- Seneca language
language
name=Seneca
nativename=Onödowága
familycolor=American
states=United States ,Canada
region=WesternNew York and the Six Nations Reserve,Ontario
speakers=200
fam1=Iroquoian
fam2=Northern Iroquoian
fam3=Proto-Lake Iroquoian
fam4=Iroquois Proper
fam5=Seneca-Cayuga
iso2=iro|iso3=seeSeneca (in Seneca, Onödowága or Onötowáka) is the language of the Seneca people, one of the
Six Nations of theIroquois League. About 10,000 Seneca live in theUnited States andCanada , primarily on reservations in westernNew York state , with others living inOklahoma and near Brantford,Ontario .Phonology
There are several methods to write the Seneca Language and variations of dialect between territories and regions. The orthography described here is the one used by the Seneca Bilingual Education Project.
Consonants
Seneca has three stops, /t/, /k/, and IPA|/ʔ/. /t/ and /k/ become voiced (IPA| [d] and IPA| [ɡ] ) before vowels or
approximant s.Vowels
The
nasal vowel s, except <ä> which represents anear-open front unrounded vowel , are represented with diaereses on top: <ë ö>. Depending on the phonetic environment, the nasal vowel <ë> may vary between [IPA|ɛ̃] and [IPA|œ̃] , whereas <ö> may vary from [IPA|ɔ̃] to [IPA|ɑ̃] . Long vowels are indicated with a following <:>, while stress is indicated with anacute accent overtop. [cite web | first=Christopher | last=Harvey | date=February 22, 2008 | url=http://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/seneca.html | publisher=The LinguaSphere Online | title=Onödowága – Seneca | accessdate=2008-06-27]References
Further reading
*Chafe, Wallace L. 1963. "Handbook of the Seneca Language." New York State Museum and Science Service. (Bulletin No. 388). Albany, N.Y. Reprinted 2007, Toronto: Global Language Press, ISBN 978-1-8973-6713-1.
*Chafe, Wallace L. 1997, "The Seneca Language", in "Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 17: Languages", Ives Goddard (Editor), William C. Sturtevant (Editor), Smithsonian Institution, ISBN 0160487749.External links
* [http://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/seneca.html Language Geek: Seneca Orthography]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=see Ethnologue Report on Seneca]
* [http://seneca.language.googlepages.com/ Seneca Bible Society] Matthew, Mark, & Luke Online
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Seneca-Language/ Seneca Language Learning Yahoo! Group]
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