Quiripi language

Quiripi is considered to have been a member of the Eastern Algonquian branch of the Algonquian language family.Goddard (1978)Mithun (1999:327) It shared a number of linguistic features with the other Algonquian languages of southern New England, such as Massachusett and Mohegan-Pequot, including the shifting of Proto-Eastern Algonquian *{{IPA|/aː/}} and *{{IPA|/eː/}} to {{IPA|/ãː/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}}, respectively, and the palatalization of earlier *{{IPA|/k/}} before certain front vowels.Goddard (1978:75)Rudes (1997:27) There appear to have been two major dialects of Quiripi: an "insular" dialect spoken on Long Island by the Unquachog and a "mainland" dialect spoken by the other groups in Connecticut, principally the Quinnipiac.Rudes (1997:6–7)Costa (2007:116, 119)

Quiripi is very poorly attested,Costa (2007:116, 118) though some sources do exist. One of the earliest Quiripi vocabularies was a 67-page bilingual catechism compiled in 1658 by Abraham Pierson, the elder, during his ministry at Branford, Connecticut,Mithun (1999:331) which remains the chief source of modern conclusions about Quiripi. Unfortunately, the catechism was "poorly translated" by Pierson, containing an "unidiomatic, non-Algonquian sentence structure."Costa (2007:118) It also displays signs of dialect mixture.Costa (2007:116) Other sources of information on the language include a vocabulary collected by the Rev. Ezra Stiles in the late 1700sRudes (1997:4) and a 202-word Unquachog vocabulary recorded by Thomas Jefferson in 1791, though the Jefferson vocabulary also shows clear signs of dialect mixture and "external influences."Costa (2007:120) Additionally, three early hymns written circa 1740 at the Moravian Shekomeko mission near Kent, Connecticut, have been translated by Carl Masthay.Rudes (1997:2)

Linguist Blair Rudes attempted to reconstitute the phonology of Quiripi, using the extant documentation, comparison with related Algonquian languages, as "reconstructing forward" from Proto-Algonquian.Rudes (1997:6) In Rudes' analysis, Quiripi contained the following consonant phonemes:Rudes (2007:18)

Quiripi's vowel system as reconstituted by Rudes was similar to that of the other Southern New England Algonquian languages. It consisted of two short vowels {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}}, and four long vowels {{IPA|/aː/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}}, and {{IPA|/ʌ̃/}}.

• a – {{IPA|[ʌ]}}
• â – {{IPA|[aː]}}
• ch – {{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}
• h – {{IPA|[h]}}
• i – {{IPA|[iː]}}
• k – {{IPA|[k]}}
• m – {{IPA|[m]}}
• n – {{IPA|[n]}}
• o – {{IPA|[uː]}}
• ô – {{IPA|[ʌ̃]}}
• p – {{IPA|[p]}}
• r – {{IPA|[r]}}
• s – {{IPA|[s]}}
• sh – {{IPA|[ʃ]}}
• t – {{IPA|[t]}}
• u – {{IPA|[ə]}}
• w – {{IPA|[w]}}
• y – {{IPA|[j]}}Omniglot

{{reflist|2}}

• {{aut|Costa, David J.}} (2007). "The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian." In Papers of the 38th Algonquian Conference, ed. H. C. Wolfart. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, pp. 81–127
• {{aut|Goddard, Ives}} (1978). "Eastern Algonquian Languages." In Northeast, ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 70–77
• {{aut|Mithun, Marianne}} (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• [http://www.native-languages.org/quiripi.htm "Quiripi (Quinnipiac, Unquachog, Wampano, Naugatuck, Mattabesic)."] Native American Language Net
• [https://www.omniglot.com/writing/quiripi.htm "Quiripi language, alphabet, and pronunciation."] Omniglot
• {{aut|Pierson, Rev. Abraham}} (1980). Some Helps for the Indians 1658 Bilingual Catechism, reprinted in "Language and Lore of the Long Island Indians," Readings in Long Island Archaeology and Ethnohistory, Vol. IV. Stony Brook, NY: Suffolk County Archaeological Association
• {{aut|Rudes, Blair A.}} (1997). "Resurrecting Wampano (Quiripi) from the Dead: Phonological Preliminaries." Anthropological Linguistics (39)1:1–59
• {{aut|Salwen, Bert}} (1978). "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period." In Northeast, ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 160–176

• [http://www.language-archives.org/language/qyp OLAC resources in and about the Quiripi language]
• [http://www.native-languages.org/quiripi.htm Quiripi language]

{{Algonquian languages}}

Category:Eastern Algonquian languages

Category:Languages of the United States

Category:Extinct languages of North America

Category:Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands

Category:Languages extinct in the 1900s

Category:Paugussett