As of 2014, there are between 1,400 and 1,700 recorded tribal members (these figures vary by source). The Mohegan language has been dormant for approximately 100 years; the last native speaker, Fidelia Fielding, died in 1908. Fielding, a descendant of Chief Uncas, is deemed the preserver of the language. She left four diaries that are being used in the 21st-century process of restoring the language. She also took part in preserving the traditional culture. She practiced a traditional Mohegan way of life and was the last person to live in the traditional log dwelling.
Another important tribal member was Gladys Tantaquidgeon, who was the tribe's medicine woman from 1916 until her death in 2005. She too assisted greatly in maintaining the Mohegan culture, as she collected thousands of tribal documents and artifacts. These documents were of critical importance to supporting the tribe's documentation for its case for federal recognition, which was approved in 1994.[3]
As of 2012, the Mohegan Language Project had created lessons, a dictionary, and other online learning materials to revive their language.[5] The project also has a complete grammar in the works, which has been put together by Stephanie Fielding. The primary goal of the project is for the next generation of Mohegan people to be fluent.
Many of the dictionaries circulating are based on John Dyneley Prince and Frank G. Speck's interpretation of testimony by Dji's Butnaca (Flying Bird), also known as Fidelia Fielding.[6]
Prayers from the Baháʼí Faith have been translated into the Mohegan-Pequot language.[8]
"It is a sacred obligation," says the Golden Hill Paugussett Chief, Big Eagle. "Indian people must keep their languages alive. If the language is not spoken, it must be made to live again."[7]
Orthography
Historically, Mohegan-Pequot has not had a writing system, and its speakers relied on oral transfer of knowledge, as opposed to writing. The only significant historic writings have been produced by European colonizers who interacted with the speakers of Mohegan-Pequot.
The dictionaries, grammar books, and other materials that are being developed in recent decades as part of the effort to revitalize Mohegan-Pequot Language, have adopted and used a standardized Latin orthography consisting of twelve consonants and six vowels.[9]
Consonants
Sound
Phonetic
Mohegan-Pequot examples
Gloss
English equivalent
c
[dʒ] ~ [tʃ]
nutcôhtam
'I want'
beach
h
[h]
mohiks
'Mohegan, Mohegan Indian'
hi
k
[g] ~ [k]
ôkatuq
'cloud'
geese, ski
m
[m]
pôcum
'cranberry'
man
n
[n]
nupáw
'five'
name
p
[b] ~ [p]
páyaq
'ten'
spit
q
[kw] ~ [kw]
sôyôqat piyámáq
'It is cold' 'fish'
queen
s
[s] ~ [z] [z] beginning of a word [z] between two vowels [s] ~ [ʃ] in clusters sk, sp, sq
Nouns in Mohegan have two forms: animate and inanimate. They are further distinguished by number. Animate nouns include people, animals, heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars, but not clouds), and spirits. There are other items that fall into the category of animate such as certain cultural items and plants, but it is not known why these items are considered animate. It is something that is simply learned and memorized. One way to help identify if a noun is animate or inanimate is to look at its plural form. Plural animate nouns typically end in -k while plural inanimate nouns end in -sh.
Animate nouns have four forms: singular, plural, obviative and locative. The obviate form is used when there are two or more animate third person nouns in a sentence to mark the noun which is less salient (less relevant to the discourse). The unmarked noun is called the proximate, which is more salient/relevant to the discourse. The obviative is also used to mark a third-person possessed noun, with the possessor considered as the proximate, even if the possessed noun is more salient than its possessor. The locative is used to show where something is spatially. There is no obviative form for inanimate nouns, and neither the obviative nor the locative have plural forms (plurality is known through context).
Verbs in Mohegan come in several forms. Independent verbs exist in four forms: inanimate intransitive, animate intransitive, transitive inanimate and transitive animate. There is also the conjunct form which does not carry the affixes (used to clarify person) that the aforementioned hold.
