Swampy Cree (variously known as Maskekon , Maskegon and Omaškêkowak , and often anglicized as Omushkego ) is a variety of the Algonquian language , Cree . It is spoken in a series of Swampy Cree communities in northern Manitoba , central northeast of Saskatchewan along the Saskatchewan River and along the Hudson Bay coast and adjacent inland areas to the south and west, and Ontario along the coast of Hudson Bay and James Bay . Within the group of dialects called "West Cree", it is referred to as an " n -dialect", as the variable phoneme common to all Cree dialects appears as "n" in this dialect (as opposed to y, r, l, or ð; all of the phonemes are considered a linguistic reflex of Proto-Algonquian *r ).
68-508: It had approximately 4,500 speakers in a population of 5,000 as of 1982 according to the 14th edition of the Ethnologue . Canadian census data does not identify specific dialects of Cree (all estimates now current rely on extrapolations from specific studies), and currently, no accurate census of any Algonquian language exists. The grammar and the examples used on this page are taken from Ellis's Second Edition (1983) of Spoken Cree . A division
136-538: A macrolanguage consisting of two distinct languages, Twi and Fante , whereas Ethnologue considers Twi and Fante to be dialects of a single language (Akan), since they are mutually intelligible. This anomaly resulted because the ISO 639-2 standard has separate codes for Twi and Fante, which have separate literary traditions, and all 639-2 codes for individual languages are automatically part of 639-3, even though 639-3 would not normally assign them separate codes. In 2014, with
204-424: A 2021 review of Ethnologue and Glottolog, linguist Shobhana Chelliah noted that "For better or worse, the impact of the site is indeed considerable. [...] Clearly, the site has influence on the field of linguistics and beyond." She added that she, among other linguists, integrated Ethnologue in her linguistics classes." The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics uses Ethnologue as its primary source for
272-448: A country. From this edition, Ethnologue includes data about first and second languages of refugees , temporary foreign workers and immigrants. In 2021, the 24th edition had 7,139 modern languages, an increase of 22 living languages from the 23rd edition. Editors especially improved data about language shift in this edition. In 2022, the 25th edition listed a total of 7,151 living languages, an increase of 12 living languages from
340-1049: A cursory description of revitalization efforts where reported, intelligibility and lexical similarity with other dialects and languages, writing scripts, an estimate of language viability using the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), and bibliographic resources. Coverage varies depending on languages. For instance, as of 2008, information on word order was present for 15% of entries while religious affiliations were mentioned for 38% of languages. According to Lyle Campbell "language maps are highly valuable" and most country maps are of high quality and user-friendly. Ethnologue gathers information from SIL's thousands of field linguists , surveys done by linguists and literacy specialists, observations of Bible translators , and crowdsourced contributions. SIL's field linguists use an online collaborative research system to review current data, update it, or request its removal. SIL has
408-462: A highly valuable catalogue of the world's languages that "has become the standard reference" and whose "usefulness is hard to overestimate". They concluded that Ethnologue was "truly excellent, highly valuable, and the very best book of its sort available." In a review of Ethnologue 's 2009 edition in Ethnopolitics , Richard O. Collin , professor of politics, noted that " Ethnologue has become
476-694: A metered paywall to cover its cost, as it is financially self-sustaining. Users in high-income countries who wanted to refer to more than seven pages of data per month had to buy a paid subscription . The 18th edition released that year included a new section on language policy country by country. In 2016, Ethnologue added date about language planning agencies to the 19th edition. As of 2017, Ethnologue 's 20th edition described 237 language families including 86 language isolates and six typological categories, namely sign languages , creoles , pidgins , mixed languages , constructed languages , and as yet unclassified languages . The early focus of
544-455: A scientific perspective. He concluded: " Ethnologue is at present still better than any other nonderivative work of the same scope. [It] is an impressively comprehensive catalogue of world languages, and it is far superior to anything else produced prior to 2009. In particular, it is superior by virtue of being explicit." According to Hammarström, as of 2016, Ethnologue and Glottolog are the only global-scale continually maintained inventories of
