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Nanticoke language

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Nanticoke
Native toUnited States
RegionDelaware, Maryland
EthnicityNanticoke people
Extinct1856, with the death of Lydia Clark[1]
Revival2007
Language codes
ISO 639-3nnt
nnt
Glottolognant1249

Nanticoke is an Algonquian language spoken in Delaware and Maryland, United States.[5] The same language was spoken by several neighboring tribes, including the Nanticoke, which constituted the paramount chiefdom; the Choptank, the Assateague, and probably also the Piscataway and the Doeg.

Phonology

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Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p t k
Affricate ts
Fricative s ʃ h
Nasal m n
Approximant w l j
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i iː
Mid e eː ə o oː
Open a aː
  • Allophones of /e, ə, i, o, oː/ are heard as [ɛ, ɨ, ɪ, ɔ, uː].
  • /l/ may have an allophone of [r] in word-final positions.[6]

Vocabulary

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Nanticoke is sometimes considered a dialect of the Delaware language, but its vocabulary was quite distinct. This is shown in a few brief glossaries, which are all that survive of the language. One is a 146-word list compiled by Moravian missionary John Heckewelder in 1785, from his interview with a Nanticoke chief then living in Canada.[7] The other is a list of 300 words obtained in 1792 by William Vans Murray, then a US Representative (at the behest of Thomas Jefferson.) He compiled the list from a Nanticoke speaker in Dorchester County, Maryland, part of the historic homeland.[8]

Nanticoke vocabulary

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These words are some of the listings in Murray's glossary. In the letter that accompanied his glossary, Murray noted that the Nanticoke were "not more than nine in number," and also stated that "they have no word for the personals 'he' and 'she.'" The exclamation point (!) indicates a "peculiar, forcible, explosive, enunciation" of a syllable in this phoneticization.

Selected words from W.V. Murray's glossary[9]
Nanticoke English
Nickpitq Arm
Oaskagu Black
Puhsquailoau Blue
Matt Wheesawso Brave
Wee Sawso Ak Cowardly
Meetsee To eat
Nucksskencequah Eye
Ah!skaahtuckquia Green
Muchcat Leg
Atupquonihanque Moon
Psquaiu Red
Untomhowaish To run
Nupp To sleep
Ahquak/Aquequaque/Aequechkkq Sun
Waappayu White
Weesawayu Yellow

Modern Nanticoke

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With the assistance of a native speaker, Myrelene Ranville née Henderson of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, Canada, who speaks a similar language, Anishinaabemowin, a group of Nanticoke people in Millsboro, Delaware, assembled to revive the language in 2007, using the vocabulary list of Thomas Jefferson. It had been "more than 150 years since the last conversation in Nanticoke took place."[10] Similar efforts made by the Nanticoke Indian Association are also being taken through partnership with local linguists.[11][12] In 2023, a book for the revitalization of the Nanticoke language was published.[13][14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "History", Nanticoke Tribe, accessed 8 Oct 2009
  2. ^ Goddard, Ives (1978). "Eastern Algonquian Languages". In Trigger, Bruce (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15, Northeast. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 70–77.
  3. ^ Costa, David. J. (2007). "The dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian". In H.C. Wolfart (ed.). Papers of the 38th Algonquian Conference. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. pp. 81–127.
  4. ^ Siebert, Frank (1975). "Resurrecting Virginia Algonquian from the dead: The reconstituted and historical phonology of Powhatan". In Crawford, James M. (ed.). Studies in Southeastern Indian Languages. Athens: University of Georgia Press. pp. 285–453.
  5. ^ Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  6. ^ Cunningham, Keith A. (2024). A Phonological Analysis of Nanticoke with Practical Applications for Language Revitalization (PDF). Georgetown University.
  7. ^ Heckewelder, John (2003). Heckewelder's Vocabulary of Nanticoke. American Language Reprints. Vol. 31. Evolution Pub & Manufacturing. ISBN 9781889758305. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
  8. ^ Jefferson, Thomas (2003). Minor Vocabularies of Nanticoke-Conoy. American Language Reprints. Evolution Pub & Manufacturing. ISBN 9781889758459. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
  9. ^ Brinton, Daniel G. (1893). "A Vocabulary of the Nanticoke Dialect". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 31 (142): 325–333. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 982971.
  10. ^ Rachael Jackson (2007-04-29). "Nanticoke try to bring tribe's ancient tongue back". News From Indian Country. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
  11. ^ Cunningham, Keith. "A Phonological Analysis of the Heckewelder Vocabulary of Nanticoke".
  12. ^ "Nanticoke tribe seeks to revive its lost language". www.andrewsharp.net. 2022-07-25. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  13. ^ Reporter, Susan Canfora | Staff (2024-05-03). "Author to speak on Nanticoke language book". Coastal Point. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  14. ^ Cunningham, Keith; Hall, Karelle; Rain, Ragghi (Nov 1, 2023). Once It Has Been Spoken ... It Cannot Be Unspoken. Salt Water Media, LLC. ISBN 978-1628063714.
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