Montagnais (Innu-Aimun)

Montagnais or Montagnais Innu is an Algonquin language spoken in Labrador and Quebec in Canada by about 9,000 people, 3,000 of whom are monolingual. The rest are bilingual in Montagnais and English or Montagnais and French.

The name Montagnais means "mountaineer" in French. They call themselves Innu, and are part of the same Nation as the Naskapi, though their languages are distinct. The Montagnais language is very closely related to Cree.

Montagnais pronunciation

Sample text in Montagnais

Ntanishkutapannipan umenu nitapatshimau, Manikanetesh (Margaret Michel), Uashkaikan-ishkueu nete Mushuau-shipit uet nitautinakanakue eshk nete euassiut.

Translation

This is a story about an old lady whose name was Manikanetesh (Margaret Michel), a Mushuau Innu (Naskapi) woman, originally of the Ungava Band, whose territory spanned from Kapukuanipant-kauashat (Voisey's Bay) to Mushuau-nipi (Indian House Lake) and Uashkaikan (Kuujjuak).

Source: http://www.language-museum.com/m/montagnais.php

Links

Information about the Montagnais language
http://www.native-languages.org/montagnais.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innu-aimun
http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/naskapi/inlnu.html
http://www.cslf.gouv.qc.ca/Publications/pubb133/B133ch6.html#montagnaise
http://www.innu-aimun.ca

Related languages

Abenaki, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree, Delaware, Míkmaq, Montagnais, Naskapi, Montagnais, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Shawnee

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet