Nottoway language

---

title: "Nottoway language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["northern-iroquoian-languages", "extinct-languages-of-north-america", "nottoway", "meherrin"] description: "Extinct Native American language of Virginia" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottoway_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct Native American language of Virginia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

Field	Value
name	Nottoway
states	United States
region	Virginia
ethnicity	Nottoway, Meherrin
familycolor	American
fam1	Iroquoian
fam2	Northern
fam3	Tuscarora–Nottoway
lc1	ntw
ld1	Nottoway
lc2	nwy
ld2	Nottoway-Meherrin
linglist	nwy
lingname	Nottoway-Meherrin
glotto	nott1246
glottoname	Nottoway
glotto2	mehe1242
glottoname2	Meherrin
extinct	1838, with the death of Edith Turner
map	Nottoway Pre-Contact Map.gif
mapcaption	Pre-contact distribution of the Nottoway language
revived
::

| name = Nottoway | states = United States | region = Virginia | ethnicity = Nottoway, Meherrin | familycolor = American | fam1 = Iroquoian | fam2 = Northern | fam3 = Tuscarora–Nottoway | lc1 = ntw | ld1 = Nottoway | lc2 = nwy | ld2 = Nottoway-Meherrin | linglist = nwy | lingname = Nottoway-Meherrin | glotto = nott1246 | glottoname = Nottoway | glotto2 = mehe1242 | glottoname2 = Meherrin | extinct = 1838, with the death of Edith Turner | map = Nottoway Pre-Contact Map.gif | mapcaption = Pre-contact distribution of the Nottoway language | revived = Nottoway , also called Cheroenhaka and Nottoway-Meherrin, was an extinct language spoken by the Meherrin and Nottoway peoples. Nottoway is closely related to Tuscarora within the Iroquoian language family. Two tribes of Nottoway are recognized by the state of Virginia: the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia and the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe. Other Nottoway descendants live in Wisconsin and Canada, where some of their ancestors fled in the 18th century. The last known speaker, Edith Turner, died in 1838. The Nottoway people are undertaking work for language revival.

Knowledge of Nottoway comes primarily from a word list collected on March 4, 1820. Former President Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten letter to Peter S. Du Ponceau, on July 7, 1820, states that a Nottoway Indian vocabulary was obtained on March 4th, 1820 from Edith Turner, styled as their “Queen,” by John Wood, a former Professor of Mathematics at the College of William and Mary. Du Ponceau recognized the language immediately as Iroquoian, writing that he was "struck as well as astonished at its decided Iroquois Physiognomy." Blair A. Rudes (1981) concluded that Nottoway is a distinct language from Tuscarora, but closest to Tuscarora within Iroquoian.

In addition to the vocabulary collected by John Wood, a few additional words were gathered by James Trezvant.

Phonology

Vowels

By comparing words in Wood’s vocabulary with cognates in other Iroquoian languages, Blair Rudes (1981) was able to reconstruct the phonemes of Nottoway. According to Rudes, Nottoway has five vowel phonemes as seen in the following table. These symbols, which Rudes uses in his transcriptions, are consistent with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Note that the mid central vowel is nasalized.

::data[format=table]

Front	Central	Back	High	Mid	Low
::

Examples of these vowels are shown in the following table (from the Wood vocabulary). Wood's spelling of Nottoway was based on English and was therefore not systematic. A comparison to Tuscarora cognates in the rightmost column, however, provides evidence of Wood's intended vowel sound. ::data[format=table]

''auw'''a'''''	'water’	cf. Tuscarora á:wə̃ʔ
::

Consonants

Nottoway has ten consonant phonemes, listed in the table below. Like the vowels, these consonant phonemes were reconstructed by Rudes using John Wood's vocabulary and knowledge of related languages. Most of the symbols that Rudes uses are the same as the IPA symbols. Where they differ, the IPA symbol is included in square brackets. The three labial consonants are in parentheses because these phonemes are only present in five words of the language, none of which are of Iroquoian descent. The letter ‘m’ also sometimes occurs at the end of a word after a vowel, but this is to indicate nasalization of the previous vowel, not the presence of the phoneme /m/.

