Fox language

Fox (known by a variety of different names, including Mesquakie (Meskwaki), Mesquakie-Sauk, Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo, Sauk-Fox, and Sac and Fox) is an Algonquian language, spoken by a thousand Meskwaki, Sauk, and Kickapoo in various locations in the Midwestern United States and in northern Mexico.

Dialects

The three distinct dialects are: Fox or (Meskwaki language) (also called Mesquakie, Meskwaki) Sauk or (Thâkîwaki language) (also rendered Sac), and Kickapoo or Kiikaapoa (also rendered ; considered by some to be a closely related but distinct language).

If Kickapoo is counted as a separate language rather than a dialect of Fox, then only between 200 and 300 speakers of Fox remain. Extinct Mascouten was most likely another dialect, though it is scarcely attested.

Revitalization Most speakers are elderly or middle-aged, making it highly endangered. The tribal school at the Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa incorporates bilingual education for children. In 2011, the Meskwaki Sewing Project was created, to bring mothers and girls together "with elder women in the Meskwaki Senior Center sewing traditional clothing and learning the Meskwaki language."

Prominent scholars doing research on the language include Ives Goddard, Lucy Thomason of the Smithsonian Institution, and Amy Dahlstrom of the University of Chicago.

Phonology Until the early 1900s, Fox was a phonologically very conservative language and preserved many features of Proto-Algonquian; records from the decades immediately following 1900 are particularly useful to Algonquianists for this reason. By the 1960s, however, an extensive progression of phonological changes had taken place, resulting in the loss of intervocalic semivowels and certain other features.

Consonants The consonant phonemes of Fox are given in the table below. Labial Alveolar Postalveolar or palatal Velar GlottalNasalPlosiveplainpreaspiratedFricativeApproximant

Other than those involving a consonant plus or , the only possible consonant cluster is .

Vowels The Fox language has eight vowel phonemes: FrontBackHigh Low

Grammar According to A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language by Gordon Whittaker, the language's nouns can be divided into animate and inanimate groups. Animate nouns end in -a (ex: tîtîwa /ˈti:.ti:.wa/, "blue jay (bird)"). To pluralise most animate nouns, the ending is transformed from -a to -aki (ex: tîtîwa -> tîtîwaki). The few exceptions that exist have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.

Inanimate nouns typically end in -i (ex: mâtethi /ˈma:.tet.hi/, "knife"). To pluralise most inanimate nouns, the ending is transformed from -i to -ani (ex: mâtethi -> mâtethani). Like the animate nouns, the few exceptions that exist also have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.

