Michif language Totally Explained

Everything about Michif totally explained

Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is the language of the Métis people of Canada and the northern United States, who are the descendants of First Nations women (mainly Cree, Nakota and Ojibwe) and fur trade workers of European ancestry (mainly French Canadians and Scotch Irish). Nowadays; Michif is spoken in scattered Métis communities in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and in North Dakota (there are some 230 speakers of Mitchif in the United States [downfrom 390 at the 1990 census [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=crg]], 178 of whom live in North Dakota, particularly the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation (External Link

)). Michif emerged over two hundred years ago as a mixed language (not to be confused with a creole). The language solidified sometime between 1820 and 1840.
   Michif combines Cree and Métis French (Rhodes 1977, Bakker 1997:85), a variety of Canadian French, with some additional borrowing from English and First Nation languages such as Ojibwe and Assiniboine. In general, Michif noun phrase phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax are derived from Métis French, while verb phrase phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax are from a southern variety of Plains Cree. (Plains Cree is a western dialect of Cree.) Articles and adjectives are also of Métis French origin, but demonstratives are from Plains Cree.
   The Michif language is unusual (and possibly even unique) among mixed languages, in that, rather than forming a simplified grammar it developed by incorporating the most complex and demanding elements of the chief languages from which it was born. French origin noun phrases retain lexical gender and adjective agreement; Cree origin verbs retain much of their polysynthetic structure. This suggests that instead of haltingly using words from another's tongue the people who gradually came to speak Michif were fully fluent in both French and Cree.
   The number of speakers is estimated at fewer than 1,000; it was probably double or triple this number around the turn of the last century but never much higher.

Phonology

Michif as recorded starting in the 1970's combined two separate phonological systems: one for French origin elements, and one for Cree origin elements (Rhodes 1977, 1986). For instance, /y/, /l/, /r/ and /f/ exist only in French words, whereas preaspirated stops such as /ʰt/ and /ʰk/ exist only in Cree words. In this variety of Michif, the French elements were pronounced in ways that have distinctively Canadian French values for the vowels, while the Cree elements have distinctively Cree values for vowels. Nonetheless, there's some Cree influence on French words in the stress system (Rosen 2006). But by the year 2000 there were Michif speakers who had collapsed the two systems into a single system (Rosen 2007).

Morphology

Vocabulary

A comparison of some common words in French, Cree, and Michif:

English	French	Michif	Cree
One	Un	Haen, Peeyak	Pêyak
Two	Deux	Deu	Nîso
Three	Trois	Trwaa	Nisto
Four	Quatre	Kaet	Nêwo
Five	Cinq	Saenk	Nîyânan
Man	Homme (L'homme)	Lom	Nâpêw
Dog	Chien	Shyaeñ, Shyen	Atim
Sun	Soleil	Saley	Pîsim
Water	Eau (De l'eau)	Dilo	Nipîy
White	Blanc	Blañ	Wâpiskâw
Yellow	Jaune	Zhun	Osâwâw
Red	Rouge	Ruzh	Mihkwâw
Black	Noir	Nwer	Kaskitêwâw
Eat	Manger	Miichishow; Miitshow	Mîcisiw
See	Voir	Waapow	Wâpiw
Hear	Entendre	Peehtam	Pêhtam
Sing	Chanter	Nakamow	Nikamôw
Leave	Partir	Shipweeteew; Atishipweeteew	Sipwêtêw

Syntax

Noun phrase

Nouns are almost always accompanied by a French-origin determiner or a possessive.

English	Michif
a gun	aeñ fiizii
a house	aen meezoñ
the boy	li garsoñ
the rock	la rosh
the knives	lii kutu
his (her) food	su mañzhii
his (her) hand	sa maeñ
my dogs	mii shyaeñ

Cree-origin demonstratives can be added to noun phrases, in which case the Cree gender (animate or inanimate) is that of the corresponding Cree noun.

English	Michif	Plains Cree
that boy	awa li garsoñ	awa nâpêsis (animate)
this egg	ôma li zaef	ôma wâwi (inanimate)
that rock	awa la rosh	awa asinîy (animate)
those men	neekik lii zom	neekik nâpêwak (animate)

Adjectives are French-origin (Cree has no adjectives), and as in French they're either pre- or postnominal. Prenominal adjectives agree in gender (like French), however, postnominal adjectives don't agree in gender (unlike French).

Verb phrase

The verb phrase is that of Plains Cree-origin with little reduction (there is no dubitative or preterit verb forms).

Word order

Michif word order is basically that of Cree (relatively free). However, the more French-origin elements are used, the closer the syntax seems to conform to norms of spoken French.

Lexicon

Nouns: 83-94% French-origin; Cree-origin or Ojibwe-origin, English-origin
Verbs: 88-99% Cree-origin
Question words: Cree-origin
Personal pronouns: Cree
Postpositions: Cree-origin
Prepositions: French-origin
Conjunctions: 55% Cree-origin; 40% French-origin
Numerals: French-origin
Demonstratives: Cree-origin The Lord's Prayer in English, French, and Michif:

Michif	French	English
Toñ Periinaan	Notre Père	Our Father
Toñ Periinaan, dañ li syel kayaayeen kiichitwaawan toñ noo. Kiiya kaaniikaanishtaman peetoteiie kaandaweetaman taatochiikateew ota dañ la ter taapishkoch dañ li syel. Miinaan anoch moñ paeñiinaan poneeiiminaan kamachitotamaak, niishtanaan nkaponeemaanaanik anikee kaakiimaiitotaakoyaakuk kayakochii'inaan, maaka pashpii'inaan aayik ochi maachiishiiweepishiwin. Kaaniikaaniishtamawiiaak, kishokishiiwin, kaakichiteemiiak kiiya aniie, anoch ekwa takiine.Answichil.	Notre Père, qui es aux cieux, Que ton nom soit sanctifié, Que ton règne vienne, Que ta volonté soit faite Sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour Pardonne-nous nos offenses, Comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés, Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, Mais délivre-nous du mal.[Carc'est à toi qu'appartiennent le règne, la puissance et la gloire pour les siècles des siècles.] Amen.	Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it's in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil.[Forthine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.] Amen.

Language genesis

In languages of mixed ethnicities, the language of the mothers usually provides the grammatical system, and the language of the fathers provides the lexicon. The reasons are following: children know mother’s language better; men are often immigrant, whereas women are native to the region, if the bilingual children need either of their parents’ language to converse with outsiders, it's most likely to be the language of the mothers. Thus, the model of language mixing predicts that Michif should have the Cree grammatical system and the French lexicon. However, Michif has Cree verb phrase and French noun phrase. The explanation lies in the polysynthetic nature of Cree morphology, which is responsible for the unusual distribution of Cree and French elements in Michif.
In Cree verbs can be very complex with up to twenty morphemes, incorporated nouns and unclear boundaries between morphemes. In other words, in Cree verbs it's very difficult to separate grammar from lexicon. As a result, in Michif the grammatical and bound elements are almost all Cree, and the lexical and free elements are almost all French; the verb is almost totally Cree, because the verb consists of grammatical and bound elements.

Further Information

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