612-470: A single language depends upon sociolinguistic evaluation by various scholars; as the preface to Ethnologue states, "Not all scholars share the same set of criteria for what constitutes a 'language' and what features define a ' dialect '." The criteria used by Ethnologue are mutual intelligibility and the existence or absence of a common literature or ethnolinguistic identity. The number of languages identified has been steadily increasing, from 5,445 in
680-582: A standard resource for scholars in the other social sciences: anthropologists, economists, sociologists and, obviously, sociolinguists". According to Collin, Ethnologue is "stronger in languages spoken by indigenous peoples in economically less-developed portions of the world" and "when recent in-depth country-studies have been conducted, information can be very good; unfortunately [...] data are sometimes old". In 2012, linguist Asya Pereltsvaig described Ethnologue as "a reasonably good source of thorough and reliable geographical and demographic information about
748-474: A subsequent sentence "and then PROX went- PROX away" would mean that the fox went away. On the other hand, if the dog is the more important one, the sentence might look something like "the quick brown fox- OBV jumps- OBV>PROX the lazy dog- PROX ", where OBV>PROX is verbal inflection indicating an obviative subject acting on a proximate object. In that case, the same subsequent sentence "and then PROX went- PROX away" would mean instead that
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#1732886847624816-522: A team of editors by geographical area who prepare reports to Ethnologue's general editor. These reports combine opinions from SIL area experts and feedback solicited from non-SIL linguists. Editors have to find compromises when opinions differ. Most of SIL's linguists have taken three to four semesters of graduate linguistics courses, and half of them have a master's degree. They're trained by 300 PhD linguists in SIL. The determination of what characteristics define
884-630: Is a further distinction in the Fort Albany region between kotak ("another") and kotakīy ("another one of two"). As stated above, Swampy Cree relies heavily on verbs to express many things that are expressed in other ways in languages like English. For example, noun incorporation is quite common in Cree. Both transitive and intransitive verbs in Swampy Cree change their endings (and occasionally even their stems) depending on animacy. Intransitive verbs rely on
952-436: Is also occasionally marked by the suffix -im (known as the possessed theme), which appears inside the suffix for plurality when it occurs. The -(a) suffix is added when the possessed item is animate. With plural nouns (as opposed to the possessors), the suffix -ak (for animate) or -a (for inanimate) is added after all other suffixes. Obviative is marked on animate nouns with the suffix -a and on inanimate nouns with
1020-425: Is ambiguous: it could mean that she saw her own mother or that she saw someone else's mother. This is because it is not clear, in some contexts, if "she" and "her" refer to the same person. An obviative/proximate system has a different way of distinguishing between multiple third-person referents. When there is more than one third person named in a sentence or discourse context, the most important, salient, or topical
1088-498: Is animate, but not all nouns that are part of the "animate" gender are animate in the traditional sense of the word. For example, "wharf" is animate. The distinction between "transitive" and "intransitive" in Cree is not the same as in English. For example, thinking and coughing always take an object ( itēlihtam "he thinks (it)" and ostostotam "he coughs (it)"). Independent Indicative Ethnologue Ethnologue: Languages of
1156-416: Is expressed by a prefix -ka- in the first and second person and ta- in the third person. The future tense marker is inserted after the person marker (if any). In casual speech, it is often contracted with the person marker (e.g., nika- becomes n'ka- ). 3) Completed action is often expressed by a prefix kī- (in affirmative utterance) and ohci- (in negative utterances) and is commonly used to refer to
1224-518: Is listed as a language. In addition to choosing a primary name for a language, Ethnologue provides listings of other name(s) for the language and any dialects that are used by its speakers, government, foreigners and neighbors. Also included are any names that have been commonly referenced historically, regardless of whether a name is considered official, politically correct or offensive; this allows more complete historic research to be done. These lists of names are not necessarily complete. Ethnologue
