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Woccon language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Woccon
Waccamaw
Native toUnited States
RegionNorth Carolina
EthnicityWaccamaw[1]
Extinctearly 18th century
Revival2000s
Language codes
ISO 639-3xwc
xwc
Glottologwocc1242
Linguasphere64-ABA-aa
Original distribution of the Woccon language

Woccon was one of two Catawban (also known as Eastern Siouan) languages of what is now the Eastern United States. Together with the Western Siouan languages, they formed the Siouan language family. It is attested only in a vocabulary of 143 words, printed in a 1709 compilation by English colonist John Lawson of Carolina.[2] The Woccon people that Lawson encountered have been considered by scholars to have been a late subdivision of the Waccamaw.[1]

The Woccon are believed to have been decimated as a people during the Tuscarora War in the Carolinas with English colonists in 1713. Survivors were likely absorbed into the Tuscarora, an Iroquoian-speaking people. Most of the Tuscarora migrated north to New York, settling with the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy by 1722 and being accepted as the sixth. Under these pressures, the Woccon language is believed to have become extinct in the eighteenth century. Some descendants of partial Woccon ancestry survive in the Southeast as well as Canada, where the Six Nations of the Iroquois migrated after the American Revolutionary War. [3]

In 2021 the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages assisted the Cape Fear Band of Skarure and Woccon Indians in North Carolina to build a 'Living Dictionary' for Woccon as part of an effort to revive the language.[4] This group is not state-recognized or federally recognized as being descended from the Cape Fear, Tuscarora, or the Waccamaw.[5][6][7]

Lexicon

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Some lexical items in the Woccon language are presented below.

Woccon Dictionary
Woccon English
atter Swan
aucummato I remember it
auhaun Goose
auher Raccon skin
caure Dead
coosauk Peas
cose Corn
cotsau Spoon
cotsoo Bowl
cutaune That’s all
ejau Water
ekoocromon Bag
eppesyau a louse
erroco peak
hannatockore Fox skin
homine Grits
hooheh Pine tree
iketau Beard
intom Tobacco pipe
intome-poshwa Hat
ish-shto Six
ishewounaup a cubit length
itte teraugh Hard or heavy
itto Moss
katitchhei Thief
kittape Tomorrow
matt-teer Flints
monwittetau Alligator
mothei Give it to me
nam-mee Three
nau hou hoore ene I sell you goods very cheap
nommewarraup u Swine
nommis-shau Seven
noonkosho Gun lock
noppinjure Cow
num-perre Two
nupshau Eight
ouke House
ourka Bear skin
poppe Head
punnum-punne Four
quauke Will you go along with me
rauhau Dressed skin
reheshiawa Afraid
rhooeyau a flap
roamore King
rockcumne Mad
roo-iune Blankets
roocheha Angry
rooe-pau Garden tool
rooeso possoo Stockings
rooeyam Gunpowder
rooeyaukitte Breeches (britches, trousers that go to the knee
rookeppa Basket
roosemme Soft
rum-¥up She
rumminshau Goat
rummissauwoune Buttom
sacketoome possma Comb
sauhau Let it alone
sek Lightwood
soccon Mink
soone-nomme Twelve
soone-noponne Ten
soppe Feather
soppepepor a mat
tacca-pitteneer shirt
tau-unta winnik Axe
tauh-he Dog
teep Raw skin undressed
tire kiro Wolf
tockoor Scissors and tobacco
tonne One
tonne hauk pea Eleven
tontarinte How many
too-she Smoke
trawhe Rope
tumme Hair
uu-coone Tobacco
watt Canoe
wattape gourd or bottle
wattapi untakeer Star
wattau Panther skin
wauk Potatoes
waukhaway Day
waurepa I’m sick
waurraupa White
wawawa Snow
webtau Five
wee Knife
wee-keshoo Shoes
week Shot
week-kau Bell
weekwonne Reed
weetipsa Fishgig (a fish spear having two or more prongs)
weihere Nine
welka Duck
wetkes Otter
whooyeonne Paint
winnop twenty
wintsohore Englishman
wisto Fawn skin
wittapare Sun or moon
wittape Gun
wonsh-shee Needle
wunneau Crab
yacunne Fish
yantoha Night
yau-hauk Snake
yauh Path
yauka a little while ago
yauta Turkey
yawowa Rain
yecanau Wife
yehau Sqirrel skin
yendare Fat
yenwetoa Horse
yenxauhe Brother
yicau Old women
ynpyupseunne rundlet (a small barrel that contains a certain amount of liquid)
yonne Peaches
yopoonitsa Box
yottoha Yesterday
yuncor Wind
yuppa me Go you
¥ah-teshtea Black
¥au Fire
¥auta Red

References

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  1. ^ a b Swanton, John Reed (2003). The Indian tribes of North America. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co. pp. 90, 100. ISBN 9780806317304.
  2. ^ Lawson, John (1709). “A vocabulary of Woccon”, in A New Voyage to Carolina; Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of That Country: Together with the Present State Thereof. And a Journal of a Thousand Miles, Travel’d Thro’ Several Nations of Indians. Giving a Particular Account of Their Customs, Manners, &c. View online.
  3. ^ Carter, R. (1980). "The Woccon Language of North Carolina: Its Genetic Affiliations and Historical Significance", in International Journal of American Linguistics, Volume 46, Number 3. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/465652?journalCode=ijal
  4. ^ "Collaboration with the Skarure Woccon to develop the first-ever Woccon Living Dictionary". Living Tongue Institute. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  5. ^ "NC Tribal Communities". ncadmin.nc.gov. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  6. ^ "About NC Native Communities". American Indian Center. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". federalregister.gov. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Rudes, B.A. (2000). "Resurrecting coastal Catawban: The reconstituted phonology and morphology of the Woccon language". Southern Journal of Linguistics 24: 228-244.