The Lenâpé and Their Legends: With the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticityBrinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
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The Lenâpé and Their Legends: With the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticity
Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Delaware Indians; Delaware language -- Texts; Picture-writing, Indian
A. First form, _wul_.
_Wulit_, well, good, handsome, fine.
_Wullihilleu_, it is good, etc.
_Wuliken_, it grows well.
_Wulamoe_, he truth-speaks.
_Wulamoewagan_, truth.
_Wulistamen_, to believe, to accept as truth.
_Wulenensin_, to be fine in appearance, to dress.
_Wulenensen_, to be fine to oneself, to be proud.
B. Second form, _won_ or _win_.
_Winu_, ripe, good to eat.
_Wonita_, he is ripe for it, he can, he is able.
_Wingan_, sweet, savory.
_Winktek_, done, boiled, fit to eat.
_Winak_, sassafras. From its sweet leaves.
_Wingi_, gladly, willingly.
_Winginamen_, to delight in.
The figure 8 in the above represents the "whistled _w_," like the _wh_
in "which," when strongly pronounced.
From this root, as I have already said, is derived also the word WALAM,
red paint, from the sense "to be fine in appearance, to dress," as the
Indian accomplished that object by painting himself.
_Grammatical Structure of the Lenape._
It would not be worth while for me to enter into the intricacies of
Lenape grammar, particularly as I can add little to what is already
known.
The Delaware Grammar of Zeisberger remains our only authority, and
in spite of its manifest shortcomings and state of incompletion, the
unprejudiced student must acknowledge, with Albert Gallatin[169], that
it is "most honestly done," and showed the Delaware as it actually was
spoken, though perhaps not as scientific linguists think it ought to
have been spoken.
A few general observations will be sufficient.
As in other languages of the class, the theme is indifferently nominal,
verbal or adjectival; that is, it performs the functions of either of
these grammatical categories, according to its connection.
Nominal themes are either animate or inanimate. The characteristic of
all animate plurals is _k_ (_ak_, _ik_, _ek_). Inanimate plurals are
in _al_, _wall_ or _a_. As usual, the distinction between animate and
inanimate nouns is partly logical, partly grammatical, various objects
being conceived as animate which are in fact not so.
The possessive relation is generally indicated by placement alone, the
possessor preceding the thing possessed, as _lenno quisall_, the man's
son; but one could also say _lenno w'quisall_, the man his son.
Adjectives precede nouns, and when used attributively assume a verbal
form by adding the termination _wi_, which indicates objective
existence (like the Chip. _-win_). Thus, _scattek_, burning; _scattewi
w'dehin_, a burning-heart--literally, it-is-a-burning-thing his-heart.
The degrees of comparison are formed by prefixing _allowiwi_, more,
and _eluwi_, most. Both of these are from the same radical _ala_
which may perhaps come from the _admirationis particula_, _ala'_
(Abnaki, _ara'_) found in the northern dialects as expressive of
astonishment[170].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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