1292-424: Is marked as "proximate" and any other, less salient entities are marked as "obviative". Subsequent sentences that refer to previously-named entities with pronouns or verbal inflections can then use the proximate and obviative references that have already been established to distinguish between the two. For example, in the sentence " the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog ", there are two third-person referents,
1360-492: Is not ideologically or theologically biased. Ethnologue includes alternative names and autonyms , the number of L1 and L2 speakers, language prestige , domains of use, literacy rates , locations, dialects, language classification , linguistic affiliations , typology , language maps, country maps, publication and use in media, availability of the Bible in each language and dialect described, religious affiliations of speakers,
1428-424: Is not phonemically distinctive either. The consonant /h/ is occasionally pronounced as [j] (as in English " y es") intervocalically. When a short vowel is dropped, leaving a nasal next to a stop, the nasal assimilates to the same place of articulation as the stop. For example, "nipāskisikan" becomes "mpāskisikan". In words such as ocawāšimiša , the [c] is actually an underlying /t/, assimilated by preparation for
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#17328868476241496-491: Is pronounced [māːd͡zi], and "maci" is pronounced [mat͡si]. Preaspiration of stops creates a phonemic distinction. For example, "pētāw" (he brings it) is not the same as "pēhtāw" (he waits for it). In emphatic words that contain an initial vowel, [h] is often inserted before the vowel. It is not a phonemic distinction but simply an indicator of stress. Similarly, word-final vowels are often followed by moderate aspiration, which does not mark any change in meaning. Postaspiration
1564-718: Is sometimes made between West Swampy Cree and East Swampy Cree. Communities recognized as West Swampy Cree include Shoal Lake, The Pas , Easterville, Chemawawin Cree Nation , Grand Rapids Barren Lands, Churchill, Split Lake, York Factory, Fox Lake, Shamattawa , and God's Lake Narrows (all in Manitoba) and Fort Severn , Ontario. Communities recognized as East Swampy Cree are Weenusk , Attawapiskat , Albany Post, Kashechewan , and Fort Albany (all in Ontario). The Cree spoken at Kashechewan also shows Moose Cree influence. This page reflects
1632-493: The World Bank are eligible for free access and there are discounts for libraries and independent researchers. Subscribers are mostly institutions: 40% of the world's top 50 universities subscribe to Ethnologue , and it is also sold to business intelligence firms and Fortune 500 companies. The introduction of the paywall was harshly criticized by the community of linguists who rely on Ethnologue to do their work and cannot afford
1700-540: The dog went away. By contrast, an equivalent subsequent sentence in English, such as "and then he went away", would not necessarily indicate whether "he" is the fox or the dog. An analogy that has been used to explain obviation is that the proximate is the entity in the "spotlight", and any other, obviative entities are out of the spotlight or "hangers-on". Obviate/proximate distinctions are common in some indigenous language families in northern North America . Algonquian languages are perhaps best known for obviation, but
1768-444: The "fourth person". In English and many other European languages , the principal means of distinguishing between multiple third-person referents is using gender or (lack of) reflexive. Thus, in "she saw him", it is clear that there are two third persons because they are of different genders. In "she saw her", it is clear that there are two third persons because otherwise, one would say "she saw herself". However, "she saw her mother"
1836-543: The "inanimate" class, there are some nonliving things (socks, kettles, stones, paddles, etc.) within the "animate" class. Possession is also expressed via affixation. The first- and second-person prefixes are the same as those for verbs. There are groups of nouns that have a dependent stem and must occur with some sort of possessor. They include relatives, body parts, and things that are regarded in Algonquian tradition as extremely personal items, such as hunting bags. Possession
1904-425: The 10th edition (in 1984) to 6,909 in the 16th (in 2009), partly due to governments according designation as languages to mutually intelligible varieties and partly due to SIL establishing new Bible translation teams. Ethnologue codes were used as the base to create the new ISO 639-3 international standard. Since 2007, Ethnologue relies only on this standard, administered by SIL International, to determine what
1972-418: The 17th edition, Ethnologue has been published every year, on February 21 , which is International Mother Language Day . Obviative Within linguistics , obviative ( abbreviated OBV ) third person is a grammatical-person marking that distinguishes a referent that is less important to the discourse from one that is more important ( proximate ). The obviative is sometimes referred to as
