View source for Munsee language

{{short description|Algonquian language}}
{{Distinguish|Mansi language}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Munsee
| nativename       = {{lang|umu|Huluníixsuwaakan}}<br/>{{lang|umu|Monsii èlixsuwakàn}}
| states           = [[Canada]]; [[United States]]
| region           = now in [[Ontario]]; formerly in [[New York (state)|New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Pennsylvania]]
| ethnicity        = 400 [[Munsee]] (1991)<ref>{{e18|umu|Munsee}}</ref>
| speakers         = 1
| date             = 2022
| ref              = 
| familycolor      = Algic
| fam1             = [[Algic languages|Algic]]
| fam2             = [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]
| fam3             = [[Eastern Algonquian languages|Eastern Algonquian]]
| fam4             = Delawaran{{sfn|Pentland|1992|p=15}}{{sfn|Goddard|1996|p=5}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/dela1253 |title=Delawaran |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030012300/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/dela1253 |archive-date=2022-10-30 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam5             = [[Delaware languages|Delaware]]
| iso3             = umu
| glotto           = muns1251
| glottorefname    = Munsee
| notice           = IPA
| coordinates      = 42.57, -81.879<ref name="ELP">{{cite web |title=Munsee |website=Endangered Languages Project |publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa |date=2020-04-29 |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/3423 |access-date=April 29, 2020 |archive-date=June 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609155200/https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/3423 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| map              = File:Lenape Languages.png
| mapcaption       = {{legend inline|#d8e8a9|Munsee}}
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|person= [[Munsee|Monsi]],<br/>[[Lenape|Lënape]] |people= [[Munsee|Monsiyok]],<br/>[[Lenape|Lënapeyok]] |language=Monsii èlixsuwakàn,<br/>[[Delaware languages|Lënapei èlixsuwakàn]] |country= [[Lenapehoking|Monsihòkink]],<br/>[[Lenapehoking|Lënapehòkink]]}}
'''Munsee''' (also known as Munsee Delaware, Delaware, Ontario Delaware, {{langx|del|'''Huluníixsuwaakan, Monsii èlixsuwakàn'''}}) is an [[endangered language]] of the [[Eastern Algonquian languages|Eastern Algonquian]] subgroup of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] language family, itself a branch of the [[Algic languages|Algic]] language family. Munsee is one of two [[Delaware languages]] (also known as [[Lenape language]]s, after the tribe's autonym).  It is very closely related to the [[Unami language|Unami]] Delaware, but the two are sufficiently different that they are considered separate languages. Munsee was spoken aboriginally by Lenape in the vicinity of the modern [[New York City]] area in the [[United States]], including western [[Long Island]], [[Manhattan Island]], [[Staten Island]], as well as adjacent areas on the mainland: [[Lower Hudson Valley|southeastern New York State]], the northern third of [[New Jersey]], and northeastern [[Pennsylvania]].{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=213}}{{sfn|Goddard|1996|p=5}}

As of 2018, Munsee was spoken only on the [[Moravian 47, Ontario|Moraviantown]] Reserve in [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], by two elderly individuals, aged 77 and 90,<ref>{{e15|umu|Munsee}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=McDowell |first=Adam |date=2009-01-22 |title=More than words: Can Canada's dying languages be saved? |url=https://nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=1206724 |access-date=2009-05-29 |newspaper=National Post}}{{dead link|date=May 2024}}</ref><ref name=redstarcafe>{{Cite web
| title = Munsee – Saving Dying Languages
| work = Red Star Cafe, Art and Java for the Masses
| date = 2009-01-24
| access-date = 2012-09-23
| url = http://redstarcafe.wordpress.com/tag/munsee/
| archive-date = October 11, 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171011045922/https://redstarcafe.wordpress.com/tag/munsee/
| url-status = live
}}</ref> making it critically endangered.<ref name="ELP"/> As of 2022, only one elderly native speaker remained.<ref name=longman/> When the number of speakers was somewhat larger, the language was reported to differ between individual speakers, each having a personal dialect.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |date=2010-01-01 |title=Linguistic Variation in a Small Speech Community: The Personal Dialects of Moraviantown Delaware |jstor=40929737 |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=1–48|doi=10.1353/anl.2010.a405139 |s2cid=143391317 }}</ref> There has been interest in learning the language by younger individuals.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The vanishing voice of the Lenape |work=Star-Ledger |location=Cambridge, MA |access-date=2012-09-23 |date=2002-11-17 |url=http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/lenape/lenape1.html |archive-date=May 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504025724/http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/lenape/lenape1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yohlunaapeewak.blogspot.com/|title=Yoh Lunaapeewak!|website=yohlunaapeewak.blogspot.com|access-date=September 23, 2012|archive-date=February 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211081218/http://yohlunaapeewak.blogspot.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some researchers and universities have partnered with indigenous communities in an effort to [[Language revitalization|revitalize]] the language, notably [[Montclair State University]]<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=5 April 2023 |title=Students Plant Seeds to Revive a Native American Language |url=https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2023/04/05/students-plant-seeds-to-revive-a-native-american-language |website=[[Montclair State University]] |access-date=7 January 2025}}</ref> and the [[University of Toronto]].<ref name=longman/>

==Classification==
Munsee is an Eastern Algonquian language, which is the sole recognized genetic subgroup descending from [[Proto-Algonquian language|Proto-Algonquian]], the common ancestor language of the Algonquian language family.  Munsee is very closely related to Unami Delaware.  Munsee and Unami constitute the Delaware languages, comprising a subgroup within Eastern Algonquian. Taken together with [[Mahican]], the Delaware languages constitute ''Delawaran,'' a subgroup within Eastern Algonquian.{{sfn|Goddard|1979}}{{sfn|Goddard|1996}}

The term ''Munsee'' developed as an English name for the aggregated group that formed along the upper Delaware River north of the [[Delaware Water Gap]].  Other Munsee dialect speakers joined the Minisink group;{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|pp=213, 237}} the earliest recorded mention of Munsee dates from 1725.{{sfn|Kraft|1986|p=xvii}} ''Minisink'' is a Munsee term meaning 'at the island', and is to be transcribed {{Lang|umu|mə̆nə́sənk}}''.'' It is the locative form of a now disused word {{IPA|/mənə́s/|lang=umu}} 'island' (no source given, not a form given in records and not a normal Munsee noun ending; viz. {{Lang|umu|manan}}, {{Lang|umu|manhan}}; form suggests 'small island'); cognates in other Algonquian languages are e.g. Ojibwe {{Transliteration|oj|minis}}, 'island'.{{sfn|Nichols|Nyholm|1995|p=85}} Orthographic {{angbr|ink}} in the form ''Minisink'' is the modern Munsee locative suffix {{IPA|/-ənk/|lang=umu}} (discussed below in the Grammar section). The term ''Munsee'' is the English adaptation of a regularly formed word, {{Lang|umu|mə́n'si·w}} ('person from Minisink').

Over time the British extended the term ''Munsee'' to any speaker of the Munsee language. Attempts to derive ''Munsee'' from a word meaning 'stone' or 'mountain,' as proposed by [[Daniel Garrison Brinton|Brinton]], are incorrect.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=237}} [[Herbert C. Kraft|Kraft]]'s claim that ''Munsee'' is not an indigenous term, and that it results from a "corruption" of English use of Minisink is incorrect.  The term follows a regular pattern of Munsee word formation.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=236}}

===Ethnonyms===
Names for the speakers of Munsee are used in complex ways in both [[English language|English]] and in Munsee. The Unami language is sometimes treated as "Delaware" or "Delaware proper", reflecting the original application of the term Delaware to Unami speakers,{{sfn|Goddard|1978|p=73}}{{sfn|Kraft|1986|p=xviii}} but Munsee speakers use ''Delaware'' as a self-designation in English.{{sfn|Goddard|1974|p=103}} The term ''Delaware'' was originally applied by British colonists to Unami speakers living along the [[Delaware River]], which is named after [[Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr|Lord De La Warr]], the first governor of Virginia. The term was gradually extended to refer to all Delaware groups.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=73}}{{sfn|Kraft|1986|p=235}}

The Munsee in Ontario are sometimes referred to as "Ontario Delaware" or "Canadian Delaware".{{sfn|Goddard|1971|p=11}}{{sfn|Goddard|1974|p=103}} Munsee-speaking residents of Moraviantown use the English term ''Munsee'' to refer to residents of Munceytown, approximately {{convert|50|km|abbr=on}} to the east.  In English, Moraviantown residents call themselves ''Delaware'', and in Munsee {{IPA|/lənáːpeːw/|lang=umu}} 'Delaware person, Indian'.{{sfn|Goddard|1971|p=122}}

Some Delaware at Moraviantown also use the term [[Christian Munsee|''Christian Indian'']] as a preferred self-designation in English.{{sfn|Goddard|1974|p=106}} The equivalent Munsee term is {{Lang|umu|ké·ntə̆we·s}} ('one who prays, Moravian convert').{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=237}} Munsee speakers refer to Oklahoma Delaware as ''Unami'' in English or {{IPA|/wə̆ná·mi·w/|lang=umu}} in Munsee.{{sfn|Goddard|1971|p=11}} The English term ''Lenape'' is of Unami origin,{{sfn|Kraft|1986a|p=106}} and is used in English as a self-designation by speakers of Unami;{{sfn|Kraft|1986|p=xvii}}{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|pp=234-235, 225, Table 2}}{{sfn|Mithun|1999|p=331}}

Exceptionally among scholars, Kraft uses ''Lenape'' as an English-language cover term to refer to all Delaware-speaking groups, while noting that this usage is "not entirely appropriate".{{sfn|Kraft|1986|p=xviii}}{{sfn|Kraft|1986a|p=106}}

Munsee speakers refer to their language as {{IPA|/hə̀lə̆ni·xsəwá·kan/|lang=umu}}, literally 'speaking the Delaware language'.{{sfn|O'Meara|1996|p=65}}

==Geographic distribution==
Speakers of Munsee originally resided in the greater Manhattan area, the drainage of the Lower [[Hudson Valley|Hudson River valley]], and the upper Delaware River. The arrival of European explorers, traders and settlers resulted in the progressive displacement of Munsee people over a period of several centuries. Munsee groups affected by this process ultimately moved away from their homeland to communities in both the United States and Canada.

In the 20th century, surviving Munsee speakers in Canada lived at [[Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation|Six Nations]], Ontario; [[Munsee-Delaware Nation 1, Ontario|Munceytown]], Ontario; and [[Moravian 47, Ontario|Moraviantown]] Reserve.  Now extinct in the first two locations, the language is used only by a few elders at Moraviantown, Ontario.

Since the early 21st century, the language has been taught to tribal members of the [[Stockbridge-Munsee]] Band of [[Mohican]] Native Americans, and the [[Delaware Nation]], Moraviantown Reserve.<!-- Don't keep changing name of Moraviantown band -->

===Original location===
The southern boundary of Munsee territory was the area north of the Delaware Water Gap, following the river system southeast along the [[Raritan River]] to the Atlantic Ocean.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=216}} To the south of the Munsee were the Unami Delaware. To the north were the Algonquian [[Mahican language|Mahican]], and to the east were the Eastern Long Island peoples, who also spoke Algonquian languages, such as [[Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language|Unquachog]] (also spelled ''Unkechaug''){{sfn|Cohen|2010}} and southern New England languages, such as [[Quiripi language|Quiripi]]. (Quiripi and Unquachog are likely members of a dialect continuum of a single language.){{sfn|Costa|2007|p=82}}{{sfn|Rudes|1997}}

Aboriginally, and for a period subsequent to the arrival of Europeans, Munsee was spoken within a series of small and largely autonomous local bands, located primarily within the drainage of the Hudson and upper Delaware rivers, the major river systems of the area. The general pattern, found throughout the Eastern Algonquian area, was one in which [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] groups resided along the drainages of major river systems, with divisions between upriver and downriver groupings.{{sfn|Snow|1978|p=58}} Named groups were found on the major tributaries; they developed larger sites on the main streams and smaller camps at the headwaters and on feeder streams.{{sfn|Williams|1995|p=113}} Estimates vary, but these local groups may have had a population of up to two hundred people each.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=213}} These groups spoke localized varieties of the language now called Munsee, but there is little information on dialect variation within the Munsee-speaking area.{{sfn|Goddard|1978|p=72}}

The primary known named Munsee groups, from north to south on the west side of the Hudson River, were the 
*Esopus, west of the [[Hudson River]] in the Hudson River watershed (with subgroups the Waoranecks, Warranawankongs, and others);
*Minisink (above the Delaware Water Gap);
*Haverstraw, Tappan, and Hackensack, south of the Hudson Highlands west of the Hudson River;
*Raritan, who originally resided on the lower [[Raritan River]] and moved inland;
*Wiechquaeskeck, from east of the Hudson who migrated to the lower Raritan after 1649; with the 
*Navasink, to the east along the north shore of New Jersey east of the Delaware River.

The Wappinger were to the east of the upper Hudson; below them going north to south on the east bank of the Hudson were the 
*Kichtawank;
*Sinsink;
*Rechgawawank;
*Nayack;
*Marechkawieck, with the Canarsee and Rockaway on western Long Island; and
*Massapequa and Matinecock on central Long Island, who may have been Munsee or perhaps were the predecessors of the Unquachog group identified in the eighteenth century.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|pp=213-216}}

The disruptions resulting from the entry of European settlers, fur traders, and explorers led to the displacement of these local groups. They gradually consolidated into larger groups that brought together speakers from the different groups within the Munsee-speaking area.{{sfn|Goddard|1978a|p=213}}

==Phonology==
Munsee phonology is complex but regular in many regards. [[Metrical phonology|Metrical]] rules of syllable weight assignment play a key role in the assignment of word-level [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]], and also determine the form of rules of vowel [[Syncope (phonetics)|syncope]] that produce complex but mostly regular alternations in the forms of words.{{sfn|Goddard|1979|loc=ch. 2}} Word-level stress is largely predictable, with exceptions occurring primarily in loan words, [[Reduplication|reduplicated]] forms, and in words where historical change has made historically transparent alternations more opaque.{{sfn|Goddard|1982}}

===Consonants===
Munsee has the following inventory of consonants; [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) values are given in brackets.{{sfn|Goddard|1979|p=11}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ '''Munsee Delaware Consonants'''
! colspan="2" |
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Plosive|Stop]]
|p
|t
|č {{IPAblink|tʃ}}
|k
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
|
|s
|š {{IPAblink|ʃ}}
|x
|h
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|n
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|w
|l
|y {{IPAblink|j}}
|
|
|}
Some loan words from English contain {{IPA|/f/}} and {{IPA|/r/}}: {{lang|umu|fé·li·n}} 'there is a fair going on'; {{lang|umu|ntáyrəm}} 'my tire.'{{sfn|Goddard|1982}}

