Tutelo language
Encyclopedia
The Tutelo language is a member of the Virginian branch of Siouan languages
that was originally spoken in what is now Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in the later travels of the speakers through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally, Ontario. The last fluent full-blooded speaker, Nikonha
, died in 1871 at age 106, but managed to impart about 100 words of vocabulary to the ethnologist Horatio Hale
, who had visited him at Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation Ontario the year before. However, knowledge of the language and grammar was preserved by persons of mixed Tutelo and Cayuga
descent at Grand River well into the twentieth century, and was recorded by Hale and other scholars including J. N. B. Hewitt, James Owen Dorsey
, Leo J. Frachtenberg, Edward Sapir
, Frank Speck
, and Marianne Mithun
.
Hale published a brief grammar and vocabulary in 1883, and confirmed the language as Siouan through comparisons with Dakota
and Hidatsa
. His excitement at finding an ancient Dakotan tongue once widespread in Virginia, to be preserved on an Iroquois reserve in Ontario, was considerable. Previously, the only recorded information on the language had been a short list of words and phrases collected by Lt. John Fontaine at Fort Christanna
in 1716, and a few assorted terms recorded by colonial sources such as John Lederer
, Abraham Wood
, Hugh Jones, and William Byrd II
. Hale noted the testimony of colonial historian Robert Beverley, Jr.
that the presumably related dialect of the Occaneechi
was used as a lingua franca by all the tribes in the region of whatever linguistic stock, and was known to the chiefs, "conjurers", and priests of all tribes, who even used it in their ceremonies, just as European priests used Latin
. Hale's grammar also noted further comparisons to Latin and ancient Greek in terms of the classical nature of Tutelo's rich variety of verb tenses available to the speaker, including what he remarked as an 'aorist
' perfect verb tense ending in "-wa".
James Dorsey, another Siouan linguist, collected extensive vocabulary and grammar samples around the same time as Hale, as did Hewitt a few years later. Frachtenberg and Sapir both visited in the first decade of the 1900s and found only a handful of words were still remembered, by a very few Cayuga of Tutelo ancestry. Speck did much fieldwork in preserving their traditions in the 1930s, but found little of the speech remaining. Mithun managed to collect a handful of terms still remembered in 1980.
The Tutelo language as preserved by these efforts is now believed to have been mutually intelligible with, if not identical to, the speech of other Virginia Siouan groups in general, including the Monacan and Manahoac
and Nahyssan confederacies, as well as the subdivisions of Occaneechi, Saponi, etc.
In the 21st century there has been interest, especially among descendants of these original native groups, in contemporary language revitalization. A number of efforts to spread and increase knowledge of the Tutelo-Saponi language have been directed by representatives of the various modern bands that can be traced to the former divisional structure.
The pronoun Huk "all" may be added to form the plurals Mimahuk "we" and Yimahuk "ye", while "they" is Imahese.
In verbal conjugations, the subject pronouns are represented by various prefixes, infixes, and or suffixes, usually as follows:
An example as given by Hale is the verb Yandosteka "love", where the infix appears between yando- and -steka:
The last form includes the common additional tense suffix -se which literally conveys the progressive tense. There are also 'stative' classes of verbs that take the 'passive' (oblique) pronoun affixes (mi- or wi-, yi- etc.) as subjects.
Additional tenses can be employed through the use of other suffixes including -ka (past), -ta (future), -wa (aorist or perfect), -kewa (past perfect), and -ma (perfect progressive). The rules for combining these suffixes with stems in final vowels are slightly complex.
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
that was originally spoken in what is now Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in the later travels of the speakers through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally, Ontario. The last fluent full-blooded speaker, Nikonha
Nikonha
Nikonha, also known as Waskiteng and Mosquito, was the last full-blooded speaker of Tutelo, a Virginia Siouan language. He is reported to have been around 106 when he died at Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario in 1871; this would give him a birth date of ca...
, died in 1871 at age 106, but managed to impart about 100 words of vocabulary to the ethnologist Horatio Hale
Horatio Hale
Horatio Emmons Hale was an American-Canadian ethnologist, philologist and businessman who studied language as a key for classifying ancient peoples and being able to trace their migrations...
, who had visited him at Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation Ontario the year before. However, knowledge of the language and grammar was preserved by persons of mixed Tutelo and Cayuga
Cayuga nation
The Cayuga people was one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee , a confederacy of American Indians in New York. The Cayuga homeland lay in the Finger Lakes region along Cayuga Lake, between their league neighbors, the Onondaga to the east and the Seneca to the west...
descent at Grand River well into the twentieth century, and was recorded by Hale and other scholars including J. N. B. Hewitt, James Owen Dorsey
James Owen Dorsey
James Owen Dorsey was an American ethnologist, linguist, and Episcopalian missionary who contributed to the description of the Ponca, Omaha, and other southern Siouan languages. He also collected much material on beliefs and institutions, although most of his manuscripts have not been published...
, Leo J. Frachtenberg, Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir was an American anthropologist-linguist, widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguistics....
, Frank Speck
Frank Speck
Frank Gouldsmith Speck was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans of the United States and First Nations peoples of eastern boreal Canada.-Early life and...
, and Marianne Mithun
Marianne Mithun
Marianne Mithun is a leading scholar of American Indian languages and language typology. She is currently Professor of Linguistics at the University of California at Santa Barbara....
