Phonological system of Mitchif ======>some CJ words

[janilta]

Hello, Mike,

Yes, I know that there are still some elderly speakers of Mitchif (too
few unfortunately) but what I meant is that we must know how they (and
other French speakers) spoke when French words entered the Jargon, not
now. And I am afraid that most written records of that time are polluted
with 'standard' French, the language of reference for educated people
(ie priests f ex)... that is the ones able/willing to keep written
records...
F ex, the only spoken reference we may have for the French spoken in the
18th century is roughly... the Quebec French... and it is not completely
accurate of course.
Oh, yes, you mean that the evolution in meaning of 'mahsh' itself was
'strange'. Well, this is the way languages evolve, no logic of any kind
(thus difficult to grasp sometimes).
The msg I wrote about the final vowels of Mitchif and verbs apparently
was not delivered to the list. I resend it then.

Regards, Yann.