Verbs can be divided into transitive and intransitive; transitive involves two parties (i.e "I give it to you!" / "Kemînêwene!"), while intransitive is one party (i.e "You're alive." / "Kepemâtethi.") +Animate intransitive (using "pemâtethiwa" as an example)SubjectVerb (Sauk)Translationne(t)- (I/me)nepemâtethiI am aliveke(t)- (you)kepemâtethiyou are alive -wa (s/he)pemâtethiwas/he is alivene(t)- ... -pena (we [exclusive])nepemâtethipenawe (exclusive; think "We, but not YOU.") are aliveke(t)- ... -pena (we [inclusive])kepemâtethipenawe (inclusive; think "We and you.") are aliveke(t)- ... -pwa (you [plural])kepemâtethipwayou (plural) are alive; you all are alive -waki (they)pemâtethiwakithey are alive +Inanimate intransitive (using "kehkyâhiwa" as an example)SubjectVerb (Sauk)Translation -wi (it)kehkyêwiit is old -wani (they [inanimate])kehkyâhiwanithey (inanim.) are old +Animate transitive (using "ahkawâpatamwa" as an example)SubjectVerb (Sauk)Translationke(t)- ... -ene (I -> you)netahkawâpateneI take care of you (ahkawâpatamwa can also mean to watch out [for] / look out [for])ke(t)- ... -enepwa (I -> you [plural])netahkawâpatenepwaI take care of you (plural); I take care of you allne(t)- ... -âwa (I -> him/her)netahkawâpatâwaI take care of him/her ne(t)- ... -âwaki (I -> them)netahkawâpatâwakiI take care of themke(t)- ... -i (you -> me)ketahkawâpatiyou take care of meke(t)- ... -âwa (you -> him/her)ketahkawâpatâwayou take care of him/herke(t)- ... -ipena (you -> us)ketahkawâpatipenayou take care of uske(t)- ... -enepena (we -> you)ketahkawâpatenepenawe take care of youne(t)- ... -ekwa (s/he -> me)netahkawâpatekwas/he takes care of meke(t)- ... -ekwa (s/he -> you)ketahkawâpatekwas/he takes care of you -êwa (s/he -> him/her/them)ahkawâpatêwas/he takes care of him/her/themne(t)- ... -ekonâna (s/he -> us [exc.])netahkawâpatekonânas/he takes care of us (exc.)ke(t)- ... -ekonâna (s/he -> us [inc.])ketahkawâpatekonânas/he takes care of us (inc.)ke(t)- ... -ekowâwa (s/he -> you [plural])ketahkawâpatekowâwas/he takes care of you (plural); s/he takes care of you allne(t)- ... -âpena (we [exc.] -> him/her/them)netahkawâpatâpenawe (exc.) take care of him/her/themke(t)- ... -âpena (we [inc.] -> him/her/them)ketahkawâpatâpenawe (inc.) take care of him/her/themke(t)- ... -ipwa (you [plural] -> me)ketahkawâpatipwayou (plural) take care of me; you all take care of meke(t)- ... -âpwa (you [plural] -> him/her/them)ketahkawâpatâpwayou (plural) take care of him/her/them; you all take care of him/her/themne(t)- ... -ekôki (they -> me)netahkawâpatekôkithey take care of meke(t)- ... -ekôki (they -> you)ketahkawâpatekôkithey take care of you -êwaki (they -> him/her/them)ahkawâpatêwakithey take care of him/her/themne(t)- ... -ekonânaki (they -> us [exc.])netahkawâpatekonânakithey take care of us (exc.)ke(t)- ... -ekonânaki (they -> us [inc.])ketahkawâpatekonânakithey take care of us (inc.)ke(t)- ... -ekowâwaki (they -> you [plural])ketahkawâpatekowâwakithey take care of you (plural); they take care of you all +Inanimate transitive (using "ahkawâpatamwa" as an example)SubjectVerb (Sauk)Translationne(t)- ... -a (I -> it/them)netahkawâpataI take care of it/them (ahkawâpatamwa can also mean to watch out [for] / look out [for])ke(t)- ... -a (You -> it/them)ketahkawâpataYou take care of it/them -amwa (S/He -> it/them)ahkawâpatamwaS/He takes care of it/themne(t)- ... -âpena (We [exc.] -> it/them)netahkawâpatâpenaWe (exc.) take care of it/them ke(t)- ... -âpena (We [inc.] -> it/them)ketahkawâpatâpenaWe (inc.) take care of it/themke(t)- ... -âpwa (You [plural] -> it/them)ketahkawâpatâpwaYou [plural] take care of it/them -âmoki (They -> it/them)ahkawâpatamwâmokiThey take care of it/them This conjugation is only for verbs that end in -amwa; all other animate transitive verbs take the same conjugation as the animate intransitive verbs.

Vocabulary Sauk numerals are as follows: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten

Writing systems

Besides the Latin script, Fox has been written in two indigenous scripts.

Fox I

"Fox I" is an abugida based on the cursive French alphabet (see Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics). Consonants written by themselves are understood to be syllables containing the vowel . They are:

+ Syllable 𝓁 𝓉 𝓈 𝒸𝓁 𝓉𝓉 ℐ 𝓌 𝓂 𝓃 𝒦 𝛿

Vowels are written by adding dots to the consonant:

𝓁 𝓁. 𝓁· 𝓁..

Fox II

"Fox II" is a consonant–vowel alphabet. According to Coulmas, is not written (as is not written in Fox I). Vowels (or plus a vowel) are written as cross-hatched tally marks.

+ Consonants (approximately) + 𝒞 ⵕ 𝒾 ñ ═ ƧƧ 𐌎 ⵌ 𝒞ʼ Ƨ𝒞

+ Vowels (approximately) x ʜ ⱶʜ ʜʜ

Fox language

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