Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch

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Tori Neuman

ANTH 402

Pertinent Facts About Blackfoot • ISO 639-3: bla

• Speakers: ~ 4600

• Regions: South Alberta; Montana; Blackfoot, Piegan, and Blood Reserves

• Language Family: Algic – Algonquian - Plains

Pronunciation

Table 1: Blackfoot Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Stops: [-

vce]

p t k ‘

[+vce]

Fricatives s h

Affricates

Nasals: m n

Glides: w y

Table 2: Blackfoot Vowels (Pronunciation)

Front Central Back

High: i i o (before double

consonant)

Middle: a (before double

consonant)

o

Low: a

Blackfoot Diphthongs


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• Ai:

o Before double consonants

ɛ

o Before glottal stop

e : In general

aɪ: Northern Blackfoot reserve

o Other positions:

æ : Blood reserve

e: Blackfoot Reserve

• Ao

o In general: a, with more rounding of lips

o Before glottal stop: u

• Oi

o In general: ɔi:

o Before a long consonant: same as I

Pitch Accent System: Accent mark = prominence of a vowel, slightly higher pitch /

unmarked = less prominent, slightly lower pitch

ápssiwa “it’s an arrow” aohkííwa “it’s water’

apssíwa “it’s a fig” áóhkiwa “he’s barking”

Pronunciation Notes:

• It is difficult to tell the length of vowels at the ends of words. Whether they are

long or short is dependant on how they behave in front of suffixes, in situations

when it can be easily told

• p, t, and k are never aspirated

• The differences in pronunciation of a, i, and o before double consonants continues

even if there is an s between the vowel and the double consonants


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• Doubled vowels simply mean the vowel is held for twice as long – it denotes no

difference in pronunciation. Same for doubled consonants. All consonants

except h and ‘ occur distinctively long.

Orthography: Blackfoot has a distinct alphabet, containing non-Roman characters, in

which predictable variations are not indicated. For the sake of clarity, Blackfoot sounds

and spellings have been transliterated into their approximate English counterparts.

Phonology

A. Semivowel Loss

G ⇨ Ø / C_, where C ≠ ‘

Glides are nullified after nearly all consonants. Thus, when adding the animate,

singular suffix –wa or the inanimate suffix –yi to noun stems ending in consonants:

• óóhkotok + yi ⇨ óóhkotoki ‘rock’

• póós + wa ⇨ póósa ‘cat’

• ísska + wa ⇨ ísska ‘pail

Glides are not, however, nullified after ’. Observe:

• áwa’yiwa ‘she’s pointing’

• Káta’yimmiwaatsiksi ‘Did she laugh?’

• ipiaohpi’yi ‘fall forward with considerable momentum’

B. i-Absorption

i ⇨ Ø / s_V, where i is short and unaccented, and V ≠ i

i is nullfied when it occurs between an s and a vowel which is not also an i. This can

be seen especially in verb stems ending in -si in the inclusive, first person, plural, which

has the ending –o’pa:

• á [durative] + oska’si [run] + o’pa [1st person, plural, inclusive]

⇨ áska’so’pa ‘we (inclusive) run’


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C. Vowel Shortening

Vi: ⇨ Vi / _+V, where + indicates a morpheme follows boundary

Long vowels in Blackfoot are signified simply by writing the vowel twice, as in

áakookaawa ‘he will rope’. When a long vowel occurs at the end of a morpheme, to be

followed by another morpheme which begins with a vowel, that vowel will become

shortened.

This can be seen in the formation of noun plurals, as:

• ísska ‘pail’ ⇨ ísskaiksi ‘pails’

• í’ksisakoyi ‘meat’ ⇨ í’ksisakoitsi ‘meats’

• nínaawa ‘man’ ⇨ nínaiksi ‘men’

• aohkííyi ‘water’ ⇨ aohkíístsi ‘waters’

Morphology

A. Nouns

Important Concepts in Blackfoot Nouns

• Grammatical Gender: In Blackfoot, nouns are divided by gender not on a scale

of masculine and feminine, but on one of animate and inanimate. Just as in the

more commonly known examples of gender in languages such as French, a

noun’s gender only occasionally depends on its actual properties. Many nouns

which are animate in Blackfoot would not be considered animate objects by most,

such as ísska, ‘pail’. The endings for animate and inanimate nouns are almost

always different.

