Harp's Index

Still in a numbers vein, check this out: to my amazement, the number of verbs I counted in "The Blue Boat," a 20 page book about kids with hearing impairments, was over 35.

Thirty-five verbs! In other words, about the number I have learned to date. The intended reading level is about, oh, say, 5 years old, so don't I feel just a tad infantile.

You definitely need modesty for this line of learning.

Another number for you to chew on is the number of times 'they' say a word must be said before you'll 'own' it — 400! The powers that be also claim it must be said 20 times in 20 different contexts.

So you need to be a bit of a social butterfly, too.

ekosi,
Rick

Cree-verbal

Sometimes, for me, I need to have a quantitative picture of what's going on before I can feel like I am making reasonable progress.

Call it a trick of the mind if you want but it helps me to know the amount of learning I have achieved, by whatever measure works. In this case, I decided a while back to count the number of verbs I knew. Now, here, "knowledge" is a somewhat ambiguous description because there are times when I know them and times when I could not recall a Cree word to save my life.

Here's a partial list of what I now know as far as Nehiyawewin verbs, each of which have 8 conjugations (I, you, etc...) in 2 forms (independent and subjunctive) — which, in a way, means I know 16 times this amount of words:

dance
sing
live/reside in
sleep
speak Cree
speak English
learn
eat
go
play
cry
drink
walk
run
speak
float
write
read
smoke
sit
stand up
jump
laugh
go home
work
to be named
say
see something
see someone
understand s.o.
tired
hungry
cook

Thirty-four verbs. Multiply that by 16, you (technically) have 544 words. That's a lot in 5 months, I'd say. And I haven't really included the verbs I am still getting to know. And then there are the nouns.

Huh: maybe I ain't doing so bad after all.

ekosi,
Rick

A fellow "language geek"

I wrote kayâs (long ago) that I would mention sites here from time to time that appear to share the same goal of promoting indigenous languages. Something of a nerdy Nehiyaw myself, I can empathize with the name of the website Language Geek (run by Christopher Harvey).

I have come it across numerous times in my google searches, and as a link from other sites. In its own words: "This site is dedicated to the promotion of Native North American languages, especially in providing a means by which these can be used on the internet."

Harvey currently works for the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Indigenous Languages Institute, which "facilitates innovative, successful community-based initiatives for language revitalization through collaboration with other appropriate groups and organizations, and promotes public awareness of this crisis." Its links page looks promising too.

Now you know.

ekosi,
Rick

An urban Indian once more

So, somehow I have forgotten to mention that I am now living in town, as the saying goes.

The locals call it St. Paul (my friend Roberta jokingly calls it "Santo Paulo," which lets us feel like we're globe-trotters), but its Cree name is Mannawanis. It means something to the effect of 'egg-gathering place.'

This means I am now a mere 5 km away from the school, instead of about 30 km. It also means I have a few more places to see and do things when not studying Nehiyawewin. (Although, the absence of a Tim Horton's is somewhat bitterly noted.) Once again, I am staying with a Cree speaker, as well as a Cree learner who just joined the program this term. This is a bonus.

It feels good to be (relatively) urban again — as much as one can in a town of 5,000, anyway —even if it's something of a trade-off compared to the optimal experience of living and learning in a community where only the language is spoken. That said, such a situation is not widely available in nearby Saddle Lake First Nation: there, English is more/less its lingua franca, a whole other subject unto itself, one I'm not at all qualified to comment on.

ekosi,
Rick

My first week of 'morphing'

The other new class we took this week was Morphology. It may sound like some Gothic villian, but it's actually the study of the structure of words, and how words are formed.

Basically, it's breaking a word down into its constituent and functional parts. It's helping me remember words because it focuses on their elements or bits of meaning, not just their sounds/spelling. More reason, less rote.

Here's an example, as best as I can remember it. Take these two words:

pimipahtâw
(s/he runs)

pimohtew
(s/he walks)

Notice they both begin with the sound 'pim-', which, roughly translated, connotes movement. So, now, anytime I hear/see that 'pim-' at the start of a word, I'll already have some idea of what it could mean, subject to what follows in the rest of the word. Slick, eh?

It's going to get way more complicated and interesting than that obviously, and I am excited to pick up some of the subtleties and nuances of this language.

ekosi,
Rick

From ABC's to UJV's

The first week of the second term over, and it bodes well for the rest of my stint here.

One of our new classes this term is syllabics, and it's already heaps o' fun. Syllabics is a Cree-specific writing system, as distinct from the "standard roman orthography" (i.e., ABC's) writing system borrowed from English.

There's quite a story behind its origins, which are disputed. Some say a non-Aboriginal priest invented it, but others hotly dispute that, saying the writing system is actually a gift from the Creator that came to a Nehiyawnapew (Cree man) in a dream. Either story dates their emergence from sometime in the 1800's.

The above representation of them includes 'L' and 'R,' although strictly speaking, the dialect I am learning doesn't have those sounds.

I will blog more about the way it works in the coming weeks. I will say here though that it is better to use a system that is meant to carry Cree sounds than try to modify SRO (English) characters to do it. I believe it confuses Cree-S-L'ers, who find it difficult when a letter takes on a much different pronunciation from its English context.

For example, a Cree 'k' on paper (e.g., masinahikan, or book) is said more like the 'g' in the English words 'gun' or 'gaga.' But when people see the 'k' they tend to say what they know, i.e., that crisp 'k' sound.

It's hard to break that association, so it may be better to introduce an entirely new one. Cree symbols stand uniquely for Cree sounds in the learner's mind. And that might even make learning the language easier for some.

ekosi,
Rick

Craving Cree

Three weeks later, I am back in St. Paul, Alberta.

I have to say, I was not the diligent dude I set out to be. Life kind of just got in the way. But it appears the time off was beneficial in some unexpected ways.

Last term ended on a somewhat fatigued note, as a bunch of presentations came due in roughly the same 2-week time period. I returned to Winnipeg a bit fried.

While I gamely tried to pick up the books here and there, I guess I just tried to make the most of my 3 weeks at home instead.

Well, otakosihk (yesterday) nitotem Roberta and I decided we would try and say a dialogue we had learned in one of the immersion classes last term. It involved some classic 5W questions (i.e., who, what, where, when and why). I was reluctant to try because I thought I would forget most of it, but to my surprise, there the words were, ready to be spoken and understood. A pleasant surprise: geez, maybe dis Cree stuff is sinking in after all.

But what was most unexpected about being away from Nehiyawewin was how much I missed it. For the first time in a long time, I liked learning, and felt its absence. Yet, had I not left, I wonder if I would have appreciated it as much I now do. In this way, I had to leave it to see what it meant to me. Ain't that the way?

ekosi,
Rick

ps: nitotem Roberta challenged me to be blogging totally in Cree by the end of the school year. That was the plan, actually, but it too kind of slipped. And so I swear before all of you in cyberspace, I shall take up her challenge. Wapahki (tomorrow).