::data[format=table]

Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal	Plosive	Nasal	Affricate	Fricative	Approximant
()
()
()
::

The following table shows example words with each of these consonants (also from the Wood vocabulary). Comparison to related languages (primarily Tuscarora) allowed Rudes to reconstruct some of the consonant phonemes (in bold). ::data[format=table]

oteusag	'nose'	cf. Tuscarora uʔtyə̃́hsæh
::

Syllable structure

The English-based spelling Wood used makes it difficult to determine syllable structure. Most words, however, are consistent with the syllable structure (C)V(C)(C): ::data[format=table]

Syllable shape	Wood's Nottoway spelling
V	otosag
CV	gakuhar
CVC	orwisag
CVCC	wakwast
VC	orwisag
::

An exception is words that begin with /kw/ (which may have been a complex segment): ::data[format=table]

A Rabbit	Querū	cf. Tuscarora kwǽ:ruh
::

There is also limited evidence that words could end in three consonants: ::data[format=table]

A Squirrel	osarst
::

Consonant clusters must include /w/ or /s/, and possibly /n/. /w/ is the most common, but /s/ is still regularly seen in words like Whisk 'five'. The status of /n/ is uncertain since Wood used to represent nasal vowels.

Aside from Whisk 'five', most content words are multisyllabic.

Grammar

Possessive prefixes

Rudes (1981) notes that Nottoway has two series of pronominal prefixes used for inalienable and alienable possession. Inalienable nouns, such as body parts, are possessed with the prefix ge- 'my': ge-snunke 'my hand', ge-tunke 'my belly'. Alienable nouns are possessed with the prefix ak- 'my': ak-uhor '(my) old man', aqu-eianha '(my) boy'. These two series of pronominal prefixes are also used on verbs, where they indicate the agent and patient, respectively. The full set of prefixes is listed in the table below. ::data[format=table]

Possessive prefixes
First singular inalienable possessive (my; I)
ge-
ge-tunke
Second singular inalienable possessive (your; you)
se-/s-
se-tarakē
Feminine/zoic inalienable possessive (her/one's; she)
ye-/e-
e-skaharant
First-person singular alienable possessive (my; I/me)
ak-/aqu-
aqu-eianha
Second-person singular alienable possessive (your; you)
sa-
sa-tuntatag
Feminine/zoic kinship possessive (her/one's; she/it/one)’
go-
go-tyakum
::

Other affixes

In addition to the possessive prefixes, Rudes identifies a number of other affixes appearing in the Wood vocabulary. They are as follows: ::data[format=table]

Partitive (indicates part of a whole; also used to form multiples of ten)	Dualic	Aorist	Semireflexive	Reflexive (action done to oneself)	Simple Noun	Internal locative (“in,” “under”)	External locative (usually means “on,” or “at,” but loses its locative meaning when attached to a body part)	Characterizer (person who is part of a group)	“Teen” (as in “thirteen,” “fourteen,” etc.)
ne(e)-	newisha	‘short’
arsaneewarsa	'thirty'
de-, to-, te-	towatgeheterise	‘lightning’
dewartha	‘twenty’
wa-, un-	untchore	'to eat'
wasweke	'to speak'
at-, t-, ate-	satuntatag	'(you) listen'
untoreesweg	'(it) drown(ed)'
tat-	untatren	‘(it) cut’
untatreeyou	‘(it) kill(ed)’
-ag	ototorag	'door'
onushag	'house'
-coon	oraracoon	‘the woods’
-ke	setunke	‘your belly’
skeshunke	‘your flesh’
-hoka, -hakaʔ	tcherohakaʔ	‘Cheroenhaka people’
-ahr	arsaskahr	‘thirteen’
dekraskahr	‘eighteen’
::

Word order

Most of the written Nottoway materials are vocabularies rather than texts, so scholars can only make limited assumptions about the syntactic structure of the language. However, Rudes (1981) explains three syntactic characteristics that are supported by recorded Nottoway evidence:

1. The definite article precedes a noun, as in Tuscarora. |Hahenũ |'the thunder' (cf. Tuscarora haʔ híʔnə̃ʔ)}}

2. Of two adjacent nouns, the first noun modifies the second. |Acquia ohonag |deer skin |'deer skin'}}

3. An adjective follows the noun it modifies, and most likely could also precede it. |Unksawa wokenhu |{} year |'the new year'}}

Rudes tentatively reconstructs noun incorporation based on these examples:

::data[format=table]

Nottoway yuhtaquaahkum 'shoemaker' (lit. 'one makes shoes')
yu- 'neuter patient prefix'
-htaqua- 'shoe' (cf. Tuscarora uhnáhkwaʔ, Seneca ahtáhkwaʔ)
-ahkum 'to assemble' (cf. Tuscarora -ahk 'to pick up')
::

::data[format=table]

Nottoway satuntatag 'to listen' (lit. 'you stand up your ears')
s- 'second singular agent prefix'
-at- 'reciprocal'
-unta- 'ear' (cf. Tuscarora uhə̃́hnæh, Onondaga ohə̃́htaʔ)
-tag 'to stand + '(?) descriptive aspect' (cf. Onondaga iktaʔ 'I'm standing,' Seneca iːkeːt)
::

Vocabulary

The following vocabulary is from Wood as cited in Rudes from the version Jefferson sent to Du Ponceau.

