Nanticoke language
Indigenous language of the eastern US
title: "Nanticoke language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nanticoke", "eastern-algonquian-languages", "indigenous-languages-of-the-north-american-eastern-woodlands", "native-american-history-of-delaware", "native-american-history-of-maryland", "native-american-history-of-virginia", "native-american-language-revitalization", "extinct-languages-of-north-america", "indigenous-languages-of-maryland", "languages-extinct-in-the-1840s"] description: "Indigenous language of the eastern US" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanticoke_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Indigenous language of the eastern US ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nanticoke |
| states | United States |
| region | Delaware, Maryland |
| ethnicity | Nanticoke people |
| extinct | Extinct |
| familycolor | Algic |
| fam1 | Algic |
| fam2 | Algonquian |
| fam3 | Eastern Algonquian |
| fam4 | Nanticockan |
| iso3 | nnt |
| linglist | nnt |
| glotto | nant1249 |
| glottorefname | Nanticoke |
| revived | 2007 |
| :: |
| name = Nanticoke | states = United States | region = Delaware, Maryland | ethnicity = Nanticoke people | extinct = Extinct | ref = | familycolor = Algic | fam1 = Algic | fam2 = Algonquian | fam3 = Eastern Algonquian | fam4 = Nanticockan | iso3 = nnt | linglist = nnt | glotto = nant1249 | glottorefname = Nanticoke | revived = 2007
Nanticoke is an extinct Algonquian language 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. In the 21st century, an effort has been made to revive the language.
Phonology
::data[format=table title="Consonants"]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Plosive | Affricate | Fricative | Nasal | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
::data[format=table title="Vowels"]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
- Allophones of are heard as .
- may have an allophone of in word-final positions.
Vocabulary
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.{{Cite book | publisher = Evolution Pub & Manufacturing | isbn = 9781889758305 | last = Heckewelder | first = John | title = Heckewelder's Vocabulary of Nanticoke | series = American Language Reprints | volume = 31 | access-date = 2012-09-23 | year = 2003 | url = https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889758302/nativelangu01-20 | publisher = Evolution Pub & Manufacturing | isbn = 9781889758459 | last = Jefferson | first = Thomas | title = Minor Vocabularies of Nanticoke-Conoy | series = American Language Reprints | access-date = 2012-09-23 | year = 2003 | url = https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889758302/nativelangu01-20
Nanticoke vocabulary
These words are some of the listings in Murray's glossary. In the letter that accompanied his glossary, Murray noted that the Nanticoke were "not more than nine in number," and also stated that "they have no word for the personals 'he' and 'she.'" The exclamation point (!) indicates a "peculiar, forcible, explosive, enunciation" of a syllable in this phoneticization. ::data[format=table title="Selected words from W.V. Murray's glossary{{Cite journal|last=Brinton|first=Daniel G.|date=1893|title=A Vocabulary of the Nanticoke Dialect|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/982971|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=31|issue=142|pages=325–333|jstor=982971|issn=0003-049X}}"]
| Nanticoke | English |
|---|---|
| Nickpitq | Arm |
| Oaskagu | Black |
| Puhsquailoau | Blue |
| Matt Wheesawso | Brave |
| Wee Sawso Ak | Cowardly |
| Meetsee | To eat |
| Nucksskencequah | Eye |
| Ah!skaahtuckquia | Green |
| Muchcat | Leg |
| Atupquonihanque | Moon |
| Psquaiu | Red |
| Untomhowaish | To run |
| Nupp | To sleep |
| Ahquak/Aquequaque/Aequechkkq | Sun |
| Waappayu | White |
| Weesawayu | Yellow |
| :: |
Modern Nanticoke
With the assistance of a native speaker, Myrelene Ranville née Henderson of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, Canada, who speaks a similar language, Anishinaabemowin, a group of Nanticoke people in Millsboro, Delaware, assembled to revive the language in 2007, using the vocabulary list of Thomas Jefferson. It had been "more than 150 years since the last conversation in Nanticoke took place."{{Cite news | last = Rachael Jackson | title = Nanticoke try to bring tribe's ancient tongue back | work = News From Indian Country | access-date = 2012-09-27 | date = 2007-04-29 | url = http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=281&Itemid=65 | archive-date = 2011-09-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110908173826/http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=281&Itemid=65 | url-status = dead
Notes
- {{Cite book | publisher = Evolution Pub & Manufacturing | isbn = 9780964423435 | last = Vans Murray | first = William | title = A Vocabulary of the Nanticoke Dialect | series = American Language Reprints | access-date = 2012-09-23 | year = 2009 | url = https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889758302/nativelangu01-20
References
- Goddard, Ives. (1978). "Handbook of North American Indians". Smithsonian Institution.
- Costa, David. J.. (2007). "The dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian". University of Manitoba.
- Siebert, Frank. (1975). "Studies in Southeastern Indian Languages". University of Georgia Press.
- Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World''. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- Cunningham, Keith A.. (2024). "A Phonological Analysis of Nanticoke with Practical Applications for Language Revitalization". Georgetown University.
- Brinton, Daniel G.. (1893). "A Vocabulary of the Nanticoke Dialect". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
- "A Phonological Analysis of the Heckewelder Vocabulary of Nanticoke".
- (2022-07-25). "Nanticoke tribe seeks to revive its lost language".
- Reporter, Susan Canfora {{!}} Staff. (2024-05-03). "Author to speak on Nanticoke language book".
- (Nov 1, 2023). "Once It Has Been Spoken ... It Cannot Be Unspoken". Salt Water Media, LLC.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::