# Stoney language

Stoney—also called Nakota, Nakoda, Isga, and formerly Alberta Assiniboine—is a member of the Dakota subgroup of the Mississippi Valley grouping of the Siouan languages. The Dakotan languages constitute a dialect continuum consisting of Santee-Sisseton (Dakota), Yankton-Yanktonai (Dakota), Teton (Lakota), Assiniboine, and Stoney.
Stoney is the most linguistically divergent of the Dakotan dialects and has been described as "on the verge of becoming a separate language." Ullrich considers Stoney and Assiniboine distinct languages, saying "The Nakoda language spoken by the Assiniboine is not intelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers, unless they have been exposed to it extensively. The Stoney form of the Nakoda language is completely unintelligible to Lakota and Dakota speakers. As such, the two Nakoda languages cannot be considered dialects of the Lakota and Dakota language." The Stoneys are the only Siouan people that live entirely in Canada, and the Stoney language is spoken by five groups in Alberta. No official language survey has been undertaken for every community where Stoney is spoken, but the language may be spoken by as many as a few thousand people, primarily at the Mînî Thnî community (renamed from Morley in 2024).

## Relationship to Assiniboine

Stoney's closest linguistic relative is Assiniboine. The two have often been confused with each other due to their close historical and linguistic relationship, but they are not mutually intelligible. Stoney either developed from Assiniboine, or both Stoney and Assiniboine developed from a common ancestor language.

## Phonology

Very little linguistic documentation and descriptive research has been done on Stoney. However, Stoney varieties demonstrate broad phonological similarity with some important divergences.

### Morley Dialect

For example, the following phonemes are reportedly found in Morley Stoney, spoken on the Morley Reserve:
Morley Stoney consonants :
| | | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨ch⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | | |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | | s ⟨s⟩ | ʃ ⟨sh⟩ | | ħ ⟨rh⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ |
| Fricative | voiced | | z ⟨z⟩ | ʒ ⟨zh⟩ | | ʕ ⟨r⟩ | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | | | | |
| Semivowel | Semivowel | w ⟨w⟩ | | j ⟨y⟩ | | | |
Morley Stoney vowels :
| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | i, ĩ | | u, ũ |
| Mid | e | | o |
| Low | | a, ã | |

### Alexis Dialect

For comparison, these phonemes reportedly characterize the Stoney spoken at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, which maintains the common Siouan three-way contrast between plain, aspirated, and ejective stops:
Alexis Stoney consonants :
| | | Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Plosive/ Affricate | plain | p ⟨b⟩ | t ⟨d⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨j⟩ | k ⟨g⟩ | ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩ |
| Plosive/ Affricate | aspirated | pʰ ⟨p⟩ | tʰ ⟨t⟩ | t͡ʃʰ ⟨c⟩ | kʰ ⟨k⟩ | ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩ |
| Plosive/ Affricate | ejective | pʼ ⟨p'⟩ | tʼ ⟨t'⟩ | t͡ʃʼ ⟨c'⟩ | kʼ ⟨k'⟩ | ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩ |
| Fricative | voiceless | | s ~ θ ⟨s⟩ | ʃ ⟨sh⟩ | x ⟨x⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ |
| Fricative | voiced | | z ~ ð ⟨z⟩ | ʒ ⟨zh⟩ | ɣ ⟨r⟩ | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | | | |
| Semivowel | Semivowel | w ⟨w⟩ | | j ⟨y⟩ | | |
Notice that Alexis Stoney, for example, has innovated contrastive vowel length, which is not found in other Dakotan dialects. Alexis Stoney also has long and nasal mid vowels:
Alexis Stoney vowels :
| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | i, iː, ĩ | | u, uː, ũ |
| Mid | e, eː, ẽ | | o, oː, õ |
| Low | | a, aː, ã | |

## Writing system

Stoney alphabet (Stoney Nakoda First Nation)
* a
* â
* b
* ch
* d
* e
* g
* h
* i
* î
* j
* k
* m
* n
* o
* p
* r
* rh
* s
* sh
* t
* u
* û
* w
* y
* z
* zh
Stoney alphabet (Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation)
* a
* â
* aa
* b
* c
* c'
* d
* e
* ê
* ee
* g
* h
* i
* î
* ii
* j
* k
* k'
* m
* n
* o
* ô
* oo
* p
* p'
* r
* s
* sh
* t
* t'
* u
* û
* uu
* w
* x
* y
* z
* zh
* ʔ

## Word set (includes numbers)

* One — Wazhi
* Two — Nûm
* Three — Yamnî
* Four — Ktusa
* Five — Zaptâ
* Man — Wîca
* Woman — Wîyâ
* Sun — Wa
* Moon — Hâwi
* Water — Mini

## Phonetic differences from other Dakotan languages

The following table shows some of the main phonetic differences between Stoney, Assiniboine, and the three dialects (Lakota, Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee-Sisseton) of Sioux.
| Sioux | Sioux | Sioux | Sioux | Sioux | Nakota | Nakota | |
| Lakota | Western Dakota | Western Dakota | Eastern Dakota | Eastern Dakota | Assinibione | Stoney | gloss |
| | Yanktonai | Yankton | Sisseton | Santee | | | |
| Lakȟóta | Dakȟóta | Dakȟóta | Dakhóta | Dakhóta | Nakhóta | Nakhóda | self-designation |
| lowáŋ | dowáŋ | dowáŋ | dowáŋ | dowáŋ | nowáŋ | nowáŋ | 'to sing' |
| ló | dó | dó | dó | dó | nó | nó | 'assertion' |
| čísčila | čísčina | čísčina | čístina | čístina | čúsina | čúsin | 'small' |
| hokšíla | hokšína | hokšína | hokšína | hokšída | hokšína | hokšín | 'boy' |
| gnayáŋ | gnayáŋ | knayáŋ | hnayáŋ | hnayáŋ | knayáŋ | hna | 'to deceive' |
| glépa | gdépa | kdépa | hdépa | hdépa | knépa | hnéba | 'to vomit' |
| kigná | kigná | kikná | kihná | kihná | kikná | gihná | 'to soothe' |
| slayá | sdayá | sdayá | sdayá | sdayá | snayá | snayá | 'to grease' |
| wičháša | wičháša | wičháša | wičhášta | wičhášta | wičhášta | wičhá | 'man' |
| kibléza | kibdéza | kibdéza | kibdéza | kibdéza | kimnéza | gimnéza | 'to sober up' |
| yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | 'to drink' |
| hé | hé | hé | hé | hé | žé | žé | 'that' |