Nouns of the Universe

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway spelling	Cognates
The Sun	Aheeta	cf. Tuscarora híhtæʔ
The Moon	Tethrāke
The Stars	Deeshū	cf. Wyandot tíšɔ̃h
The Clouds	Uraseque
Thunder	Hahenū	cf. Tuscarora haʔ híʔnə̃ʔ
Lightning	Towatgeheterise	cf. Tuscarora næwatkarǽʔnari:ks
Air	Yautatch
God	Quakerhuntè
Devil	Otkum	cf. Tuscarora útkə̃h
Rain	Yountoutch	cf. Tuscarora wə̃́:tu:č
Snow	Kankaus
Ice	Owees	cf. Tuscarora uwí:sæh
Fire	Auteur
Water	Auwa	cf. Tuscarora á:wə̃ʔ
a river	Joke
a great river	Onoschioke
The Ocean	Owan Fetchota	cf. Tuscarora á:wə̃ʔ ‘water’
a mountain	Yenuntenunte	cf. Tuscarora unə̃́ʔnæh
The Woods	Oraracoon
Rocks	Oruntag
Light	Youhanhū
Darkness	Asuntā	cf. Tuscarora uhθə̃́:ʔnæh
a Swamp	Keenu	cf. Tuscarora kí:nə̃ʔ
Sand	Oter	cf. Tuscarora uʔtǽhæh
Gold or Copper	Geekquan
Silver	Wanee
Iron	Owena	cf. Tuscarora uwǽ:nə̃h
Heaven	Quakeruntika
::

Of the Human Species

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway Spelling	Cognates
Man	Enihā	cf. Tuscarora raʔníhə̃h ‘he’s male’
An old man	Akuhor	cf. Tuscarora rúhuhr, akúhuhr ‘one’s old man’
A young man	Aquatio
A boy	Aqueianha
A woman	Ekening
An old woman	Aquasuari
A young woman	Chewasrisha
Death	Anseehe
A dead body	Wahehun
The head	Setarakē
Marriage	Gotyāg
A husband	Gotyakum	cf. Tuscarora katyá:kə̃h
A wife	Dekes
A son	Wakatonta
A daughter	Eruhā
A King	Tirer
The belly	Unkē
My belly	Setunke	cf. Tuscarora sætkwə̃́ʔkyæ ‘your stomach’
Your belly	Getunke
The hand or fingers	Nunke
My hand	Sesnunke	cf. Mohawk sesnṹhsaʔke ‘your hand’
Your hand	Gesnunke	cf. Mohawk kesnṹhsaʔke ‘my hand’
The right hand	Panunkee
The left hand	Matapanunkee
The thigh	Otitchag
The knee	Sunsheke
The leg	Franseke
The foot	Saseeke
The hair	Howerac
The eyes	Unkoharae	cf. Tuscarora ukáhræh
The mouth	Eskaharant
The ears	Suntunke	cf. Tuscarora shə̃hnə̃́ʔkyæ ‘your ears’
The tongue	Darsunke
The teeth	Otosag	cf. Tuscarora utú:ʔθæh
The neck	Steereke
The nose	Oteusag	cf. Tuscarora uʔtyə̃́hsæh
The lips	Oarāg
The chin	Ochag
The toes	Seeke
Blood	Gatkum	cf. Tuscarora kátkə̃ʔ
Skin	Ohonag	cf. Mohawk óhnaʔ
Flesh	Skeshunke
Nails	Yetunke
Heart	Sunke
The cheeks	Ekunsquare	cf. Tuscarora ukə̃́skaræh
The breath	Untures
The Eye brows	Eskarunke
A shoemaker	Yuntaquaankum (Yuhtaquaahkum)
::