• Particularity: Nouns are also categorized into particular and non-referring. If

discussing a particular noun, a speaker is referring to a specific thing or group of

things. If discussing a non-referring noun, a speaker is being very general about a

type of thing – even number is flexible here.

• Major vs. Minor Third Person: When two or more animate nouns occur in the

same sentence, one of them is classified as major third person, while the others


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are relegated to minor third person. This decision is made by the speaker on the

grounds of what he or she wishes to emphasize in the sentence.

Noun Endings

Non-particular -i

Animate Inanimate

3 (Major 3p) 4 (Minor 3p) Singular

-wa -yi -yi

Particular

Plural -iksi -iksi -itsi

N.B. Some nouns insert an –m, -n, or –s in front of specific noun endings, especially the

plural, making such seemingly new endings as –mi, and –na.

B. Verbs

Important Concepts in Blackfoot Verbs:

• Inclusivity: The first person plural has two forms in Blackfoot. The first is the

inclusive, that which refers to a “we” that involves at least the speaker and the

addressee, with the potential for others to also be included. The exclusive “we”

specifically refers to the speaker and at least one one person who is not the

addressee.

• Predicates: Predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives in Blackfoot are not

separate adjectival words, but rather verbs in and of themselves (for example,

nitsspítaa means “I’m tall”).

• Aspect: How continual an action is. Durative aspect refers to continual action,

while perfective action refers to completed action.

Person Markers

• First person, singular: nit- (prefix)

o nitáakahkayi ‘I’m going home’

nit [1st person, singular] + áakahka [go home] + yi [minor 3rd

person, singular]


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o nitsíítsiniki ‘I related (a story)’

nit [1st person, singular] + s [s-insertion] + ii [past tense] + itsiniki

[relate]

• Second person, singular: kit- (prefix)

o kitáakahkayi ‘You are going home’

kit [2nd person, singular] + áakahka [go home] + yi [m3rd person,

singular]

o kitsíítsiniki ‘You related (a story)’

kit [2nd person, singular] + s [s-insertion] + ii [past tense] + itsiniki

[relate]

• Third person, singular, major: -wa (suffix)

o íítsinikiwa ‘He related (a story)’

íí [past tense] + itsiniki [relate] + wa [M3rd person, singular]

• Third person, singular, minor: -yini (suffix)

o áakahkayiyini ‘He is going home’

áakahka [go home] + yi [m3rd person, singular] + yini [m3rd

person, singular]

o íítsinikiyini ‘He related (a story)’

íí [past tense] + itsiniki [relate] + yini [m3rd person, singular]

N.B. The sound combination –ti is not allowed in Blackfoot, so for the first and second

person, singular of verbs whose stem begins with –i, an s is inserted between the –t and

the –i, (as in the case of nitsíítsiniki and kitsíítsiniki).

Plurality

• First person, plural, exclusive: -hpinnaana (suffix)

o nitáóoyi ‘I’m eating’

nit [1st person, singular] + áóoyi [eat]

o nitáóoyihpinnaana ‘We (exclusive) are eating’

nit [1st person] + áóoyi [eat] + hpinnaana [plural - we (exclusive)]

• First person, plural, inclusive: -o’pa, deletion of nit- prefix

o nitáóoyi ‘I’m eating’


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nit [1st person, singular] + áóoyi [eat]

o áóoy’opa ‘We (inclusive) are eating’

áóoyi [eat] + opa [we (inclusive)]

• Second person, plural: -hpoaawa

o kitáóoyi ‘You (s) are eating’

kit [2nd person, singular] + áóoyi [eat]

o kitáóoyihpoaawa ‘You (pl) are eating’

kit [2nd person] + áóoyi [eat] + hpoaawa [plural]

• Third person, plural, major & minor –yaawa or -yi

o áóoyiwa ‘He is eating’

áóoyi [eat] +

o áóoyiyaawa ‘They are eating’

áóoyi [eat] + yaawa [3rd person plural, major]

N.B. In the case of the first person, plural, inclusive ending, the –i disappears due to a

pronunciation rule about –i being deleted between a vowel, then a y and another vowel

which is not i.

