Nanticoke language
Encyclopedia
Nanticoke is an extinct Algonquian
language formerly spoken in Delaware
and Maryland
, United States
. The same language was spoken by several neighboring tribes, including the Nanticoke
, which constituted the paramount chiefdom
; the Choptank, the Assateague, and probably also the Piscataway
and the Doeg
.
Nanticoke is sometimes considered a dialect of the Delaware language, but its vocabulary was quite distinct. This is shown in a few brief glossaries, which are all that survive of the language. One is a 146-word list compiled by Moravian
missionary
John Heckewelder
in 1785, from his interview with a Nanticoke chief then living in Canada
. The other is a list of 300 words obtained in 1792 by William Vans Murray
, then a US Representative (at the behest of Thomas Jefferson
.) He compiled the list from a Nanticoke speaker in Dorchester County, Maryland
, part of the historic homeland.
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
language formerly spoken in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The same language was spoken by several neighboring tribes, including the Nanticoke
Nanticoke Indian Tribe
The Nanticoke people are an indigenous American Algonquian people, whose traditional homelands are in Chesapeake Bay and Delaware. Today they live in the northeast United States, especially Delaware; in Canada; and in Oklahoma.-History:...
, which constituted the paramount chiefdom
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
; the Choptank, the Assateague, and probably also the Piscataway
Piscataway (tribe)
The Piscataway are a subtribe of the Conoy Native American tribe of Maryland. At one time, they were one of the most populous and powerful Native polities of the Chesapeake Bay region. They spoke Algonquian Piscataway, a dialect of Nanticoke...
and the Doeg
Doeg (tribe)
The Doeg were a Native American tribe who lived in northern Virginia. They spoke an Algonquian language and may have been a branch of the Nanticoke tribe, historically based on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The Nanticoke considered the Algonquian Lenape as "grandfathers"...
.
Nanticoke is sometimes considered a dialect of the Delaware language, but its vocabulary was quite distinct. This is shown in a few brief glossaries, which are all that survive of the language. One is a 146-word list compiled by Moravian
Moravian
Moravian refers to:* a person or thing from Moravia * Moravians * Moravian language, disputed language or dialect of the Czech language* a member or adherent of the Moravian Church...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
John Heckewelder
John Heckewelder
right|thumb|350px|sketch by [[Henry Howe]]John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder was an American missionary.He was born in Bedford, England. He came to Pennsylvania in 1754, and, after finishing his education, was apprenticed to a cooper. After a visit to Ohio with Christian F...
in 1785, from his interview with a Nanticoke chief then living in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The other is a list of 300 words obtained in 1792 by William Vans Murray
William Vans Murray
William Vans Murray was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates . He next was elected to the US House of Representatives from the fifth district of Maryland, serving from 1791 until 1793. He then represented the eighth district from 1793 to...
, then a US Representative (at the behest of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
.) He compiled the list from a Nanticoke speaker in Dorchester County, Maryland
Dorchester County, Maryland
Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland on its Eastern Shore. It is bordered by the Choptank River to the north, Talbot County to the northwest, Caroline County to the northeast, Wicomico County to the southeast, Sussex County, Delaware, to the east, and the Chesapeake...
, part of the historic homeland.
External links
- Ethnologue entry for Nanticoke
- Custom lexicon: The Interactive ALR – includes all known Nanticoke data