Fox language

{{Short description|Algonquian language spoken in US and Mexico}} {{for|the language of the animal|Fox#Vocalization}} {{More footnotes needed|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox language | name = Fox | altname = Meskwaki-Sauk-Kickapoo | nativename = {{lang|sac|Meshkwahkihaki}} | states = United States, Mexico | region = Central Oklahoma, Northeastern Kansas, Iowa, and Coahuila | ethnicity = 760 Meskwaki and Sauk and 820 Kickapoo in the US (2000 census)<ref name=e24/> and 423 Mexican Kickapoo (2010 census)<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. (2015). [http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm ''Lenguas indígenas en México y hablantes (de 3 años y más) al 2015''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165419/http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm |date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref> | speakers = 700: 250 Sauk and Fox and 400 Kickapoo in the US | date = 2007–2015 | ref = e24 | speakers2 = {{sigfig|63|1}} Kickapoo in Mexico (2020 census)<ref name="inegi2020">[http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165419/http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm |date=March 3, 2016 }} INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.</ref> | familycolor = Algic | fam1 = Algic | fam2 = Algonquian | script = Latin, Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics | lc1 = | ld1 = | lingname = Mascouten | map = Oklahoma Indian Languages.png | mapcaption = Map showing the distribution of Oklahoma Indian Languages | notice = IPA | glotto = foxx1245 | glottorefname = Fox | map2 = Lang Status 40-SE.svg | mapcaption2 = {{center|Kickapoo is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''.}} | dia1 = Fox | dia2 = Sauk | dia3 = Kickapoo | iso3 = sac | iso3comment = (Fox and Sauk) }}

'''Fox''' (known by a variety of different names, including '''Mesquakie''' (Meskwaki), '''Mesquakie-Sauk''', '''Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo''', '''Sauk-Fox''', and '''Sac and 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: * Fox or {{Lang|sac|Meskwakiatoweni}} (Meskwaki language)<ref name="MSS">{{Cite web |title=Mission & Philosophy |url=http://msswarriors.org/administration/about/mission-vision/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723224617/http://msswarriors.org/administration/about/mission-vision/ |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |access-date=July 23, 2019 |website=Meskwaki Settlement School}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2025}} (also called Mesquakie, Meskwaki) * Sauk or {{Lang|sac|Thâkiwâtowêweni}} (Thâkîwaki language) (also rendered Sac), and * Kickapoo or ''Kiikaapoa'' (also rendered {{Lang|kic|Kikapú}}; considered by some to be a closely related but distinct language).<ref>{{cite book |last=Moctezuma Zamarrón |first=José Luis |url=http://site.inali.gob.mx/pdf/libro_kickapoo.pdf |title=El sistema fonológico del Kickapoo de Coahuila analizado desde las metodologías distribucional y funcional |publisher=INALI |year=2011 |isbn=978-607-7538-39-4 |location=México |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304035454/http://site.inali.gob.mx/pdf/libro_kickapoo.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2014 |url-status=live |language=es}}</ref>

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.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}

== 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.<ref name="MSS"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Meskwaki Education Network Initiative (MENWI) |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~aisri/projects/menwi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040103071056/http://www.indiana.edu/~aisri/projects/menwi/ |archive-date=January 3, 2004 |access-date=July 19, 2012 |work=American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scandale |first=Maria |date=February 21, 2011 |title=Meskwaki Tribe Receives Grant for Sewing and Language Project |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/25/meskwaki-tribe-receives-grant-for-sewing-and-language-project-19645 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526093529/https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |access-date=July 19, 2012 |work=Indian Country Today Media Network}}</ref>

Prominent scholars doing research on the language include Ives Goddard,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=John |date=July 27, 2008 |title=Talking the talk |url=http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/article_90c8d30e-0501-596a-a914-e5501687f1a8.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806162610/https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/article_90c8d30e-0501-596a-a914-e5501687f1a8.html |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |access-date=July 19, 2012 |work=The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier}}</ref> Lucy Thomason of the Smithsonian Institution, and Amy Dahlstrom of the University of Chicago.

