1. Songbirds and Birdsongs

    A Linguistic Analysis

    Olga Lovick & Siri Tuttle
    Alaska Native Language Center, UAF

    Alaska Anthropology Association, February 28, 2008

  2. Ideophones

    It is typologically common that birds are named for the sounds they make. Examples in several languages are:
    • chickadee (Poecile ssp., English)
    • morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata, English, New Zealand)
    • Uhu (Bubo bubo, eagle owl, German)
    • koʔoŋwiː (Zenaidura macroura marginella, Western mourning dove, San Ildefonso Tewa, Henderson &Harrington 1914)
    		 http://i1.treknature.com/photos/413/morepork_tn.jpg

    Image source: http://i1.treknature.com

  3. Ideophones in Upper Tanana

    ha’aala’   'Black scoter' (Melanitta nigra)
    or 'Oldsquaw' (Clangula hymalis)    		 |   |   |
    sǫǫ   'American robin'
    (Turdus migratorius)    		 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/images/Common_Redpoll_male_in_tree_8Jan02_033ar.jpg

    Image source: http://www.birds.cornell.edu
    jǫǫ   'Gray jay' (Perisoreus canadensis)
    ts’uknay   'Yellow wagtail' (Motacilla flava)
    diahnay   'Yellowlegs' (Tringa ssp.)
    bisnay   'White/golden-crowned sparrow'
    (Zonotrichia leucophrys, Z. atricapilla)
    bąynay   'Common redpoll'
    (Carduelis flammea)

    Note: the morpheme nay in the last four names means 'say(s)', indicating that these birds are named for their call.

  4. Ideophones and sound change

    Lower Tanana Tanacross Upper Tanana English
    srux suus sǫǫ 'American robin'
    juzra jiiz jǫǫ 'Gray jay'
    (diff. word) deesney diahnąy 'Yellowlegs'

  5. Ideophones and sound change

    Regular correspondences between these languages:

    • Nominalizing suffix in Lower Tanana is not present in Tanacross and Upper Tanana
    • Lower Tanana /u/ followed by retroflex, alveolar, or dental fricative/affricate corresponds to Upper Tanana /ǫǫ/
    • Tanacross /ee/ followed by alveolar or dental fricative/affricate corresponds to Upper Tanana /ia/

    Cf. Tuttle & Lovick (2008) for phonological detail

  6. Interpretation

    This means that the bird names permit both local and historical interpretation:

    LT srux 'robin': not an ideophone (speaker judgement)
    UT sǫǫ 'robin: ideophone (AS: he says sǫǫ, sǫǫ, sǫǫ!)

    TX deesney 'yellowlegs': not an ideophone, lit. "shallows-say"
    UT diahnąy 'yellowlegs': ideophone (RS: he says diah! diah! diah!)

    A word could also have been an ideophone in Proto-Athabascan, but because of sound changes, it is no longer recognizable as such.

  7. What do they say?

    Some birds communicate with people by saying things. Most of these sayings are formulaic in nature. Upper Tanana examples:

    • Yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia)
    • White-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
    • Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
    • American robin (Turdus migratorius)

  8. K’eladihtth’oo: Yellow warbler

    Oh, k’eladiditth’oo.
    Unclear, I’m not yellow as you are (?)

    		 http://www.prbo.org/calpif/htmldocs/species/riparian/yellow_warbler.htm

    Image source: http://www.prbo.org
    |   |
    Note: The words are right, but the melodies don't match.

  9. Bisnay: White-crowned sparrow

    Ts’oo k’eladidits’oo.
    Unclear, I sit on a spruce tree (?)

    		 http://z.about.com/d/birding/1/7/x/6/2/IMG_5557.jpg

    Image source: http://z.about.com
    |   |
    The melodies are more similar, but the speaker gives the words as Ts’oo k’it dadhihda., 'I sit on a spruce tree'.

  10. Bisnay: Golden-crowned sparrow

    Łuugn ts’ädn ts’ixüüt!
    We chew fish stomach!

    		 http://www.birdsasart.com/golden%20crowned%20sparrow.jpg

    Image source: http://www.birdsasart.com
    |   |

    AS: He always hangs around fish camp.

    This really confused us for a long time, as we didn't know that bisnay can be both the white-crowned and the golden-crowned sparrow.

  11. Sǫǫ: American Robin

    (Jah t’eey) dzultth’ii’, dzultth’ii’!
    Let's camp (here), let's camp!

    		http://photos23.flickr.com/31308974_04f82da89c.jpg

    Image source: http://photos23.flickr.com
    |   |
    DN: He's a happy bird, it means that this is a good place to camp.

