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Abenaki Language Gathering Ndakinna Education Center |
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Western Abenaki (also known as Sokoki, Abnaki, St. Francis, Abenaki, or Abenaki-Penobscot) is a linguistic subdivision of the Eastern Algonquian languages which are a subgroup of the greater Algonquian languages, a subgroup of Algic languages. Prior to European contact Eastern Algonquian was comprised of 17 languages which stretched from Newfoundland south into North Carolina. Eastern Algonquian languages include Eastern Abenaki, Western Abenaki, Etchemin, Delaware, Nipmuck, Mahican, Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Wampanoag, Mi'kmaq, Mohegan, Montauk-Narragansett, Nanticoke, Carolina Algonquian, Powhatan, Quiripi-Naugatuck, Piscataway Eastern Algonquian languages descend from a putative proto-language, Proto-Eastern Algonquian. While Algonquian languages are often grouped into three large groups based on shared similarities (Plains Algonquian, Central Algonquian, and Eastern Algonquian), only Eastern Algonquian constitutes a separate genetic subgroup. Although the Algonquian language family was once one of the largest in America, extending from Manitoba to the eastern seaboard and down to North Carolina, and survival for the early English settlers required their learning the language, when the English became dominant, they stopped learning the language. The Algonquians, however, who had a long tradition of bilingualism, learned English; in time, English became so dominant in the mixed society that speaking most of the Algonquian languages died out virtually completely. |
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According to Blair Rudes, a specialist in past and present American Indian languages from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, "For the most part, subjects would come first, objects would come second, verbs would come last. But sometimes objects would come after verbs. Adverbs would frequently come at the very beginning of a sentence." The Algonquian are among the easier [Native American languages] in terms of pronunciation for a European. They tend to be somewhat like Spanish, for example, in terms of having a consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel structure. This is one of the reasons why the English borrowed quite a number of words from the Algonquian language that we still have today, like pecan, opossum, and moccasins. Language Today: Only a handful of people still speak the Western Abenaki language, these include the founders of this site Jesse Bowman Bruchac, his two children and Joseph Elie Wawanolett Joubert, the son of renowned teacher Cecile Wawanolett who passed in 2007. The last fully fluent speaker of Eastern Abnaki/Penobscot has passed on, but several Penobscot elders still speak some of the language and are working to revive its use in the Penobscot Nation today. | ||||||||
"A study of the verb reveals the high degree of inflectional complexity the language has. It is because of this verbal richness that philologists have called the Indian language a language of verbs." - Steven Laurent
Within the documents compiled into this online resource there are influences from many dialects. The original linguistic borders are unclear and the specific division of dialects was only established in recent times. Originally one dialect flowed into the next making communication between neighboring Algonquian speaking peoples possible. As peoples were displaced, many of the dialects were absorbed and incorporated, making Western Abenaki an amalgamation of northeastern Algonquian languages. The history of Odanak, Quebec, where much of the material on the language was gathered and the language has survived, is that of a transient refuge community that, from 1670 on gave shelter to Algonquian speaking peoples from all over the northeast. This has clearly had an effect on the language spoken today, compared to the dialects which were first recorded. The primary tribal groups who contributed to modern Western Abenaki are the Sokwakis, Penecooks, and the Cowassucks. In addition the language has been influenced by the Wampanoag, Schaghticokes, Woronoco, Mohicans, Mahicans, Nipmucks, Pocumtucks, Penobscots, Androscoggins, Missiquois and Amonoscoggins, as members from these tribes moved in and out of the community of Odanak during the 18th and 19th centuries. Other tribal groups who spoke early forms of Western Abenaki include the Amoskeay, Cocheco, Coos, Nashua, Ossipee, Pemigewasset, Pequaket, Piscataqua, Souhegan, and the Winnibisauga. With the extinction of most dialects of Algonquian in the northeast, many of which influenced modern Western Abenaki, an understanding of the languages no longer spoken is still possible by examining Western Abenaki, making its preservation as a spoken language that more more vital. The Abenaki language has left its mark forever as place names throughout New England and New York State. Below are just a few examples.
Many other Abenaki words have been incorporated into English as loanwords. There are about 150 generally used Algonquian Indian words in the English language today. Here are a few examples:
While Abenaki has no gender, there is a similar distinction between animate and inanimate nouns. Much as you would not say in English, "Look at that woman, his hair is nice," animate nouns in Abenaki are always used with the animate forms of verbs and adjectives, likewise, inanimates are always used together, giving the noun the central role in determining the forms taken by the other parts of speech in any given statement. In general, living things are animate. A tree, for example, is considered animate, but inanimate if it's been cut down. A hill devoid of vegetation is inanimate, while one lush with growth becomes animate. Certain diseases are also respectfully raised to the animate class, along with objects held indispensable, or in high regard such as snowshoes, toboggans and tobacco. The parts of any animate thing are also usually inanimate. Within this dictionary you will see both animate (pluralized with -k) and inanimate (pluralized with -l) nouns and the coinciding animate and inanimate conjugation of adjectives and verbs. Abenaki verbs also have a third classification of passive/neutered forms for intransitives, which are used when speaking of no direct object. These intransitive verbs often take the same, or a similar form of the animate verb, but always use the inanimate conjugations. Most Abenaki verbs are ambitransitive, having both transitive animate and inanimate and intransitive animate and inanimate forms, while others have only one form. Below are examples of the different forms taken for the verb "to protect." Western Abenaki is still a spoken language, and luckily the research, dedication and love for the language of many individuals has left us with many resources to draw from in our efforts to preserve it. This site is an effort to compile and make accessible all of these resources. Western Abenaki holds in some part, the truths of all the original dialects of the Northeast. It varies little from the language of Squanto who helped the Pilgrims at Plymouth Village and the same as that of Samoset who originally greeted them. Below are a few quotes from others about this 'Wli8dwaw8gan,' beautiful language: "Abenaki has been defined as a language that is "so soft and fluttery it would not disturb the birds." "The sound of the Abenaki language being spoken has been compared to that of "a babbling brook." Please be patient, this site is a work in progress and will continue to grow with time. The hope is that it will help others in their struggle to understand Eastern Algonquian language, culture and people, as well as help the language itself persist in some form. Your participation in this effort and support are greatly appreciated.  For more about the language and those who have helped to preserve it check our Sources Page Complete with biographies of influential native speakers. |
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