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Glite Dictionary
🧑‍🦱 A Native group 🗣️ A Native language
Gros Ventre

Gros Ventre

9.9
A Native American language once spoken by the Hidatsa people
  • noun
  • /ɡroʊ vɑ̃t/
: Gros Ventre
  • Linguists have studied Gros Ventre to better understand the structure of Siouan languages.

Examples

  • The Gros Ventre language is now considered endangered with few fluent speakers remaining.

  • Efforts are underway to revitalize Gros Ventre through educational programs and community initiatives.

  • The Gros Ventre language is rich in history.

  • Many scholars study the Gros Ventre to preserve its legacy.

  • Linguists have studied Gros Ventre to better understand the structure of Siouan languages.

  • Efforts are underway to revitalize Gros Ventre through educational programs and community initiatives.

  • The Gros Ventre language is now considered endangered with few fluent speakers remaining.

Surface Forms

Gros Ventre singular
Gros Ventres plural

Morphology

Gros + Ventre

This is a French-derived proper name literally meaning 'big belly' rather than a compositional English noun phrase; even if a learner knew the French words, the sense 'a Native American people' is a cultural/proper-name meaning that does not follow from the constituents. The constituents are not English lexical items here and the label functions as an ethnonym, so a B1 learner would not be able to derive the MWE meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Gros Ventre comes from the French words gros and ventre, which mean 'big belly'. French traders used that name for the people, and so the language came to be called Gros Ventre today.