Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Wôpanâak, Massachusett-Narragansett, Massachusett, Massachusetts, Natick, Wamponoag
CLASSIFICATION		Algic, Algonquian, Eastern Algonquian
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		wam
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		North Shore Nauset Natick Cowesit Wampanoag
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		Massachusett-Narragansett was a complex of Southern New England Algonquian dialects spoken around Massachusetts Bay from southern Maine to Cape Cod, as well as around Narragansett Bay and on Martha’s Vineyard. Several varieties of Massachusett-Narragansett are quite well documented from the Colonial period, including the dialect of the mission town of Natick, which was the basis of John Eliot's translation of the whole Bible (1663) and grammatical sketch (1666), and the Narragansett dialect of Rhode Island (Roger Williams 1643). Currently there are efforts to revive the speaking of the language under the name Wampanoag. The language fell into disuse in most areas during the 18th century, but a variety continued to be spoken on Martha’s Vineyard until the end of the 19th century. (Golla et al. 2008.)

MORE ON VITALITY

The language is undergoing revitalization, thanks to the effort of the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project.

Awakening
Ethnic population
4,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"No known L1 speakers." "Language Reclamation Committee offers language classes (2009)."

MORE ON VITALITY

"Language Reclamation Committee offers language classes (2009)."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Scripts (Writing system)

Latin

	2000	An Introduction to Wampanoag Grammar				Massachusetts Institute of Technology		Jessie L. D. Fermino	Fermino, Jessie L. D. An Introduction To Wampanoag Grammar. PhD thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000.	HHOLD			Awakening			Awakening ()	The language is undergoing revitalization, thanks to the effort of the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project.
		Glottolog					http://www.glottolog.org/glottolog/		"Glottolog." Online: http://www.glottolog.org/glottolog/.											41.702591, -73.319119
18th	2015	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 18th Edition	Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	SIL International	Dallas, Texas		http://www.ethnologue.com		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.		4,000	2006	Awakening	"No known L1 speakers." "Language Reclamation Committee offers language classes (2009)."	English	Awakening ()	"Language Reclamation Committee offers language classes (2009)."	USA	"Southeast Massachusetts."

Wampanoag