- Cayuga language
language
name=Cayuga
nativename=Gayogohó:nUnicode|ǫ’
familycolor=American
states=Canada
region=Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation
speakers= 100-200
fam1=Iroquoian
fam2=Northern Iroquoian
fam3=Lake Iroquoian
fam4=Iroquois Proper
fam5=Seneca-Cayuga
iso2=iro|iso3=cayCayuga (In Cayuga Gayogohó:nUnicode|ǫ’) is a Northern Iroquoian language of the Iroquois Proper (also known as "Five Nations
Iroquois ") subfamily, and is spoken onSix Nations of the Grand River First Nation , Ontario, by around 100 people.Dialects
There were at one time two distinct dialects of Cayuga. One is still spoken in Ontario, the other, called "Seneca-Cayuga," was spoken in Oklahoma until the 1980s.
ounds
Vowels
Cayuga has 12 vowels, six short and six long. IPA| [u] appears as an allophone of IPA|/o/.
Vowels can be devoiced allophonically, indicated in the orthography used at Six Nations by underlining them.
Consonants
Cayuga has only ten consonants, with no labials. In the Six Nations orthography, the stops and affricate, which are allophonically voiced before vowels or approximants, are represented with voiced symbols (
, , ). IPA| [f] occurs as an allophone of IPA|/s/ between IPA|/h/ and IPA|/r/, and this is also indicated in the orthography. Morphosyntax
It has been claimed Cayuga contains no noun phrases. <
> References
*Mithun, Marianne. "The Languages of Native North America". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Further reading
* Henry, Reginald and Marianne Mithun. "Watęwayęstanih: A Cayuga Teaching Grammar". Brantford, Ontario: Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre. "Available online at http://www.mun.ca/cayuga/pubs/grammar/Wadewayensdanih.pdf"
* Froman, Frances, Alfred Keye, Lottie Keye and Carrie Dyck. "English-Cayuga/Cayuga-English Dictionary". Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.External links
* [http://www.mun.ca/cayuga/ Cayuga: Our Oral Legacy (COOL)]
* [http://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/cayuga.html Cayuga] at LanguageGeek
* [http://www.ohwejagehka.com/cay-index.htm Ohwęjagehká: Ha’degaénage: Cayuga]
* [http://hello-oklahoma.benjaminbruce.com/cayuga.htm Sgę́nǫ’ Gahnawiyo’geh! - How to say "hello" in Cayuga]
*cite web
url=http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1448234720080215
title=School fights to revive native Canadian language
date=2008-02-15
accessdate=2008-02-16
publisher=Reuters
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