Trees, Eyes, and Noun Finals

For “burr oak tree,” Jacques Largillier’s Illinois-French dictionary has <<  miching8eminja >>, while Largillier’s book and Jean Le Boullenger’s French-Illinois dictionary have the term for the acorn of the burr oak,
 << miching8emina >>. (The symbol 8 stands for French orthographic "ou," and here represents the sound w.)

Largllier’s << miching8eminja >> is phonemic mihšiinkweemiša.  The term literally means “big-eye tree”. The noun final -iinkwee means both “face” and “eye”. In the Illinois language -iinkwee is commonly seen in terms for certain kinds of corn, as in oonsaawiinkweemini ‘grains of yellow corn’. The Illinois saw a similarity in form between the fruit of certain plants and eyes, and thus between kernels of corn and eyes, and between big acorns—the burr oak has the biggest—and the shape of eyes. (The word for the acorn of the burr oak noted in the first paragraph is phonemic mihšiinkweemina 'big-eye-fruit' (pl.) or 'big-eye-nuts', a Klammerform for "big-eye-tree-fruit" or "big-eye-tree-nuts".)

The recordings of the language over time show that there were either dialectal or idiolectal variant pronunciations for the noun final signifying ‘tree’. In other words, there is evidence that some people pronounced it [-miž] while other said [-minž] with nasalization, where the occurrence of [-n-] is caused by the preceding [m], accompanied by the voicing of š to [ž]. (David Costa discusses this kind of nasalization and voicing in his award-winning book The Miami-Illinois Language.)

In this discussion of the term for “tree,” we can also see an element of grammar known in Illinois and in other Algonquian languages as a noun final”. A “noun final” is a meaningful nominal form that participates in the formation of composite nouns, but never stands alone as the subject or object of a verb, nor is it ever the leading element of a composite noun. 

Thus, in Miami-Illinois, there are many nouns that have in essence two forms, a free-standing noun and a "noun final". Providing examples of these is the best way to get a feel for them.

The word for “woman” is mitemohsa, as in nipeewa mitemohsa ‘the woman is sleeping’. However, the noun final meaning “woman” is -ihkwe, which can be seen, for example, in the term waapipinšihkwe ‘white-bobcat woman’ (a personal name).

The word for “tree” is ahtawaani  as in ahciyokaapaawi ahtawaani  ‘the tree is leaning’, but the noun final meaning
"tree" is -miš as in ahsenaamiši  ‘sugar maple tree’ (literally ‘stone-tree’).
 

The word for “trail, road, path” is miiwi, but the noun final signifying “trail, road, path” is  -ihkanaw, as in irenaswihkanawi ‘buffalo road’, or peehkihkanawi ‘good path’.

(There is a fake Illinois name that is fairly commonly encountered in the literature and on the Internet for the buffalo road that led from the Falls of the Ohio to Vincennes: "Lananzoki Miwi". This is not a bona fide Illinois term, but was a name created by an unknown person who did not speak Illinois. It combines, ungrammatically, the plural term for "buffalo" and the free-standing noun for "road".)

Finally, the noun for “dog” is aremwa. However, the noun final meaning “dog” is  -ay, which is inalienably possessed, such as kintaya ‘your dog’, nintaya ‘my dog’. So, you get:  piiwa aremwa 'the dog is coming'/'a dog is coming', but piiwa kintaya 'your dog is coming'.

 The noun finals presented above are just a few of the many noun finals that exist in the Illinois language alongside their free-standing noun counterparts.

Michael McCafferty 

©2015