Loup languages

Last updated
Loup
Nipmuck
Pronunciation [lu] loo
Native to United States
Region Massachusetts, Connecticut
Ethnicity Nipmuck
Extinct 18th century
transcribed with Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
xlo  – Loup A
xlb  – Loup B
xlo Loup A
  xlb Loup B
Glottolog loup1243   Nipmuck
loup1245   Loup B

Loup is a term which refers to the Algonquian language varieties spoken in colonial New England as attested in the manuscripts of mid-eighteenth century French missionaries. [1] It was attested in a notebook titled Mots loups (literally translating to 'wolf words'), compiled by Jean-Claude Mathevet, a priest who worked among Algonquian peoples, composing of 124 pages. [2] Loup ('Wolf') was a French colonial ethnographic term, and usage was inconsistent. In modern literature, Loup A refers to the varieties described by Mathevet, and Loup B refers to those described by François-Auguste Magon de Terlaye. [1]

Contents

Classification

Linguist Ives Goddard identified three distinct language varieties each attested in the Loup A and Loup B manuscripts. The languages of Loup A are referred to as Loup 1, Loup 2, and Loup 3; the languages of Loup B are referred to as Loup 4, Loup 5, and Loup 6. According to Goddard, Loup 3 and Loup 4 are the same language. [1]

On the basis of morphophonological comparisons with other Algonquian languages and ethnogeographic context, Goddard identifies the five Loup languages with particular bands of the Pocumtuck Confederacy: [1]

Chaubunagungamaug lake sign, a place name originating from the Nipmuck people Chaubunagungamaug lake sign.jpg
Chaubunagungamaug lake sign, a place name originating from the Nipmuck people

Phonology

The phonology of Loup A (Nipmuck), [1] reconstructed by Gustafson 2000:

Nipmuc consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal/
Postalveolar 		Velar Glottal
plainpal.plainlab.
Nasal m n
Plosive p t tʲ k ( kʷ )
Affricate tʃ
Fricative s h
Lateral l
Approximant w j
Vowels
Front Back
Close i , iː u
Mid e o , oː
Open a , aː , ã

The vowel sounds likely have the same phonetic quality as other southern New England Algonquian languages. The short vowels /ioea/ may represent the sounds as [ɪ], [ʊ], [ɛ,ə], and [ʌ], while the long vowels /iː/, /oː/, and /ã/ correspond to /i/, /o/, and /ã/. [2] [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Goddard, Ives (2012). "The 'Loup' Languages of Western Massachusetts: The Dialectal Diversity of Southern New England Algonquian". Papers of the 44th Algonquian Conference. 44. SUNY Press: 104–138.
  2. 1 2 Gustafson, Holly Suzanne (2000). A Grammar of the Nipmuck Language (PDF). Deparament of Linguistics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017.
  3. ↑ Costa, David J. (2007). The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2018.


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