==Phonology== 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{{which|date=September 2025}} other features.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ringe |first1=Don |title=Historical Linguistics: Toward a Twenty-First Century Reintegration |last2=Eska |first2=Joseph F. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0521583329 |page=57 |chapter=Language change in the speech community: change by loss of a stylistic register}}</ref>

=== Consonants === The consonant phonemes of Fox are given in the table below. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! colspan=2| ! Labial ! Alveolar ! Postalveolar or palatal ! Velar ! Glottal |- ! colspan=2|Nasal |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} | | | |- ! rowspan=2|Plosive !plain |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} |{{IPA link|tʃ}} |{{IPA link|k}} | |- !preaspirated |{{IPA link|ʰp}} |{{IPA link|ʰt}} |{{IPA link|ʰtʃ}} |{{IPA link|ʰk}} | |- ! colspan=2|Fricative | |{{IPA link|s}} |{{IPA link|ʃ}} | |{{IPA link|h}} |- ! colspan=2|Approximant | | |{{IPA link|j}} |{{IPA link|w}} | |}

*Other than those involving a consonant plus {{IPA|/j/}} or {{IPA|/w/}}, the only possible consonant cluster is {{IPA|/ʃk/}}.

=== Vowels === The Fox language has eight vowel phonemes: {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Back |- !High |{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}} |{{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|oː}} |- !Low |{{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|eː}} |{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|aː}} |}

==Grammar== According to ''A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language'' by Gordon Whittaker,{{sfn |Whittaker |2005}} the language's nouns can be divided into animate and inanimate groups. Animate nouns end in -a (ex: tîtîwa /ˈti:.ti:.wa/, "blue jay (bird)"). To pluralise most animate nouns, the ending is transformed from -a to -aki (ex: tîtîwa -> tîtîwaki). The few exceptions that exist have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.

Inanimate nouns typically end in -i (ex: mâtethi /ˈma:.tet.hi/, "knife"). To pluralise most inanimate nouns, the ending is transformed from -i to -ani (ex: mâtethi -> mâtethani). Like the animate nouns, the few exceptions that exist also have specific forms, according to the Dictionary.{{sfn |Whittaker |2005 |pp=7-8}}

