Slides from the 56th Algonquian Conference
A presentation about scientific methodology using Mahican language samples as examples.
Sources of Mahican Language Information
A guide to interpret the sounds and writing system in use on this website.
Part One: Mahican Vowel Fluctuations
Part Three: Evidence of W-words in Twentieth-century Mahican: An Analytical Review
These three papers are intended to contribute information to the collective linguistic knowledge base about the Mahican language using a simple numerical counting method. The data show more use of /i/ versus /e/ (part one), aspirated /h/ rather than glottal stops (part two) and word initial “w” was most frequently encountered instead of “o” or “u.” The sounds used by the final semi-speakers of Mahican were shown to consistent with patterns found in written Mahican documents authored by fully fluent speakers. The numerical predominance of these sounds debunks any theory of diachronic language change. Disparities of phoneme identification among the linguists who collected the data were noted, and fully support the findings. Mahican revitalization efforts currently based on the mispronunciations of the last semi-speakers should be revised in favor of the phonemes most frequently recorded by the linguists.
This short paper describes how our Mohican tribal name has been corrupted by arbitrary, unreferenced, and unilateral linguistic decisions made by a non-tribal member hired to research and revitalize Mahican. This article and the others, below, represent a “second opinion” with references to the source materials.
This paper discusses language change and whether Mahican as spoken in the early 1900s had evolved into new patterns of pronunciation and morphology versus the alternate explanation, that later speakers simply lacked the knowledge and proficiency to speak as well as their grandparents.
A datasheet with excerpts from the unpublished field notes of linguist Morris Swadesh, highlighting features of Mahican.
Timeline of the use of Glottal Stops in Mahican
Chronological evidence arguing against the existence of a glottal stop in the Mahican language.
Timeline of the Mohican Tribal Name
Chronological evidence that there should NOT be a glottal stop in the Mohican tribal name.
A discussion of the long “ee” vowel which was only sometimes recorded by some visiting linguists in the early 1900s as “ay” (as in English ‘say’).
Wuniiwih: Thank You in Mahican
As published in the Mohican News. A review of the data in support of the “w” sound instead of its German language influenced equivalent “o.”
A rebuttal to negative comments made about the committee in social media.
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Sound files in Munsee cited in a paper soon to be published.
Noah Story – Munsee Transcription
Transcription of a story narrated in Munsee, with a word-by-word transcription plus English translations.