Fox language
Fox is an Algonquian language, spoken by a thousand Meskwaki, Sauk, and Kickapoo in various locations in the Midwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
Dialects
The three distinct dialects are:If Kickapoo is counted as a separate language rather than a dialect of Fox, then only between 200 and 300 speakers of Fox remain. Extinct Mascouten was most likely another dialect, though it is scarcely attested.
Revitalization
Most speakers are elderly or middle-aged, making it highly endangered. The tribal school at the Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa incorporates bilingual education for children. In 2011, the Meskwaki Sewing Project was created, to bring mothers and girls together "with elder women in the Meskwaki Senior Center sewing traditional clothing and learning the Meskwaki language."Prominent scholars doing research on the language include Ives Goddard, Lucy Thomason of the Smithsonian Institution, and Amy Dahlstrom of the University of Chicago.
Phonology
The consonant phonemes of Fox are given in the table below. The eight vowel phonemes are: short and long.Other than those involving a consonant plus or, the only possible consonant cluster is.
Until the early 1900s, Fox was a phonologically very conservative language and preserved many features of Proto-Algonquian; records from the decades immediately following 1900 are particularly useful to Algonquianists for this reason. By the 1960s, however, an extensive progression of phonological changes had taken place, resulting in the loss of intervocalic semivowels and certain other features.
Grammar
According to A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language by Gordon Whittaker, the language's nouns can be divided into animate and inanimate groups. Animate nouns end in -a. To pluralise most animate nouns, the ending is transformed from -a to -aki. The few exceptions that exist have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.Inanimate nouns typically end in -i. To pluralise most inanimate nouns, the ending is transformed from -i to -ani. Like the animate nouns, the few exceptions that exist also have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.
Verbs can be divided into transitive and intransitive; transitive involves two parties, while intransitive is one party
| Subject | Verb | Translation |
| ne- | nepemâtethi | I am alive |
| ke- | kepemâtethi | you are alive |
| -wa | pemâtethiwa | s/he is alive |
| ne-... -pena | nepemâtethipena | we are alive |
| ke-... -pena | kepemâtethipena | we are alive |
| ke-... -pwa | kepemâtethipwa | you are alive; you all are alive |
| -waki | pemâtethiwaki | they are alive |
| Subject | Verb | Translation |
| ke-... -ene | netahkawâpatene | I take care of you |
| ke-... -enepwa | netahkawâpatenepwa | I take care of you ; I take care of you all |
| ne-... -âwa | netahkawâpatâwa | I take care of him/her |
| ne-... -âwaki | netahkawâpatâwaki | I take care of them |
| ke-... -i | ketahkawâpati | you take care of me |
| ke-... -âwa | ketahkawâpatâwa | you take care of him/her |
| ke-... -ipena | ketahkawâpatipena | you take care of us |
| ke-... -enepena | ketahkawâpatenepena | we take care of you |
| ne-... -ekwa | netahkawâpatekwa | s/he takes care of me |
| ke-... -ekwa | ketahkawâpatekwa | s/he takes care of you |
| -êwa | ahkawâpatêwa | s/he takes care of him/her/them |
| ne-... -ekonâna | netahkawâpatekonâna | s/he takes care of us |
| ke-... -ekonâna | ketahkawâpatekonâna | s/he takes care of us |
| ke-... -ekowâwa | ketahkawâpatekowâwa | s/he takes care of you ; s/he takes care of you all |
| ne-... -âpena | netahkawâpatâpena | we take care of him/her/them |
| ke-... -âpena | ketahkawâpatâpena | we take care of him/her/them |
| ke-... -ipwa | ketahkawâpatipwa | you take care of me; you all take care of me |
| ke-... -âpwa | ketahkawâpatâpwa | you take care of him/her/them; you all take care of him/her/them |
| ne-... -ekôki | netahkawâpatekôki | they take care of me |
| ke-... -ekôki | ketahkawâpatekôki | they take care of you |
| -êwaki | ahkawâpatêwaki | they take care of him/her/them |
| ne-... -ekonânaki | netahkawâpatekonânaki | they take care of us |
| ke-... -ekonânaki | ketahkawâpatekonânaki | they take care of us |
| ke-... -ekowâwaki | ketahkawâpatekowâwaki | they take care of you ; they take care of you all |
This conjugation is only for verbs that end in -amwa; all other animate transitive verbs take the same conjugation as the animate intransitive verbs.
Vocabulary
Sauk numerals are as follows:| nekoti | one |
| nîshwi | two |
| nethwi | three |
| nyêwi | four |
| nyânanwi | five |
| nekotwâshika | six |
| nôhika | seven |
| neshwâshika | eight |
| shâka | nine |
| metâthwi | ten |
Writing systems
Besides the Latin script, Fox has been written in two indigenous scripts.Fox I
"Fox I" is an abugida based on the cursive French alphabet. Consonants written by themselves are understood to be syllables containing the vowel. They are:| ? | |
| ? | |
| ? | |
| ?? | |
| ?? | |
| ℐ | |
| ? | |
| ? | |
| ? | |
| ? | |
| ? |
Vowels are written by adding dots to the consonant:
| ? | |
| ?. | |
| ?· | |
| ?.. |
Fox II
"Fox II" is a consonant–vowel alphabet. According to Coulmas, is not written. Vowels are written as cross-hatched tally marks.| + | |
| ? | |
| ⵕ | |
| ? | |
| ñ | |
| ═ | |
| ƧƧ | |
| ? | |
| ⵌ | |
| ?ʼ | |
| Ƨ? |
| x | |
| ʜ | |
| ⱶʜ | |
| ʜʜ |