Woccon language

Last updated
Woccon
Waccamaw
Native to United States
Region North Carolina
Ethnicity Waccamaw [1]
Extinct early 18th century
Revival 2000s
Siouan
Language codes
ISO 639-3 xwc
xwc
Glottolog wocc1242
Linguasphere 64-ABA-aa
Woccon lang.png
Original distribution of the Woccon language

Woccon was one of two Catawban (also known as Eastern Siouan) languages of what is now the Eastern United States. Together with the Western Siouan languages, they formed the Siouan language family. It is attested only in a vocabulary of 143 words, printed in a 1709 compilation by English colonist John Lawson of Carolina. [2] The Woccon people that Lawson encountered have been considered by scholars to have been a late subdivision of the Waccamaw. [1]

Contents

The Woccon are believed to have been decimated as a people during the Tuscarora War in the Carolinas with English colonists in 1713. Survivors were likely absorbed into the Tuscarora, an Iroquoian-speaking people. Most of the Tuscarora migrated north to New York, settling with the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy by 1722 and being accepted as the sixth. Under these pressures, the Woccon language is believed to have become extinct in the eighteenth century. Some descendants of partial Woccon ancestry survive in the Southeast as well as Canada, where the Six Nations of the Iroquois migrated after the American Revolutionary War. [3]

In 2021 the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages assisted the Cape Fear Band of Skarure and Woccon Indians in North Carolina to build a 'Living Dictionary' for Woccon as part of an effort to revive the language. [4] This group is not state-recognized or federally recognized as being descended from the Cape Fear, Tuscarora, or the Waccamaw. [5] [6] [7]

Lexicon

Some lexical items in the Woccon language are presented below.

Woccon Dictionary
WocconEnglish
atterSwan
aucummatoI remember it
auhaunGoose
auherRaccon skin
caureDead
coosaukPeas
coseCorn
cotsauSpoon
cotsooBowl
cutauneThat’s all
ejauWater
ekoocromonBag
eppesyaua louse
errocopeak
hannatockoreFox skin
homineGrits
hoohehPine tree
iketauBeard
intomTobacco pipe
intome-poshwaHat
ish-shtoSix
ishewounaupa cubit length
itte teraughHard or heavy
ittoMoss
katitchheiThief
kittapeTomorrow
matt-teerFlints
monwittetauAlligator
motheiGive it to me
nam-meeThree
nau hou hoore eneI sell you goods very cheap
nommewarraup uSwine
nommis-shauSeven
noonkoshoGun lock
noppinjureCow
num-perreTwo
nupshauEight
oukeHouse
ourkaBear skin
poppeHead
punnum-punneFour
quaukeWill you go along with me
rauhauDressed skin
reheshiawaAfraid
rhooeyaua flap
roamoreKing
rockcumneMad
roo-iuneBlankets
roochehaAngry
rooe-pauGarden tool
rooeso possooStockings
rooeyamGunpowder
rooeyaukitteBreeches (britches, trousers that go to the knee
rookeppaBasket
roosemmeSoft
rum-¥upShe
rumminshauGoat
rummissauwouneButtom
sacketoome possmaComb
sauhauLet it alone
sekLightwood
socconMink
soone-nommeTwelve
soone-noponneTen
soppeFeather
soppepepora mat
tacca-pitteneershirt
tau-unta winnikAxe
tauh-heDog
teepRaw skin undressed
tire kiroWolf
tockoorScissors and tobacco
tonneOne
tonne hauk peaEleven
tontarinteHow many
too-sheSmoke
trawheRope
tummeHair
uu-cooneTobacco
wattCanoe
wattapegourd or bottle
wattapi untakeerStar
wattauPanther skin
waukPotatoes
waukhawayDay
waurepaI’m sick
waurraupaWhite
wawawaSnow
webtauFive
weeKnife
wee-keshooShoes
weekShot
week-kauBell
weekwonneReed
weetipsaFishgig (a fish spear having two or more prongs)
weihereNine
welkaDuck
wetkesOtter
whooyeonnePaint
winnoptwenty
wintsohoreEnglishman
wistoFawn skin
wittapareSun or moon
wittapeGun
wonsh-sheeNeedle
wunneauCrab
yacunneFish
yantohaNight
yau-haukSnake
yauhPath
yaukaa little while ago
yautaTurkey
yawowaRain
yecanauWife
yehauSqirrel skin
yendareFat
yenwetoaHorse
yenxauheBrother
yicauOld women
ynpyupseunnerundlet (a small barrel that contains a certain amount of liquid)
yonnePeaches
yopoonitsaBox
yottohaYesterday
yuncorWind
yuppa meGo you
¥ah-teshteaBlack
¥auFire
¥autaRed

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References

  1. 1 2 Swanton, John Reed (2003). The Indian tribes of North America. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co. pp. 90, 100. ISBN   9780806317304.
  2. Lawson, John (1709). “A vocabulary of Woccon”, in A New Voyage to Carolina; Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of That Country: Together with the Present State Thereof. And a Journal of a Thousand Miles, Travel’d Thro’ Several Nations of Indians. Giving a Particular Account of Their Customs, Manners, &c. View online.
  3. Carter, R. (1980). "The Woccon Language of North Carolina: Its Genetic Affiliations and Historical Significance", in International Journal of American Linguistics, Volume 46, Number 3. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/465652?journalCode=ijal
  4. "Collaboration with the Skarure Woccon to develop the first-ever Woccon Living Dictionary". Living Tongue Institute. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  5. "NC Tribal Communities". ncadmin.nc.gov. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  6. "About NC Native Communities". American Indian Center. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  7. "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". federalregister.gov. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

Further reading