A quick overview of some of the basics of the Blackfoot language spoken in Southern Alberta and Northern Montana. This tutorial covers the sounds of Blackfoot, and some very basic grammar.
Thank you for making this, none of my living family speaks any of our native languages and I have always wanted to learn so that I can teach my future children so it doesn’t get lost with time ❤️ Cylie, Ontario, Algonquin and Blackfoot
My late maternal grandmother was from Siksika in Alberta. Thank you so much for this video it is a beautiful language and I have the privilege of studying it for a linguistics class and my soul. :) Cree here in Sask
That's right. This varies a little bit between the dialects with some areas pronouncing -wa and -yi more frequently than others, but in a lot of cases, they do (mostly) get dropped.
There are a few pronunciation differences. If memory serves, in Montana Blackfeet pronunciation 'potato' is pátaaki whereas in Kainai, it's mátaaki. The Blackfeet might also have slightly different vowel sounds. But, overall, speakers of the different dialects can understand each other quite well.
@@traceyvivar8617 I don't know a lot about the Montana Blackfeet language specifically, but a lot of what is found in Donald Frantz' grammar should be applicable. Between that and speaking with local Elders will be your best shot, most likely.
Very helpful! My Grammy was very proud of her heritage but only knew she was of Blackfoot decent., she did not speak the language. I want to learn as much as I can in her honour and keep the culture alive. I have been learning as much as I can about Blackfoot. I find this very helpful, I also have the learn Blackfoot app.
That would be one way to indicate long vowels, for sure. The Blackfoot writing system doesn't have a macron in it, and the accents are used to indicate pitch accent rather than length. When the writing system was invented in the 1980s, Don Frantz decided to use double letters to indicate length instead of diacritics, because he believed it would be the simplest way to code length, thus, hopefully, making it easier for people to learn and use.
@@makaibey8146 I don't know a whole lot on the Blackfeet in Montana, so I don't want to give you incorrect information on that variety specifically. This paper is from a researcher at the University of Montana and references the original work by Donald Frantz in the 70s on creating the standardized writing system: lingpapers.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2018/02/2009_Miyashita_Chatsis.pdf
@@JWW_Woodworks ooh Ok thanks also with the plural endings do you think you can do a in depth guide on the pronunciation. Like ists I can't really get that down verbally
@@makaibey8146 great idea for a future video! Think of it this way: say the word 'beasts' slowly making sure you get that good pronunciation of the at the end. Drop the and you get the Blackfoot inanimate plural ending. The same goes for the animate plural ending, it's the same as 'beaks' if you drop the initial . It takes some practice to put that onto the end of Blackfoot words, and it seems strange from an English-speaking point of view, but we do have those sound combinations in English too, or at least pretty close to them.
My grandmother cut off all connections to our history. Wouldn't even allow my mother to see her grandmother who wanted to keep the language going. My grandmother new everything but wanted to cut it off so here i am trying to learn our language from a stranger because my granny is selfish
I wonder how a similar video could be done with blackfoot syllabics? For ex with iinana why is there an a at the end when it's not pronounced? Could iinana be ᖱᐟᖻᐡ iinan?
I'm not an expert in syllables, though I'd love to see that video! I imagine that the extra at the end is the same reason it is written using the Latin script with it--in linguistics, we call it reference tracking, and it contrasts with -(y)I. For example, if you were talking about 'money' inaan, it would be inaana, but 'my father's money' would be ninna inaani. So, the final vowel, even if not normally pronounced, is important.
@Дмитрий С I don't know a whole lot about how the Amskapi Piikani dialect (which, I believe, is where Schulz did research) diverges from the others here in Canada, but having a -yi ending on 'hello' makes a certain amount of sense. In modern Blackfoot though (among the dialects I'm familiar with), everyone just says Oki.