Eastern Abenaki is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken by the Abenaki people. They were spoken by several peoples, including the Penobscot of what is now Maine. Other speakers of Eastern Abenaki included tribes such as the Amoscocongon who spoke the Arosagunticook dialect,[4] and the Caniba, which are documented in French-language materials from the colonial period. The last known natively fluent speaker of Penobscot Abenaki, Madeline Shay, died in 1993.[5][1] However, several Penobscot elders still speak Penobscot, and there is an ongoing effort to preserve it and teach it in the local schools;[6] much of the language was preserved by Frank Siebert.[7] About 500 Penobscot words are still being used in the community in everyday language such as Muhmum for 'grandpa' and nolke for 'deer'.[8]
| Eastern Abenaki | |
|---|---|
| Alnombak, Alnôbak, Eastern Abnaki, Wawenock | |
| Alənαpαtəwéwαkan | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Maine, New Hampshire |
| Ethnicity | 1,800 Abenaki and Penobscot (1982)[1] |
| Extinct | 1993, with the death of Madeline Shay[2] |
Algic
| |
| Latin script | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Wabanaki Confederacy |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | aaq |
| Glottolog | east2544 |
 Eastern Abenaki | |
 | |
In July 2013, the Penobscot Nation, the University of Maine and the American Philosophical Society received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to expand and publish the first Penobscot Dictionary.[8]
References
edit- 1 2 Eastern Abenaki at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
- ↑ Eastern Abenaki at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.
- ↑ "Arosaguntacook Indian Tribe". Native Languages. Archived from the original on Jan 9, 2024. Retrieved Jan 9, 2024.
- ↑ "Penobscot". Native Languages of the Americas. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
- ↑ "Penobscot". Abbe Museum. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved Feb 21, 2016.
- ↑ Gregory, Alice (April 19, 2021). "How did a self-taught linguist come to own an indigenous language?". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2021-04-12.
- 1 2 McCrea, Nick (July 11, 2013). "Penobscot Nation, UMaine win grants to help revive tribe's language". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
Sources
edit- Voorhis, Paul (October 1979). Grammatical Notes on the Penobscot Language from Frank Speck's Penobscot Transformer Tales. University of Manitoba Anthropology Papers. Vol. 24. hdl:1993/18305.
External links
edit- "Native American Audio Collections: Penobscot". American Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
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