Pronouns in Deep Time: Reconstructing Proto-Algonquian Personal Pronouns through Mi’kmaq and Its Relatives
Location
Golden Eagles
Start Date
1-5-2026 12:00 PM
Department
Linguistics
Abstract
Examining sound patterns across related languages helps linguists reconstruct the shared sounds (or features) of an ancestral language. This study examines whether Mi’kmaq, an Algonquian language, systematically aligns with other Algonquian languages. The degree of relatedness between Algonquian languages will be explored through the comparative method of sound correspondences (Bowern 2010), using Algonquian reference grammars in Mi’kmaq (Fidelholtz 1968), Arapaho (Cowell & Moss Sr. 2008), Menominee (Bloomfield 1962), Passamaquoddy (Sherwood 1986), and Nishnaabemwin (Valentine 2001) to create an historical reconstruction of the Proto-Algonquian forms. Sound correspondences are created through words that have a similar origin, known as cognates, across these Algonquian languages. These correspondences are examined for phonologically-motivated change to reconstruct the Proto-Algonquian form. The focus of this study will be personal pronouns, a class of words that are relatively resistant to change. This morphological construction of polysynthetic languages is one of the major challenges encountered in this research. For example the linguistic marker for first person singular ‘I/me’ is realized as niin in Mi’kmaq, ne in Arapaho, niin in Nishnaabemwin, and nεnah in Menominee. These sounds are compared based on each sound’s phonological shape. A scientific hypothesis based on the study of historical sound change rules creates the Proto-Algonquian form *niin(ah), with the parenthesis marking an optional segment of the reconstruction. Although Mi’kmaq has been described as the most divergent of the surviving Eastern Algonquian languages (Hewson 1973:151) the extent and nature of this divergence remain insufficiently explored. The Proto-Algonquian Online Dictionary provides reconstructions (Hewson 2001; Hewson 1993), yet the full pattern of personal pronouns has not been comprehensively compared across daughter languages. This study analyzes nominal categories, including gender, number, and person, in Arapaho, Menominee, Passamaquoddy, Nishnaabemwin, and Mi’kmaq to assess the degree to which Mi’kmaq’s distinctiveness is reflected in its morphological correspondences. By comparing these patterns across languages, the study evaluates whether Mi’kmaq’s divergence is primarily phonological, morphological, or a combination of both. The findings add reconstructions of Proto-Algonquian personal pronouns and contribute to broader efforts in historical reconstruction within the Algonquian language family.
Faculty Sponsor
Lewis Gebhardt
Pronouns in Deep Time: Reconstructing Proto-Algonquian Personal Pronouns through Mi’kmaq and Its Relatives
Golden Eagles
Examining sound patterns across related languages helps linguists reconstruct the shared sounds (or features) of an ancestral language. This study examines whether Mi’kmaq, an Algonquian language, systematically aligns with other Algonquian languages. The degree of relatedness between Algonquian languages will be explored through the comparative method of sound correspondences (Bowern 2010), using Algonquian reference grammars in Mi’kmaq (Fidelholtz 1968), Arapaho (Cowell & Moss Sr. 2008), Menominee (Bloomfield 1962), Passamaquoddy (Sherwood 1986), and Nishnaabemwin (Valentine 2001) to create an historical reconstruction of the Proto-Algonquian forms. Sound correspondences are created through words that have a similar origin, known as cognates, across these Algonquian languages. These correspondences are examined for phonologically-motivated change to reconstruct the Proto-Algonquian form. The focus of this study will be personal pronouns, a class of words that are relatively resistant to change. This morphological construction of polysynthetic languages is one of the major challenges encountered in this research. For example the linguistic marker for first person singular ‘I/me’ is realized as niin in Mi’kmaq, ne in Arapaho, niin in Nishnaabemwin, and nεnah in Menominee. These sounds are compared based on each sound’s phonological shape. A scientific hypothesis based on the study of historical sound change rules creates the Proto-Algonquian form *niin(ah), with the parenthesis marking an optional segment of the reconstruction. Although Mi’kmaq has been described as the most divergent of the surviving Eastern Algonquian languages (Hewson 1973:151) the extent and nature of this divergence remain insufficiently explored. The Proto-Algonquian Online Dictionary provides reconstructions (Hewson 2001; Hewson 1993), yet the full pattern of personal pronouns has not been comprehensively compared across daughter languages. This study analyzes nominal categories, including gender, number, and person, in Arapaho, Menominee, Passamaquoddy, Nishnaabemwin, and Mi’kmaq to assess the degree to which Mi’kmaq’s distinctiveness is reflected in its morphological correspondences. By comparing these patterns across languages, the study evaluates whether Mi’kmaq’s divergence is primarily phonological, morphological, or a combination of both. The findings add reconstructions of Proto-Algonquian personal pronouns and contribute to broader efforts in historical reconstruction within the Algonquian language family.