# Does Anyone Have Some Knowledge Of Native North American Languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654 "2023-10-16T16:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/1 "2023-10-16T16:40:10Z")
> [@Place names that were better before they changed them](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/126): > > > [@Place names that were better before they changed them](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/124): > > > > I am clueless about Abenaki language > > Me too, but FWIW I’ve been studying Lenape, a closely related Eastern Algonquian language. > [@Place names that were better before they changed them](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/127): > > hat > > off > > All North American languages just scare me. There’s like, what, 40+ different language families AND 30+ isolates? Wild. I’ve developed an interest in Native North American Languages recently, but it’s impossible to come across them where I live. So, I was wondering whether anyone here had some experience encountering them, learning them, or even better, speaking them with some fluency. I’d be interested in knowing… well, pretty much anything about them, from how they “sound” to you to the intriguing morphosyntactic features they display. Anything, really, from the most casual remark to bona fide scientific research, as long as it’s first-hand experience. I’m mostly interested in the Algonquian and Iroquoian families, as well as to a lesser extent Na-Dene (Dene-Yeniseian?), Uto-Aztecan and Salishan. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/2 "2023-10-16T16:54:23Z")
I’ve heard Plains Cree a fair bit. Hard to describe, other than to say it sounds completely foreign to me. When I hear Italian or Spanish, the rhythm sounds familiar and I can sometimes pick out words. Same for German and Dutch; it feels like I should be able to understand it. I don’t get that at all with Cree. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/3 "2023-10-16T17:37:00Z")
I’ve been using the [Lenape Talking Dictionary](https://www.talk-lenape.org/) to learn Lenape. It includes lessons. I’m also learning Navajo on Duolingo. The easiest American Indian language for adult learners is said to be Quechua (except it’s South American, sorry). Its grammar rather resembles European languages. Salishan languages have complicated sound systems. As for Uto-Aztecan, there’s a [song in Yaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yaqui-melody-used-by-chavez-and-anderson/828517) I’ve been trying to find out more about. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/4 "2023-10-16T19:34:19Z")
I know a retired linguist who was an expert in the Algonquian language group. I’ve never heard him speak it, but depending where on Earth you are maybe I could arrange an intro. He’s getting old and would love a chance to bend an ear on this topic. Getting away might be your hardest task. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/5 "2023-10-16T19:46:35Z")
When I was in grad school, a professor (a great biographer of Thoreau and Emerson) said to us “Anyone who doesn’t know what to do for a dissertation, study a dying Native language and write up a book length description of its vocabulary and grammar.” No one took him up on the offer, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/6 "2023-10-16T19:52:50Z")
on a tangent: Phillip Glass’ take on it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W7LrAC2Yt88/hqdefault.jpg "Koyaanisqatsi (1982) - Opening / Title scene [1080p]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7LrAC2Yt88) Koyaanisqatsi = Hope Indian (?) for “world in turmoil/out of balance” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/7 "2023-10-16T20:12:05Z")
I was writing historical fiction about mid 18th-century southwestern Pennsylvania, so I got busy informing myself about the Unami form of Lenape that was spoken in that place at that time (before they moved west to the Ohio Country, to Coshocton). I took to coining names of places in Lenape, based on what is historically known. For example, Brownsville, Pennsylvania, was an important river crossing in Indian times, and it was known as the Red Stone place for its red sandstone outcrops; in Unami that translates to _Màxkahsënink_ /mʌxkahsəniŋk/. Fort Duquesne, during the time some Lenape braves were allied with the French, was known as the fenced-in place, place of the enclosure, which translates to _Menàxksink_ /meːnʌxksiŋk/. The original Lenape sacred meeting ground on the Delaware River (Lenapei Sipu) was named Shackamaxon—from Lenape _Sakimaksink_ ‘the Place of the Chiefs’. Today it’s known as Penn Treaty Park. In Sakimaksink you can see the word _sakima_ ‘chief’ familiar as the root word of “sachem” and “sagamore.” Note all these place names end in -ŋk. That’s the Lenape locative suffix, so that X-ŋk means ‘where X is’. Because stops became voiced following nasal sounds, -ŋk is commonly seen in place names as -ing, e.g. Hocking means ‘where the salt lick is’. Pymatuning means ‘where there’s a facility for steam bathing set up’. I had fun finding out that Ohiopyle is from _ahi òpihële_, ‘it turns very white’ (the river rapids). Quittapahilla Creek is from _kuwe ktepehële_, ‘it flows out through the pines’. I coined _wingëlìndàmeskikwës_ /wiŋgəlɪndʌmeskikwəs/ from _winkëlìntàm_ ‘happy’ (_winkë_ ‘pleasant’ + _lìntàm_ ‘mind’) + _skikw_ ‘grass’ + -_ës_ diminutive suffix, thinking it could have reached Pennsylvania by trade routes from Texas, so why not? I wrote an invocation to the ancestors: _ **Nuhëmak manëtuwàk!** _ _ **Nëmuxumsak manëtuwàk!** _ _ **Kuxwisuwa ta ni.** _ _ **Ndàpi. Këmëshalëlhumo.** _ Grandmother spirits! Grandfather spirits! I am your granddaughter. I am here. I remember you. to recite during my Memorial Day visit to Shackamaxon, an especially sacred moment for me. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/8 "2023-10-16T20:20:56Z")
