Osage Grammar (Studies in the Anthropology of North Ame) [Hardcover]

Carolyn Quintero (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0803238037 | ISBN-13: 978-0803238039 | Publication Date: January 1, 2005

When Europeans first made contact with the Osages, they lived in present-day Missouri, along the Osage River. After being forced onto a reservation, the Osages purchased land from the Cherokees in Indian Territory and resettled in northeastern Oklahoma in the later part of the nineteenth century. Today the Osage tribe numbers about 18,000, but only two elders still speak the traditional language, a member of the Siouan family of languages.

Osage Grammar is the first documentation of how the Osage language works, including more than two thousand sentences from Osage speakers, and a detailed description of its phonology, morphology, and syntax. Also featured are such components as verb conjugations, derivation, and suffixes; kinship terms; and the nominal system. The importance of documenting a language, especially when on the verge of extinction, can hardly be overstated. Growing up in Osage County, Oklahoma, Carolyn Quintero has been documenting the Osage language for twenty years, speaking to more than a dozen elders and transcribing hundreds of hours of interviews. Her research could not now be repeated since most of the elders whose words appear on these pages are gone.

This book will become an essential reference and guide for all scholars and students interested in the Osage language and in other Siouan languages of the West. Osage Grammar will also serve as a bedrock for the present revitalization of Osage culture and language within the community.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Osage Grammar is an important contribution to the linguistic description of the Siouan languages and is destined to become a seminal reference work in the field.”—Anthropological Linguistics

(Anthropological Linguistics )

From the Inside Flap

When Europeans first made contact with the Osages, they lived in present-day Missouri, along the Osage River. After being forced onto a reservation, the Osages purchased land from the Cherokees in Indian Territory and resettled in northeastern Oklahoma in the later part of the nineteenth century. Today the Osage tribe numbers about 18,000, but only two elders still speak the traditional language, a member of the Siouan family of languages.

Osage Grammar is the first documentation of how the Osage language works, including more than two thousand sentences from Osage speakers, and a detailed description of its phonology, morphology, and syntax. Also featured are such components as verb conjugations, derivation, and suffixes; kinship terms; and the nominal system. The importance of documenting a language, especially when on the verge of extinction, can hardly be overstated. Growing up in Osage County, Oklahoma, Carolyn Quintero has been documenting the Osage language for twenty years, speaking to more than a dozen elders and transcribing hundreds of hours of interviews. Her research could not now be repeated since most of the elders whose words appear on these pages are gone.

This book will become an essential reference and guide for all scholars and students interested in the Osage language and in other Siouan languages of the West. Osage Grammar will also serve as a bedrock for the present revitalization of Osage culture and language within the community.

Carolyn F. Quintero is the president of Inter Lingua, Inc. and a research associate in Native American languages at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma. She is the author of First Course in Osage.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 491 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803238037
• ISBN-13: 978-0803238039
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,444,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent scholarship of tremendous importance, March 18, 2005

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Margaret Dybala "too many books, too little time" (Pearland, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Osage Grammar (Studies in the Anthropology of North Ame) (Hardcover)

Dr. Quintero has compiled information on the Osage language, and then managed actually to analyze it and deliver the first complete grammar of Osage. This is a herculean task, of special importance in that the last few remaining speakers are passing away. It is to be hoped that this fine work will find success in academic circles, certainly, but even more importantly, that the current resurgence in interest in the language will find this a valuable tool. Anyone who loves language, as I do, will recognize the brilliance with which Dr. Quintero approached this task. It is difficult to say that grammar reading is a pleasure -- but this book is indeed a pleasure to study.

Now I would like to see some short books of stories in the language.