The Unami language, also known as Lenape, was spoken in southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and was later spoken in Oklahoma. It is one of two Delaware languages, the other being Munsee, spoken in western Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley, and northern New Jersey. The Delaware languages are members of the Eastern Algonquian branch of the Algic language family. Related languages include Myaamia, Cheyenne, Ottawa, Arapaho, Meskwaki, Kickapoo, Shawnee, and Potawatomi.
Selected Language Information
Delaware Nation Council. 1992. Lunaapeew Dictionary. Basic Words. Part One. Moraviantown: Delaware Nation Council.
Goddard, Ives. 1974. The Delaware Language, Past and Present. In A Delaware Indian Symposium, Herbert C. Kraft (ed.) 103-110. Anthropological Series No. 4. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Pearson, Bruce. 1988. A Grammar of Delaware: Semantics, Morpho-Syntax, Lexicon, Phonology. Dewey, OK: Touching Leaves Indian Crafts.
Sample Archival Materials in the Native American Languages Collection
Dean, Nora Johnson (speaker), Mike McCarty (recorder, collector). 2011. 12 Delaware Stories, Folktales, Prayers, and Conversations. Jim Rementer Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: audio. Access: open. Catalog Number: JRE-002.
Dean, Nora Thompson (speaker), Todd Thompson (speaker, interviewer). 2010. Nora Dean, Lenape talk, Summer 1976. Jim Rementer Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: audio. Access: open. Catalog Number: JRE-007.
—–. 1999. The Lenape or Delaware Language Volume 1/ Lënapei Lixsëwakàn. Akira and Kimiko Yamamato Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: audio. Catalog Number: AKY-064.
Dennis, Dallas Ann (Author), Margaret Ellis Farrow (Research Participant), Gladys Yackeyonny (Research Participant). 1997. Western Oklahoma Delaware. General Field Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: manuscript. Catalog Number: GEN-115.
—–. 1968. Delaware Conversation. General Field Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: audio. Catalog Number: GEN-439.
Links
Lenape Language Preservation Project
Catalogue of Endangered Languages
