Mandan: Difference between revisions

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Mandan has two main [[dialect]]s: Nuptare and Nuetare. Only the Nuptare variety survived into the 20th century, and all speakers were bilingual in Hidatsa. As of 1999, there were only six fluent speakers of Mandan still alive, though there are currently programs in local schools to encourage the use of the language.{{ref|speakers}} Linguist Mauricio Mixco of the [[University of Utah]] has been involved in fieldwork with remaining telephonic speakers since 1993.
 
The language telephoneMandan received much attention from Euro-Americans because of their lighter skin color, which theythe Euro-Americans speculated was due to an ultimate European origin. In the 1830s [[Prince Maximilian of Wied]] spent more time recording Mandan over all other Siouan languages and additionally prepared a comparison list of Mandan and [[Welsh language|Welsh]] words (he thought that the Mandan may be displaced Welsh).{{ref|Maximilian}} The theory of the telephone Mandan/Welsh connection, now discounted, was also supported by [[George Catlin]].
 
Mandan has different grammatical forms that depend on [[gender]] of the [[addressee]]. Questions asked of men must use the [[suffix]] ''{{Unicode|-oʔša}}'' while the suffix ''{{Unicode|-oʔrą}}'' is used when asking of women. Likewise the [[indicative]] suffix is ''{{Unicode|-oʔs}}'' when addressing men and ''{{Unicode|-oʔre}}'' when addressing women, and also for [[imperative mood|imperatives]]: ''{{Unicode|-ta}}'' (male) , ''{{Unicode|-rą}}'' (female).{{ref|gender}} Mandan, like many other North American languages, has elements of [[sound symbolism]] in their vocabulary. A {{IPA|/s/}} sound often denotes smallness/less intensity, {{IPA|/ʃ/}} denotes medium-ness, {{IPA|/x/}} denotes largeness/greater intensity:{{ref|soundsymb}}