Powhatan Words and Phrases

Powhatan Words and Phrases

by Shawn Henry Potter and Lois Carol Potter
renatuspress@gmail.com

1. Background:

The people of the Powhatan Chiefdom spoke the R-dialect of the Eastern Algonquian language family. The map below shows where the various subgroups of the Algonquian language family were spoken.

The map below shows where the various subgroups of the Algonquian language family were spoken

What does “R-dialect of the Eastern Algonquian language family” mean? Linguists classify Eastern Algonquian languages into four major dialect groups – N (Massachuset), L (Delaware/Lenape), R (Powhatan), and D (Roanoke). These labels refer to how a particular sound in the ancestral Proto-Algonquian language, written as θ (th), changed over time in each region. In different daughter languages, this θ sound regularly shifted to N, L, R, or D, giving each dialect its name.[1]

For example, the reconstructed Proto-Algonquian word for “dog,” athemwa, developed into: anum in Massachuset, alum in Delaware, arum in Powhatan, and adum in Roanoke (a form inferred by linguists but not attested in historical records).

2. Application:

Why does the history and classification of the Powhatan language matter? Sadly, few records of the Powhatan language have survived. Important resources include lists by John Smith and William Strachey.[2] Still, with an understanding of the history and classification of the Powhatan language, it is possible to augment these records with reconstructed vocabulary and phrases deduced from related Eastern Algonquian languages. Many of the words and phrases in the list below are attested by Smith and Strachey, while others are reconstructions.

With an understanding of the history and classification of the Powhatan language, it is possible to augment these records with reconstructed vocabulary and phrases

3. Powhatan Words and Phrases

    • Hello. – Wingapoh.
    • Hello friend. – Nehtab.
    • Welcome. – Chamah.
    • Good morning. – Kencuttemaum.
    • Sleep well. – Wingan nupawe.
    • Let us go away. – Yokweme wat.
    • Farewell. – Anah.
    • Yes. – Kupe.
    • No. – Matah.
    • Thank you. – Kehnah.
    • Are you Patawomeck? – Keire Patawomeck?
    • I am Patawomeck. – Neire Patawomeck.
    • I am English. – Neire Tassantassas.
    • I love you. – Kowamanes.
    • I see … – Nenamun …
    • You see … – Kenamun …
    • I see a deer. – Nenamun uttapaantam.
    • I see a bird. – Nenamun tshehip.
    • I see a squirrel. – Nenamun moussomko.
    • I see a fish. – Nenamun namaske.
    • I see the stars. – Nenamun attaankwasuwk.
    • I see the moon. – Nenamun umpskwoth.
    • I see lightning. – Nenamun kecuttannowas.
    • I hear … – Nowuntamen …
    • You hear … – Kewuntamen …
    • I hear a bird. – Nowuntamen tshehip.
    • I hear thunder. – Nowuntamen nepetackweth.
    • I am hungry. – Neire howghwe takon.
    • Are you hungry? – Keire howghwe takon?
    • I eat … – Nummehcher …
    • You eat … – Kummehcher …
    • I eat corn. – Nummehcher poketaw.
    • I eat beans. – Nummehcher peccatohas.
    • I eat squash. – Nummehcher mahkok
    • What is this / that? – Kakwe?
    • I know. – Neire nekowi.
    • I do not know. – Matah nekowi.
    • I understand. – Neire nowontam.
    • I do not understand. – Matah nowontam.
    • Do you understand. – Keire nowontam?
    • One. – Nehkut.
    • Two. – Ninge.
    • Three. – Nooso.
    • Four. – Yo.
    • Five. – Paranse.
    • Six. – Komatinge.
    • Seven. – Tapawes.
    • Eight. – Nuskawes.
    • Nine. – Kekeytawe.
    • Ten. – Koske.

4. Reconstructed Powhatan Text of John 3:16

The following text is a proposed reconstructed Powhatan version of John 3:16 from the 1709 edition of The Massachuset Psalter: Or, Psalms of David with the Gospel according to John, in Columns of Indian and English.[3]

John 3:16 Newutche Ahone wuttunukuhque womortamunap chepsin, ummakunnat wunnukwekehenoh, onk rishroh howan waromuhtauont, woh matta auwohkuhpuncoo, qut woh ohto michemohte pomontam ooonk.

John 3:16 Newutche (For / Because) Ahone (God / great spirit) wuttunukuhque (so / in such a way) womortamunap (he loved / the thought well of it) chepsin (world / earth / land), ummakunnat (that he gave / he caused to be given) wunnukwekehenoh (his only son / his unique child), onk (and / that) rishroh (he / that one) howan (whoever / any person) waromuhtauont (believes in him / thinks true of him), woh (he shall) matta (not) auwohkuhpuncoo (perish / be destroyed forever), qut (but) woh (he shall) ohto (have / possess) michemohte (everlasting / eternal) pomontam (life / living) ooonk (forever / ongoing).

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[1] Ives Goddard, “Eastern Algonquian Languages,” in Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast, Washginton, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978. See also Frank T. Siebert, Jr., “The Original Home of the Proto-Algonquian People,” in Anthropoligical Series (National Museum of Canada), no. 214 (1967): 13-47.

[2] Philip L. Barbour, ed., The Complete Works of Captain John Smith (1580-1631) in Three Volumes (Chappel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1986), 2:136-139. See also William Strachey, The Historie of Travell into Virginia Britania (London: Hakluyt Society, 1953), 174-207.

[3] Experience Mayhew, The Massachuset Psalter: Or, Psalms of David with the Gospel according to John, in Columns of Indian and English: Being an Introduction for Training up the Aboriginal Natives, in Reading and Understanding the Holy Scriptures (Boston MA: Printed by B. Green, and J. Printer, for the Honourable Company for the Propagation of the Gospel in New-England, &s., 1709), 298. https://archive.org/details/massachusetpsalt02elio/page/n297/mode/2up