Mohegan animate intransitive verbs show who the subject is by utilizing affixes. Singular forms have prefixes, but third person (singular and plural) only have suffixes. In the plural forms there are inclusive and exclusive suffixes; the inclusive we includes the person who is speaking as well as the person he/she is talking to whereas the exclusive we does not include the person the speaker is talking to. When an animate intransitive verb stem ends in a long vowel (á, i, o or ô) the third person singular does not take a final -w, and in the third person plural these same verbs take -k as an ending in lieu of - wak.
The locative case is used to show where something is. Mohegan utilizes the suffix -uk to indicate spatial relationships, which can be compared to the English prepositions on, at, and in. In Mohegan there is no plural form to go with the obviative and the locative: the same form is used for singular and plural with the difference being distinguished by context.
Example of the Locative Case
Mohegan
English Translation
cáhqin
house
cáhqinash
houses
cáhqinuk
in the house/houses
Absentative case
The absentative case is used to when referencing a person who has died (this includes any property that they left behind). This is accomplished by adding a suffix to either his/her name, title or the property.
Absentative
Mohegan
English Translation
singular
nokunsi
my late grandfather
plural
nokunsuk
my late grandfathers
obviative singular
wokunsah
his late grandfather
obviative plural
wokunsukah
his late grandfathers
departed's possession singular
mushoyi
my late father's boat
departed's possessions plural
mushoyuk
my late father's boats
*suffix indicated by bold type
The following example shows the absentative case in use:
Niswinusihsukwikôtamak áposuhutut.
'Both of my late uncles enjoyed cooking.'
Syntax
Possession
In Mohegan, there are two types of possession, alienable possession and inalienable possession. Nouns receive different marking depending on the relationship between the possessor and the possessed noun. If the possessed noun is connected (physically or sometimes metaphorically) to the possessed noun it is considered inalienable possession. For example in the phrase "the man's hand", the hand is possessed inalienably because it is inseparable from the man. Inalienable possession can also be metaphorical; for example, in the phrase "the man's mother", the mother is possessed inalienably because of a cultural perception of kinship as a "strong" connection. Inalienable nouns must always receive marking. If the possessor owns the possessed noun, but is not physically attached to it, it is considered alienable possession. In the phrase "the man's house", the house is possessed alienably because the house is not attached to the man.
Nouns pertaining to kinship and body parts are always classified as inalienable, but there are some terms that do not fall under either of these umbrellas that must be classified as inalienable, such as the noun home. Various affixes are used to denote inalienability and different affixes are used to differentiate animate/inanimate and singular/plural. Additionally, when a term requires possession but the possessor is unclear or unknown it is marked with a prefix that indicates an indefinite possessor.
Inalienable Possession - Animate Singular
Person
Mohegan
English Translation
1st person singular
nutônihs
my daughter
2nd person singular
kutônihs
your daughter
3rd person singular
wutônihsah
his/her daughter
1st person plural exclusive
nutônihsun
our (exclusive) daughter
1st person plural inclusive
kutônihsun
our (inclusive) daughter
2nd person plural
kutônihsuw
your (plural) daughter
3rd person plural
wutônihsuwôwah
their daughter
indefinite possessor
mutônihs
an unknown person's daughter
Inalienable Possession - Inanimate Singular
Person
Mohegan
English Translation
1st person singular
nusit
my foot
2nd person singular
kusit
your foot
3rd person singular
wusit
his/her foot
1st person plural exclusive
nusitun
our (exclusive) foot
1st person plural inclusive
kusitun
our (inclusive) foot
2nd person plural
kusituw
your (plural) foot
3rd person plural
wusituw
their foot
indefinite possessor
musit
an unknown person's foot
The locative (-uk) and obviate (-ah) suffixes are added to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular forms. Whether the word is singular or plural should be suggested in the content of the sentence. The obviate affixes only go on animate nouns.
When a possessed noun is plural it must be shown. With an animate noun then suffix -ak is combined with the possessive ending (with the exception of third person singular and third person plural, where the plural is the same as the singular).
