Language Committee Working on Expanding Chickasaw Vocabulary

This article appeared in the July 2022 edition of the Chickasaw Times

More than 500 new words and definitions were included in the 2021 Merriam-Webster English language dictionary, and more will be added each year.

As cultures evolve to account for the changing world around them, so must their languages – just as a word for “horse” was needed when they were first encountered by our 16th century Chickasaw ancestors, a word for “computer” is necessary to today’s Chickasaw speakers and language learners.

However, because the Chickasaw language suffered a severe decline in usage as a consequence of forced English-only education in both tribal and federal boarding schools, as well as the necessity of speaking English as the language of commerce, the language ceased to grow in the natural way that all languages do, principally by younger speakers adding to the lexicon as they encounter new ideas or technologies.

The Chickasaw Language Committee is working to help fill in those gaps and ensure Chickasaw remains a living language, with the ability to serve its contemporary community of speakers and students, as the renaissance of Chickasaw culture continues to welcome the growing number of new second language learners, or anompa’ shaali’, ‘one that carries the language.’

The Chickasaw Language Committee is an advisory group of more than 20 first-language, Native speakers as well as conversational Chickasaw speakers appointed by Governor Bill Anoatubby and serves as the foundation of Chickasaw Nation language preservation and revitalization efforts.

Since 2008, the committee’s focus has included language expansion through translations of terms previously unknown in Chickasaw, resulting in the addition of more than 200 new terms to date, including a word for computer, tali’ lopi’, which translates to ‘metal brain.’

A History of Perseverance

When the committee initially formed in the mid-1990s, prior to the establishment of the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program in 2007 and the creation of a dedicated language department in 2009, the idea of revitalization centered on preserving the existing language, assessing and generating interest among learners and creating educational opportunities.

By meeting and regularly speaking Chickasaw, Native speakers were preserving the language and ensuring that it remained a spoken language of daily communication. Many of the committee members were part of the last generation to learn Chickasaw as their first language, and they understood the urgency and importance of passing on this cultural trove.

They had grown up in the 1950s and 60s, hearing the Chickasaw language spoken with regularity in the home by way of Native speakers including parents, grandparent and elder relatives. But as the number of Native speakers waned, without dedicated intervention, this younger generation of speakers would be the last to learn their native language in the home, and perhaps be the last Native speakers of the Chickasaw language.

During the 1960s and 70s, under the leadership of Governor Overton James, language preservation efforts began to gain traction, as part of the reassertion of tribal sovereignty and cultural identity. However, the necessary organizational infrastructure, including funding, teachers and comprehensive curricula needed to support a full-scale language revitalization program was not yet in place. Regardless, grassroots efforts persisted.

Gov. James’s mother, Vinnie May Humes, and her husband, Rev. Jesse Humes, compiled the first Chickasaw dictionary, based on Webster’s dictionary. Both were Chickasaw citizens and Native speakers who learned English as a second language as children. The Humes’ “A Chickasaw Dictionary” was published in 1973.

Yvonne Imotichey Alberson, a schoolteacher and native speaker, became the first Chickasaw to teach the language for credit in an elementary school. Geraldine Greenwood taught Chickasaw at Mill Creek. Merry Monroe taught the language in the Byng school system. JoAnn Ellis produced teaching materials and introduced the language into our Chickasaw Nation Head Start programs. “Chickasaw: An Analytical Dictionary,” written by Chickasaw speaker Catherine Willmond and linguist Pam Munro, was published in 1994.

With Gov. Anoatubby having taken office in 1987, the Chickasaw Nation experienced rapid economic growth, enabling greater investment in language revitalization efforts. The tribe also experienced growing interest among Chickasaws who wanted to reconnect with their culture through language, and it was during this time the Chickasaw Language Committee was formed.

A May 1995 Chickasaw Times article listed Yvonne Alberson, Pauline Brown, JoAnn Ellis, Weldon Fulsom, Glenda Galvin, Doris Green, Geraldine Greenwood, Mina Hill, Geneva Holman, Ruth Shelly and Carlin Thomas as members of the committee at that time.

