Outline for a Comparative Grammar of Some Algonquian Languages: Ojibway, Cree, Micmac, Natick [Massachusett], and Blackfoot - Softcover

Joshua Jacob Snider; C. C. Uhlenbeck

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615384021 ISBN 13: 9780615384023

Publisher: Mundart Press, 2013

Synopsis

This is a translation of a comparative grammar of five Algonquian Native American languages first published in Dutch in 1910. Although too short to represent a comprehensive grammar of these languages, it treats most parts of speech and is a good solid introduction to many of the major important morphological features of this family and the languages treated. It has been expanded, corrected and improved in the form of translators notes based on much more recent and complete material. It also includes many bibliographical resources for most of the Algonquian language family, which are geared towards comparative language learning methods. The two most widely spoken languages of this group, Ojibway (frequently spelled Chippewa, Ojibwa or Ojibwe) and Cree, are both examples of the close knit Central Algonquian group, while Micmac (also spelled Mi'kmaq and Mi'gmaw) and the extinct Natick belong to the Eastern group. The western Blackfoot is usually placed with the Plains Algonquian group, but it is the most divergent member of the entire family and has roughly as many speakers as Micmac.

About this title

About the Author

The Dutch linguist C.C. Uhlenbeck (1866-1951) was a key figure in the Dutch and international academic world between the 1880s and the 1940s. He worked on many different languages, including Balto-Slavic, Sanskrit, Dutch, Basque, Eskimo, and Blackfoot. He engaged in the scholarly debates of his time on topics such as the genetic relationships between languages, the relation between language and culture, and the role of psychology in the explanation of linguistic structure. He was instrumental in the establishment of important organizations and publication venues, such as the International Congress of Linguists, of which he was the first president (1928) and the International Journal of American Linguistics. He also was a loyal and active member of the Koninkelijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen [Royal Academy of Sciences], in whose proceedings he published much of his work. He trained or influenced many important academics and others, including the anthropologist J.P.B. de Josselin de Jong, the slavists N. van Wijk and R. van der Meulen, the hispanist G.J. Geers, the Sanskritists F.B.J. Kuiper and J.P. Vogel, the linguist and netherlandist J.J.A, van Ginneken, and the germanist A.J. Portengen.

Inge Genee and Jan Paul Hinrichs ed.
C.C. Uhlenbeck (1866-1951): A linguist revisited
Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies, XXIX, ii / XXX, i (Fall 2008 / Spring 2009).

From the Back Cover

Nowhere can one find a comparative description of this language group that contains anything more than the most elementary, or that presents anything more than juxtaposition without an historical perspective. I do not imagine that I have accomplished a great deal in this direction, but I am quite confident of the scarce results I have obtained.
C.C. Uhlenbeck from the preface.

It is my hope that a comparative Algonquian grammar will be bound together with a reader similar to those texts currently available for many other language families, but for now I hope this piece will be of some use and help fill the gap.
Joshua Jacob Snider

Edition details

• Publisher: Mundart Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0615384021
• ISBN 13: 9780615384023
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128