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ '''Munsee Vowels'''
|-
! width="90"|
! width="90"|Front
! width="90"|Central
! width="90"|Back
|-
!High
| align="center"|i· {{IPAblink|iː}}, i {{IPAblink|ɪ}}
|
| align="center"|o· {{IPAblink|oː}}, o {{IPAblink|ʊ}}
|-
!Mid
| align="center"|e· {{IPAblink|ɛː}}, e {{IPAblink|ɛ}}
| align="center"|ə
|
|-
!Low
|
| align="center"|a· {{IPAblink|aː}}, a {{IPAblink|ʌ}} 
|
|}
Different analyses of the Munsee vowel system have been proposed. Goddard (1979) presents an analysis in which Munsee and Unami have the same vowel system, unchanged from the Proto-Eastern-Algonquian vowel system (discussed in the ''History'' section below).{{sfn|Goddard|1979|p=11}} In this analysis, there are four long vowels {{IPA|/i·, o·, e·, a·/}} and two short vowels {{IPA|/a, ə/}}. Vowel length is indicated with a raised dot (·). However, in modern Munsee there are several sources of new short {{IPA|/i, o, e/}} that arise from such sources as reduplication, loan words, and other various phonological changes, and that cannot be derived from other underlying vowels. Hence an analysis in which there are four positions that have contrastive vowel length as well as {{IPA|/ə/}}, is appropriate.{{sfn|Goddard|1982}}

The short vowel {{IPA|/i/}} has the phonetic value {{IPA|[ɪ]}}. Short {{IPA|/a/}} has values centring on {{IPA|[ʌ]}}, with {{IPA|[a]}} occurring before {{IPA|[hC]}} (where 'C' represents any stop or the lateral consonant). Short {{IPA|/o/}} has values centring on {{IPA|[ʊ]}}. The long vowels {{IPA|/iː, eː, aː, oː/}} have the primary values {{IPA|[iː]}}, {{IPA|[ɛː]}}, {{IPA|[aː]}}, and {{IPA|[oː]}}, with {{IPA|/a/}} varying to {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, and {{IPA|[ɒ]}} after labial consonants.{{sfn|Goddard|1982|pp=18-19}}

===Syllable weight===
Syllable weight plays a significant role in Munsee phonology, determining stress placement and the deletion of certain short vowels. All syllables containing long vowels are ''strong.'' Any short vowel in a closed syllable (i.e. (C)VC) is strong. Counting left to right, in a sequence of two or more open syllables containing short vowels, the odd-numbered syllable is ''weak'' and the even-numbered syllable is strong.{{sfn|Goddard|1979|p=21}} As well, certain syllables containing short vowels (frequently such syllables occur in reduplicated syllables and loan words) must exceptionally be marked as strong.

In words longer than two syllables, the final syllable is excluded from consideration of stress placement, i.e. is [[Extrametricality|extrametrical]], and the last strong syllable preceding the final syllable in the word receives the main stress.

(a) {{lang|umu|payaxkhı́·kan}} 'rifle' (strong penultimate, receives primary stress)

(b) {{lang|umu|né·wake}} 'if I see him' (weak penultimate, preceding syllable receives primary stress)

In disyllabic words a strong penultimate syllable receives primary stress.

(a) {{lang|umu|á·mwi·w}} 's/he gets up from lying down' (disyllabic Strong-Strong)

In a disyllable with a weak penultimate syllable, the final syllable is strong, and receives primary stress.

(a) {{lang|umu|ăsə́n}} 'stone' (disyllabic Weak-Strong)

==Grammar==
{{Main|Munsee grammar}}
The grammar of Munsee is characterized by complex [[inflection]]al and [[derivational morphology|derivational]] [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]]. Inflection in Munsee is realized through the use of prefixes and suffixes added to word stems to indicate grammatical information, including [[grammatical number|number]] (singular or plural), [[grammatical gender|gender]], [[grammatical person|person]], [[possession (linguistics)|possession]], [[negation (linguistics)|negation]], [[obviative|obviation]], and others.

Nouns use combinations of person prefixes and suffixes to indicate possession and suffixes to indicate gender, number, [[diminutive]], [[absentive aspect|absentive]], and obviation.

Verbs use a single set of person prefixes and a series of suffixes in position classes after the verb stem to indicate combinations of person, number, negation, obviation, and others.

==Writing system==
There is no standard writing system for Munsee. Linguists have tended to use common phonetic transcription symbols of the type found in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] or similar [[Americanist phonetic notation|Americanist]] symbols in order to represent sounds that are not consistently represented in conventional standard writing systems.<ref>See, e.g., {{harvcoltxt|Goddard|1979}}</ref>

Europeans writing down Delaware words and sentences have tended to use adaptations of European alphabets and associated conventions. The quality of such transliterated renditions has varied widely, as Europeans attempted to record sounds and sound combinations they were not familiar with.{{sfn|Brinton|Anthony|1888}}{{sfn|Zeisberger|1887}}

A practical orthography for Munsee has been created in the context of various language preservation and documentation projects. A recent bilingual dictionary of Munsee uses a practical orthography derived from a linguistic transcription system for Munsee.{{sfn|O'Meara|1996}}<ref>see {{harvcoltxt|Goddard|1979}} for the underlying transcription system</ref> The same system is also used in a recent word book produced locally at Moraviantown.{{sfn|Delaware Nation Council|1992|pp=57-63}} The related Unami language is written using a distinct [[Delaware languages#Writing systems|practical orthography]].