Verbs can be divided into transitive and intransitive; transitive involves two parties (i.e "I give it to you!" / "Kemînêwene!"), while intransitive is one party (i.e "You're alive." / "Kepemâtethi.") {| class="wikitable" |+Animate intransitive (using "pemâtethiwa" as an example) !Subject !Verb (Sauk) !Translation |- |ne(t)- (I/me) |nepemâtethi |I am alive |- |ke(t)- (you) |kepemâtethi |you are alive |- | -wa (s/he) |pemâtethiwa |s/he is alive |- |ne(t)- ... -pena (we [exclusive]) |nepemâtethipena |we (exclusive; think "We, but not YOU.") are alive |- |ke(t)- ... -pena (we [inclusive]) |kepemâtethipena |we (inclusive; think "We and you.") are alive |- |ke(t)- ... -pwa (you [plural]) |kepemâtethipwa |you (plural) are alive; you all are alive |- | -waki (they) |pemâtethiwaki |they are alive |} {| class="wikitable" |+Inanimate intransitive (using "kehkyâhiwa" as an example) !Subject !Verb (Sauk) !Translation |- | -wi (it) |kehkyêwi |it is old |- | -wani (they [inanimate]) |kehkyâhiwani |they (inanim.) are old |} {| class="wikitable" |+Animate transitive (using "ahkawâpatamwa" as an example) !Subject !Verb (Sauk) !Translation |- |ke(t)- ... -ene (I -> you) |netahkawâpatene |I take care of you (ahkawâpatamwa can also mean to watch out [for] / look out [for]) |- |ke(t)- ... -enepwa (I -> you [plural]) |netahkawâpatenepwa |I take care of you (plural); I take care of you all |- |ne(t)- ... -âwa (I -> him/her) |netahkawâpatâwa |I take care of him/her |- |ne(t)- ... -âwaki (I -> them) |netahkawâpatâwaki |I take care of them |- |ke(t)- ... -i (you -> me) |ketahkawâpati |you take care of me |- |ke(t)- ... -âwa (you -> him/her) |ketahkawâpatâwa |you take care of him/her |- |ke(t)- ... -ipena (you -> us) |ketahkawâpatipena |you take care of us |- |ke(t)- ... -enepena (we -> you) |ketahkawâpatenepena |we take care of you |- |ne(t)- ... -ekwa (s/he -> me) |netahkawâpatekwa |s/he takes care of me |- |ke(t)- ... -ekwa (s/he -> you) |ketahkawâpatekwa |s/he takes care of you |- | -êwa (s/he -> him/her/them) |ahkawâpatêwa |s/he takes care of him/her/them |- |ne(t)- ... -ekonâna (s/he -> us [exc.]) |netahkawâpatekonâna |s/he takes care of us (exc.) |- |ke(t)- ... -ekonâna (s/he -> us [inc.]) |ketahkawâpatekonâna |s/he takes care of us (inc.) |- |ke(t)- ... -ekowâwa (s/he -> you [plural]) |ketahkawâpatekowâwa |s/he takes care of you (plural); s/he takes care of you all |- |ne(t)- ... -âpena (we [exc.] -> him/her/them) |netahkawâpatâpena |we (exc.) take care of him/her/them |- |ke(t)- ... -âpena (we [inc.] -> him/her/them) |ketahkawâpatâpena |we (inc.) take care of him/her/them |- |ke(t)- ... -ipwa (you [plural] -> me) |ketahkawâpatipwa |you (plural) take care of me; you all take care of me |- |ke(t)- ... -âpwa (you [plural] -> him/her/them) |ketahkawâpatâpwa |you (plural) take care of him/her/them; you all take care of him/her/them |- |ne(t)- ... -ekôki (they -> me) |netahkawâpatekôki |they take care of me |- |ke(t)- ... -ekôki (they -> you) |ketahkawâpatekôki |they take care of you |- | -êwaki (they -> him/her/them) |ahkawâpatêwaki |they take care of him/her/them |- |ne(t)- ... -ekonânaki (they -> us [exc.]) |netahkawâpatekonânaki |they take care of us (exc.) |- |ke(t)- ... -ekonânaki (they -> us [inc.]) |ketahkawâpatekonânaki |they take care of us (inc.) |- |ke(t)- ... -ekowâwaki (they -> you [plural]) |ketahkawâpatekowâwaki |they take care of you (plural); they take care of you all |} {| class="wikitable" |+Inanimate transitive (using "ahkawâpatamwa" as an example) !Subject !Verb (Sauk) !Translation |- |ne(t)- ... -a (I -> it/them) |netahkawâpata |I take care of it/them (ahkawâpatamwa can also mean to watch out [for] / look out [for]) |- |ke(t)- ... -a (You -> it/them) |ketahkawâpata |You take care of it/them |- | -amwa (S/He -> it/them) |ahkawâpatamwa |S/He takes care of it/them |- |ne(t)- ... -âpena (We [exc.] -> it/them) |netahkawâpatâpena |We (exc.) take care of it/them |- |ke(t)- ... -âpena (We [inc.] -> it/them) |ketahkawâpatâpena |We (inc.) take care of it/them |- |ke(t)- ... -âpwa (You [plural] -> it/them) |ketahkawâpatâpwa |You [plural] take care of it/them |- | -âmoki (They -> it/them) |ahkawâpatamwâmoki |They take care of it/them |} This conjugation is only for verbs that end in -amwa; all other animate transitive verbs take the same conjugation as the animate intransitive verbs.{{sfn |Whittaker |2005 |p=13}}