Of Animals

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway spelling	Cognates
A Cow	Tosherung
A dog	Cheer	cf. Tuscarora číhr
A hog	Waskarrow	cf. Tuscarora waθkwá:ræh
A boar	Garhusung
A deer	Aquia	cf. Tuscarora á:kwæh
A mouse	Kosquenna	cf. Tuscarora ruskwǽ:nə̃h
A rat	Oyentu	cf. Tuscarora ruyə̃́ʔtuh
A bull frog	Drakon
Fish	Kaintu	cf. Tuscarora kə̃́:čə̃h
A Shad or Herring	Kohan
An Eel	Kunte
A crab	Sosune
A snake	Antatum
A bird	Cheeta	cf. Tuscarora číʔnə̃ʔ
A turkey	Kunum
A Hen	Tawrettig	cf. Tuscarora tahurǽ:tik
A Fox	Skeyu
A Wolf	Huse
A Squirrel	Osarst
A Rabbit	Querū	cf. Tuscarora kwǽ:ruh
A house fly	Deēsrere
A Bee	Ronuquam
A Shell	Odersag
A Deer Skin	Aquia ohonag	cf. Tuscarora á:kwæh; cf. Mohawk óhnaʔ
A Wing	Ohuwistāg	cf. Tuscarora uyə̃hwí:θnæh
A Feather	Awenkrāg
Wool	Ostoharag
The tail	Orwisag	cf. Tuscarora uʔrhwə̃́:θæh
Horns	Osherag
::

Division of Time

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway spelling	Cognates
A year	Wokenhu
The new year	Unksawa-Wokenhu
The new moon	Dotratung
Spring	Shantaroswache
Summer	Genheke
Autumn	Basheke
Winter	Goshera
Morning	Suntetung
Day-time	Antyeke
Mid-day	Anteneekal
Evening	Gensake
Night-time	Asunta
::

Domestic Articles

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway Spelling	Cognates
A House	Onushag	cf. Tuscarora unə̃́hsæh
The house of some individual	Weynushag
A door	Ototorag
A chimney	Odeshag
A Knife	Osakenta
A Stick	Ocherura
A Gun	Ata
A Bed	Sattaak
Milk	Canu
Spirits	Anuqua	cf. Tuscarora uhnǽ:kyæh 'liquor, spirits'
Clothes	Aquast
Smoke	Okyer
Shoes	Otagwāg	cf. Tuscarora uhnáhkwaʔ
Stockings	Orisrāg
Leather	Totierhiā
Linen	Nikanrārā
Fat meat	Oskaharag
Lean meat	Oharag
A Fiddle	Eruskarintita
A Bottle	Chewak	cf. Tuscarora učhǽʔwæh
Paper	Orirag
::

Adjectives

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway Spelling	Cognates
White	Owheryakum
Black	Gehuntee	cf. Tuscarora kahə̃́sči:
Red	Ganuntquare
Green	Sekatequantin
Weak	Genuheha
Dry	Yourha	cf. Onondaga óhɛ̃h
Wet	Yaorā
Ugly	Yesaxa
Beautiful	Yesquast
Good	Waquast	cf. Tuscarora wákwahst
Bad	Wassa
Hot	Tariha	cf. Tuscarora yuʔnaríhə̃:
Cold	Watorae	cf. Tuscarora á’thuʔ
Angry	Thatcharore	cf. Tuscarora θačaʔrú:rih ‘you’re angry’
Happy	Thatchanunte
Unhappy	Dodoitchewakeraksa
Old	Onahahe
Young	Osae
Long	Ewis
Short	Newisha	cf. Tuscarora tiwæ:θʔáh
Great	Tatchanawihiē
Little	Newisha	cf. Tuscarora tiwaʔθʔáh
Deep	Tatchanuwiras
Sharp	Watchoka
Round	Tatowerente
Smooth	Chuwatee
Rough	Genuaquast
Hard	Wokoste
Strong	Wakoste	cf. Tuscarora wakáθnæh ‘I’m strong’
::

Numerals

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway Spelling	Cognates
One	Unte	cf. Tuscarora ə̃́:či
Two	Dekanee	cf. Tuscarora nǽ:kti:
Three	Arsa
Four	Hentag	cf. Tuscarora hə̃́ʔtahk
Five	Whisk	cf. Tuscarora wísk
Six	Oyag	cf. Tuscarora úhyaʔk
Seven	Ohatag (Chatag)	cf. Tuscarora čá:ʔnak
Eight	Dekra	cf. Tuscarora nǽ:krə̃ʔ
Nine	Deheerunk	cf. Tuscarora níhrə̃ʔ
Ten	Washa
Eleven	Urteskahr (Unteskahr)
Twelve	Dekaneskahr
Thirteen	Arsaskahr
Fourteen	Hentagskahr
Fifteen	Whiskahr
Sixteen	Oyagskahr
Seventeen	Ohatagskahr (Chatagskahr)
Eighteen	Dekraskahr
Nineteen	Deheerunkskahr
Twenty	Dewarthaunteskahr (Dewartha)	cf. Tuscarora næwáhθhə̃h
Thirty	Arseneewarsa	cf. Tuscarora áhsə̃ tiwáhθhə̃h
Forty	Hentagneewarsa	cf. Tuscarora hə̃́ʔtahk tiwáhθhə̃h
Fifty	Wiskaneewarsa	cf. Tuscarora wísk tiwáhθhə̃h
Sixty	Oyagneewarsa
Seventy	Getaganeewarsa
Eighty	Dekranee warsa
Ninety	Deheerunknee warsa
A hundred	Kahorsthree
A thousand	Unteyoasthree (yoasthree)
::