===Writing system samples===
The table below presents a sample of Munsee words, written first in a linguistically oriented transcription, followed by the same words written in a practical system.{{sfn|Goddard|1982}}{{sfn|O'Meara|1996}} The linguistic system uses a raised dot (·) to indicate vowel length. Although stress is mostly predictable, the linguistic system uses the acute accent to indicate predictable main stress. In addition predictable voiceless or murmured {{IPA|/ă/}} is indicated with the breve accent (˘). Similarly, the breve accent is used to indicate an ultra-short {{IPA|[ə]}} that typically occurs before a single voiced consonant followed by a vowel.<ref>See {{harvcoltxt|Goddard|1982|p=19}} for further detail</ref>

The practical system indicates vowel length by doubling the vowel letter and maintains the linɡuistic system's practices for marking stress and voiceless/ultra-short vowels. The practical system uses orthographic {{angbr|sh}} for the phonetic symbol {{IPA|/š/}}, and {{angbr|ch}} for the phonetic symbol {{IPA|/č/}}.{{sfn|O'Meara|1996}}

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|+ Comparison of linguistic and practical orthographies for Munsee{{sfn|O'Meara|1996}}
|-
! Linguistic
! Practical
! English
|-
|{{lang|umu|ampi·lamé·kwa·n}}
|{{lang|umu|ambiilaméekwaan}}
|needle
|-
|{{lang|umu|nkwə́ta·š}}
|{{lang|umu|ngwútaash}}
|six
|-
|{{lang|umu|wčéht}}
|{{lang|umu|wchéht}}
|sinew, muscle
|-
|{{lang|umu|ăpánšəy}}
|{{lang|umu|ăpánzhuy}}
|log, timber
|-
|{{lang|umu|nə̆wánsi·n}}
|{{lang|umu|nŭwánsiin}}
|I forgot it
|-
|{{lang|umu|xwánsal}}
|{{lang|umu|xwánzal}}
|his older brother
|-
|{{lang|umu|ní·ša·š}}
|{{lang|umu|níishaash}}
|seven
|-
|{{lang|umu|ntəší·nsi}}
|{{lang|umu|ndushíinzi}}
|I am named so and so
|-
|{{lang|umu|máske·kw}}
|{{lang|umu|máskeekw}}
|swamp, pond
|-
|{{lang|umu|xá·š}}
|{{lang|umu|xáash}}
|eight
|-
|{{lang|umu|ăpwá·n}}
|{{lang|umu|ăpwáan}}
|bread
|-
|{{lang|umu|óhpwe·w}}
|{{lang|umu|óhpweew}}
|he smokes
|-
|{{lang|umu|wə́sksəw}}
|{{lang|umu|wúsksuw}}
|he is young
|-
|{{lang|umu|ătíhte·w}}
|{{lang|umu|ătíhteew}}
|it is ripe
|-
|{{lang|umu|kíhkay}}
|{{lang|umu|kíhkay}}
|chief
|-
|{{lang|umu|máxkw}}
|{{lang|umu|máxkw}}
|bear
|-
|{{lang|umu|kwi·škwtó·nhe·w}}
|{{lang|umu|kwiishkwtóonheew}}
|he whispers
|-
|{{lang|umu|áhpăpo·n}}
|{{lang|umu|áhpăpoon}}
|chair
|-
|{{lang|umu|xwáškwšəš}}
|{{lang|umu|xwáshkwshush}}
|muskrat
|-
|{{lang|umu|pé·nkwan}}
|{{lang|umu|péenɡwan}}
|it is dry
|}

== Linguistic variation ==
In a 2010 paper titled "The Personal Dialects of Moraviantown Delaware", Ives Goddard studied extensively how there were personal dialectal differences between eight native Munsee speakers from the 1960s.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=14}} However, as of April 2022, only one fluent speaker of Munsee remained, an elderly woman named Dianne Snake.<ref name=longman>{{cite web |last=Longman |first=Nickita |date=20 April 2022 |title=A Lifeline for an Endangered Language |url=https://magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas/culture-society/a-lifeline-for-an-endangered-language-munsee-indigenous-dialect |website=University of Toronto Magazine |publisher=[[University of Toronto]] |access-date=7 January 2025}}</ref>

=== Phonological variation ===

==== Optional pronunciation of final {{IPA|/-w/}} ====
Nouns and verbs that end in ''-i·w'', ''-e·w'' and ''-a·w''; some speakers often dropped the ''-w''.  This drop also carried over into "careful speech".{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=14}}

==== Particles originally in {{IPA|/-i/}} and {{IPA|/-e/}} ====
A large class of particles and pre-words that are usually heard with final {{IPA|/-ɘ/}} retained the original {{IPA|/-i/}} in the speech of some speakers.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=14}}

==== Verb endings originally in {{IPA|/-i/}} and {{IPA|/-e/}} ====
Words that end with the negative suffix {{IPA|/-wi/}} or the subjunctive suffix {{IPA|/-e/}} had variants with final {{IPA|/-ɘ/}}.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=14}}

