Loup languages
Extinct Algonquin language of New England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Loup is a term which refers to the Algonquian language varieties spoken in colonial New England as attested in the manuscripts of mid-eighteenth century French missionaries.[1] Loup A was attested in a notebook titled Mots loups (literally translating to 'wolf words'), compiled by Jean-Claude Mathevet, a priest who worked among Algonquian peoples, composing of 124 pages.[2] Loup ('Wolf') was a French colonial ethnographic term, and usage was inconsistent. In modern literature, Loup A refers to the varieties described by Mathevet, and Loup B refers to those described by François-Auguste Magon de Terlaye.[1]
| Loup | |
|---|---|
| Nipmuck | |
| Pronunciation | [lu] loo |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Massachusetts, Connecticut |
| Ethnicity | Nipmuck |
| Extinct | 18th century |
| transcribed with Latin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:xlo – Loup Axlb – Loup B |
xlo Loup A | |
xlb Loup B | |
| Glottolog | loup1243 Nipmuckloup1245 Loup B |
Classification
Linguist Ives Goddard identified three distinct language varieties each attested in the Loup A and Loup B manuscripts. The languages of Loup A are referred to as Loup 1, Loup 2, and Loup 3; the languages of Loup B are referred to as Loup 4, Loup 5, and Loup 6. According to Goddard, Loup 3 and Loup 4 are the same language.[1]
On the basis of morphophonological comparisons with other Algonquian languages and ethnogeographic context, Goddard identifies the five Loup languages with particular bands of the Pocumtuck Confederacy:[1]
- Nipmuck (Loup 1)
- Norwottuck (Loup 2)
- Pocumtuck (Loup 3 and 4)
- Woronoco (Loup 5)
- Pojassick (Loup 6)
Phonology
The phonology of Loup A (Nipmuck),[1] reconstructed by Gustafson 2000:
The vowel sounds likely have the same phonetic quality as other southern New England Algonquian languages. The short vowels /i o e a/ may represent the sounds as [ɪ], [ʊ], [ɛ, ə], and [ʌ], while the long vowels /iː/, /oː/, and /ã/ correspond to /i/, /o/, and /ã/.[2][3]