Current members include: Hubert Alexander, Allen Beck, Virginia Bolen, Nancy Boston, Ellen Chapman, Lahoma Gail Clark, Pat Cox, JoAnn Ellis, Betty Hamilton, Geneva Holman, Rose Jefferson, Luther John, Sam Johnson, Janett Lane, Merry Monroe, Emma McLeod, Hannah Pitman, Suzanne Russell, Ruth Shelley, Mildred Taylor, Carlin Thompson, Joyce Wesley and Charles Wolf, although many others have contributed since the committee’s inception.

Translating New Concepts, Technologies and Things

Soon after the establishment of the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program in 2007, the complex task of addressing the need for updated vocabulary began.

Convening monthly, the language committee now focuses on four to eight words per meeting. Working to expand the lexicon so that young anompa’ shaali’ can fully communicate about the world around them, committee members offer possible translations and, by group consensus, determine the final form of a newly-translated word or phrase. These important decisions ultimately lead to expansion of the Chickasaw lexicon as it is being learned by our next generation of speakers.

They also explore meanings and usages of older terms including trains, cars, telephones and other words that exist in modern Chickasaw but were in fact themselves newly-translated terms from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, as well as etymology (the origin of words and the historical development of their meanings) of terms, including whether a word’s origin is Chickasaw or Choctaw, which, together, make up the western branch of the Muskogean language family. Ultimately, Native speakers use the word-formation strategies of their ancestors, ensuring that newly-translated words are grounded in Chickasaw culture and, though modern in meaning and usage, are also connected deeply to the past.

When translating new words, the committee must weigh whether it is preferable to borrow from other languages, as we see in the English language with words like “justice,” derived from French, which took from the Latin “justitia,” or to go their own way to translate a word anew. With few exceptions, the Chickasaw Language Committee has been reluctant to borrow words and instead has created their own translations. This conservatism is the same as their Chickasaw ancestors, who incorporated relatively few foreign words into the language.

Because Chickasaw is a heavily verbal language, as are all Native languages in the Americas, it allows additional information to be attached to a root verb through the use of affixes. This is referred to as verbal morphology, and is perhaps best illustrated in a word like Ishtimanompohólilihminattook, ‘I used to talk and talk to them about it all the time (long ago).’ A derivation of the verb imanompoli ‘to speak to someone,’ this single Chickasaw word can account for the information contained in an entire English sentence.

One way the committee approaches translating new terms is by a word-formation process called image metaphor, words based on what something looks like, here illustrated by a word dating to the mid-sixteenth century: issoba / soba, ‘horse,’ derived from issi’ ahooba ‘resembles a deer,’ as well as a newly-translated word from 2010: ‘hooded sweatshirt,’ ishkobo’ alhiipi’ya’ ‘thing that covers the head.’

Inherent in these choices are the identity, sensibilities and worldview of our Chickasaw ancestors, making clear the bond between language and culture – the Native speakers decide how the language should serve their needs and represent their perspective, just as ancestral Chickasaws did when they first saw the horse, or when today’s speakers describe a hooded sweatshirt.

Growing Opportunities

Building upon the knowledge of the Chickasaw Language Committee, the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program and the Language Preservation Division have developed numerous ways to connect with Chickasaw culture though language.

Today, there are more Chickasaw language opportunities than ever before, including: Rosetta Stone Chickasaw, the Chikasha Academy Adult Immersion Program, high school and college level courses, mobile apps, Chickasaw.tv videos, Chickasaw Press publications, and a dedicated YouTube channel featuring Native speakers. More information about these and other language resources can be found at Chickasaw.net.

Chickasaws believe our language was given to us by Aba’ Bínni’li’ (God) and passed on as a gift from our ancestors, a birthright we must care for and pass along to the next generation.

For nearly 30 years now, the Chickasaw Language Committee has been working to ensure this ancient gift is preserved, perpetuated and expanding in parallel with the cultural renaissance of the Chickasaw people. Now it is time for the next generation of Chickasaws to carry our language into the future.