Tense

• Future tense: yaak- (prefix)

o nitáakitsiniki ‘I will tell a story’

nit [1st person] + yaak [future] + itsiniki [noun stem]

o kitaaksipii ‘You will enter’

kit [2nd person], yaak [future], ipii [enter]

• Imminent future: áyaak- (prefix)

o nitayaakihpiyi ‘I’m about to dance’

nit [1st person], ayaak [imminent future], ihpiyi [dance]

• Past tense: In Blackfoot, there are several different ways of forming the past

tense. Most verbs can be made past tense using more than one of these:

1. Absence of both the future tense and durative aspect markers, often combined

with the placement of accent on a syllable not otherwise accented.


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2. Replacement of a stem-initial vowel by ii, or addition of ii before a stem-

initial consonant

3. When stem is word-initial: for some stems beginning with sV or ICV,

replacement of initial sequence with sayV or CayV, respectively This is

called initial change

4. When stem is word initial: addition of the prefix ná. (Blackfoot Reserve

dialect only.)

Examples:

A. okska’si – run

a. nitókska’si [1] – I ran

i. Nit [1st person, singular] + okska’si [stem] + added

accent to ó.

b. ííkska’siwa [2] – He ran

i. íí [past tense marker] + okska’si [stem] – o [stem-initial

vowel] + wa [3rd person, singular, major, animate]

B. ipottaa – fly

a. ipóttaawa [1] – he flew

i. ipottaa [stem] + accent on the ó + wa [3rd person,

singular, major, animate]

b. payóttaawa [3] – she flew

i. ..ay.. [past tense marker] – i [stem-initial vowel] +

pottaa [verb stem] + wa [3rd person, singular, major,

animate]

c. náípottaawa [4] – he flew

i. ná [past tense marker] + ipottaa [stem] + wa [3rd

person, singular, major, animate]

Aspect

• Durative: á- (prefix)

o áyimmiyaawa ‘They are laughing’

á [durative], yimmi [laugh], yaawa [3rd person, plural]

• Perfective: ákaa- or -ikaa (prefix)


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o nikáó’toohpinnaan ‘We have arrived’

n [1st person], ikaa [perfective], o’too [arrive], hpinnaan [1st

person, plural]

Attached Pronouns

• If a noun serving as the subject does not immediately follow a verb in a sentence,

an appropriate pronoun will almost always be added to the end of the verb.

• When there is no other third person noun in the immediate context, the general

pronoun –aawa is used. When there is another such noun present however, a

distinct third person (DTP) pronoun must be used.

Distinct Third Person Pronouns

Singular Animate Plural Inanimate Plural

- áyi -aiksi -aitsi

Examples:

A. Nohkóiksi ííksspitaayaawa – My sons are tall.

ííksspitaa [verb stem] + yi [3rd person, plural] + aawa

[non-DTP]

B. Nohkówa áakohpommatoomáyi – My son will buy it

[y]aak [future tense] + ohpommatoo [verb stem] + m

[theme (not discussed yet)] + wa [3rd, singular] + áyi

[singular, DTP]

C. Otsáápioyiistsi ksikksináttsiyaitsi – His houses are white

ksikksinattsi [verb stem] + yi [3rd, plural] + aitsi [plural,

inanimate, DTP]

Four Verb Stem Types

• Blackfoot verbs are divided along two major divides: transitive/intransitive

and animate/inanimate (objects, that is).

• Consequently the four verb types are:

Animate Inanimate


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Intransitive AI II

Transitive TA TI

• N.B. In the dictionary, these are labeled as vai, vii, vta, and vti

• Intransitive verbs (AI, II) take affixes that agree with their subjects

• Transitive verbs (TA, TI) take affixes that agree with both their subjects and

objects.

Examples:

A. Niistówa, nitohpómmatoohpa amoyi náápioyisi.

• “I bought this house”

B. Kiistówa, kitohpómmatoohpa amoyi náápioyisi.

• “You bought this house”

C. Niistówa, nitohpómmatoohpi amostsi náápioyiistsi.

• “I bought these houses.”

D. Kiistówa, kitohpómmatoohpi amostsi náápioyiistsi.

• “You bought these houses.”

