Assiniboine and Stoney.

[R. Rankin]

> I recall an anecdote which suggested that Stoneys
> could understand the
> spoken language of the Assiniboines, but the reverse
> was not true.  I
> think it was Linda Cumberland who told a story along
> these lines, but I
> could be mistaken, or have the relationship reversed.

I was talking with John Newman at Edmonton in October
and he felt that the two major Stoney dialect clusters
might be different in this regard.  The northern group
around Alexis were more able to interact with
Assiniboine, while the group from around Morley were
less able to do so.  But I too may have the
relationship reversed -- this was a casual conversation
driving in from the airport.

> On another note, I know an older Stoney man who has
> been mute due to a
> fever he had when he was somewhere around 12-14 years
> old.  He has
> developed his own sign language which he uses to
> "speak" to his family

This has probably happened hundreds if not thousands of
times in the world.  I suppose that only in a few
instances have such languages become community or
national signing systems.  Ulrike Zeshaan in Melbourne
is doing a comparative study of various Asian, Middle
Eastern and European sign languages.

Bob