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The Creek language, also known as Muskogee[2] or Muscogee (Mvskoke in Creek), is a Muskogean language spoken by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Kialegee Tribal Town, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and other Muskogean peoples.
[edit] PhonologyThe phonology of Creek consists of thirteen consonants and four vowel qualities, which distinguish length and nasalization:[3] [edit] Consonant phonemes
The affricate here written /t͡ʃ/ varies in its place of articulation between alveolar [t͡s] and postalvelar [t͡ʃ]. The obstruent consonants /p t k tʃ s/ are voiced to [b d ɡ d͡ʒ z].between sonorants. [edit] Vowels
In addition, there are three diphthongs: /eɪ/, /oɪ/, and /aʊ/ (generally realized as [əɪ oɪ əʊ]).[4][5] Vowels can be nasalized (cf. the distinction between acces and ącces below); nevertheless Johnson & Martin (2001) do not list nasalized vowels as distinctive. The short vowels /i o a/ are subject to centralization in closed syllables, to approximately [ɪ ɔ ə].[6] [edit] TonesThere are three phonemic tones in Creek, which are generally unmarked, except in the linguistic orthography: high (marked in the linguistic orthography with an acute accent: á, etc.), low (unmarked: a, etc.), and falling (marked with a circumflex: â, etc.). [edit] OrthographyThe traditional Creek alphabet was adopted by the tribe in the late 1800s.[7] There are 20 letters. Although it is based on the Latin alphabet, some of the sounds are vastly different from those in English — in particular those represented by c, e, i, r, and v. Here are the (approximately) equivalent sounds using familiar English words and the IPA:
There are also three vowel sequences with distinct spellings:[8]
[edit] ConsonantsAs mentioned above, certain consonants in Creek, when appearing between two sonorants (a vowel or m, n, l, w, or y), become voiced.[7] These are the consonants represented by p, t, k, c, and s. Thus:
In addition, certain combinations of consonants sound differently to English speakers, giving multiple possible transcriptions. The most prominent case is the 2nd person singular ending for verbs. Wiketv means "to stop"; the verb for "you are stopping" may be written in Creek as wikeckes or wiketskes. Both are pronounced the same. The -eck- transliteration is preferred by Innes (2004), while the -etsk- transliteration has been used by Martin (2000) and Loughridge (1964). [edit] Vowel LengthWhile vowel length in Creek is distinctive, it is somewhat inconsistently indicated in the traditional orthography. The following basic correspondences can be noted:
However, these correspondences do not always apply,[9] and in some words, short /a/ is spelled a, long /iː/ is spelled e, and short /o/ is spelled o. [edit] Non-Standard OrthographyCreek words carry distinctive tones, and nasalization of their vowels. These features are not marked in the traditional orthography, only in dictionaries and linguistic publications. The following additional markers have been used by Martin (2000) and Innes (2004):
[edit] Distinctive Features of the Language[edit] Sentence StructureThe general sentence structure fits the pattern "subject, object, verb". The subject or object may be a noun or a noun followed by one or more adjectives. Adverbs tend to occur either at the beginning of the sentence (for time adverbs) or immediately before the verb (for manner adverbs). [edit] VerbsIn Creek, a single verb can translate into an entire English sentence. The root infinitive form of the verb is altered for:
A-ahh, C-g, E-ih (short), E-ee (long), F-fe (same as english), H-he (same as english), I-a, K-ke (same as english), L-le (same as english), M-me (same as english), N-ne (same as english), O-oh, P-b, R-th, S-see (same as english), T-d, U-ooe (ooh-ee), V-uh, W-we (same as english), Y-yay
[edit] Verbs with Irregular PluralsSome Creek verbs, especially those involving motion, have highly irregular plurals. For example, letketv = to run, with a singular subject. However, tokorketv = to run of two subjects, and pefatketv = to run of three or more. [edit] Stative VerbsAnother entire class of Creek verbs are the stative verbs. These verbs express no action, imply no duration, and provide only description of a static condition. In some languages, such as English, these are expressed as adjectives. In Creek, the verbs behave similar to adjectives, yet are classed and treated as verbs. However, these verbs are not altered for the person of the subject by an affix, as above; instead, the prefix changes. Example: Enokkē = to be sick; enokkēs = he / she is sick; cvnokkēs = I'm sick; cenokkēs = you are sick. [edit] Locative PrefixesPrefixes are also used in Creek for shades of meaning of verbs which are expressed in English through adverbs in phrasal verbs. For example, in English, the verb to go can be changed to to go up, to go in, to go around, and other variations. In Mvskoke, the same principle of shading a verb's meaning is handled by locative prefixes: Example: vyetv = to go (singular subjects only, see above); ayes = I am going; ak-ayes = I am going (in water / in a low place / under something); tak-ayes = I am going (on the ground); oh-ayes = I am going (on top of something). However, for verbs of motion, Creek also has a large selection of verbs with specific meaning: ossetv = to go out; ropottetv = to go though. [edit] PossessionIn some other languages, a special form of the noun, the genitive case, is used to show possession. This process is handled in two fundamentally different ways in Creek, depending on the nature of the noun. [edit] Nouns in Fixed Relationships (Inalienable possession)A body part or family member cannot be discussed in Creek without mentioning the possessor; it is an integrated part of the word. A set of changeable prefixes serves this function:
Even if the possessor is mentioned specifically, the prefix still must be part of the word, for example, Toske enke = Toske's hand. This is not redundant in Creek (e.g. "Toske's his hand"). [edit] Transferrable NounsAll other nouns are possessed through separate set of prepositions.
Again, even though the construction in English would be redundant, the proper way to form the possessive in Creek must include the correct preposition. For example, Toske em efv = Toske's dog. This is grammatically correct in Creek, unlike the literal English translation "Toske's his dog". [edit] Locative NounsA final distinctive feature of Creek, tied to the above, is the existence of locational nouns. In English, we have prepositions to indicate location, for example, behind, around, beside, and so on. In Creek, these locations are actually nouns. These are possessed just like parts of the body and family members were above.
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
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