Michif (was: IE "Urheimat" and evidence from Uralic linguistics)

[Adam Hyllested]

On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, Larry Trask wrote:

> Now let's turn to a real and much better example: the North American language
> Michif.  Michif is probably the finest example of a mixed language on the
> planet.
>  To oversimplify a bit, Michif consists of a French nominal system (with
> French
> lexicon and phonology) bolted onto a Cree (Algonquian) verbal system
> (with Cree
> lexicon and phonology)

> OK.  What should we say about Michif?  Is it well described as a language
> descended from two ancestors?  Or is it better described as a language
> descended from no ancestor at all?

I suppose Michif wasn't created overnight, which means that it is best
described as a language descended from EITHER French OR Cree - depending
on its prehistory. What do we know about earlier stages of Michif?

Adam Hyllested