Pamunkey language

Last updated
Pamunkey
Native to Virginia
Ethnicity Pamunkey
Erarecorded 1844
unclassified (Algonquian?)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog pamu1240

The Pamunkey language is an extinct language that was spoken by the Pamunkey people of Virginia, United States.

Contents

The Pamunkey language is generally assumed to have been Algonquian. However, only fourteen words have been preserved, which is not enough to determine that the language actually was Algonquian. [1] [2]

Word list

The only attested Pamunkey words, which were recorded in 1844 by Reverend E.A. Dalrymple S.T.D., are: [3]

EnglishPamunkey
sontonshee
daughternucksee
catpetucka
thankfulnesskayyo
O my Lordo-ma-yah
friendshipkenaanee
thank youbaskonee
go out dogeeskut
onenikkut
twoorijak
threekiketock
fourmitture
fivenahnkitty
sixvomtally
seventalliko
eighttingdum
tenyantay

Lexical comparison

Below is a comparison of Pamunkey words and selected proto-languages from Zamponi (2024). [4]

glossPamunkey Proto-Algonquian [5] Proto-Iroquoian (PI)/
Proto-Northern Iroquoian (PNI) [6]
Proto-Siouan [7]
sontonshee*wekwiʔsema·wa*iyįḱe
daughternucksee*weta·nema·wa*iyų́·ke
catpetucka*ka·šake·nsa
thankfulnesskayyo
O my Lordo-ma-yah
friendshipkenaanee
thank youbaskonee*hahó
go out dogeeskut
onenikkut*nekwetwi*õskat (PNI)*rų·sa
twoorijak*nyi·šwi*tekniːh (PNI)*rų́·pa
threekiketock*neʔθwi*ahsẽh (PNI)*rá·wrį
fourmitture*nye·wi*kajeɹi (PNI)*tó·pa
fivenahnkitty*nya·θanwi, *pale·neθkwi*hwihsk (PI)*kiSų́·
sixvomtally*nekweta·šyeka*tsjotaɹeʔ (?) (PI)*aká·we
seventalliko*nyi·šwa·šyeka*tsjotaɹeʔ (?) (PI)*ša·kú·pa
eighttingdum*neʔneʔšwa·šik, *neʔšwa·šyeka*tekɹõʔ (PI)
tenyantay*meta·hθwi, *meta·tahθwi*wahshẽ (PI)*hą

Except for nikkut 'one', which is clearly similar to Powhatan nekut, none of the words correspond to any known Algonquian language, or to reconstructions of proto-Algonquian. Given the extensive ethnic mixing that occurred among the Pamunkey before 1844, it is possible that Dalrymple's list is from an inter-ethnic pidgin or even a language from an otherwise unknown language family, rather than from the original Pamunkey language. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2018-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Howell, Benita J.; Levy, Richard S.; Luckenbach, Alvin (1979). "What is Dalrymple's Pamunkey?". International Journal of American Linguistics. 45: 78–80. doi:10.1086/465576. S2CID   143441104.
  3. A Vocabulary of Powhatan, compiled by Captain John Smith, with two word-lists of Pamumkey and Nansemond from other sources. Evolution Publishing, 1997.
  4. Zamponi, Raoul (2024). "Unclassified languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America. De Gruyter. pp. 1627–1648. doi:10.1515/9783110712742-061. ISBN   978-3-11-071274-2.
  5. Hewson, John. 1993. A computer-generated dictionary of Proto-Algonquian. Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization.
  6. Julian, Charles. 2010. A history of the Iroquoian languages. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Ph.D. dissertation.
  7. Rankin, Robert L., Richard T. Carter, A. Wesley Jones, John E. Koontz, David S. Rood & Iren Hartmann (eds.). 2015. Comparative Siouan dictionary . Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Accessed 31 January 2023.
  8. Benita Howell, Richard Levy & Alvin Luckenbach, 'What Is Dalrymple's Pamunkey?', International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 45, no. 1 (Jan. 1979), pp. 78–80