The Algonquian Language
'Algonquian' is the name of a widespread language group spoken by Native people in
many parts of the present-day United States and Canada. The map below illustrates the
range of the language.
Areas in pink indicate where Algonquian languages were spoken (image from Wikimedia Commons)
Despite the commonality of the language group, individual tribes spoke varying dialects of Algonquian. While the dialects of neighboring tribes may have shared enough similarities to be mutually intelligible, those tribes seperated by significant distance would not necessarily have been able to understand one another. For reference, Algonquian language could be compared to Romance languages or Germanic languages in terms of the diversity of sublanguages and dialects they cover.
The Piscataway dialect of the Algonquian language has little left to us for resurrecting it as spoken by our ancestors. The language, however, is still extant in many forms with the mother tongue spoken by the Lenni-Lenape or Delaware still spoken fluently by a few.
Some years ago, a linguist responding to a question on reestablishing our language stated we should take a lesson from the Jewish people who lost their language but were fortunate in having it in written form. With study, dedicaton, and language immersion they are again fluent in their language. His advice, in considering the absence of a written body of words or terms extensive enough to work from, was that we use the "mother tongue" to develop vocabulary and conversational use of the language.
In time and with communal use, a dialect unique to our people will again develop just as it did centuries ago.
Samples of available material for the two extant dialects spoken by Unami and Munsee Deleware (considered the mother tongue) were obtained with emphasis on using the Unami dialect spoken in Oklahoma by the Delaware and with many words/terms adapted from Munsee, spoken chiefly by a small group in Canada.
"The loss of a spoken language is far more than a loss of words, but is the loss of the cultural knowledge held inside of it. Language is like a container for peoples' knowledge, but each container is unique, based on peoples' differing beliefs, perspectives and ways of life. Spoken language reflects and influences how you observe the world, think and react differently because of your culture. Language influences and frames how you relate and behave with other people, the land, animals, plants, reveals history, locates events at specific geographic locations, imparts medicinal knowledge. If we let our languages die, we risk l osing this traditional knowledge. Language is the key to our identity as a people."
Cathy Wheaton, Project Coordinator, 2009.
First Nation Language Speaking Project, of Saskatchewan, Canada
Areas in pink indicate where Algonquian languages were spoken (image from Wikimedia Commons)
Despite the commonality of the language group, individual tribes spoke varying dialects of Algonquian. While the dialects of neighboring tribes may have shared enough similarities to be mutually intelligible, those tribes seperated by significant distance would not necessarily have been able to understand one another. For reference, Algonquian language could be compared to Romance languages or Germanic languages in terms of the diversity of sublanguages and dialects they cover.
The Piscataway dialect of the Algonquian language has little left to us for resurrecting it as spoken by our ancestors. The language, however, is still extant in many forms with the mother tongue spoken by the Lenni-Lenape or Delaware still spoken fluently by a few.
Some years ago, a linguist responding to a question on reestablishing our language stated we should take a lesson from the Jewish people who lost their language but were fortunate in having it in written form. With study, dedicaton, and language immersion they are again fluent in their language. His advice, in considering the absence of a written body of words or terms extensive enough to work from, was that we use the "mother tongue" to develop vocabulary and conversational use of the language.
In time and with communal use, a dialect unique to our people will again develop just as it did centuries ago.
Samples of available material for the two extant dialects spoken by Unami and Munsee Deleware (considered the mother tongue) were obtained with emphasis on using the Unami dialect spoken in Oklahoma by the Delaware and with many words/terms adapted from Munsee, spoken chiefly by a small group in Canada.
"The loss of a spoken language is far more than a loss of words, but is the loss of the cultural knowledge held inside of it. Language is like a container for peoples' knowledge, but each container is unique, based on peoples' differing beliefs, perspectives and ways of life. Spoken language reflects and influences how you observe the world, think and react differently because of your culture. Language influences and frames how you relate and behave with other people, the land, animals, plants, reveals history, locates events at specific geographic locations, imparts medicinal knowledge. If we let our languages die, we risk l osing this traditional knowledge. Language is the key to our identity as a people."
Cathy Wheaton, Project Coordinator, 2009.
First Nation Language Speaking Project, of Saskatchewan, Canada