.
Hale published a brief grammar and vocabulary in 1883, and confirmed the language as Siouan through comparisons with Dakota
Dakota language
Dakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language.-Dialects:...
and Hidatsa
Hidatsa language
Hidatsa is an endangered Siouan language, closely related to the Crow language. It is spoken by the Hidatsa tribe, primarily in North Dakota and South Dakota....
. His excitement at finding an ancient Dakotan tongue once widespread in Virginia, to be preserved on an Iroquois reserve in Ontario, was considerable. Previously, the only recorded information on the language had been a short list of words and phrases collected by Lt. John Fontaine at Fort Christanna
Fort Christanna
Fort Christanna was one of the projects of Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood, who was governor of the Virginia Colony 1710-1722. The fort was designed to offer protection and schooling to the tributary Siouan and Iroquoian tribes, living to the southwest of the colonized area of Virginia...
in 1716, and a few assorted terms recorded by colonial sources such as John Lederer
John Lederer
John Lederer was a 17th-century German physician and an explorer of the Appalachian Mountains. He and the members of his party became the first Europeans to crest the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first to see the Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains beyond...
, Abraham Wood
Abraham Wood
Abraham Wood , sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood, was an English fur trader and explorer of 17th century colonial Virginia...
, Hugh Jones, and William Byrd II
William Byrd II
Colonel William Byrd II was a planter, slave-owner and author from Charles City County, Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia.-Biography:...
. Hale noted the testimony of colonial historian Robert Beverley, Jr.
Robert Beverley, Jr.
Robert Beverley, Jr. was an important historian of early colonial Virginia. He was born in Jamestown and died in King and Queen County, Virginia...
that the presumably related dialect of the Occaneechi
Occaneechi
The Occaneechi are Native Americans who lived primarily on a large, long Occoneechee Island and east of the confluence of the Dan and Roanoke Rivers, near current day Clarksville, Virginia in the 17th century...
was used as a lingua franca by all the tribes in the region of whatever linguistic stock, and was known to the chiefs, "conjurers", and priests of all tribes, who even used it in their ceremonies, just as European priests used Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. Hale's grammar also noted further comparisons to Latin and ancient Greek in terms of the classical nature of Tutelo's rich variety of verb tenses available to the speaker, including what he remarked as an 'aorist
Aorist
Aorist is a philological term originally from Indo-European studies, referring to verb forms of various languages that are not necessarily related or similar in meaning...
' perfect verb tense ending in "-wa".
James Dorsey, another Siouan linguist, collected extensive vocabulary and grammar samples around the same time as Hale, as did Hewitt a few years later. Frachtenberg and Sapir both visited in the first decade of the 1900s and found only a handful of words were still remembered, by a very few Cayuga of Tutelo ancestry. Speck did much fieldwork in preserving their traditions in the 1930s, but found little of the speech remaining. Mithun managed to collect a handful of terms still remembered in 1980.
The Tutelo language as preserved by these efforts is now believed to have been mutually intelligible with, if not identical to, the speech of other Virginia Siouan groups in general, including the Monacan and Manahoac
Manahoac
The Manahoac, also recorded as Mahock, were a small group of Siouan-language American Indians in northern Virginia at the time of European contact. They numbered approximately 1,000 and lived primarily along the Rappahannock River west of modern Fredericksburg and the fall line, and east of the...
and Nahyssan confederacies, as well as the subdivisions of Occaneechi, Saponi, etc.
In the 21st century there has been interest, especially among descendants of these original native groups, in contemporary language revitalization. A number of efforts to spread and increase knowledge of the Tutelo-Saponi language have been directed by representatives of the various modern bands that can be traced to the former divisional structure.
Grammar
Independent personal pronouns, as recorded by Dorsey, are- 1st sing. - Mima (I)
- 2nd sing. - Yima (you)
- 3rd sing. - Ima (he, she, it)
The pronoun Huk "all" may be added to form the plurals Mimahuk "we" and Yimahuk "ye", while "they" is Imahese.
In verbal conjugations, the subject pronouns are represented by various prefixes, infixes, and or suffixes, usually as follows:
- 1st sing. - Ma- or Wa- (or -ma-, -wa-)
- 2nd sing. - Ya- (-ya-)
- 3rd sing. - (null; no affixes, simple verb)
- 1st plur. - Mank- or Wa'en- (prefix only)
- 2nd plur. - Ya- (-ya-) + -pui
- 3rd plur. - --hle, -hne.
An example as given by Hale is the verb Yandosteka "love", where the infix appears between yando- and -steka:
- Yandowasteka, I love
- Yandoyasteka, you love
- Yandosteka, he or she loves
- Mankyandosteka, we love
- Yandoyastekapui, ye love
- Yandostekahnese, they love.
The last form includes the common additional tense suffix -se which literally conveys the progressive tense. There are also 'stative' classes of verbs that take the 'passive' (oblique) pronoun affixes (mi- or wi-, yi- etc.) as subjects.
Additional tenses can be employed through the use of other suffixes including -ka (past), -ta (future), -wa (aorist or perfect), -kewa (past perfect), and -ma (perfect progressive). The rules for combining these suffixes with stems in final vowels are slightly complex.
External links
- Tutelo Language and the Saponi/Tutelo Indian Tribe (Saponey, Haliwa-Saponi)
- Swadesh list for Tutelo-Saponi on Wiktionary