Inalienable Possession - Animate Plural
Person
Mohegan
English Translation
1st person singular
nutônihsak
my daughters
2nd person singular
kutônihsak
your daughters
3rd person singular
wutônihsah
his/her daughters
1st person plural exclusive
nutônihsunônak
our (exclusive) daughters
1st person plural inclusive
kutônihsunônak
our (inclusive) daughters
2nd person plural
kutônihsuwôwak
your (plural) daughters
3rd person plural
wetônihsuwôwah
their daughters
Inalienable Possession - Inanimate Plural
Person
Mohegan
English Translation
1st person singular
nusitash
my feet
2nd person singular
kusitash
your feet
3rd person singular
wusitash
his/her feet
1st person plural exclusive
nusitunônash
our (exclusive) feet
1st person plural inclusive
kusitunônash
our (inclusive) feet
2nd person plural
kusituwôwash
your (plural) feet
3rd person plural
wusituwôwash
their feet
indefinite possessor
musitash
an unknown person's feet
*affixes on all charts are marked by bold type
Clause combining
In Mohegan grammar verbs that are in a dependent clause are said to be in the conjunct order. Conjunct verbs have the same numbers of persons for each verb, but they do not have prefixes, only suffixes. In turn, all of the person information is at the end of the word.
Conjunct Verbs: Animate Intransitives
Person
Mohegan
English Translation
1st person singular
yáhsháyôn
that I breathe
2nd person singular
yáhsháyan
that you breathe
3rd person singluar
yáhshát
that he/she breathes
1st person plural (incl & excl)
yáhsháyak
that we breathe
2nd person plural
yáhsháyáq
that you (more than one) breathe
3rd person plural
yáhsháhutut
that they breathe
3rd person plural participle
yáhshácik
those who breathe
indefinite subject
yáhshámuk
that someone breathes
*suffixes on chart marked by bold type
Example: Mô yáyuw maci ákacuyǒn.
Translation: 'It was so bad that I am ashamed.'
When in the conjunct form if the first vowel of the word is a short vowel, that is /a/ or /u/, it changes to a long /á/.
Transitive verbs with inanimate objects take only a suffix as well. The suffix varies based on the ending of the stem.
For stems that end in -m- or -n- the suffixes are as follows:
1st person singular: -ôn
2nd person singular: -an
3rd person singular: -k
1st person plural: -ak
2nd person plural: -áq
3rd person plural: -hutut
3rd person plural participle: -kik
Indefinite subject (passive): -uk
For stems that end in -o- the suffixes are as follows:
1st person singular: -yôn
2nd person singular: -yan
3rd person singular: -ôk
1st person plural: -yak
2nd person plural: -yáq
3rd person plural: -w'hutut
3rd person plural participle: -ôkik
Indefinite subject (passive): -muk
For stems that end in -u- the suffixes are as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 Fielding, Stephanie (2006), A Modern Mohegan Dictionary 2006 Ed.
↑ Granberry, Julian (2003). A Lexicon of Modern Mohegan. Lincom Europa.
↑ Fielding, Stephanie (2006). A Modern Mohegan Dictionary.
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Cowan, William. Pequot from Stiles to Speck. International Journal of American Linguistics. The University of Chicago Press. Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jul., 1973), pp.164–172
De Forest, John W. "The Lord's Prayer in the Pequot Tongue." In History of the Indians of Connecticut. 1852. Reprint, Brighton, MI: Native American Book Publishers, 1994.
Pickering, John, ed. "Doctor Edwards' Observations on the Mohegan Languages." Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Series 2 Volume 10 (1823): 81-160.
Prince, J. Dyneley and Frank G. Speck. "The Modern Pequots and Their Language." American Anthropologist 5 (1903): 193-212. doi:10.1525/aa.1903.5.2.02a00010
Speck, Frank. "Native Tribes and Dialects of Connecticut: A Mohegan-Pequot Diary." Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report 43 (1903): 199-287.
Speck, Frank. Speck Papers and Photograph Collection. (17 microfilm reels)
Speck, Frank. "Text of the Pequot Sermon." American Anthropologist 5 (1903): 199-212.
A Modern Mohegan Dictionary (2006 Edition)—contains Guide to Using the Dictionary, Mohegan Grammar Paradigms, Mohegan to English Dictionary, and English to Mohegan Word Finder
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