Loup language

Loup is an extinct Algonquian language, or possibly group of languages, spoken in colonial New England. Loup ('Wolf') was a French colonial ethnographic term, and usage was inconsistent. In modern literature, it refers to two varieties, Loup A and Loup B.[1]

Loup
Pronunciation[lu]
Native toUnited States
RegionMassachusetts, Connecticut
EthnicityNipmuck?
Extinct18th century
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
xlo – Loup A
xlb – Loup B
xlo Loup A
 xlb Loup B
Glottologloup1243  Nipmuck
loup1245  Loup B

Attestation

Loup A, which may be the language of the Nipmuck, is principally attested from a word list recorded from refugees by the St. Francis mission to the Abenaki in Quebec. The descendants of these refugees became speakers of Western Abenaki in the eighteenth century. Loup B refers to a second word list, which shows extensive dialectal variation. This may not be a distinct language, but just notes on the speech of various New England Algonquian refugees in French missions.[2]

Chaubunagungamaug lake sign, in Nipmuk and English

Phonology

The phonology of Loup A (Nipmuck), reconstructed by Gustafson 2000:

Nipmuc Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal/
Postalveolar		 Velar Glottal
plain pal. plain lab.
Nasal m n
Plosive p t tʲ k (kʷ)
Affricate tʃ
Fricative s h
Lateral l
Approximant w j
Vowels
Front Back
Close i, iː u
Mid e o, oː
Open a, aː, ã

The vowel sounds likely have the same phonetic quality as other southern New England Algonquian languages. The short vowels /i o e a/ may represent the sounds as [ɪ], [ʊ], [ɛ,ə], and [ʌ], while the long vowels /iː/, /oː/, and /ã/ correspond to /i/, /o/, and /ã/.[3][4]

References
  1. Goddard, Ives (2012). "The 'Loup' Languages of Western Massachusetts: The Dialectal Diversity of Southern New England Algonquian". Papers of the 44th Algonquian Conference. SUNY Press: 104–138.
  2. Victor Golla, 2007. Atlas of the World's Languages
  3. Gustafson, Holly Suzanne (2000). A Grammar of the Nipmuck Language (PDF). Deparament of Linguistics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  4. Costa, David J. (2007). The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2018.


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