Abnaki language
| Abenaki | |
|---|---|
| Wôbanakiôdwawôgan | |
| Native to | Canada, United States |
| Region | Quebec, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire |
| Ethnicity | 1,800 Abnaki and Penobscot (1982) |
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Native speakers
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14 Western Abenaki (2007–2012) Last fluent speaker of Eastern Abenaki died in 1993. |
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Algic
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: aaq – Eastern Abenaki abe – Western Abenaki |
| Glottolog |
east2544 (Eastern Abenaki)west2630 (Western Abenaki)
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Traditional Abenaki Indian territory
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Abenaki, or Abnaki, is an endangered Algonquian language of Quebec and the northern states of New England. The language has Eastern and Western forms, which differ in vocabulary and phonology, and are sometimes considered distinct languages.
Eastern Abenaki languages are spoken by several peoples, including the Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot of coastal Maine. The last known natively fluent speaker of Penobscot, Madeline Shay, died in 1993. However, several Penobscot elders still speak Penobscot, and there is an ongoing effort to preserve it and teach it in the local schools. Other dialects of Eastern Abenaki, such as Caniba and Aroosagunticook, are documented in French-language materials from the colonial period.
In 1991, Western Abenaki was spoken by 20 individuals along the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, mostly at Odanak, the site of the former mission village of St. Francis, and by about 50 individuals living throughout New York state and Connecticut. By 2006 five speakers were recorded.
In Reflections in Bullough's Pond, historian Diana Muir argues that Abenaki neighbors, the pre-contact Iroquois, were an imperialist, expansionist culture whose cultivation of the corn/beans/squash agricultural complex enabled them to support a large population. They made war primarily against neighboring Algonquian peoples, including the Abenaki. Muir uses archaeological data to argue that the Iroquois expansion onto Algonquian lands was checked by the Algonquian adoption of agriculture. This enabled them to support their own populations large enough to have sufficient warriors to defend against the threat of Iroquois conquest.
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