Verbs

::data[format=table]

Wood's English	Wood's Nottoway Spelling	Cognates
To walk	Jā
To ride	Unksatā
To fly	Getya
To swim	Orerunte
To drink	Ararher
To eat	Untchore	cf. ə̃čú:riʔ ‘it ate’
To throw	Esungwisatoee
To cry	Tehesuhard	cf. Tuscarora næká:θnə̃hr ‘I cry’
To sleep	Kertus (Kentus)	cf. Tuscarora kə̃́:tʔuhs ‘it sleeps’
To fight	Wauntrehu
To wound	Yahterund
To kill	Urtatreeyou (Untatreeyou)	cf. Tuscarora ə̃ʔnarí:yuʔ 'it killed itself'
To hear	Thrahurta (Thrahunta)
To see	Waskehee	cf. Tuscarora wáhskə̃ʔ ‘you saw it’
To smell	Saharantoo
To touch	Swarore
To speak	Wasweke	cf. Tuscarora wáhswæʔ ‘you spoke’
To hunt	Kunun
To fish	Watchunund
To love	Tatchadanuste
To hate	Dotautche
To pray	Durtanhara
To stab	Untequara
To cut	Untatren	cf. Tuscarora ə̃ʔnáthræʔn ‘it cut itself’
To break	Wayetcherorag
To drown	Untoreesweg
To hang	Waharee	cf. Tuscarora waʔká:rə̃ʔ ‘I hung it up’
To strike	Untateuheerug (Untatenheerug)	cf. Tuscarora ə̃ʔnatkə̃́hruk ‘it struck itself’
To shoot	Untatchag
To listen	Satuntatag
To wash	Gakuhar	cf. Tuscarora ktú:har ‘I wash’
To run	Sarioka
To leap	Deunti
::

Other Words

Rudes attributes the following words to a vocabulary by J. N. B. Hewitt. It may be a later version of the one gathered by Trezvant. ::data[format=table]

English	Nottoway Spelling	Cognates
No	roh (H)
Yes	hokeh (H)
Bark	ohseroch (H)
Corn, maize	ohnehahk (H)
Infant, child	nahkasehkeh (H)
Father	akroh (H)
Mother	ena (H)
Sow	wakatouta (H)
Brother	kahtahtekeh (H)
Sister	ahkahchee (H)
Arm	ohnunchahk (H)	cf. Tuscarora unə̃́čhæh
Belly	ohtequahk (H)
Chief	etesheh (H)
Arrow	aruntquaserauk (H)
Earth, land	ahonroch (H)
Lake	kahahtahia (H)
Mountain	newntehs (H)	cf. Tuscarora unə̃́ʔnæh
I	ee (H)
Nottoways	Cherohaka (H)
::

References

References

1. {{Ethnologue26. ntw
2. (2023). "Nottoway-Meherrin". Ethnologue.
3. [http://www.cheroenhaka-nottoway.org/about-nottoway-tribe/nottoway-language.htm Thomas Jefferson to Peter S. Du Ponceau, July 7, 1820]
4. [http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Letter_from_Peter_S_DuPonceau_to_Thomas_Jefferson_1820 Peter S. DuPonceau to Thomas Jefferson, July 12, 1820], ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers'', Series 1, The Library of Congress.
5. Rudes, Blair. (1981). "A Sketch of the Nottoway Language from a Historical-Comparative Perspective". International Journal of American Linguistics.
6. [http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Languages_and_Interpreters_in_Early_Virginia_Indian_Society#start_entry Encyclopedia Virginia]
7. Hewitt, J. N. B. n.d. Nottoway-Anonymous. BAE ms., National Anthropological Archives catalog no. 3603. Washington, D.C.

::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. ::