View source for Atikamekw language

{{short description|Cree language of southwestern Quebec, Canada}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{more citations|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Atikamekw
| nativename = atikamekw nehiromowin
| states = [[Canada]]
| region = [[Quebec]]
| ethnicity = [[Atikamekw]]
| speakers = {{sigfig|6,165|2}}
| date = 2016 census
| ref = e25
| familycolor = Algic
| fam1 = [[Algic languages|Algic]]
| fam2 = [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]
| fam3 = [[Cree language|Cree]]-[[Innu-aimun|Montagnais]]-[[Naskapi language|Naskapi]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cree1271 |title=Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015114502/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cree1271 |archive-date=2022-10-15 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| iso3 = atj
| glotto = atik1240
| glottorefname = Atikamekw
| lingua = 62-ADA-c
| notice = IPA
| map = Lang Status 80-VU.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Atikamekw is classified as Vulnerable by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''}}}}
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|people=[[Atikamekw|Atikamekw Nehirowisiw]]|language='''Atikamekw Nehiromowin'''|country=[[Nitaskinan|Nitaskinan (Nehirowisi Aski)]]}}

'''Atikamekw''' (endonym: '''''Atikamekw Nehiromowin''''', literally "Atikamekw native language") is a variety of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian language]] [[Cree language|Cree]]{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} and the language of the [[Atikamekw]] people of southwestern [[Quebec]], Canada. It is spoken by nearly all the Atikamekw, and therefore it is among the [[indigenous language]]s least threatened with [[Language death|extinction]], according to some studies.<ref name="CeT">{{cite web|url=http://www.opitciwan.ca/index.php/menutourisme |title=Cultures et traditions |publisher=Conseil des Atikamekw d'Opitciwan |language=French |accessdate=2010-03-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040828/http://www.opitciwan.ca/index.php/menutourisme |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}</ref>

Atikamekw is a language belonging to the [[Cree language|Cree]]–[[Innu language|Montagnais]]–[[Naskapi language|Naskapi]] linguistic continuum, which is part of the Central branch of the [[Algonquian languages]] of the [[Algic languages|Algic family]] of languages. It is sometimes classified as a dialect of Cree.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The Atikamekw [[Linguistic reconstruction#Reflex|reflex]] of [[Proto-Algonquian]] [[Liquid consonant|liquid]] ("L" sound) *''l'' is {{IPAblink|ɾ}} (spelled 'r'). The corresponding sound in other Cree dialects is {{IPAblink|n}}, {{IPAblink|j}}, {{IPAblink|l}}, or {{IPAblink|ð}} (it is consistently one of these depending on the dialect). So, alternatively, it is also referred to as the '''"r-Dialect of Cree"'''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} Another way in which Atikamekw is distinctive among dialects of Cree is in having many [[loanwords]] from the [[Anishinaabe language]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Phonology==

===Consonants===

The [[consonant]]s of Atikamekw are listed below in the standard [[orthography]] and with [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] equivalents in brackets:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Consonants{{sfn|Béland|1978|p=8}}
|-
! |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| style="text-align:center;"|'''m''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|m}}
| style="text-align:center;"|'''n''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|n}}
|| || ||
|-
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| style="text-align:center;"|'''p''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|p}}
| style="text-align:center;"|'''t''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|t}}
| style="text-align:center;"|'''tc''' ('''c''') &nbsp;{{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}}
| style="text-align:center;"|'''k''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|k}}
||
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
||
| style="text-align:center;"|'''s''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|s}}
| style="text-align:center;"|'''c''' ('''s̀''') &nbsp;{{IPAblink|ʃ}}
||
| style="text-align:center;"|'''h''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|h}}
|-
![[Tap consonant|Tap]]
||
| style="text-align:center;"|'''r''' &nbsp;{{IPAblink|ɾ}}
|| || ||
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|style="text-align:center;"|'''w'''&nbsp;{{IPAblink|w}} ||
| style="text-align:center;"|'''i''' ('''y''') &nbsp;{{IPAblink|j}} || ||
|}

In Atikamekw, [[fortis and lenis]] consonants are not distinguished in writing, even though they are in speech. But if precise spelling is required, fortis consonant realised as a [[geminate]] is indicated with an [[underline]] on the letter of concern.

===Vowels===

The [[vowels]] of Atikamekw are listed below:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Vowels{{sfn|Béland|1978|p=8}}
|-
! rowspan=2 |
! colspan=2|[[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan=2|[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|'''î''' {{IPAblink|iː}} ||'''i''' {{IPAblink|i}} || || 
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|'''e''' {{IPAblink|eː}} ||  ||'''ô''' {{IPAblink|oː}} ||'''o''' {{IPAblink|o}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| || ||'''â''' {{IPAblink|aː}} || '''a''' {{IPAblink|a}}
|}
* Vowel length (shown above with a [[circumflex]] accent) is typically not indicated in the written language.

==Notes==
<references/>

== References ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Béland |first=Jean-Pierre |year=1978 |title=Atikamekw Morphology & Lexicon |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of California |location=Berkeley |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fk44815}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|code=atj|Atikamekw Nehiromowin}}
*[http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/atikamekw.html Atikamekw orthography and phonology (Languagegeek)]
*[http://www.native-languages.org/atikamekw.htm Native Languages page for Atikamekw]
*[http://www.language-archives.org/language/atj OLAC resources in and about the Atikamekw language]

{{Cree language}}
{{Languages of Quebec}}

[[Category:Atikamekw]]
[[Category:Central Algonquian languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Subarctic]]
[[Category:First Nations languages in Canada]]