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From: The Wakan Circle

To: The Wakan Circle

Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 2:41 PM

Subject: Lenape

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Lenape

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From: Annie-LL The language is called Lenape, just like the tribe. Unfortunately it is almost an extinct language with only a few elders, all 90+ in age, who speak it fluently. Some of the younger members of the tribe are trying to learn, but it is difficult. You can hear some of the words by going to the Delaware (Lenape) tribal website at http://www.cowboy.net/native/lenape and clicking on the language pages. They are in live audio format. The sounds in Lenape are arranged differently from those in English. Also, Lenape lacks the sounds of R, F, TH, V. However it adds the sound written as X (or ch in German) which sounds a bit like clearing the throat. Also there is a voiceless L like in the Welsh language, and there is a voiceless W . Many of the consonants in Lenape come in pairs, voiceless and voiced. They are as follows: voiced B D G J Z ZH voiceless P T K CH S SH The voiced sounds only occurs after a Nasal. B comes after an M, and all the rest come after N. So, if you see a Lenape placename written with any voiced consonants that don't have a nasal sound before them, the person who wrote it probably heard it wrong. Note: the e with an umlaut (ë) sounds like the A in the English words SOFA or ABOVE.   Lenape Word Meaning Comments [source] Achsinnaminschi Sugar Maple Tree [Heckewelder] Lenape Original People (Often written as Lenni-Lenape, but the "Lenni" is redundant. The first part of Lenape (Len-) means the same, so it's like saying "English Englishman.") Mahchikwpi Paw-paw (fruit) Mahchikwpiakw Paw-paw tree Minsi the Lenape who lived in the upper reaches of the Delaware watershed variously as Munsi, Munsee, Monsi, Minsi, Muncey Munhacanimischi Dog Wood (Munsi) [Heckewelder] Sakima a chief Wënilaxtiku Unalachtigo - The Lenape people who lived in the southern area. It was translated as "People detached from where there are waves." [Nora T Dean] Wënami (Unami) Unami - The Lenape people who lived south of the Raritan River and the Delaware Water Gap Kekw a wampum bead Kekok wampum beads Historically wampum represented a memorial to an event. (After the Europeans introduced steel awls the natives began making more sophisticated wampum and using it as money.) Wikwam house   Lenape Word Animal / Bird Ahas crow Chihopèkëlis Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) Chingwe bobcat Chiskukus Robin (Turdus migratorius) Chulëns bird Hinutët Wren (Picoides pubescens) Lelèmbëlis Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) Òkwës fox Pukwès mouse Sënihële Sparrow Hawk -or- American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) Sàngwe weasel Tànktiyas Tufted Titmouse (Parus bicolor) Tàskëmus Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) Tëmakwe beaver Tëme wolf Tihtës Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) Wetëndeis Scarlet Tanager (Pirange olivacea) Wisawtayas American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) Xanikw squirrel   Lenape Name Modern Place Name Meaning Approximate English Pronunciation Comments Ahsën'pink Assunpink Creek which flows thru Trenton A rocky place that is watery aH-sin-pink H = a breath almost like a weak form of X, the guttural, and ë is like A in SOFA Kanshihaking (Conshohocken) Elegant Land Kahn-she-hock-keeng Mëneyung (Manayunk/Schuylkill River) Place to drink mun-nay-yoong Mochijirickhicken (Delaware River) a large river where there are tides This is an old form from the Delaware Jargon, a trade language used between the Lenape and the whites. The words were Lenape, the word order was more like German or English. Mochijirick the biggest one meX-kee-luk Mexkilëk in modern Lenape Pahsayung (Passayunk) in the valley paH-sah-yoong Pahsayek (Passaic) Valley paH-sah-yek Pënëpekw (Pennypack Creek) water that flows downwards pun-nep-peck Siskuwihane (Susquehanna River) muddy river Sees-koo-wee-hah-nay Wikweko (area near Philadelphia) place where something ends wee-kwek-koh

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