Ottawa or Odawa is a dialect of the Ojibwe language spoken by the Odawa people in southern Ontario in Canada, and northern Michigan in the United States. Descendants of migrant Ottawa speakers live in Kansas and Oklahoma. The first recorded meeting of Ottawa speakers and Europeans occurred in 1615 when a party of Ottawas encountered explorer Samuel de Champlain on the north shore of Georgian Bay. Ottawa is written in an alphabetic system using Latin letters, and is known to its speakers as 'speaking the native language' or 'speaking Ottawa'.
Ottawa is one of the Ojibwe dialects that has undergone the most language change, although it shares many features with other dialects. The most distinctive change is a pervasive pattern of vowel syncope that deletes short vowels in many words, resulting in significant changes in their pronunciation. This and other innovations in pronunciation, in addition to changes in word structure and vocabulary, differentiate Ottawa from other dialects of Ojibwe.
Like other Ojibwe dialects, Ottawa grammar includes animate and inanimate noun gender, subclasses of verbs that are dependent upon gender, combinations of prefixes and suffixes that are connected with particular verb subclasses, and complex patterns of word formation. Ottawa distinguishes two types of third person in sentences: proximate, indicating a noun phrase that is emphasized in the discourse, and obviative, indicating a less prominent noun phrase. Ottawa has a relatively flexible word order compared with languages such as English.
Ottawa speakers are concerned that their language is endangered as the use of English increases and the number of fluent speakers declines. Language revitalization efforts include second language learning in primary and secondary schools.
Classification
Ottawa is known to its speakers as 'speaking the native language' (from 'native person' + verb suffix 'speak a language' + suffix 'nominalizer', with regular deletion of short vowels); the same term is applied to the Eastern Ojibwe dialect.Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 17 The corresponding term in other dialects is .Nichols, John and Earl Nyholm, 1995, p. 10 (from 'Ottawa' + verb suffix 'speak a language' + suffix 'nominalizer', with regular deletion of short vowels) 'speaking Ottawa' is also reported in some sources.Baraga, Frederic, 1878, p. 336 gives . The name of the Canadian capital Ottawa is a loanword that comes through French from , the self-designation of the Ottawa people.Rayburn, Alan, 1997, p. 259See Bright, William, 2004, p. 360 for other uses of "Ottawa" as a place name. The earliest recorded form is , in a French source from 1641.Feest, Johanna and Christian Feest, 1978, p. 785
Ottawa is a dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a member of the Algonquian language family.Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 95 The varieties of Ojibwe form a dialect continuum, a series of adjacent dialects spoken primarily in the area surrounding the Great Lakes as well as in the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, with smaller outlying groups in North Dakota, Montana, Alberta, and British Columbia. Mutual intelligibility is the linguistic criterion used to distinguish languages from dialects.Hock, Hans, 1991, p. 381Mithun, Marian, 1999, p. 298 In straightforward cases, varieties of language that are mutually intelligible are classified as dialects, while varieties of speech that are not mutually intelligible are classified as separate languages.Campbell, Lyle, 2004, p. 217 Linguistic and social factors may result in inconsistencies in how the terms language and dialect are used.Mithun, Marian, 1999, pp. 298–299
Languages spoken in a series of dialects occupying adjacent territory form a dialect continuum or language complex, with some of the dialects being mutually intelligible while others are not. Adjacent dialects typically have relatively high degrees of mutual intelligibility, but the degree of mutual intelligibility between nonadjacent dialects varies considerably. In some cases, speakers of nonadjacent dialects may not understand each other's speech.Hockett, Charles F., 1958, pp. 323–326 develops a model of language complexes; he uses the term "L-complex"
A survey conducted during the 1980s and 1990s found that the differences between Ottawa, the Severn Ojibwe dialect spoken in northwestern Ontario and northern Manitoba, and the Algonquin dialect spoken in western Quebec result in low levels of mutual intelligibility.Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994 These three dialects "show many distinct features, which suggest periods of relative isolation from other varieties of Ojibwe."Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, pp. 43–44 Because the dialects of Ojibwe are at least partly mutually intelligible, Ojibwe is conventionally considered to be a single language with a series of adjacent dialects.Rhodes, Richard and Evelyn Todd, 1981, p. 52 Taking account of the low mutual intelligibility of the most strongly differentiated dialects, an alternative view is that Ojibwe "could be said to consist of several languages", forming a language complex.As in e.g. Wolfart, H. Christoph, 1989, p. 1
Geographic distribution The Ottawa communities for which the most detailed linguistic information has been collected are in Ontario. Extensive research has been conducted with speakers from Walpole Island in southwestern Ontario near Detroit, and Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. South of Manitoulin Island on the Bruce Peninsula are Cape Croker and Saugeen, for which less information is available.Significant publications include Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958; Piggott, Glyne, 1980; Rhodes, Richard, 1985; Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994; Valentine, J. Randolph, 2001 The dialect affiliation of several communities east of Lake Huron remains uncertain. Although "the dialect spoken along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay" has been described as Eastern Ojibwe, studies do not clearly delimit the boundary between Ottawa and Eastern Ojibwe.Valentine, J. Randolph, 2001Rhodes, Richard, 1985, p. x