  12. Lower Tanana

    The same can be observed in Minto (Lower Tanana). Examples here include:

    • American robin (Turdus migratorius)
    • Raven (Corvus corax)
    • Gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

  13. Srux: American Robin

    Yodot ch’ulkoya ts’iga’ tnelzut, tnelzut, nesni, nesni!
    Down there, the pike guts are sliding, are sliding, I tell you, I tell you!

    		http://photos23.flickr.com/31308974_04f82da89c.jpg

    Image source: http://photos23.flickr.com
    |   |
    The pike guts mentioned here may refer to spring/summer.

  14. Dotron’: Raven

    Yodo K’osr Chaget hwts’e’, łiyettha! łiyettha!
    Down at Crossjacket, dogs are barking, dogs are barking!

    		Raven, by Joe Lovick

    Image source: J. Lovick
    |
    NC: The ravens want to eat the dogs' eyes.

  15. Juzra: Gray jay (camprobber)

    The camprobber makes a sound described as:

    Juzra ch’ełtseyh.
    The camprobber is scraping [moose hide].

    There is a formulaic response of the women that hear this sound:

    Si ghwsdla’, si ghwsdla’!
    Let it be me, let it be me [the one that gets to scrape the moose hide]!

    		 http://www.surfbirds.com/media/gallery_photos/20050426082131.jpg

    http://www.surfbirds.com

  16. Ch’udzeghi: Great Horned Owl

    The Great Horned Owl directly communicates with humans. It can predict a successful hunt:

    Hm-hmm, hm-hmm. Dwxdzeghi teghetlghaeł.
    (owl sound). Someone will kill moose.
    |     		http://www.ramblingtraveler.com/2007/05/friday-photo-post-education-raptors.html

    Image source: http://www.ramblingtraveler.com
    Several things are remarkable about this utterance:
    • The verb has future morphology and is inflected for first person singular, "I will kill ___".
    • The word used for "moose" is a special compound parsed as "sharp ears", which only the owl uses. The normal word for "moose" is denigi.

  17. Shuhshiidn: Boreal owl

    Not all owls bring bad news. In the Upper Tanana area, the boreal owl (Aegolinus funereus) is believed to lead hunters to game.

    Its call signals the direction where game may be found, therefore, it brings good luck.

    		 www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/Photos/Owls/BOOW6.jpg

    Image source: http://www.schmoker.org
    |

  18. Special Intonation

    All of the phrases we have played here have special intonation, mimicking the bird's call.

    When the humans reply to the camprobber's call in LT, they do that with extra-high tones on every syllable. This is not done in normal speech.

    In one case (LT Great Horned Owl), the voice quality changes to evoke that of the owl.

  19. Conclusions

    Aside from the Gee Whiz appeal of these data, they provide us with information on a couple of topics; the place of the bird in local nature science and cosmology, and when it is expected to appear in the normal seasonal round.

    		http://www.roysephotos.com/LongTailedDuck.html

    Oldsquaw. Image source: http://www.roysephotos.com

    They also help us with the classification of birds; e.g. the Black Scoter and the Oldsquaw duck, as well as the White-crowned sparrow and the Gold-crowned sparrow, have the same name, despite having different calls and appearance.

    		 http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/enlarged.asp?imageID=17321

    Black Scoter. Image source: http://www.enature.com

  20. Conclusions

    We observe from the comparisons between Upper and Lower Tanana that reanalysis can have a significant impact on speakersÕ and linguistsÕ perception of a word -- ideophonic or non-ideophonic, for example. Before words are attributed to ideophony within a single language, comparative material and historical phonological development should be checked out.

    		http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Greater_Yellowlegs.html#sound

    Greater Yellowlegs. Image source: http://www.birds.cornell.edu
    |

  21. Conclusions

    Because some birds deliver more ominous messages than others, it is wise to have some idea of their importance in native culture before beginning discussions of them. Some owls, for example, do bear serious messages in one language, but we do not find it necessary to avoid discussion, only recognition of their status. It is also important to know that these things may be different from language to language.

    This name and song-based cultural knowledge can be of great help to those constructing cultural interviews. Knowledge of folklore and etymology can be of great help to interdisciplinary teams of researchers working with indigenous peoples.

  22. Acknowledgements

    • Minto: Neal and Geraldine Charlie
    • Tetlin: Cora David
    • Northway: Avis and Roy Sam, Darlene Northway, Oscar Jimmie

  23. References

    Armstrong, Robert H. 1980. Guide to the Birds of Alaska. Anchorage, Portland: Alaska Northwest Books.

    Henderson, Junius and John P. Harrington. 1914. Ethnozoology of the Tewa Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 56. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

    Orlove, Ben and Merit Kabugo. 2005. "Signs and Sight in Southern Uganda: Representing Perception in Ordinary Conversation." ETNOFOOR, XVIII(1), pp. 124-141.

    Peyton, Leonard J. 1999. Bird Songs of Alaska (Audio CD). Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

    Tuttle, Siri & Olga Lovick. 2008. The development of the Upper Tanana vowel system. Poster presented at the 2008 SSILA Annual Meeting.