Loup language

Loup
Loup
Nipmuck
Pronunciation	[lu] loo
Native to	United States
Region	Massachusetts, Connecticut
Ethnicity	likely Nipmuck
Extinct	18th century
Language family	Algic Algonquian Eastern Algonquian Loup; ; ;
Writing system	transcribed with Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; xlo – Loup A; xlb – Loup B
Linguist List	xlo Loup A
	xlb Loup B
Glottolog	loup1243 Nipmuck; loup1245 Loup B

Loup is an extinct Algonquian language, or possibly group of languages, spoken in colonial New England. It 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.^[1] Loup ('Wolf') was a French colonial ethnographic term, and usage was inconsistent. In modern literature, it refers to two varieties, Loup A and Loup B.^[2] The language of the Mots loups notebook is different from all other New England languages, and is believed to have been spoken by the Nipmuc.^[1]

Attestation

Loup A, which is likely the language of the Nipmuck,^[2] is principally attested from a word list recorded from refugees by the St. Francis mission to the Abenaki in Quebec. The descendants of these refugees became speakers of Western Abenaki in the eighteenth century. Loup B refers to a second word list, which shows extensive dialectal variation. This may not be a distinct language, but just notes on the speech of various New England Algonquian refugees in French missions.^[3] According to Gustafson 2000, the geographical location and phonology of Loup rule out association with any other tribes except for the Nipmuck.^[1]

Chaubunagungamaug lake sign, a place name originating from the Nipmuck people

Phonology

The phonology of Loup A (Nipmuck), reconstructed by Gustafson 2000:

Nipmuc consonants
	Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal/ Postalveolar	Velar		Glottal
	Bilabial	plain	pal.	Palatal/ Postalveolar	plain	lab.	Glottal
Nasal	m	n
Plosive	p	t	tʲ		k	(kʷ)
Affricate				tʃ
Fricative		s					h
Lateral		l
Approximant	w			j

Vowels
	Front	Back
Close	i, iː	u
Mid	e	o, oː
Open	a, aː, ã

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/.^[1]^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gustafson, Holly Suzanne (2000). A Grammar of the Nipmuck Language (PDF). Deparament of Linguistics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
^ ^a ^b Goddard, Ives (2012). "The 'Loup' Languages of Western Massachusetts: The Dialectal Diversity of Southern New England Algonquian". Papers of the 44th Algonquian Conference. 44. SUNY Press: 104–138.
^ Victor Golla, 2007. Atlas of the World's Languages
^ Costa, David J. (2007). The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2018.

External links

[:1-1] Gustafson, Holly Suzanne (2000). A Grammar of the Nipmuck Language (PDF). Deparament of Linguistics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

[:0-2] Goddard, Ives (2012). "The 'Loup' Languages of Western Massachusetts: The Dialectal Diversity of Southern New England Algonquian". Papers of the 44th Algonquian Conference. 44. SUNY Press: 104–138.

[3] Victor Golla, 2007. Atlas of the World's Languages

[4] Costa, David J. (2007). The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2018.

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