Nez Perce language


Nez Perce, also spelled Nez Percé or called Nimipuutímt, is a Sahaptian language related to the several dialects of Sahaptin. Nez Perce comes from the French phrase nez percé, "pierced nose"; however, Nez Perce, who call themselves Nimiipuu, meaning "the people", did not pierce their noses. This misnomer may have occurred as a result of confusion on the part of the French, as it was surrounding tribes who did so.
The Sahaptian sub-family is one of the branches of the Plateau Penutian family. It is spoken by the Nez Perce people of the Northwestern United States.
Nez Perce is a highly endangered language. While sources differ on the exact number of fluent speakers, it is almost definitely under 100. The Nez Perce tribe is endeavoring to reintroduce the language into native usage through a language revitalization program, but the future of the Nez Perce language is far from assured.
The grammar of Nez Perce has been described in a grammar and a dictionary with two dissertations.

Phonology

The phonology of Nez Perce includes vowel harmony, as well as a complex stress system described by Crook.

Consonants

The sounds,,, and only occur in the Downriver dialect.

Vowels

Stress is marked with an acute accent.

Grammar

As in many other indigenous languages of the Americas, a Nez Perce verb can have the meaning of an entire sentence in English. Verbal affixes provide information about the person and number of the subject and object, as well as tense and aspect.

Case

In Nez Perce, the subject of a sentence, and the object when there is one, can each be marked for grammatical case, an affix that shows the function of the word. Nez Perce employs a three-way case-marking strategy: a transitive subject, a transitive object, and an intransitive subject are each marked differently. Nez Perce is thus an example of the very rare type of tripartite languages.
Because of this case marking, the word order can be quite free. A specific word order tells the hearer what is new information versus old information, but it does not mark the subject and the object.
Nouns in Nez Perce are marked based on how they relate to the transitivity of the verb. Subjects in a sentence with a transitive verb take the ergative suffix -nim, objects in a sentence with a transitive verb take the accusative suffix -ne, and subjects in sentences with an intransitive verb don’t take a suffix. For example:
Ergative suffix -nim

ᶍáᶍaas-nim hitwekǘxce

grizzly-ergative he.is.chasing

‘Grizzly is chasing me’

Accusative suffix -ne

ʔóykalo-m titóoqan-m páaqaʔancix ᶍáᶍaas-na

all-ergative people-ergative they.respect.him grizzly-accusative

‘All people respect Grizzly’

Intransitive subject

ᶍáᶍaac hiwéhyem

grizzly has.come

‘Grizzly has come’
This system of marking allows for flexible word order in Nez Perce:
Verb–subject–object word order

kii pée-ten’we-m-e qíiw-ne ’ iceyéeye-nm

this 3→3-talk-csl-past old.man-obj coyote-erg

‘Now the coyote talked to the old man’

Subject–verb–object word order

Kaa háatya-nm páa-’nahna-m-a ’iceyéeye-ne

and wind-erg 3→3-carry-csl-past coyote- obj

‘And the wind carried coyote here’

Subject–object–verb word order

Kawó’ kii háama-pim ’áayato-na pée-’nehnen-e

then this husband-erg woman-obj 3→3-take.away- past

‘Now then the husband took the woman away’.

Vowel harmony

Dictionaries and vocabulary