Indian Affairs, Human Rights , Our Community
Did you set your babizookwasik?
"babizookwasik" is the word in the Cowasuck dialect of Abenaki for a clock, but really means something like "That thing that tics."
The website that the Cowasuck band have set up for language is one of the best, so this is a good place to start learning.
Here is the link: http://www.cowasuck.org/language.cfm
I think one of the most interesting things about the Algonquian languages is that you often find that the translation of one word is a full sentence. Algonquian words tend to encompass verbs and nouns together.
Now here is something wonderful: as a child I was often reprimanded, as were my playmates, for saying "uhn-huhn" instead of "yes", a habit we picked up from the adults around us and that seemed to drive the school-teachers crazy. I never thought of it as anything important, but upon seeking to learn the forgotten language of my ancestors, and turning first to the Abenaki alphabet, look what I discovered:
"8 is the nasal "o(n)" sound; for example, 8h88
(yes) is pronounced o(n)-ho(n)."
If you are interested in discovering a lost heritage, join us over in "All Things Algonquian" in learning this language!
The website that the Cowasuck band have set up for language is one of the best, so this is a good place to start learning.
Here is the link: http://www.cowasuck.org/language.cfm
I think one of the most interesting things about the Algonquian languages is that you often find that the translation of one word is a full sentence. Algonquian words tend to encompass verbs and nouns together.
Now here is something wonderful: as a child I was often reprimanded, as were my playmates, for saying "uhn-huhn" instead of "yes", a habit we picked up from the adults around us and that seemed to drive the school-teachers crazy. I never thought of it as anything important, but upon seeking to learn the forgotten language of my ancestors, and turning first to the Abenaki alphabet, look what I discovered:
"8 is the nasal "o(n)" sound; for example, 8h88
(yes) is pronounced o(n)-ho(n)."
If you are interested in discovering a lost heritage, join us over in "All Things Algonquian" in learning this language!
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