==== Particles originally in {{IPA|/-Í·wi/}} ====
Another large class of particles and pre-words are found in older sources ending in {{IPA|/-Í·wi/}}, e.g.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=15}}

=== Other lexicalized variations ===

==== Variation between | a | and | ə | ====
Some words have variation between underlying ''| a |'' and ''| ə |''.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=15}}  It is possible to determine which vowel is older and which might be the innovation by using evidence from other Algonquin languages, other Munsee communities and earlier sources.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=15}}

==== Variation between short and long vowels ====
An initial and three words show variation between short and long vowels.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=16}} These words are:

{{lang|umu|ans}} ~ {{lang|umu|a·ns}} - 'scoop': {{lang|umu|ánsham}} ~ {{lang|umu|á·nsham}} 'he dips up water'

{{lang|umu|me·xalapó·ti·s}} ~ {{lang|umu|me·xa·làpó·ti-s}} 'spider'

{{lang|umu|wekó·li·s}} ~ {{lang|umu|we·kó·li·s}} 'whippoorwill'

{{lang|umu|yankw(ǎ)té·ho·n}} ~ {{lang|umu|ya·nkw(ă)té·ho·n}} 'apron'

==== Variation between | nš | and | nč | ====
Two words have ''| nš |'' varying with ''| nč |''.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=16}}

These words are {{lang|umu|xwaskó-nšəy}} ~ {{lang|umu|xwaskó-nčəy}} 'corncob' and {{lang|umu|sànǎkó-nšə̃yak}} ~ {{lang|umu|sànǎkó-nčə̃yak}} 'elderberries'.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=16}}

==== Other differences in a single segment ====
A number of cases are present where one segment varies or is variably present.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|pp=16-17}}

For example, {{IPA|/t/}} is replaced by {{IPA|/k/}} in {{lang|umu|le·làpatíhte·k}} (etc.) ~ {{lang|umu|le·làpatíhke·k}} (etc.) 'juneberry'.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|pp=16-17}}

==== Nouns with variably present {{IPA|/-əw/}} ====
Some nouns are found with and without a final {{IPA|/-əw/}}.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=17}}

==== Bird names with | l | ~ | n | ====
In two bird names, ''| l |'' varies with ''| n |''.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=17}}

For example: {{lang|umu|taskãmális}} ~ {{lang|umu|taskamáni·s}} 'kingfisher'; {{lang|umu|ši·wa·pé·kăli·š}} ~ {{lang|umu|ši·wa·pé·kăni·š}}  'bluebird'.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=17}}

==== More complex variation ====
Some words have more complex patterns of variation.  For example: the word 'table' – {{lang|umu|e·həntáxpwi·nk}} is the original.  The word is sometimes changed to {{lang|umu|e·həntáxpo·n}} which is the same word but it is reshaped as a derived noun.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=17}}

==== Different words ====
Some cases involve different words or "highly divergent variants" used as synonyms. For example, there are four ways to say 'eyelashes' that are seen in the personal dialects.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=18}}

=== Variation origination ===
There is no community norm, as the more widely used variants do not define a community norm for either the speakers or the linguist.  Additionally, some variants cannot be rated as more and less popular or acceptable.  "Even a normative description would have to give both or all of them".{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=24}}

Some variation originates externally.  Some usages can be traced directly to the Northern Unami language that was earlier spoken by some members of the Munsee community.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=25}}

Some variation originates internally.  These pronunciations and grammatical tendencies are likely to have emerged in the not too distant past.{{sfn|Goddard|2010|p=25}}

==History==
Munsee is an Eastern Algonquian language. The hypothetical common ancestor language from which the Eastern Algonquian languages descend is Proto-Eastern Algonquian (PEA). An intermediate group, Delawaran, a descendant of Proto-Eastern Algonquian, consists of Mahican and Common Delaware, the latter being a further subgroup comprising Munsee Delaware and Unami Delaware.{{sfn|Goddard|1996}} The justification for Delawaran as an intermediate subgroup rests upon the high degree of similarity between Mahican and the two Delaware languages, but relatively little detailed argumentation in support of Delaware has been adduced.{{sfn|Goddard|1996}}{{sfn|Goddard|1978}}{{sfn|Pentland|1982}}

Munsee is demonstrably phonologically conservative, and is considered to have retained many of the phonological characteristics of PEA. In comparison, Unami has undergone extensive phonological innovation, coupled with morphological [[regularization (linguistics)|regularization]].{{sfn|Goddard|1982}}

The PEA vowel system consisted of four long vowels ''*i·, *o·, *e·, *a·,''  and two short vowels ''*a'' and ''ə.'' The vowel history is as follows: ''*i·'' (from PEA merger of Proto-Algonquian (PA ''*i·'' and ''*i'' to PEA ''*i·''), ''*o·'' (from PEA merger of PA ''*o·'' and ''*o'' ), ''*e·'' (from Proto-Algonquian ''*e·''), and ''*a·'' (from Proto-Algonquian ''*a·''; the short vowels are''*ə'' (from Proto-Algonquian ''*e''), and ''*a'' (from Proto-Algonquian ''*a''). This system was continued down to Common Delaware,{{sfn|Goddard|1982}}{{sfn|Goddard|1979|p=11}} but Munsee and Unami have innovated separately with respect to the vowel systems.

