alphabet was developed by Paul Voorhis in 1974 and was revised in 1981. A new orthography is used by the Kickapoo Language Development Program in Oklahoma.
- ISO codes
- ISO 639-3: kic
- Glottolog: kick1244
Sources: Kickapoo language Wikipedia, Kickapoo | Endangered Language Project
It is also fairly likely to find at least a few pages worth of text in this language. This is a source by University of California Libraries, and has Kickapoo texts compared with English. This is also a very good resource.
Tai Lue
- Morphological Typology
- This language is isolating / analytic. Study has found that Tai Lue has no inflectional affixes, and the language is isolating and analytic. There are also patterns in that language that reflect more than one morphological type. This language lacks inflectional morphology.
- Language and its speakers
- The language has around 550,000 speakers (2000-2013). There are speakers of this language in China/Yunnan, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Because the speech community is spread across multiple states, speakers are likely multilingual and speak languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Lao, and Burmese.
- Status of the language
- Glottolog lists Tai Lue as AES not endangered. The language has a continued use across communities, and is not spoken only among elders. This can vary by region.
- Orthography
- The Tai Lue language is written in multiple scripts depending on country and context.
- Tai Tham: This is an abugida writing system used mainly for speakers in Thailand and Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. The script is often referred to as Lanna script.
- New Thai Lue alphabet: This is also known as Xishuangbanna Dai and simplified Tai Lue. This is developed in China in the 1950s, and is based on the traditional Tai Tham alphabet developed c.1200.
- ISO codes
- New Tai Lue: ISO 15924 Talu (354)
- Thai Tham: ISO 15924 Lana (351)
Sources: Tai Tham Script, New Tai Lue alphabet, Tai Lue language Wikipedia
Given this is a widely used language, there should be substantial written material. This is the Lue language dictionary. I also found this paper that has an example of poem in both Tai Lue and Mandarin Chinese. It could be harder than the previous two languages to find sources in English, as this is an east asian language.
