Massachusett Pidgin or Massachusett Jargon was a contact pidgin or auxiliary language derived from the Massachusett language attested in the earliest colonial records up until the mid-eighteenth century. Little is known about the language, but it shared a much simplified grammatical system, with many features similar to the better attested Delaware Jargon spoken in the nearby Hudson and Delaware watersheds.Campbell, L. (p. 20). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Goddard, I. (2000). 'The Use of Pidgins and Jargons on the East Coast of North America' in The Language Encounter in the Americas, 1492-1800: A Collection of Essays Gray, E. G. and Fiering, N. (eds). (pp. 74-75). New York, NY: Bergahn Books. It was mutually intelligible with the other Southern New England Algonquian languages.
History Development Massachusett Pidgin is recorded as early as 1624, when references to it appear in the colonial records. With exception of Mobilian Jargon, most of the auxiliary languages that developed in North America are thought to have been brought about by contact with Europeans. There are several factors in place that make it very likely that the language pre-dated European arrival. The Massachusett people were once a numerically dominant people of the region, with a large population supported by the fertile lands of the coastal plain and ample access to riparian and ocean food resources. With a strong population, the Massachusett sachems were head of a loose alliance of peoples, covering all the Massachusett-speaking peoples, the Nipmuc and even the unclassified peoples of the Pioneer Valley before their numbers were felled by the leptospirosis outbreak circa 1619 and subsequent virgin soil epidemics and the large numbers of English colonists that usurped their land and competed with them for resources.Bragdon, K. J. (2005). The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Northeast. (pp. 133-135). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Massachusett was spoken by several peoples, including not only the Massachusett, but also the Pawtucket, Wampanoag, Nauset and Coweset peoples. It was mutually intelligible with the other Southern New England Algonquian languages (SNEA), spoken in southern New England and parts of Long Island, and related to but not mutually intelligible with the Abenakian languages spoken to the north and the Delawaran languages to the west and southwest of the SNEA region.Goddard, Ives. 1996. "Introduction." Ives Goddard, ed., The Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 17. Languages, pp. 1–16.
Massachusett Pidgin and Massachusett Pidgin English are of interest to scholars of the English language and language contact, as most of the Algonquian loan words adopted from the peoples of New England were adopted through these languages and not directly from Massachusett.Rice, K. (2012). 'English in Contact: Native American Languages' in (A. Bergs & L. J. Brinton, Eds.) English Historical Linguistics: An International Handbook., II, pp. 1753–1767.
Colonial attestation The existence of Massachusett Pidgin is only inferred from colonial sources. Edward Winslow, who served as governor of the Plymouth Colony, had developed a close relationship with the Wampanoag sachem Massasoit and other local Wampanoag leaders and was one of a handful of the Pilgrims that had any command of the local 'Indian language.' In Winslow's 1624 publication Good News from New England, he describes a situation where his party of Pilgrim men came across some Wampanoag men they knew and were able to communicate, but when the Wampanoag spoke to each other, it was incomprehensible.Goddard, I. (2000). pp. 33-34.
Winslow later on recalls the visit of the Massachusett sachem Chickatawbut. After exchanging pleasantries with the Winslow and the other representatives of the Plymouth Colony, the conversation between the sachems was not understood by Winslow save a few words. Similar accounts are recorded by the Dutch and Swedish colonists of what is now the Mid-Atlantic States and the traditional homeland of the Lenape peoples. Like Winslow, the Dutch and Swedish settlers thought they were speaking the local language, but were actually speaking pidgin varieties thereof.
Massachusett Pidgin spread with the fur trade, allowing Indians to communicate with northern and interior tribes and exchange items for beaver pelts, which were highly prized by the English settlers. As beaver became scarce in southern New England, the Indian traders and hunters had to trek further to obtain the desired pelts, likely taking the easy to learn and somewhat intelligible Massachusett Pidgin.
As the English settlers were not interested in learning the local language, and the Indians, outnumbered by English settlers, needed English to trade and participate in wider society, switched over to Massachusett Pidgin English, essentially Massachusett Pidgin with heavy English relexification. The Native peoples of New England continued to use their local dialect or language such as Massachusett, Massachusett Pidgin and Massachusett Pidgin English to communicate. Dual use of these by the Native peoples is recorded as early as 1651 in Connecticut, where trade was conducted on English colonial merchantmen with Indian interpreters possibly code-switching between Massachusett Pidgin and Massachusett Pidgin. Similarly, a court trial involving an Indian accused of stealing a hog was shown a hog's head and told (tâtapaw y8) , 'similar to this,' and in Massachusett Pidgin '' in Massachusett Pidgin English in 1704.
Decline The Massachusett speaking peoples also adopted English, albeit imperfectly with heavy influences of Massachusett grammar and some vocabulary. The use of the Massachusett language declined in Massachusett communities in the 1750s and the 1770s in the Wampanoag communities as Massachusett Pidgin English, and later English, began to overtake the Native languages. This was part due to assimilation pressures and increased rates of intermarriage with Blacks and Whites outside the speech community.
This co-existed with the usage of Massachusett Pidgin, but as English became more and more necessary to trade and participate in society, and the new settlers were less eager to bother to learn the 'Indian language,' Massachusett Pidgin was rapidly eclipsed by the sole use of Massachusett Pidgin English.Bragdon, K. J. (1981). 'Linguistic acculturation in Massachusett: 1663-1771' in Papers of the 12th Algonquian Conference. Cowan, W. (ed.) Ottawa, ON: Carleton University.
