by Rick Revelle
Elk
Wàbigon Tibik-kìzis
Flower Moon / May
Wàbòz
Rabbit
Wabun
God of the east wind
Wàgàkwad
War axe
Wàginogàns
Lodges
Wàgosh
Fox
Wajashk
Muskrat
Wajashk Sàgahigan and Sìbì
Muskrat Lake and River
Wàwàsamòg
Lightning
Wàwàshekshi
Deer
Wàwìyeyano
Full moon
Weski-nibawidjig
Newlyweds
Wewebasinàbàn
Slingshot
Weynusse
Turkey buzzard
Wìbwàte
Corridor
Wìdigemàgan
Wife
Wìgwàs-chimàn
Birch bark canoes
Wìgwàs mitig
Birch tree
Wìskwey
Sinew
Wìyagiminan Tibik-kìzis
Fruit Moon / August
Wìyàs
Meat
Wysoccan
Intoxicating poison
Zigosis
Mother-in-law
Algonquin Pronunciation Guide
From www.native-languages.org/algonquin.
Vowels
Character:
How To Say It:
a
Like the a in what.
à
Like the a in father.
e
Like the a in gate or the e in red.
è
Like a in pay.
i
Like the i in pit.
ì
Like the ee in seed.
o
Like the u in put.
ò
Like the o in lone.
Diphthongs
Character:
How To Say It:
aw
Like ow in cow.
ay
Like eye.
ew
This sound doesn’t really exist in English. It sounds a little like saying the “AO” from “AOL” quickly.
ey
Like the ay in hay.
iw
Like a child saying ew!
ow
Like the ow in show.
Consonants
Character:
How To Say It:
dj
Like j in jar.
k
Like k in key or ski (see Soft Consonants, below.).
p
Like p in pin or spin (see Soft Consonants, below.)
Soft Consonants
The Algonquin pronunciation of the consonants p, t, and k is unaspirated between two vowels or after an m or n. To English speakers, this makes the consonants sound soft. You can hear unaspirated consonants in English after the letter s, such as the k in skate or the t in stir. If you put your fingers in front of your mouth as you pronounce kate and skate, you will see that there is no puff of air as you pronounce the unaspirated k in skate. Algonquin “soft” consonants are pronounced the same way.
kìjig (day) is pronounced [khi:jIg], with a hard k, but
anokì kìjig (working day) is pronounced [anoki: ki:jIg], with two soft k’s.
Nasal Vowels
Nasal vowels don’t exist in English, but you may be familiar with them from French (or from hearing people speak English with a French accent). They are pronounced just like oral (“regular”) vowels, only using your nose as well as your mouth. To English speakers, a nasal vowel often sounds like a vowel with a half-pronounced n at the end of it. You can hear examples of nasal vowels at the end of the French words “bon” and “Jean,” or in the middle of the word “Français.”
In Algonquin pronunciation, vowels automatically become nasal before nd, ng, nj, or nz. For example, kìgònz is pronounced [ki:gõ:z], not [ki:go:nz]. Those nasal vowels are a normal part of a native speaker’s accent — like English speakers automatically pronouncing the letter l differently at the beginning and end of a word — so they are not written. Unlike in Ojibwe, nasal vowels do not occur anywhere else in a word.
Bibliography
Access Genealogy. www.accessgenealogy.com.
Bonnicksen, Thomas M. America’s Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000.
Borneman, Walter R. The French and Indian War. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009.
Champlain, Samuel de. Algonquians, Hurons and Iroquois: Champlain Explores America, 1603–1616. Translated by Annie Nettleton Bourne. Edited by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Nova Scotia: Brook House Press, 2000.
Clément, Daniel. The Algonquins. Gatineau, Quebec: The Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1996.
Ellis, Eleanor. Northern Cookbook. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1999.
Empires Collide: The French and Indian War 1754–63. Edited by Ruth Shepard. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing, Midland House, 2006.
Gidmark, David. Birch Bark Canoe: Living Among the Algonquins. Toronto: Firefly Books, 1997.
“The History and Origin of the Five Nations.” Compiled by Harry Pettengill, Jr. UCE Historian. www.upstate-citizens.org/Iroquois-origin.htm.
Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. The Patriot Chiefs: A Chronicle of American Indian Leadership. New York: Viking Press, 1976.
McGregor, Ernest. The Algonquin Lexicon. The Authority, 1994.
Moore, Tom. The Plains of Madness. St. John’s: Tomcod Press, 2001.
Nerburn, Kent. Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder. Novato, California: New World Library, 2002.
Ray, Arthur J. I Have Lived Here Since the World Began: An Illustrated History of Canada’s Native People. Toronto: Lester Publishing Ltd., 1996.
Wright, Ronald. Stolen Continents: The “New World” Through Indian Eyes. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.
Museums
The Canadian Museum of Civilization
Huronia Museum (Midland, Ontario)
The Plains of Abraham (Quebec City)
The Rooms Provincial Museum (St. John’s, Newfoundland)
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (Midland, Ontario)
Thunder Bay Museum
Of Related Interest
Broken Circle
Christopher Dinsdale
9781894917155
$8.95
Angry at missing a week of summer video game entertainment, Jesse, a twelve-year-old boy of European/Native descent, grudgingly follows through with his deceased father’s request that he join his Uncle Matthew and cousin Jason at Six Islands, on Georgian Bay, for a special camping trip. Uncle Matthew explains that Jesse’s father wanted Jason’s vision quest to be his introduction to their Native culture. During their first night around the camp-fire, it is Jesse who has a vision, and the adventure begins. Not only is he swept back in time four hundred years, but he is transformed into a majestic, white-tailed deer. He must now survive the expert hunting skills of his ancestors while somehow rescuing his people before they are destroyed by warfare.
Jak’s Story
Aaron Bell
9781554887101
$10.99
Thirteen-year-old Jak Loren is a typical boy with the usual problems a family with older sisters and younger brothers presents. Never mind the troubles at school — bullies and girls!
When Jak goes to the ravine near his home in Brantford to get away from Steven Burke, a bully who’s been tormenting him, he discovers the ravine has a history that’s much older than he thought. He meets Grandfather Rock, who shares with him the story of the people who have lived near the ravine for thousands of years. Soon Jak’s eyes are opened to a new world of beings and respect.
He learns about First Nations people and how their teachings inhabit the spirits of all living things that surround us even today. The tales of the First Nations help Jak to understand that the gift of life is s
omething to be cherished. And when a construction crew arrives in his neighbourhood and threatens his beloved ravine, Jak knows he has to act to save it.
Warbird
Jennifer Maruno
9781926607115
$9.95
In 1647, ten-year-old Etienne yearns for a life of adventure far from his family farm in Quebec. He meets an orphan destined to apprentice among the Jesuits at Fort Sainte-Marie. Making the most impulsive decision of his life, Etienne replaces the orphan and paddles off with the voyageurs into the north country. At Sainte-Marie, Etienne must learn to live a life of piety. Meanwhile, he also makes friends with a Huron youth, Tsiko, who teaches him the ways of his people. When the Iroquois attack and destroy the nearby village, Etienne must put his new skills into practice. Will he survive? Will he ever see his family again?
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Copyright © Rick Revelle, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Editor: Jennifer McKnight
Design: Jesse Hooper
Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Revelle, Rick
I am Algonquin [electronic resource] : an Algonquin quest novel / by Rick Revelle.
Electronic monograph.
Issued also in print format
ISBN 978-1-4597-0720-7
1. Algonquin Indians--Juvenile fiction. I. Title.
PS8635.E887I26 2013 jC813’.6 C2013-900811-X
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and Livres Canada Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
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