Nipmuck Language

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. It was attested in a notebook titled (literally translating to 'wolf words'), compiled by Jean-Claude Mathevet, a priest who worked among Algonquian peoples, composing of 124 pages. ''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.

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.

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:

* Nipmuck (Loup 1)
* Norwottuck (Loup 2)
* Pocumtuck (Loup 3 and 4)
* Woromco (Loup 5)
* Pojassick (Loup 6)

Phonology

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

The vowel sounds likely have the same phonetic quality as other southern New England Algonquian languages. The short vowels may represent the sounds as , , , and , while the long vowels , , and correspond to , , and .

References

External links

OLAC resources in and about the Loup A languageOLAC resources in and about the Loup B language
*

{{Algonquian languages

Eastern Algonquian languages
Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands
Languages of the United States
Extinct languages of North America
Native American history of New York (state)
Indigenous languages of North America
Languages extinct in the 18th century
Nipmuc