Coshocton, Ohio, has an interesting etymology for the changes it went through, as well as its Muskingum River. The original Unami Lenape name of the town was _Koshaxkink_ ‘where there is a river crossing’. The present form was probably adapted as _Koshaxktun_ ‘ferry’ (‘river-crossing device’). The name of the Muskingum river originated from another Algonquian language, Shawnee. The Shawnee people had been there for ages; the Lenni Lenape moved there in the 18th century, though the region around the Ohio River had been considered their ancient homeland before they moved to the East Coast, where they lived at European contact. The original Shawnee name was _Mshkikwam_ ‘swampy ground’ (_mshkikwi-_ ‘swamp’ + _-am_ ‘earth’). But in Lenape it was transformed by folk etymology into, or was taken to mean, ‘elk’s eye’ (_mus wəshkinkw_ ), as if \< _mus_ ‘elk’ + _wəshkinkw_ ‘its eye’. You already know the Eastern Algonquian name for elk: Moose. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/9 "2023-10-16T20:23:35Z")
Ohioans and Bob Dylan fans will be interested to know that Ashtabula is from Lenape _ashte-pihële_, ‘always enough (fish) to go around, to be given away’,[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River#cite_note-Mahr_1959_365%E2%80%93375-6) a contraction from _apchi_ ‘always’[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River#cite_note-7) + _tepi_ ‘enough’ + _hële_ (verb of motion), referring to the Ashtabula River. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/10 "2023-10-16T20:42:50Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ve heard Plains Cree a fair bit. Hard to describe, other than to say it sounds completely foreign to me. My Mother, from Sask, spoke a little, and I used to have a few words. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/11 "2023-10-16T20:59:52Z")
Correction, I mixed up two different words. Hocking means ‘where the fields are’, from _haki_ ‘land’ + -ŋk. Mahoning means ‘where the salt lick is’, from _mahaonink_ ‘where animals gather’. We regret the error. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/12 "2023-10-16T21:04:28Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ve heard Plains Cree a fair bit. Hard to describe, other than to say it sounds completely foreign to me. I’ve read that 19th-century white people were so impressed by the sound of Cree spoken by orators that they compared it to Latin in terms of sounding august with gravitas. I think they meant Plains Cree, not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/13 "2023-10-16T21:13:31Z")
I would say it sounds very dignified. But I’ve only heard it in formal settings. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/14 "2023-10-16T21:17:24Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But I’ve only heard it in formal settings. Last time I was driving in Alberta, I listened to the country station CFWE which had some DJ talk and commercials in indigenous languages (Wikipedia suggests Cree and Dene). ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/15 "2023-10-16T21:34:35Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Hope Indian (?) Do you mean _Hopi_? ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/16 "2023-10-16T21:40:14Z")
yes, for whatever reason - if I add a YT link I cannot edit the post for spelling (and stupidity) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/17 "2023-10-16T22:16:41Z")
Languages like Cree and Innu are pretty hard. They are not very similar to other languages I have studied. However, the Canadian governments support them, more or less, and good materials (phrase books, lessons, etc.) are available. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/18 "2023-10-16T22:38:06Z")
I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you this tremendously resourceful site: [http://www.native-languages.org/](http://www.native-languages.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/19 "2023-10-16T22:59:24Z")
Go to the following website: [https://glottolog.org/glottolog/language](https://glottolog.org/glottolog/language) Put in North American for the macro-area and you’ll be given the 783 languages of North America. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654/20 "2023-10-17T00:44:10Z")
Here is a YouTube of an older lady speaking Cree for a minute or so before switching to English. I’d never heard the language before. It puts me in mind of Japanese spoken a bit more slowly than typical, but with a bunch of extra ch- & sh-like sounds. > **CAUTION: Very Loud Intro Music, then normal level for body of vid.** > > **[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFUQyidy46w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFUQyidy46w)** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-some-knowledge-of-native-north-american-languages/991654.md?page=2)