Syntax*

Negation

• Negation prefix has five distinct forms, occurring in complementary distribution

1. máát / imát: Used in verbs of independent clauses, if no prefix other than a

person prefix precedes it in the verb

máátomáyo’kaawaiksaawa – They aren’t asleep yet

• máát [negation] + omá [yet] + yo’kaa [sleep] + waiksaawa

[3rd person (non-affirmative)]

* My research shows that Blackfoot word order is very much disputed, as is the existence of the passive voice, so I was forced to focus on less central issues for this portion of my project.


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2. kátá’/ ikátá’: Used in verbs of the irrealis paradigm (in contrary to fact

clauses), if no prefix other than a person prefix precedes it in the verb

Nikátáí’naayihtopi – Were I not a chef

• n [1st person] + ikátá [negation] + inaa [chief] + yi [be] +

htopi [unreal]

3. miin / piin: Used in imperative form if not preceded by any other prefixes

Miinasáí’nit – Don’t cry!

• miin [negation] + wasai’ni [cry] + t [2nd singular

imperative]

4. sta’: Used only when proceded by the non-factive prefixes ááhk and ‘ak

Nítssíímo, kááksstai’sakssi – I forbid you to go out

• Nítssíímo [I forbid] + k [2nd person] + áák [might] + sta’

[negation] + saksi [exit] + his [conjunction]

5. say / saw / sa: Occurs in all other environments

Aakssayinakowa – It will be invisible

• yáak [future] + say [negation] + inako [visible] + wa

[3rdperson, singular]

Simple Questions

• When asking a simple (yes/no) question in Blackfoot, non-affirmative endings are

generally employed.

• If the subject or primary object of the verb is third person, then one of the

following is used according to the gender and number of the subject or object:

1. waatsiksi (animate/inanimate singular), waistsaawa (inanimate plural)

and waiksaawa (animate plural)

2. In addition to these endings, the final vowel of the verb stem is also

accented

i. áooyo’siwaatsiksi – Is she cooking?

1. á [durative] + ooyo’si [cook – AI] + waatsiksi [3rd singular,

non-affirmative]


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• If neither the subject nor primary object is in the third person, the following

occur:

1. hpa is added if plural suffixes are not called for

2. An additional accent is placed on the penultimate syllable.

3. The final vowel of the word is voiced

ii. kitsik’akomimmokihpa – Do you (2nd singular) love me?

1. kit [2nd person, singular] + ikakomimm [love] + ok

[inversion] + hpa (non-affirmative)

Phonology Problem Set

Consider the following data set of animate and inanimate plural nouns:

A. kakkóówa ‘pigeon’ kakkóíksi ‘pigeons’

B. imitááwa ‘dog’ imitáíksi ‘dogs’

C. ponokáómitaawa ‘horse’ ponokáómitaiksi ‘horses’

D. mamííwa ‘fish’ mamííksi ‘fish (pl)’

E. aakííwa ‘woman’ aakííksi ‘women’

F. inííwa ‘buffalo’ inííksi ‘buffalo (pl)’

1. While the long vowels of examples A,B, and C are truncated when pluralized,

those of examples D, E, and F appear to remain unchanged in their plural form.

Why is this not the case?

a. The second –i indicating a long vowel is the –i from the –iksi or –itsi

ending, not the original –i from the singular word. Thus, the plural only

appears to remain unchanged; in reality, the final vowel is shortened, and

an ending applied.

2. What bearing does the position of the accent on the singular word have on the

formation of its plural?

a. Whichever syllable is accented in the singular word also becomes

accented in the plural word. If the initial accent is present on the final


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long vowel in the singular form, the initial –i in the ending for the plural

form shall also become accented.

3. Keeping this in mind, how would you form plurals for the following words:

A. kaanaisskiinaa ‘mouse’ kaanaisskiinaiksi ‘mice’

B. pi'ksíí ‘bird’ pi’ksííksi ‘birds’

C. naamóó ‘bee’ naamóíksi ‘bees

D. mamíí ‘fish’ mamíítsi ‘fishí

Morphology Problem Set I

Consider the following Blackfoot words:

A. imitááwa ‘dog’

B. aakííwa ‘woman’

C. á’pistotookwa ‘Creator

D. áyimmiwa ‘he is laughing’

E. áóoyiwa ‘she is eating’

F. soká’piwa ‘it is good’

1. All of the words above consist of the word stem and the affix –wa. What parts of

speech are included? Is there a common factor shared between them?

a. The –wa affix can be attached to either verbs or nouns in Blackfoot. All of

the verbs are major third person, and all of the nouns are animate. This is

because major third person can only be applied with animate nouns, so

verbs in the major third person have to have an animate noun affix.