Contrastive vowel length for Munsee high vowels has been reintroduced, and also for the front mid-vowels. For modern Munsee it is necessary to recognize long {{IPA|/i·, o·, e·, a·/}} and short {{IPA|/i, o, e, a/}}. Innovating instances of short {{IPA|/i, o, and e/}} arise from for example reduplicating syllables and loan words.

==See also==
*[[Lenape|Delaware People]]
*[[Monsey, New York]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/books/06language.html?scp=1&sq=Indian%20Tribes%20Go%20in%20Search%20of%20Their%20Lost%20Languages&st=cse |title=Indian Tribes Go in Search of Their Lost Languages |newspaper=New York Times |date=2010-04-06 |page=C1 |access-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018151431/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/books/06language.html?scp=1&sq=Indian%20Tribes%20Go%20in%20Search%20of%20Their%20Lost%20Languages&st=cse |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Costa |first=David. J. |year=2007 |title=The dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian |editor-last=Wolfart |editor-first=H. C. |author-link=H.C. Wolfart |journal=Papers of the 38th Algonquian Conference |pages=81–127 |location=Winnipeg |publisher=University of Manitoba |issn=0831-5671}}
* {{cite journal |last=Dahlstrom |first=Amy |year=1995 |title=Motivation vs. Predictability in Algonquian gender |editor-last=Wolfart |editor-first=H. C. |journal=Papers of the Thirty-Third Algonquian Conference |pages=52–66 |location=Winnipeg |publisher=University of Manitoba |issn=0831-5671}}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |authorlink=Ives Goddard |year=1971 |chapter=The ethnohistorical implications of early Delaware linguistic materials |title=Man in the Northeast |volume=1 |pages=14–26}}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1974 |chapter=The Delaware Language, Past and Present |editor-first=Herbert C. |editor-last=Kraft |title=A Delaware Indian Symposium |pages=103–110 |series=Anthropological Series |volume=4 |location=Harrisburg |publisher=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission}}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1978 |chapter=Eastern Algonquian Languages |editor-first=Bruce |editor-last=Trigger |title=Handbook of North American Indians |volume= 15, Northeast |pages=70–77 |location=Washington |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=0-16-004575-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1978a |chapter=Delaware |editor-first=Bruce |editor-last=Trigger |title=Handbook of North American Indians |volume= 15, Northeast |pages=213–239|location=Washington |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=0-16-004575-4}}
* {{cite book | last=Goddard | first=Ives | title=Delaware Verbal Morphology | publisher=Garland | publication-place=New York | date=1979 | isbn=978-0-8240-9685-4 | page=}}
* {{cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1982 |title=Munsee historical phonology |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=48 |pages=16–48|doi=10.1086/465711 |s2cid=144878231 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1990 |title=Aspects of the Topic Structure of Fox Narratives: Proximate Shifts and the Use of Overt and Inflectional NPs |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=317–340|doi=10.1086/466161 |s2cid=143746790 }}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1996 |chapter=Introduction |title=The Handbook of North American Indians |volume=17. Languages |pages=1–16 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=The Smithsonian Institution |isbn=0-16-048774-9}}
* {{cite journal|last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=2002 |title=Grammatical gender in Algonquian |editor-first=H.C. |editor-last=Wolfart |journal=Papers of the Thirty-Third Algonquian Conference |pages=195–231 |location=Winnipeg |publisher=University of Manitoba |issn=0831-5671}}
* {{cite book | last=Kraft | first=Herbert C. | title=The Lenape: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography | publisher=New Jersey Historical Society | publication-place=Newark, NJ | date=1986 | isbn=978-0-911020-14-4 | page=}}
* {{cite book |last=Kraft |first=Herbert |year=1986a |chapter=Settlement Patterns in the Upper Delaware Valley  | editor-last=Custer | editor-first=Jay F. | title=Late Woodland Cultures of the Middle Atlantic Region | publisher=University of Delaware Press | publication-place=Newark | isbn=978-0-87413-285-4 | pages=102–115}}
* {{cite web |last=McDowell |first=Adam |url=https://www.redhooknatives.org/more_than_words.html |title=More than words: Can Canada's dying languages be saved? |website=National Post |date=January 22, 2009 |via=redhooknatives.org}}<!--original link, not archived anywhere: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1211450-->
* {{cite book | last1=Nichols | first1=John D. | last2=Nyholm | first2=Earl | title=A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe | publisher=U of Minnesota Press | publication-place=Minneapolis, Minn. London | date=1995 | isbn=0-8166-2427-5 | page=}}
* {{cite journal |last=O'Meara |first=John |year=1992 |title=Intransitive Verbs with Secondary Objects in Munsee Delaware |editor-first=W. |editor-last=Cowan |journal=Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Algonquian Conference |pages=322–333 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Carleton University |issn=0831-5671}}
* {{cite book | last=O'Meara | first=John | title=Delaware-English/English-Delaware Dictionary | publisher=Univ. of Toronto Press | publication-place=Toronto | date=1996 | isbn=978-0-8020-0670-7 | page=}}
* {{cite conference |last=Pentland |first=David H |title=Palatalization in Narragansett |conference=24th Algonquian Conference |date=October 24, 1992}}