2040-538: The 17th edition, Ethnologue introduced a numerical code for language status using a framework called EGIDS (Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale) , an elaboration of Fishman's GIDS ( Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale ). It ranks a language from 0 for an international language to 10 for an extinct language , i.e. a language with which no-one retains a sense of ethnic identity. In 2015, SIL's funds decreased and in December 2015, Ethnologue launched
2108-490: The 24th edition. This edition specifically improved the use of languages in education . In 2023, the 26th edition listed a total of 7,168 living languages, an increase of 17 living languages from the 25th edition. In 2024, the 27th edition listed a total of 7,164 living languages, a decrease of 4 living languages from the 26th edition. In 1986, William Bright , then editor of the journal Language , wrote of Ethnologue that it "is indispensable for any reference shelf on
Swampy Cree language - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-1596: The Eastern dialect of the Algonquian Ojibwe in which the obviative is marked on nouns and demonstratives and reflected in pronominal verb affixes: Maaba Maabamh maabam[h] this dash idash idash EMP shkinwe oshkinawe oshkinawe young.man wgii‒bwaadaa[ n ] ogii‒bawaadaa n h o=gii‒bawaad=am= in [h] 3 = PAST -dream= 3 . INAN = OBV wii‒bi‒yaa n id wii‒bi‒ayaa n id wii‒bi‒ayaa= in =id FUT -coming-be.at= OBV = 3 myagi‒nishnaabe n mayagi‒anishinaabe n mayagi‒anishinaabe= an foreign-people= OBV waa‒bi‒nsigwaaj in waa‒bi‒nisigowaaj in X =wii‒bi‒niS=igo=waa=id= in REL = FUT -coming-kill= INV = 3 = OBV Maaba dash shkinwe wgii‒bwaadaa[ n ] wii‒bi‒yaa n id myagi‒nishnaabe n waa‒bi‒nsigwaaj in Maabamh idash oshkinawe ogii‒bawaadaa n h wii‒bi‒ayaa n id mayagi‒anishinaabe n waa‒bi‒nisigowaaj in maabam[h] idash oshkinawe o=gii‒bawaad=am= in [h] wii‒bi‒ayaa= in =id mayagi‒anishinaabe= an X =wii‒bi‒niS=igo=waa=id= in this EMP young.man 3=PAST-dream=3.INAN= OBV FUT-coming-be.at= OBV =3 foreign-people= OBV REL=FUT-coming-kill=INV=3= OBV 'Then this ( PROX ) young man ( PROX ) dreamed ( PROX ) that foreigners ( OBV ) would come ( OBV ) to kill ( OBV ) them ( PROX ).' That example shows that
2244-518: The Ethnologue was on native use (L1) but was gradually expanded to cover L2 use as well. In 2019, Ethnologue disabled trial views and introduced a hard paywall to cover its nearly $ 1 million in annual operating costs (website maintenance, security, researchers, and SIL's 5,000 field linguists). Subscriptions start at $ 480 per person per year, while full access costs $ 2,400 per person per year. Users in low and middle-income countries as defined by
2312-607: The Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization with an international office in Dallas , Texas. The organization studies numerous minority languages to facilitate language development, and to work with speakers of such language communities in translating portions of the Bible into their languages. Despite the Christian orientation of its publisher, Ethnologue
2380-467: The World is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It was first issued in 1951, and is now published by SIL International , an American evangelical Christian non-profit organization . Ethnologue has been published by SIL Global (formerly known as
2448-480: The action but to which person is acting on which other grammatical person (see Direct–inverse alignment ). For example, "I see him/her" ( ni...wāpam...ā...w ) is a direct action because the first person is acting upon the third and "He/she sees me" ( ni...wāpam...ikw...w ) because it is the third person acting upon the first. In Cree, the order of "directness" is second person, first person, third person. Transitive Inanimate Verbs and Animate Intransitive Verbs also have
2516-413: The animacy of their subjects, while transitive verbs rely on the animacy of their objects. There are multiple forms of the verbs. The Independent Order of the verb is the set of verb forms that are used in the main clause. The Conjunct Order consists of the forms used in other types of clauses. Also, Swampy Cree has suffixes for direct action as opposed to inverse . The labels refer not to the quality of
2584-447: The articulation of the two [š]. In fact, pronunciation with a [t] is perceived as baby talk . In word-final position, /t/ becomes [š]. Vowels in Cree can experience a great deal of variation but remain one phoneme. Long /oː/ varies between [oː] and [uː]. Long /aː/ varies between approximately [æː] (as in "hat") and [ɑː] (as in "hall"). Short /i/ varies between [ɪ] and [ɛ]. Short /o/ varies between approximately [o] and [ʊ]. Short /a/ has