==Vocabulary== Sauk numerals are as follows:<ref>{{cite web |title=Sauk Counting Worksheet (Sac and Fox) |url=http://www.native-languages.org/numbers/sauk_numbers.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028193726/http://www.native-languages.org/numbers/sauk_numbers.htm |archive-date=October 28, 2019 |access-date=March 17, 2019}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- | {{Lang|sac|nekoti}} || one |- | {{Lang|sac|nîshwi}} || two |- | {{Lang|sac|nethwi}} || three |- | {{Lang|sac|nyêwi}} || four |- | {{Lang|sac|nyânanwi}} || five |- | {{Lang|sac|nekotwâshika}} || six |- | {{Lang|sac|nôhika}} || seven |- | {{Lang|sac|neshwâshika}} || eight |- | {{Lang|sac|shâka}} || nine |- | {{Lang|sac|metâthwi}} || ten |}

==Writing systems{{anchor|Writing systems}}== thumb|Letter in the Kickapoo language written in Coahuila, Mexico, in the 1950s Besides the Latin script, Fox has been written in two indigenous scripts.{{sfn |Coulmas |1999 |pp=153-155}}

===Fox I=== thumb|The Fox I script{{sfn |Jones |1906 |p=90}} "Fox I" is an abugida based on the cursive French alphabet (see Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics). Consonants written by themselves are understood to be syllables containing the vowel {{IPA|/a/}}. They are:

{| class="wikitable" |+ Syllable |- | 𝓁{{efn|Written as a tall loop, similar to a cursive b or l.}} | {{IPA|/pa/}} |- | 𝓉 | {{IPA|/ta/}} |- | 𝓈 | {{IPA|/sa/}} |- | 𝒸𝓁 | {{IPA|/ʃa/}}{{efn|Character {{grapheme|d}} for {{IPA|/š/}} derives from French {{grapheme|ch}}.}} |- | 𝓉𝓉 | {{IPA|/tʃa/}}{{efn|Character {{grapheme|tt}} for {{IPA|/č/}} derives from French {{grapheme|tch}}.}} |- | ℐ{{efn|The cursive form of capital I is a more graphically accurate approximation for {{IPA|/ja/}}; the actual character is a small clockwise loop with a long tail.}} | {{IPA|/ya/}} |- | 𝓌 | {{IPA|/wa/}} |- | 𝓂 | {{IPA|/ma/}} |- | 𝓃 | {{IPA|/na/}} |- | 𝒦 | {{IPA|/ka/}} |- | 𝛿{{efn|The actual character for {{IPA|/gwa/}} or {{IPA|/kwa/}} is shaped more like a cursive g or a with a long, winding tail that goes in a loop, almost like a figure-8 shape.}} | {{IPA|/kwa/}}{{efn|Character {{grapheme|q}} for {{IPA|/kw/}} derives from French {{grapheme|q(u)}}.}} |} {{notelist}}

Vowels are written by adding dots to the consonant:

{| class="wikitable" | 𝓁 | {{IPA|/pa/}} |- | 𝓁. | {{IPA|/pe/}} |- | 𝓁· | {{IPA|/pi/}} |- | 𝓁.. | {{IPA|/po/}} |}

===Fox II=== thumb|The Fox II script{{sfn |Jones |1906 |pp=90-91}} "Fox II" is a consonant–vowel alphabet. According to Coulmas, {{IPA|/p/}} is not written (as {{IPA|/a/}} is not written in Fox I). Vowels (or {{IPA|/p/}} plus a vowel) are written as cross-hatched tally marks.

{| class="wikitable" |+ Consonants (approximately) |- | + | {{IPA|/t/}} |- | 𝒞 | {{IPA|/s/}} |- | ⵕ | {{IPA|/ʃ/}} |- | 𝒾 | {{IPA|/tʃ/}}{{efn|Without the dot/tittle}} |- | ñ | {{IPA|/v/}}{{efn|Actually like one script ''n'' stacked on another.}} |- | ═ | {{IPA|/j/}} |- | ƧƧ | {{IPA|/w/}} |- | 𐌎 | {{IPA|/m/}} |- | ⵌ | {{IPA|/n/}} |- | 𝒞ʼ | {{IPA|/k/}} |- | Ƨ𝒞 | {{IPA|/kw/}} |}