2. What do your conclusions tell you about Blackfoot as a whole?

a. The idea of parts of speech is less certain in Blackfoot than it is in most

languages. Over-arching language ideas like animacy carry over parts of

speech and supercede them in importance. This also shows the

significance in the Blackfoot language placed on agreement, that it would

apply the same ending to a noun and a verb to make them agree.


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3. The complementary affix –yi also occurs on both nouns and verbs. Are its

environments ruled similarly?

a. No; interestingly enough, the –yi noun ending occurs on minor 3rd person

and inanimate nouns in the singular and on 3rd person plural verbs, so

they cannot agree.

Morphology Problem Set II

1. Which method of forming the past tense has been utilized with the following

verbs?

a) náyáapiwa – he saw (stem = yáapi)

1. Method 1 (absence of tense marks + moved accent)

b) nitííssto’si – I had a cold (stem = ssto’si)

1. Method 2 (addition of ii before stem-initial consonant)

c) kitóksisawoo - you visited (stem = oksisawoo)

1. Method 1

d) sayimwa – he stabbed (stem = sim)

1. Method 3 (replacement of initial sV sequence with sayV)

e) nitiiniitsii – I was truthful (stem = niitsii)

1. Method 2

f) náíkinakiwa – he had legs (stem = ikinaki)

1. Method 4 (addition of the prefix ná)

2. Which category (AI, II, TA, TI) would the following verbs fall into? (Assuming

hypothetically that Blackfoot grammatical gender follows actual properties of the

nouns, which it doesn’t).

a. ippataa – be bashful

i. AI (animate intransitive)

b. satsistoto – attempt to distract

i. TA (animate, transitive)

c. aawoyihitsi – be misaligned


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i. II (inanimate, intransitive)

d. niisitoyi – be five

i. AI (animate, intransitive)

e. otoi’tsikatoo – tend to

i. TI (inanimate, transitive)

f. a’pii – be in a specified way

i. II (inanimate, intransitive)

Syntax Problem Set I

2. Using the Blackfoot negation conventions outlined earlier, make the following

sentences negative:

A. nitáaooyihpa – I am eating

a. nimáátooyihpa

B. yo’kaawahtopiyaawa – If I were asleep

a. kátá’yo’kaawahtopiyaawa

C. ohkotkit – Give it to me!

a. miinohkotkit

D. kitsííksstato kisstai’pottaahsi – I want you to fly (only negate the second

word)

a. kitsííksstato kááhksstai’pottaahsi

E. áakswahkayiwaatsiksi – will she not go home?

a. áakssawahkayiwaatsiksi

2. Identify which type of Blackfoot negation would be utilized in each of these

sentences

A. Would that I had not gone to the lake!

a. kátá’/Ikátá

B. We will not shoot the buffalo.

a. say/saw/sa

C. He is not my brother.


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a. máát/imáat

D. Don’t eat that!

a. miin/piin

E. He might not be the real chief.

a. say/saw/sa

F. This village is not safe.

a. máát/imáat

G. Do not ask me why.

a. miin/piin

H. If you were not my wife…

a. kátá/Ikátá

I. He had not been forbidding us to do so.

a. sta’

Syntax Problem Set II

Consider the following simple Blackfoot questions:

A. Áyo’kááwaiksaawa?

B. Kitáaksstsisoohpoááwa?

C. Kátao’kska’síwaatsiksi?

D. Kikáta’yáakohkottsspommóóhpa?

E. Kátai’sootááwaatsiksi

1. Identify the person, number, and gender for each of the verbs.

A. 3rd person, plural, animate (Are they sleeping?)

B. 2nd person, plural, inanimate (Are you (plural) going to town?)

C. 3rd person, singular, animate (Did he run?)

D. 2nd person, singular, animate (Will you work?)

E. 3rd person, singular, inanimate (Is it raining?)

2. Are any of these forms ambiguous?


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a. Yes – the ending for B could refer to either an animate or inanimate object.

Without knowing the meaning, a clear determination cannot be made.

Documents

Blackfoot Grammar Sketch