2652-471: The date when last fluent speaker of the language died, standardized the age range of language users, and improved the EGIDS estimates. In 2020, the 23rd edition listed 7,117 living languages, an increase of 6 living languages from the 22nd edition. In this edition, Ethnologue expanded its coverage of immigrant languages : previous editions only had full entries for languages considered to be "established" within
2720-433: The equivalent of the English construction that begins with the empty subject "it" (e.g., it is raining, it is snowing, it is day, it is poison, etc.): Some of the elements, such as tahk- , cannot stand on their own, but others are free morphemes , such as kīšik . Unsurprisingly, first and second person never appear in this context, leaving only the third person and obviative forms. Transitive animate verbs whose object
2788-568: The feature occurs also in some Salishan languages and in the language isolate Kutenai as well as in the more southern Keresan languages . Obviative markers are used in Africa in some Nilo-Saharan and Niger–Congo languages. Obviation has also been attested in the Northeast Caucasian Ingush language in Asia . The following is a typical example of obviate/proximate morphology in
Swampy Cree language - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-485: The forms found in Albany Post (now Kashechewan ). The consonant inventory for Swampy Cree contains 11 phonemes. A twelfth phoneme /l/ is not native but has entered the language via loanwords and influence from Moose Cree. Voicing does not cause phonemic contrast in Swampy Cree. According to Ellis, however, stops often undergo voicing intervocalically when preceded by a stressed long vowel or nasal. For example, "māci"
2924-436: The fox and the dog. Thus, one of them has to be proximate and the other one has to be obviative, depending on which one the speaker considers more central to the story. If the fox is the more important one, the sentence might look something like "the quick brown fox- PROX jumps- PROX>OBV the lazy dog- OBV ", where PROX>OBV is verbal inflection indicating a proximate subject acting on an obviative object. In that case,
2992-586: The intransitive form of verbs. For example, instead of saying "he is strong", in Cree, one says something like "he strongs". Nouns in Swampy Cree have both free and bound stems, the latter being used in combination with other morphemes. Compounds are common and can be formed from other nouns, verb stems, and particles. Swampy Cree does not have gender in the Indo-European sense (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Rather, it differentiates between animate and inanimate (see Animacy ). While no living things are within
3060-699: The lack of references, Ethnologue added in 2013 a link on each language to language resources from the Open Language Archives Community (OLAC) Ethnologue acknowledges that it rarely quotes any source verbatim but cites sources wherever specific statements are directly attributed to them, and corrects missing attributions upon notification. The website provides a list of all of the references cited. In her 2021 review, Shobhana Chelliah noted that Glottolog aims to be better than Ethnologue in language classification and genetic and areal relationships by using linguists' original sources. Starting with
3128-414: The languages of the world". The 2003 International Encyclopedia of Linguistics described Ethnologue as "a comprehensive listing of the world's languages, with genetic classification", and follows Ethnologue's classification. In 2005, linguists Lindsay J. Whaley and Lenore Grenoble considered that Ethnologue "continues to provide the most comprehensive and reliable count of numbers of speakers of
3196-857: The level of endangerment in languages around the world." The US National Science Foundation uses Ethnologue to determine which languages are endangered. According to Hammarström et al., Ethnologue is, as of 2022, one of the three global databases documenting language endangerment with the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger and the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat). The University of Hawaii Kaipuleohone language archive uses Ethnologue 's metadata as well. The World Atlas of Language Structures uses Ethnologue 's genealogical classification. The Rosetta Project uses Ethnologue 's language metadata. In 2005, linguist Harald Hammarström wrote that Ethnologue
3264-488: The list of languages and language maps. According to linguist Suzanne Romaine , Ethnologue is also the leading source for research on language diversity . According to The Oxford Handbook of Language and Society , Ethnologue is "the standard reference source for the listing and enumeration of Endangered Languages, and for all known and "living" languages of the world"." Similarly, linguist David Bradley describes Ethnologue as "the most comprehensive effort to document
