Eastern Virginia Southern Maryland Possibly Northeastern North Carolina
Ethnicity
Powhatan
Extinct
Late 18th century (1785-1790s)
Language family
Algic
Algonquian
Eastern
Powhatan
Writing system
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3
pim
Linguist List
pim.html
Glottolog
powh1243
Powhatan or Virginia Algonquian was an Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian languages. It was formerly spoken by the Powhatan people of tidewater Virginia. Following 1970s linguistic research by Frank Thomas Siebert, Jr., some of the language has been reconstructed with assistance from better-documented Algonquian languages, and attempts are being made to revive it.
The sole documentary evidence for this language is two short wordlists recorded around the time of first European contact. William Strachey recorded about 500 words and Captain John Smith recorded only about 50 words.[1][2] Smith also reported the existence of a pidgin form of Powhatan, but virtually nothing is known of it.[3]
Strachey's material was collected sometime between 1610 and 1611, and probably written up from his notes in 1612 and 1613, after he had returned to England. It was never published in his lifetime, although he made a second copy in 1618. The second copy was published in 1849, and the first in 1955.[2]
Smith's material was collected between 1607 and 1609 and published in 1612 and again in 1624. There is no indication of the location where he collected his material. Like many Algonquian languages, Powhatan did not have a writing system, so all that is left are the writings from the 17th century and the piecing together that can be done using related Algonquian languages.
Although the language has become extinct, some of the tribes that were part of the Powhatan Chiefdom still remain close to their lands. These tribes include Upper Mattaponi, Mattaponi, Nansemond, Chickahominy, Pamunkey and Patawomeck, all of whom are either recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia or the federal government. There is also the Powhatan Renape Nation (formerly located on the Rankokus Indian Reservation in Burlington, New Jersey) that is working to reclaim their culture and educate the public.
Powhatan or Virginia Algonquian was an Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian languages. It was formerly spoken by the Powhatan people of tidewater...
Indian tribes known as the Powhatan Confederacy. Members spoke the Powhatanlanguage. The paramount chief of the Powhatan people in the late 16th and...
native Powhatan term meaning 'animal that scratches with its hands', as used in the Colony of Virginia. It was recorded on John Smith's list of Powhatan words...
language group as Powhatan or Virginia Algonquian, a similarly extinct language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself...
meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian Powhatanlanguage. It was likely derived from a Powhatan original phonemically spelled as /a·pečehčakeno·w/...
16th and early 17th centuries called the James River the Powhatan River, named for the Powhatans who occupied the area. The Jamestown colonists who arrived...
iron and steel. The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an adaptation of the Powhatan (Virginian Algonquian) word. Tomahawks were...
popular breakfast drink. The English term hominy derives from the Powhatanlanguage word for prepared maize (cf. Chickahominy). Many other indigenous...
the Powhatanlanguage, formerly spoken to the south, in what is now Tidewater Virginia. Piscataway is classified as an Eastern Algonquian language: Algic...
resemblance to the opossums of the Americas (the term comes from Powhatanlanguage aposoum "white animal", from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔɬemwa "white...
for a word in the Powhatanlanguage of the Tidewater region of Virginia and Maryland in the eastern United States. The Powhatanlanguage became extinct in...
carries the virus for rabies. The word opossum is derived from the Powhatanlanguage and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith (as opassom)...
not an eyewitness, wrote in his History of Virginia that warriors of the Powhatan "came unarmed into our houses with deer, turkeys, fish, fruits, and other...
reconstituted and historical phonology of Powhatan". In Crawford, James M. (ed.). Studies in Southeastern Indian Languages. Athens: University of Georgia Press...
Algonquian language meaning "something to lie down upon" (c.f. Ojibwe apishimon). Atamasco lily (definition) Earlier "attamusca", from Powhatan. Babiche...
Unami (Delaware: Wënami èlixsuwakàn) was an Algonquian language spoken by the Lenape people in the late 17th century and the early 18th century, in the...
Wahunsunacock (also known as Chief Powhatan.) The agreement was also for the boy to apprentice the native Powhatanlanguage, and thus become an interpreter...
† Powhatan The languages assigned to the Eastern Algonquian group are hypothesized to descend from an intermediate common ancestor proto-language, referred...
to: Powhatan, also known as Virginia Algonquians, are a Native American tribe Indigenous to Virginia, U.S. Powhatanlanguage, an extinct language spoken...
Powhatan High School is a public high school in Powhatan County, Virginia. It serves 1,404 students and is the only high school in the Powhatan County...
Werowocomoco was a village that served as the headquarters of Chief Powhatan, a Virginia Algonquian political and spiritual leader when the English founded...
New York City. Skarure, the Tuscarora language, is a member of the northern branch of the Iroquoian languages. Linguists and historians have both tried...
American Indian communities. These include the Lumbee, Nanticoke, and Powhatan of the Atlantic coastal plain. Assuming the traditional leadership title...
Virginia and taken to Powhatan. While in captivity, he learned and recorded a significant amount about the lifestyle, language, and politics of the local...
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