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Background Etymology. The word métis itself is originally French for "person of mixed parentage" and derives from the Latin word mixtus, "mixed.". Semantic definitions. Starting in the 17th century, the French word métis was initially used as a noun by those in the North American fur trade, and by settlers in general, to refer to people of mixed European and North American Indigenous ...
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- Métis French
Métis French is a variety of Canadian French with some added...
- Battle of Batoche
De nombreux Métis et leurs familles quittent l’île Drummond pour s’installer autour du lac Huron, notamment aujourd’hui Kincardine, Owen Sound, Penetanguishene, Parry Sound, etc. Cuthbert Grant. 1832 Les familles métisses de Penetanguishene signent une pétition pour obtenir des concessions de terres dans la région. 1844
Metis from 2nd, 3rd, etc. generation are omitted, i.e. if the parents of a spouse are already considered as Metis. When it is not possible to decide if a person is European or Native, the context is considered (no family name or Native type name and place of marriage for example).
- Orthography
- Phonology
- Syntax
- Lexicon
- Language Genesis
- Loss of Language
- Language Revitalization
- See Also
- External Links
Michif lacks a unified spelling standard. Aside from local language differences, lack of a uniform spelling system can be attributed to Michif’s history as an oral language. Generally, Michif-speaking communities spell words as they are pronounced in regional dialects, creating much variation in spelling. Some systems are phonetic, with each letter...
Michif as recorded starting in the 1970s 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 ele...
Noun phrase
Nouns are almost always accompanied by a French-origin determiner or a possessive. 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. Adjectives are French-origin (Cree has no adjectives), and as in French they are either pre- or postnominal. Prenominal adjectives agree in gender (like French), however, postnominal adjectives do not agree in gender (unlike French).
Verb phrase
The verb phrase is that of Plains Cree-origin with little reduction (there are 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.
Nouns: 83-94% French-origin; others are mostly Cree-origin, Ojibwe-origin, or 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 En...
In languages of mixed ethnicities, the language of the mother usually provides the grammatical system, while the language of the father provides the lexicon. The reasons are as follows: children tend to know their mother's language better;[dubious – discuss] in the case of the Métis, the men were often immigrants, whereas the women were native to t...
In 2011, Statistics Canada reported 640 Michif speakers located mainly in Saskatchewan (40.6%), Manitoba (26.6%), and Alberta (11.7%). In the cross-reference provided by Statistics Canada, it is shown that of these 640 speakers, only 30 are below 24 years of age. Furthermore, only 85 people declared Michif to be their main home language (45 their s...
Revitalizing the Michif language is important to Métis people. Language is regarded as culturally significant and holds more value than just the attributes studied by linguists. Elder Brousse Flammand writes "Language is central to nationhood" and that "A government cannot legislate this identity and nationhood; the government can only recognize wh...
LearnMichif.com Archived 2007-12-24 at the Wayback MachineUne approche néomoderne du culturalisme métis au Canada, Emmanuel Michaux; La Mouvance Métisse au Québec : Vouloir Être ou Ne Pas Être Métis, Mémoire présenté comme exigence partielle de la Maîtrise en Science Politique, Simon Villeneuve; Metis Acadian Heritage 1604-2004, Roland Surette; The Metis in Southwestern, Nova Scotia ...
The Gabriel Dumont Institute's Michif Dictionary brings you over 12,000 translations and audio pronunciations by Michif-language expert Norman Fleury.