* {{cite journal |last=Rudes |first=Blair |year=1997 |title=Resurrecting Wampano (Quiripi) from the dead: Phonological preliminaries |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=39 |pages=1–59}}
* {{cite book |last=Snow |first=Dean |year=1978 |chapter=Late prehistory of the East coast|pages=58– |editor-first=Bruce |editor-last=Trigger |title=Handbook of North American Indians |volume= 15, Northeast |location=Washington |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=0-16-004575-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Williams |first=Lorraine E. |chapter=Indians and Europeans in the Delaware River Valley, 1620-1655  | editor-last=Hoffecker | editor-first=Carol E. | title=New Sweden in America | publisher=University of Delaware Press | publication-place=Newark | date=1995 | isbn=978-0-87413-520-6 | pages=112–120}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Blalock |first1=Lucy |first2=Bruce |last2=Pearson |first3=James |last3=Rementer |year=1994 |title=The Delaware Language |location=Bartlesville, OK |publisher=Delaware Tribe of Indians}}
* {{cite book |authorlink1=Daniel Garrison Brinton|last1=Brinton |first1=Daniel G. |authorlink2=Albert Anthony|first2=Albert Seqaqkind |last2=Anthony |year=1888 |title=A Lenâpé-English dictionary. From an anonymous manuscript in the archives of the Moravian Church at Bethlehem |location=Philadelphia |publisher=The Historical Society of Pennsylvania}}
* {{cite book |publisher=Delaware Nation Council |year=1992 |title=Lunaapeew Dictionary. Basic Words. Part One |location=Moraviantown 
 |ref={{sfnref|Delaware Nation Council|1992}}}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Ives Goddard|last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1974a |chapter=Dutch Loanwords in Delaware |editor-first=Herbert C. |editor-last=Kraft |title=A Delaware Indian Symposium |pages=153–160 |series=Anthropological Series |volume=4 |location=Harrisburg |publisher=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission}}
* {{cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1977 |title=Some early examples of American Indian Pidgin English from New England |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=43 |pages=37–41|doi=10.1086/465453 |s2cid=143757299 }}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1979a |chapter=Comparative Algonquian | editor-last=Campbell | editor-first=Lyle | editor-last2=Mithun | editor-first2=Marianne | title=The Languages of Native America | publisher=Austin : University of Texas Press | publication-place=Austin | isbn=0-292-74624-5 | pages=70–132}}
* {{cite book |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=1994 |chapter=The West-to-East Cline in Algonquian Dialectology |editor-first=William |editor-last=Cowan |title=Papers of the 25th Algonquian Conference |pages=187–211 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Carleton University |issn=0831-5671}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Truman Michelson|last=Michelson |first=Truman |year=1922 |title=[Field notes collected at Moraviantown and Six Nations] |at=Ms. 1635. |publisher=National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution}}
* {{cite book |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |year=1999 |title=The Languages of Native North America |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Pearson |first=Bruce |year=1988 |title=A Grammar of Delaware: Semantics, Morpho-Syntax, Lexicon, Phonology |location=Dewey, OK |publisher=Touching Leaves Indian Crafts}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=David Zeisberger|last=Zeisberger |first=David |year=1887 |editor-first=Ebenezer N. |editor-last=Horsford |title=Zeisberger's Indian Dictionary, English, German, Iroquois — the Onondaga, and Algonquin — the Delaware |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=John Wilson}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140113093155/http://www.lenape.ca/  Lunaapeew Language, Delaware Nation Language, Cultural and Historical Department]
* {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130415175058/http://www.ramapoughlenapenation.org/?page_id=31 Munsee, Ramapough Lenaape Nation]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716233218/http://mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Tribal_Council/Committees_%26_Boards/language-culture-committee.htm Language & Culture Committee, Stockbridge Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians]
* {{Cite web
 |title        = Native American Audio Collections: Delaware
 |work         = [[American Philosophical Society]]
 |access-date   = 2013-05-20
 |url          = http://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamaudio/delaware
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130302034757/https://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamaudio/delaware
 |archive-date = 2013-03-02
 |url-status     = dead
}}
* [http://www.native-languages.org/munsee.htm Native Languages of the Americas: Munsee Delaware (Minsi, Muncey, Minisink)]
* [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1677 Collection of Hymns, in Muncey and English, for the Use of the Native Indians, 1874]
* [http://www.language-archives.org/language/umu OLAC resources in and about the Munsee language]
* [http://munseedelaware.com Munsee Delaware Grammar – Lunaapeew, Huluníixsuwaakan, Munsíiw, Delaware] Site devoted to the study of the Munsee Delaware language

{{Algonquian languages}}
{{Languages of Pennsylvania}}
{{Languages of Canada}}

[[Category:Eastern Algonquian languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands]]
[[Category:First Nations languages in Canada]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Native American history of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Native American history of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Endangered Algic languages]]