Massachusett Pidgin may have influenced the late-stage of the Massachusett language, and many of the small number of words recorded by Speck when he visited the elderly members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in the 1920s, many were actually Massachusett Pidgin derivations. The Massachusett language went extinct at the end of the nineteenth century, with the death of the last native speakers of Aquinnah, but the language had already declined as the primary language of the Indian communities in the 1770s.
Lexicon Massachusett Most of the vocabulary is drawn from the Massachusett language, although Massachusett Pidgin does feature some shortened expressions and word compounds that would not be permissible in the normal spoken language. As the majority of the lexicon is derived from Massachusett, it is assumed that speakers, especially the Natives themselves, pronounced the words according to the rules of Massachusett phonology.
,Goodard, I. (2000). p. 72. 'I' or 'me,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 280. ()Fermino, J. L. D. (2000). p. 26. , 'I' or 'me.' nux,Bailey, R. W. (2012). p. 34. 'yes,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). pp. 94, 347. () , 'yes.' squaw, 'woman' or 'female,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. . ()Goddard, I. (1997). 'The True History of the Word Squaw' in News from Indian Country. April Edition.*. (2019). Proto-Algonquian Dictionary. Carleton University. , 'woman' or 'female.' matta, 'no' or 'not,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 51. ()Richard, N. (2004). Syntax of the Conjunct and Independent Orders in Wampanoag. International Journal of Linguistics. 70(4). p. 57. , 'no' or 'not.' tatapa you,Goddard, I. (2000). p. 74. 'the same as this,' from Massachusett ()Hicks, N. (2007). p. 40.Fermino, J. L. D. (2000). p. 36. , 'it is similar (to something) this (thing)' or 'the same as this.' Cf. Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 159. () , 'it is alike.' tatta, 'I do not know' or 'I do not have,' likely from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 159. Cf. Narragansett and . Reduplication of toh.(),tatô. (2012). Fielding, S. Mohegan Dictionary. Mohegan Tribe. itself a reduplication of (), a particle used to indicate the optative, or 'wishing,' mood or doubt. nocake,Bailey, R. W. (2012). p. 38. 'parched cornmeal,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 91. ()Hicks, N. (2007). p. 24. , '(cornmeal) that which is softened.' squaw-sachem, 'queen,' 'female chief,' 'wife of chief,' from Massachusett () and Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 316. ()Fermino, J. L. D. (2000). p. 34. , 'chief.' Proper Massachusett term is Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 156. ()Costa, D. J. (20o7). Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian. Papers of the 38th Algonquian Conference Wolfart, H. C. (ed.) Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba. , 'queen,' 'female chief' or 'wife of chief,' literally 'leaderwoman.' netop,Goddard, I. (2000). p. 34. 'friend,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). pp. 264, 285. () , 'my friend.' wunnekin,Bailey, R. W. (2012). p. 35. 'good,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 202. ()Fermino, J. L. D. (2000). p. 36. , 'it is good.' wampumpeag, 'money,' from Massachusett Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. 341. ()Hicks, N. (2006). pp. 45, 49. , 'white' and , 'string.'*. Proto-Algonquian Dictionary. Carleton University. , 'white shell beads.' The colonists mistakenly thought the strung beads of wampum were currency. Shortened to wampum *() and peag *() in usage by the English settlers.
Other Algonquian A handful of common words were either borrowings from other Algonquian languages or were archaic retentions that were better understood by other peoples. For instance, although the Massachusett Pidgin sanomp is also found in the Massachusett-language documents, it was likely a Massachusett Pidgin borrowing from an Abenakian language, and appears as in Western Abenaki. wigwam, 'house' or 'home.' Possibly Abenakian, cf. Western Abenaki wigw8m. Bruchac, J. B. (n.d.). Western Abenaki Dictionary. . Massachusett form is () . Pidgin form probably pronounced as *() . Possibly an archaic retention, both wigwam and wetu derive from Proto-Algonquian **. Proto-Algonquian Dictionary. Carleton University. Although wetu was also known, wigwam won as the general word and one that still has currency. sanomp, 'man' or 'married man.' Possibly Abenakian, cf. Western Abenaki .san8mba. Bruchac, J. B. (n.d.). Western Abenaki Dictionary. Although occurs in Massachusett as (),Goddard, I. & Bragdon, K. (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett: Part I. (p. 433). Philadelphia PA: The American Philosophical Society. it is rare compared to more common ()Fermino, J. L. D. (2000). p. 51. , 'man.' sagamore, 'chief' or 'leader.' Possibly Abenakian, cf. Western Abenaki . Bruchac, J. B. (n.d.) Western Abenaki Dictionary. . Massachusett Pidgin form, pronounced like *() , contrasts with Massachusett form is (). Both sagamore and sachem derive from Proto-Algonquian **. Proto-Algonquian Dictionary. Carleton University. pappoose, 'baby.' Possibly from Narragansett . Massachusett form is Trumbull, J. H. (1903). p. . (})Hicks, N. (2007). p. 32. }. Compare Mohegan-Pequot .papohs. (2012). Fielding, S. Mohegan Dictionary. Mohegan Tribe.
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