Michif Discontinuous DP elements

Kathleen StraderUniversity of Manitoba

October 18, 2013straderk@myumanitoba.ca45th Algonquian conference

Background Mixed language of Cree and French

spoken in Manitoba, Saskatchewan Montana and North Dakota

Origins: intermarriage of French fur traders and Cree/Ojibwa women

Comprised of Cree VPs and French DPs meets the criteria for a non

configurational language: › null anaphora, › flexible word order› discontinuous elements

Statement of Problem

Does Michif have discontinuous elements and how do they compare to Cree?

Data Source:› Laverdure, P., & R. I. Allard, I. (1983). The

Michif dictionary: Turtle Mountain Chippewa Cree (J. C. Crawford, Ed.) Winnipeg: Pemmican Publicatons Inc.

Ogranisation of Talk

Dislocation vs Discontinuous Michif Determiner Phrase Quantifiers Numerals Demonstratives Discussion Conclusion

Dislocation French Right dislocation(1) Il est d’hors , le chien3.S.M is outside, the dog‘The dog is out side’ Lit : it is outside, the dog

Potentially occurs in Michif

(2) il a bon apichee pour lee seukrazh 3.M.S has good appetite for DET.P sweets

li ptsi garsoon DET.S.M little.M.S boy,

‘the boy has a good appetite for sweets. ‘(Laverdure & Allard, p. 24)

Michif DP Word Order Word order in the DP is fixed

DEMCR- Quantifier/NumBoth - DET/POSS.PN - ADJ - Noun - ADJ –

DEMCR

DP Examples

(3) Yaenk payyek aen norawzh d-awayim-ow

Only one INDEF.M.S orange 1-want.TA1-3

‘I want only one orange’ (Bakker,1997) (Laverdure & Allarde, 1983)

(4) Ookounik li mood kaw-natoun-a-k-ikDEM.DIS.P.AN DET.P people REL-look.for.TA-DIR-1/3CJ-3P.CJ

Those are the people I was looking for.(Laverdure & Allard, 1983, p. 332)

QuantifiersContinuous example(5) Apisheesh li paen d-awaym-ow Small DEF.S.M bread 1-have.need-TA.1-3 I need a piece of bread (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

Quantifiers can be discontinuous

Discontinuous Examples: Imperative (6) awtiht menish-a lee brawnsh daw li some cut.off.TI-IMP.2 DEF.P branch Loc DEF.S. zawbr ouschi tree from ‘Lop off some of the branches from the tree’

Example: Negative(7) kawya mishtahi ashtaw li

sel neg much put.TI.IMP.2 DEF.S.M salt‘Don't put in much salt’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

Transitive(8)li pwesonyeen mischayt DEF.S.M fisherman many kee-kawschitin-ayw lee pwesoon pst-caught.TA- 3-3’ DEF.P fish ‘The fisherman caught many fish’(Laverdure &

Allard, 1983)

Cree Example(12) Kahkinaw kî-nipahêw

pinêsîsa all he-killed-them birds ‘he killed all the birds’ (Reinholtz, 1999)

Comparatives/SuperlativesContinuous Example(13) Kiyawpit nawut li paen chi-ayaw-wa-yuhk

pour Yet.more more DEF.S.M bread FUT-have.TA –CJ.21-3 For

lee enfants DEF.P children

‘We need more bread for the children’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

Discontinuous Example(15) apisheesh nawat gee-miyikaw-i-n larzhawn

niya little by.comparison 1.PST-give.TA-X-1 DEF.money 1.S ‘I got the least money‘ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

 

NumeralsContinuous Example(17) Si lee sueur d-ayaww-aw-wuk

Six DEF.P sister 1-have.TA-1-3P

‘I have six sisters.’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

Numerals can be discontinuous

Discontinuous Example(19) Naef d-ayaw-n lee bol Nine 1.S-have.TI.-0 DEF.P bowls ‘I have nine bowls’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

Discontinuous Cree Example

(20) Nisto kî-kwâskohtiwak arîkisak Three 3-PERF-jump.P frog.P ‘three frogs jumped’ (Reinholtz, 1999)

Demonstratives Cree Demonstratives can be discontinuous

Cree Example:(21) Awa kî-kâhcitinêw nâpêw

okimotiskwa This 3.perf-catch.dir.3 man thief.obv

‘This man caught the thief’ (Reinholtz, 1999)

Michif Demonstratives cannot discontinuous from other DP elements (Rosen, 2003)

Discontinuity Michif VS Cree

Michif Cree

Demonstratives cannot be discontinuous

Demonstratives are discontinuous

Numerals and Quantifiers are discontinuous

Numerals and Quantifiers are discontinuous

Problematic Data

(20) mawchi nama-tay-wuk lee tramp, lee hobos many neg-be.AI-3P DEF.P tramps, DEF.P hobos

‘there aren’t very many old time tramps.’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

 (21) Nawut mischet kiya kit-ayaw-n lee

vote by.comparison more 2.S 2.S-have.TI.-0 DEF.P

votes

‘You got the most votes’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

Discussion

(22) la poul dooz ku-htashi-yi-w DEF.SG.FEM hen 12 PST-be.so.many.AI-

3’

sa pchit bawnd di poulay POSS.F.S small brood of.the chickens

‘the hen had a brood of twelve chicks’ (Laverdure & Allard, 1983)

lit: the hen’s brood of chickens were twelve

Conclusion

Does Michif have discontinuous elements ?

Adverbs Preverbal elements Focus mechanism

Works CitedBakker, P. (1997). A language of our own : The genesis of Michif, the

mixed Cree-French language of the Canadian Métis. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press.

Laverdure, P., & I.R. Allard. (1983). The Michif dictionary: Turtle Mountain Chippewa Cree (J. C. Crawford, Ed.) Winnipeg: Pemmican Publicatons Inc.

Reinholtz, Charlotte. (1999). On the Characterization of Discontinuous constituents: evidence from Swampy Cree. International Jounral of American Linguistics 65 (2): 201-207.

Rhodes, R.A. (1977). French Cree—a case of borrowing. In W. Cowan (Ed.), Papers of the 8th Algonquian conference. 8-25. Ottawa: Carleton University.

Rosen, Nicole. (2003). Demonstrative Position in Michif. the Canadian Journal of Linguistics 48 (1/2):39-69.