1887
Volume 45, Issue 4
  • ISSN 0378-4177
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9978
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Like all Algonquian languages, Cree distributes its stock of nouns over two classes: animate and inanimate. While this distinction is firmly based on different agreement rules, and is to a large extent (but not completely) backed up by semantic differences, Cree nouns can also be put on a 4-level hierarchy scale, depending on their morphological valence with regard to whether or not they allow markers for the plural, obviative, vocative/honorific, absentative or which one of the two types of locatives. In addition, in a few recorded cases an inanimate noun may be reclassified, or “promoted”, as an animate noun, but rarely vice versa. Although this paper concentrates on Plains Cree, and examples are from that dialect unless otherwise noted, some observations are also made on (in)animacy in East Cree and in a wider Algonquian context.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/sl.20023.col
2020-11-17
2024-10-13
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ahenakew, Freda
    1987 (reprinted 1989) Cree language structures: A Cree approach. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson, Gregory D. S.
    1997 On “animacy maximization” in Fox (Mesquakie). International Journal of American Linguistics63. 227–247. 10.1086/466320
    https://doi.org/10.1086/466320 [Google Scholar]
  3. Aristar, Anthony R.
    1997 Marking and hierarchy types and the grammaticalization of case-markers. Studies in Language21(2). 313–368. 10.1075/sl.21.2.04ari
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.21.2.04ari [Google Scholar]
  4. Arppe, Antti, Lene Antonsen, Trond Trosterud, Conor Snoek, Dorothy Thunder, Atticus Harrigan, Jordan Lachler, Jean Okimâsis & Arok Wolvengrey
    . N.d.Linguistic insights from computational modeling of Plains Cree morphology. Available ataltlab.artsrn.ualberta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AC_Arppe_et_al_141025B.pdf (last access16 October 2020).
  5. Black, Mary B.
    1969 A note on gender in eliciting Ojibwa semantic structures. Anthropological Linguistics11. 177–186.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bloomfield, Leonard
    1930Sacred stories of the Sweet Grass Cree. Ottawa: National Museum of Canada Bulletin 60. [Reprinted byFifth House Publishers 1993.] 10.4095/306024
    https://doi.org/10.4095/306024 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bobbish-Salt, Luci, Duff, Alice, Junker, Marie-Odile & Marguerite MacKenzie
    (eds.) 2012Eastern James Bay Cree dictionary (Northern Dialect). Chisasibi (Quebec): Cree School Board.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Canadian Bible Society
    Canadian Bible Society 2000Oski Testament (Western Cree New Testament). Toronto: Canadian Bible Society.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Collette, Vincent
    2014 Description de la morphologie grammaticale du cri de l’Est (dialecte de Whapmagoostui). PhD Thesis. Quebec: Université Laval.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Comrie, Bernard
    1989, 2nd edn.Language universals and linguistic typology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cooper, Clara
    ed. s.d.Chii-aaimin Weskach, Hard Times. Mistissini (Qc.): Cree Publications.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Corbett, Greville G.
    1991Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139166119
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166119 [Google Scholar]
  13. Craik, Brian
    1982 The animate in Cree language and ideology. InWilliam Cowan (ed.), Papers of the Thirteenth Algonquian Conference, 29–36. Ottawa: Carleton University.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Creissels, Denis
    2009 Animacy and spatial cases. Presentation at theWorkshop Cases, animacy and semantic roles. Helsinki, August 26, 2009. Available atwww.deniscreissels.fr/public/Creissels-spatial_cases_and_animacy.pdf (last access16 October 2020).
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Creissels, Denis & Cecile Mounole
    2011 Animacy and spatial cases. Typological tendencies and the case of Basque. InSeppo Kittilä, Katja Västi, Jussi Ylikosk (eds.), Case, Animacy and Semantic Roles, 157–182. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.99.06cre
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.99.06cre [Google Scholar]
  16. Croft, William
    2003, 2nd edn.Typology and universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Cuoq, Jean-André
    1891 Grammaire de la langue algonquine. Memoires de la Société royale du Canada, ser. 1, 9(1). 85–114.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Dahlstrom, Amy
    1995 Motivation vs. predictability in Algonquian gender. InDavid Pentland (ed.), Papers of the Twenty-Sixth Algonquian Conference, 52–66. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Darnell, Regna & Anthony L. Vanek
    1976 The semantic basis of the animate/inanimate distinction in Cree. Papers in Linguistics9. 159–180. 10.1080/08351817609370432
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351817609370432 [Google Scholar]
  20. Dixon, Robert M. W.
    1979 Ergativity. Language59. 59–138. 10.2307/412519
    https://doi.org/10.2307/412519 [Google Scholar]
  21. Drapeau, Lynn
    2014Grammaire de la langue innue. Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Frantz, Donald G. & Norma Jean Russell
    1995, 2nd edn.Blackfoot dictionary. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Goddard, Ives
    1990 Primary and secondary stem derivation in Algonquian. International Journal of American Linguistics56. 449–483. 10.1086/466171
    https://doi.org/10.1086/466171 [Google Scholar]
  24. 2002 Grammatical gender in Algonquian. InH. Christoph Wolfart (ed.), Papers of the Thirty-Third Algonquian Conference, 195–231. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. 2005 “I am a Red-Skin: The adoption of a Native American expression (1769–1826). European Review of American Studies19(2). 1–20.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Goulet, Keith
    2008 Animate and inanimate: The Cree nehinuw view. InAlison K. Brown (ed.), Material histories: Proceedings of a Workshop held at Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen, 7–19. Aberdeen: Marischal Museum.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Hallowell, A. Irving
    1935–36 Rocks and stones. American Philosophical Society Library. Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers 1892–1981, Ms. Coll. 26. Unpublished typescript, written ca 1935–36 [Reprinted InBrown, Jennifer S. H. & Susan Elaine Gray (eds.) 2010 Contributions to Ojibwe Studies: Essays, 1934–1972 / A. Irving Hallowell, 44–50. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.]