{| class="wikitable" |+ Vowels (approximately) |- | x | {{IPA|/a/}} |- | ʜ | {{IPA|/e/}}{{efn|This is like a small capital H with the cross-bar sticking out on either side.}} |- | ⱶʜ | {{IPA|/i/}}{{efn|Resembles Chinese {{Hani|卅}} but lower and wider.}} |- | ʜʜ | {{IPA|/o/}}{{efn|Resembles Chinese {{Hani|卌}}, but lower and wider.}} |} {{notelist}}

==See also== {{Portal|Language}} *Sac and Fox Nation *Sauk language *Kickapoo language *Kickapoo whistled speech

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{Cite journal |last=Bloomfield |first=Leonard |year=1925 |title=Notes on the Fox Language |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=3 |issue=2/4 |pages=219–232 |doi=10.1086/463756 |doi-access=free}} * {{cite book |last=Coulmas |first=Florian |title=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=1999}} * {{Cite web |last=Dahlstrom |first=Amy |title=Meskwaki Syntax (Manuscript) |url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/adahlstrom/publications-2/selected-manuscripts/meskwaki-syntax-book |website=Lucian |publisher=University of Chicago}} * {{Cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1991 |title=Observations Regarding Fox (Mesquakie) Phonology |url=https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/ALGQP/article/view/1053 |journal=Papers of the Twenty-Second Algonquian Conference |volume=22 |pages=157–181}} * {{cite book |last=Jones |first=William |title=Boas anniversary volume: Anthropological papers written in honor of Franz Boas |publisher=G.E. Stechert |year=1906 |editor-last=Lanfer |editor-first=Berthold |location=New York |pages=88–93 |chapter=An Algonquian syllabary |work=The Library of Congress |chapter-url=https://www.loc.gov/item/17001466/}} * {{Cite book |last=Voorhis |first=Paul H. |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoki0013voor |title=Introduction to the Kickapoo Language |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-87750-177-0 |location=Bloomington |url-access=registration}} *{{cite book |last=Whittaker |first=Gordon |url=http://sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov/sites/sfnation/uploads/documents/Departments/language/Concise_Dictionary.pdf |title=A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language |publisher=The Sac & Fox National Public Library |year=2005 |location=Stroud, OK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029140621/http://sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov/sites/sfnation/uploads/documents/Departments/language/Concise_Dictionary.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2020}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Jones |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/acr7424.0001.001.umich.edu |title=Fox texts |publisher=Brill |year=1907 |editor-last=Boaz |editor-first=Franz |series=Publications of the American Ethnological Society |volume=1 |location=Leyden}} * {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_109046_theautobiographyofafoxindianwo1895 |title=The Autobiography of a Fox Indian Woman |year=1895 |editor-last=Michelson |editor-first=Truman |language=Sac, en}} * {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/owlsacredpackfo00michgoog |title=The Owl Sacred Pack of the Fox Indians |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |year=1921 |editor-last=Michelson |editor-first=Truman |series=Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin |volume=72}} *{{Cite news |date=July 4, 2002 |title=Last Meskwaki code talker remembers |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/07/06/codetalkers.htm |access-date=July 19, 2012 |work=USA Today |location=Tama, IA |agency=Associated Press}}

==External links== *[http://www.native-languages.org/meskwaki-sauk.htm#language Native Languages of the Americas: Mesquakie-Sauk] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20121213040255/http://www.msswarriors.org/history/MeskinteractiveCD1/Pages/Culture/Language/MeskwakiAlphabet.htm Meskwaki Language - Alphabet] *[http://www.language-archives.org/language/sac OLAC resources in and about the Meskwaki language] *[http://www.language-archives.org/language/kic OLAC resources in and about the Kickapoo language]

Category:Algonquian languages Category:Sac and Fox Category:Native American language revitalization Category:Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Plains Category:Indigenous languages of Oklahoma Category:Endangered Algic languages Category:Articles citing INALI Category:Endangered Indigenous languages of the Americas Category:Kickapoo Category:Meskwaki