3332-588: The name implies, the Immediate Imperative is for actions that should be carried out immediately, and the Future Imperative is for actions that should be carried out after a lapse of time. 1) Person : There are two "subject" prefixes for Cree Verbs for first person ( ni(t)- ) and second person ( ki(t)- ). The third person is unmarked. The prefixes are used simultaneously with suffixes that express number, animacy, and transitivity. 2) Tense : Future tense
3400-638: The only comprehensive sources of information about language populations and that Ethnologue had more specific information. They concluded that: "the language statistics available today in the form of the Ethnologue population counts are already good enough to be useful" According to linguist William Poser , Ethnologue was, as of 2006, the "best single source of information" on language classification. In 2008 linguists Lyle Campbell and Verónica Grondona highly commended Ethnologue in Language . They described it as
3468-494: The option of relational or non-relational forms. Relational forms are used when the verb is carried out in relation to another person. A famous example from the translation of the Pilgrim's Progress is kici-pēci-itohtē-w-ak , which comes from "evangelist bid me come hither" but literally translates to "that I come hither (in relation to him)". Swampy Cree has two types of imperatives: Immediate Imperative and Future Imperative. As
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#17328868476243536-415: The past. For example, itohtēw means "he goes (there)" but kī-itohtēw means "he went (there)". 4) Aspect There is a potential prefix kī- (can, be able to) that precedes the root but follows both person and tense prefixes. The prefix ati- indicates gradual onset (as opposed to sudden beginning). 4*) Some prefixes have more freedom in where they go, such as pēci- (in this direction, towards
3604-494: The phrase). 6) Root 7) Reciprocal action Reciprocal action is expressed by the suffix -ito- , occurring between the stem and the normal inflection. 8) Inflectional suffix 9) Causative : The causative suffix -hēw can be added to verbs in order to change it to a causative verb. For example, itohtēw means "he goes there", and ihotahēw means "he takes him there". Animate intransitive verbs are intransitive verbs that have an animate subject . These verbs are often
3672-401: The proximate referent need not necessarily be the subject of a clause. Potawatomi (an Algonquian Language) is notable for having two degrees of obviation, "obviation" and "further obviation." "Further obviation" is rare, but when it occurs, a "further obviative" referent, deemed to be even less salient than the obviative referent, can be marked by an additional obviative suffix. The following
3740-504: The scope of other existing standards, e.g. ISO 639-1 and ISO 639-2 . The 14th edition, published in 2000, included 7,148 language codes. In 2002, Ethnologue was asked to work with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to integrate its codes into a draft international standard. Ethnologue codes have then been adopted by ISO as the international standard, ISO 639-3 . The 15th edition of Ethnologue
3808-434: The speaker). 5) Location emphasis : When a locating expression is used at the beginning of a sentence, the verb contains a prefix iši- as a sort of emphasis and agreement (approximately "thus" or "so"). Ellis describes it as being approximately "At the store do you there work?" If the locating expression does not precede the verb, iši- is not used because it is a relative root (so it refers to something that precedes it in
3876-485: The subscription The same year, Ethnologue launched its contributor program to fill gaps and improve accuracy, allowing contributors to submit corrections and additions and to get a complimentary access to the website. Ethnologue 's editors gradually review crowdsourced contributions before publication. As 2019 was the International Year of Indigenous Languages , this edition focused on language loss : it added
3944-430: The suffix -iliw . Animate obviative nouns do not mark number, so it is unknown whether an obviative noun is singular or plural. Inanimate obviative nouns are marked for plurality. Surobviative nouns show neither the number of the noun itself nor the number of the possessor. While person and possession are often expressed by affixation in Cree, there are separate personal pronouns, which are often used for emphasis. There
4012-515: The widest variation, from [æ] to [ʌ] and [ɛ] as well, when it proceeds the approximant [j]. Stress is not distinctive in Swampy Cree. In other words, there are no minimal pairs of words that are distinguishable only by stress. Swampy Cree is a polysynthetic language that relies heavily on verbs, so many things that would be expressed in English as nouns or adjectives are expressed as verbs. In fact, Swampy Cree has no adjectives at all. Instead, it has