Other Canadian communities in the Ottawa-speaking area extend from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario along the north shore of Lake Huron: Garden River,Linguistic and cultural affiliations of Canada Indian bands, 1980, p. 20 Thessalon,Linguistic and cultural affiliations of Canada Indian bands, 1980, p. 24 Mississauga (Mississagi River 8 Reserve,Linguistic and cultural affiliations of Canada Indian bands, 1980, p. 21 Aboriginal Canada Portal: Aboriginal Communities: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Retrieved on March 27, 2009. Serpent River,Linguistic and cultural affiliations of Canada Indian bands, 1980, p. 23Serpent River First Nation . Aboriginal Canada Portal: Aboriginal Communities: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Retrieved on March 27, 2009. Whitefish River,Whitefish River First Nation Whitefish River Community Web Site. Retrieved on March 27, 2009. Mattagami, and Whitefish Lake. In addition to Wikwemikong, Ottawa communities on Manitoulin Island are, west to east: Cockburn Island,Linguistic and cultural affiliations of Canada Indian bands, 1980, p. 19 Sheshegwaning,Sheshegwaning First Nation. Sheshegwaning First Nation Community web site. Retrieved on March 27, 2009. West Bay, Sucker Creek,. Aboriginal Canada Portal: Aboriginal Communities: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Retrieved on March 27, 2009. and Sheguiandah.. Aboriginal Canada Portal: Aboriginal Communities: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Retrieved on March 27, 2009. Other Ottawa communities in southwestern Ontario in addition to Walpole Island are: Sarnia, Stoney and Kettle Point, and Caradoc (Chippewas of the Thames), near London, Ontario.Rhodes, Richard and Evelyn Todd, 1981, p. 54, Fig. 2Valentine, J. Randolph, 2001, p. 2
Communities in Michigan where Ottawa linguistic data has been collected include Peshawbestown, Harbor Springs, Grand Rapids, Mount Pleasant, Bay City, and Cross Village.Rhodes, Richard, 1985, pp. x–xi The descendants of migrant Ottawas live in Kansas and Oklahoma;Feest, Johanna and Christian Feest, 1978, p. 779, Fig. 6Dawes, Charles, 1982 available information indicates only three elderly speakers in Oklahoma as of 2006.Status of Indian languages in Oklahoma. Status of Indian Languages in Oklahoma. Intertribal Wordpath Society. Norman, Oklahoma. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
Reliable data on the total number of Ottawa speakers is not available, in part because Canadian census data does not identify the Ottawa as a separate group.Various Languages Spoken (147), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data Retrieved on March 31, 2009. One report suggests a total of approximately 8,000 speakers of Ottawa in the northern United States and southern Ontario out of an estimated total population of 60,000.Gordon, Raymond, 2005. See online version of same: Ethnologue entry for Ottawa. Retrieved September 14, 2009 A field study conducted during the 1990s in Ottawa communities indicates that Ottawa is in decline, noting that "Today too few children are learning as their first language, and in some communities where the language was traditionally spoken, the number of speakers is very small."Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, p. 2 Formal second-language classes attempt to reduce the impact of declining first-language acquisition of Ottawa.Valentine, J. Randolph, 2001, p. 1
Population movements At the time of first contact with Europeans in the early 17th century, Ottawa speakers resided on Manitoulin Island, the Bruce Peninsula, and probably the north and east shores of Georgian Bay. The northern area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan has also been a central area for Ottawa speakers since the arrival of Europeans.Feest, Johanna and Christian Feest, 1978, p. 772
Since the arrival of Europeans, the population movements of Ottawa speakers have been complex, with extensive migrations and contact with other Ojibwe groups.Rogers, Edward, 1978, pp. 760, 764, 764, Fig. 3 Many Ottawa speakers in southern Ontario are descended from speakers of the Southwestern Ojibwe dialect (also known as "Chippewa") who moved into Ottawa-speaking areas during the mid-19th century. Ottawa today is sometimes referred to as Chippewa or Ojibwe by speakers in these areas. As part of a series of population displacements during the same period, an estimated two thousand American Potawatomi speakers from Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana moved into Ottawa communities in southwestern Ontario.Clifton, James, 1978, p. 739 The non-Ottawa-speaking Ojibwes who moved to these areas shifted to speaking Ottawa, as did the Potawatomi migrants. As a result of the migrations, Ottawa came to include Potawatomi and Ojibwe loanwords.Rhodes, Richard, 1985 p. xi
Two subdialects of Ottawa arise from these population movements and the subsequent language shift. The subdialects are associated with the ancestry of significant increments of the populations in particular communities and differences in the way the language is named in those locations.Rhodes, Richard, 1982, p. 4 On Manitoulin Island, where the population is predominantly of Ottawa origin, the language is called Ottawa, and has features that set it off from other communities that have significant populations of Southwestern Ojibwe (Chippewa) and Potawatomi descent. In the latter communities, the language is called Chippewa but is still clearly Ottawa. Dialect features found in "Ottawa Ottawa" that distinguish it from "Chippewa Ottawa" include deletion of the sounds w and y between vowels, glottalization of w before consonants,Rhodes, Richard, 1985, p. li changes in vowel quality adjacent to w,Rhodes, Richard, 1985, pp. xxxix–xliii and distinctive intonation.Rhodes, Richard, 1976a, p. 135
Phonology