Stoney language

Stoney—also called Nakota, Nakoda, Isga, and formerly Alberta Assiniboine—is a member of the Dakota subgroup of the Mississippi Valley grouping of the Siouan languages.^[5] The Dakotan languages constitute a dialect continuum consisting of Santee-Sisseton (Dakota), Yankton-Yanktonai (Dakota), Teton (Lakota), Assiniboine, and Stoney.^[6]

Stoney
Nakoda
Nakoda, Nakota, Isga, Îyethka Îabi, Îyethka wîchoîe, Isga Iʔabi
Native to	Canada
Region	Alberta
Ethnicity	Nakota: Stoney
Native speakers	3,025 (2016)[1]
Language family	Siouan Western Siouan Mississippi Valley Siouan Dakotan Nakoda Stoney
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sto
Glottolog	ston1242
ELP	Stoney
The location of Stoney / Nakoda
Stoney is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Nakota / Nakoda // Îyârhe[2] "ally / friend" // "mountain"
Person	Îyethka[3]
People	Îyethkabi (Îyethka Oyade)
Language	Îyethka Îabi / wîchoîe Îyethka Wowîhâ[4]
Country	Îyethka Makóce

Stoney is the most linguistically divergent of the Dakotan dialects^[7] and has been described as "on the verge of becoming a separate language."^{[citation needed]} Ullrich considers Stoney and Assiniboine distinct languages, saying "The Nakoda language spoken by the Assiniboine is not intelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers, unless they have been exposed to it extensively. The Stoney form of the Nakoda language is completely unintelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers. As such, the two Nakoda languages cannot be considered dialects of the Lakota and Dakota language."^[8] The Stoneys are the only Siouan people that live entirely in Canada,^[6] and the Stoney language is spoken by five groups in Alberta.^[9][7] No official language survey has been undertaken for every community where Stoney is spoken, but the language may be spoken by as many as a few thousand people, primarily at the Mînî Thnî community (renamed from Morley in 2024).^[10][11]

Relationship to Assiniboine

Stoney's closest linguistic relative is Assiniboine.^[12] The two have often been confused with each other due to their close historical and linguistic relationship, but they are not mutually intelligible.^[5] Stoney either developed from Assiniboine, or both Stoney and Assiniboine developed from a common ancestor language.^[10][13]

Phonology

Very little linguistic documentation and descriptive research has been done on Stoney. However, Stoney varieties demonstrate broad phonological similarity with some important divergences.

Morley Dialect

For example, the following phonemes are reportedly found in Morley Stoney, spoken on the Morley Reserve:

Morley Stoney consonants^[14]

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩	t͡ʃ ⟨ch⟩	k ⟨k⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b⟩	d ⟨d⟩	d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩	ɡ ⟨g⟩
Fricative	voiceless		s ⟨s⟩	ʃ ⟨sh⟩		ħ ⟨rh⟩	h ⟨h⟩
	voiced		z ⟨z⟩	ʒ ⟨zh⟩		ʕ ⟨r⟩
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩
Semivowel		w ⟨w⟩		j ⟨y⟩

Morley Stoney vowels^[14]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i, ĩ		u, ũ
Mid	e		o
Low		a, ã

Alexis Dialect

For comparison, these phonemes reportedly characterize the Stoney spoken at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, which maintains the common Siouan three-way contrast^[5] between plain, aspirated, and ejective stops:

Alexis Stoney consonants^[13]

		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	p ⟨b⟩	t ⟨d⟩	t͡ʃ ⟨j⟩	k ⟨g⟩	ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨p⟩	tʰ ⟨t⟩	t͡ʃʰ ⟨c⟩	kʰ ⟨k⟩
	ejective	pʼ ⟨p'⟩	tʼ ⟨t'⟩	t͡ʃʼ ⟨c'⟩	kʼ ⟨k'⟩
Fricative	voiceless		s ~ θ ⟨s⟩	ʃ ⟨sh⟩	x ⟨x⟩	h ⟨h⟩
	voiced		z ~ ð ⟨z⟩	ʒ ⟨zh⟩	ɣ ⟨r⟩
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩
Semivowel		w ⟨w⟩		j ⟨y⟩

Notice that Alexis Stoney, for example, has innovated contrastive vowel length, which is not found in other Dakotan dialects.^[10] Alexis Stoney also has long and nasal mid vowels:^[13]

Alexis Stoney vowels^[13]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i, iː, ĩ		u, uː, ũ
Mid	e, eː, ẽ		o, oː, õ
Low		a, aː, ã

Writing system

Stoney alphabet (Stoney Nakoda First Nation)

• a
• â
• b
• ch
• d
• e
• g
• h
• i
• î
• j
• k
• m
• n
• o
• p
• r
• rh
• s
• sh
• t
• u
• û
• w
• y
• z
• zh

Stoney alphabet (Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation)

• a
• â
• aa
• b
• c
• c'
• d
• e
• ê
• ee
• g
• h
• i
• î
• ii
• j
• k
• k'
• m
• n
• o
• ô
• oo
• p
• p'
• r
• s
• sh
• t
• t'
• u
• û
• uu
• w
• x
• y
• z
• zh
• ʔ

Word set (includes numbers)

• One — Wazhi
• Two — Nûm
• Three — Yamnî
• Four — Ktusa
• Five — Zaptâ
• Man — Wîca
• Woman — Wîyâ
• Sun — Wa
• Moon — Hâwi
• Water — Mini

Phonetic differences from other Dakotan languages

The following table shows some of the main phonetic differences between Stoney, Assiniboine, and the three dialects (Lakota, Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee-Sisseton) of Sioux.^[8][6]

Sioux					Nakota
Lakota	Western Dakota		Eastern Dakota		Assinibione	Stoney	gloss
	Yanktonai	Yankton	Sisseton	Santee
Lakȟóta	Dakȟóta		Dakhóta		Nakhóta	Nakhóda	self-designation
lowáŋ	dowáŋ		dowáŋ		nowáŋ		'to sing'
ló	dó		dó		nó		'assertion'
čísčila	čísčina		čístina		čúsina	čúsin	'small'
hokšíla	hokšína		hokšína	hokšída	hokšína	hokšín	'boy'
gnayáŋ	gnayáŋ	knayáŋ	hnayáŋ		knayáŋ	hna	'to deceive'
glépa	gdépa	kdépa	hdépa		knépa	hnéba	'to vomit'
kigná	kigná	kikná	kihná		kikná	gihná	'to soothe'
slayá	sdayá		sdayá		snayá	snayá	'to grease'
wičháša	wičháša		wičhášta		wičhášta	wičhá	'man'
kibléza	kibdéza		kibdéza		kimnéza	gimnéza	'to sober up'
yatkáŋ	yatkáŋ		yatkáŋ		yatkáŋ	yatkáŋ	'to drink'
hé	hé		hé		žé	žé	'that'