4080-536: The world's languages", still they recognize that "individual language surveys may have far more accurate counts for a specific language, but The Ethnologue is unique in bringing together speaker statistics on a global scale". In 2006, computational linguists John C. Paolillo and Anupam Das conducted a systematic evaluation of available information on language populations for the UNESCO Institute for Statistics . They reported that Ethnologue and Linguasphere were
4148-556: The world's languages". She added in 2021 that its maps "are generally fairly accurate although they often depict the linguistic situation as it once was or as someone might imagine it to be but not as it actually is". Linguist George Tucker Childs wrote in 2012 that: " Ethnologue is the most widely referenced source for information on languages of the world", but he added that regarding African languages, "when evaluated against recent field experience [Ethnologue] seems at least out of date". In 2014, Ethnologue admitted that some of its data
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#17328868476244216-656: The world's languages. The main difference is that Ethnologue includes additional information (such as speaker numbers or vitality) but lacks systematic sources for the information given. In contrast, Glottolog provides no language context information but points to primary sources for further data. Contrary to Ethnologue , Glottolog does not run its own surveys, but it uses Ethnologue as one of its primary sources. As of 2019, Hammarström uses Ethnologue in his articles, noting that it "has (unsourced, but) detailed information associated with each speech variety, such as speaker numbers and map location". In response to feedback about
4284-624: Was "the best source that list the non-endangered languages of the world". Lyle Campbell and Russell Barlow also noted that the 2017 edition of Ethnologue "improved [its] classification markedly". They note that Ethnologue 's genealogy is similar to that of the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) but different from that of the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat) and Glottolog. Linguist Lisa Matthewson commented in 2020 that Ethnologue offers "accurate information about speaker numbers". In
4352-432: Was consistent with specialist views most of the time and was a catalog "of very high absolute value and by far the best of its kind". In 2011, Hammarström created Glottolog in response to the lack of a comprehensive language bibliography, especially in Ethnologue . In 2015, Hammarström reviewed the 16th, 17th, and 18th editions of Ethnologue and described the frequent lack of citations as its only "serious fault" from
4420-628: Was created in 1971 at the University of Oklahoma under a grant from the National Science Foundation . In 1974 the database was moved to Cornell University . Since 2000, the database has been maintained by SIL International in their Dallas headquarters. In 1997 (13th edition), the website became the primary means of access. In 1984, Ethnologue released a three-letter coding system, called an 'SIL code', to identify each language that it described. This set of codes significantly exceeded
4488-422: Was founded in 1951 by Richard S. Pittman and was initially focused on minority languages, to share information on Bible translation needs. The first edition included information on 46 languages. Hand-drawn maps were introduced in the fourth edition (1953). The seventh edition (1969) listed 4,493 languages. In 1971, Ethnologue expanded its coverage to all known languages of the world. Ethnologue database
4556-672: Was out-of-date and switched from a four-year publication cycle (in print and online) to yearly online updates. In 2017, Robert Phillipson and Tove Skutnabb-Kangas described Ethnologue as "the most comprehensive global source list for (mostly oral) languages". According to the 2018 Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics , Ethnologue is a "comprehensive, frequently updated [database] on languages and language families'. According to quantitative linguists Simon Greenhill , Ethnologue offers, as of 2018, "sufficiently accurate reflections of speaker population size". Linguists Lyle Campbell and Kenneth Lee Rehg wrote in 2018 that Ethnologue
4624-442: Was the first edition to use this standard. This standard is now administered separately from Ethnologue. SIL International is the registration authority for languages names and codes, according to rules established by ISO. Since then Ethnologue relies on the standard to determine what is listed as a language. In only one case, Ethnologue and the ISO standards treat languages slightly differently. ISO 639-3 considers Akan to be
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