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Haspelmath, Martin
    2017 Explaining alienability contrasts in adpossessive constructions: Predictability vs. iconicity. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, 36(2). 193–231. 10.1515/zfs‑2017‑0009
    https://doi.org/10.1515/zfs-2017-0009 [Google Scholar]
  29. Hewson, John
    1993 A computer-generated: Dictionary of Proto-Algonquian. Ottawa: Canadian Ethnology Servicepaper (no.125). 10.2307/j.ctv16qn2
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16qn2 [Google Scholar]
  30. Hockett, Charles F.
    1958A course in modern linguistics. New York: The MacMillan Company. 10.1111/j.1467‑1770.1958.tb00870.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1958.tb00870.x [Google Scholar]
  31. 1966 What Algonquian is really like. International Journal of American Linguistics 1966: 59–73. 10.1086/464880
    https://doi.org/10.1086/464880 [Google Scholar]
  32. Höhn, George
    2014 Contextually conditioned allomorphy and the Basque locative: Spelling out the Basque extended nominal projection. Martin Kholberger, Kate Bellamy, Eleanor Dutton (eds), Proceedings of ConSOLE XXI 2013, 146–170. Leiden: Leiden University Center for Linguistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Ibarretxe-Antuñano, Iraide
    2001 An overview of Basque locational cases: Old descriptions, new approaches. International Computer Science Institute Technical ReportTR-01-006.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Joseph, Brian D.
    1979 On the animate-inanimate distinction in Cree. Anthropological Linguistics21. 351–354.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Junker, Marie-Odile & Louise Blacksmith
    2013 East Cree Nouns (Southern Dialect). [Revised from2000 original edition] InThe interactive East Cree reference grammar. Available athttps://www.eastcree.org/cree/en/grammar/southern-dialect/nouns/simulative/ (last access10 October 2020).
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Junker, Marie-Odile, Lucy Salt & Frances Visitor
    2013 East Cree nouns (Northern Dialect). [Revised from2002 original edition] InThe interactive East Cree reference grammar. Available athttps://www.eastcree.org/cree/en/grammar/northern-dialect/nouns/simulative/ (Last access10 October 2020).
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Kilarski, Marcin
    2007 Algonquian and Indo-European gender in a historiographic perspective. Historiographica34. 333–349. 10.1075/hl.34.2.06kil
    https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.34.2.06kil [Google Scholar]
  38. Lacombe, Albert
    1874Dictionnaire de la langue des Cris. Montréal: Beauchemin.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Lakoff, George
    1987Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 10.7208/chicago/9780226471013.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226471013.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  40. Mackay, John Alexander
    1904Otiki tetitimatot (The New Testament in Plains Cree; translated byWilliam Mason). London: British and Foreign Bible Society.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. MacKenzie, Marguerite
    1980 Towards a dialectology of Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi. Toronto: University of TorontoPh.D. dissertation.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Neeposh, Ella, Moar, Daisy, Salt, Ruth, Marguerite MacKenzie & Bill Jancewicz
    (eds.) 2012Eastern James Bay Cree dictionary (Southern Dialect). Chisasibi (Quebec): Cree School Board.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Okimâsis, Jean L.
    2004Cree, language of the Plains. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Quinn, Conor
    2001 A preliminary survey of animacy categories in Penobscot. InJohn D. Nichols (ed.), Papers of the Thirty-Second Algonquian Conference, 395–426. Winnipeg: Presses de l’Université du Manitoba.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Silver, Shirley, and Wick R. Miller
    1997American Indian languages: Cultural and social contexts. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Silverstein, Michael
    1976 Hierarchy of features and ergativity. InRobert M. W. Dixon (ed.), Grammatical categories in Australian languages, 112–171. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Straus, Anne T. & Robert Brightman
    1982 The implacable raspberry. Papers in Linguistics15. 97–137. 10.1080/08351818209370564
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351818209370564 [Google Scholar]
  48. Wheeler, Clinton Joliffe, & A. P. Buchner
    1975 Rock art: A metalinguistic interpretation of the Algonkian word for stone. InWilliam Cowan (ed.), Papers of the Sixth Algonquian Conference, 362–371. Ottawa: Canadian Ethnology ServicePaper No.23. 10.2307/j.ctv16x92.24
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16x92.24 [Google Scholar]
  49. Wolfart, H. Christoph
    1973Plains Cree: A grammatical study (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series, Vol.63, part 5). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. 1996 Sketch of Cree, an Algonquian language. InIves Goddard (ed.), Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 17: Languages, 364–439. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. 2020 Names and name formulae in literary Plains Cree. InMonica Macaulay & Margaret Noodin (eds.), Papers of the Forty-Ninth Algonquian Conference, 251–272. Buffalo: SUNY Press. 10.14321/j.ctvv417gp.19
    https://doi.org/10.14321/j.ctvv417gp.19 [Google Scholar]
  52. Wolfart, H. Christoph, and Janet F. Carroll
    1981 (2nd edn.) Meet Cree: A Guide to the Cree Language. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Wolvengrey, Arok
    2001nêhiyawêwin: itwêwina (Cree: Words). Regina, Saskatchewan: Canadian Plains Research Center. [Dictionary compiled byArok Wolvengrey. with the assistance of the Cree Editing Council.]
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Wolvengrey, Arok E.
    2011 Semantic and pragmatic functions in Plains Cree syntax. PhD Thesis. Utrecht: Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics 2011.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.20023.col
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.20023.col
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): animacy; gender; hierarchy; locomotion; Plains Cree; power
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error