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Loup is an extinct Algonquian language, or possibly group of languages, spoken in colonial New England. It was attested in a notebook titled Mots loups (literally translating to "wolf words"), compiled by Jean-Claude Mathevet, a priest who worked among Algonquian peoples, composing of 124 pages. Loup ('Wolf') was a French colonial ethnographic term, and usage was inconsistent. In modern literature, it refers to two varieties, Loup A and Loup B. The language of the Mots loups notebook is different from all other New England languages, and is believed to have been spoken by the Nipmuc.

Attestation

Loup A, which is likely the language of the Nipmuck, is principally attested from a word list recorded from refugees by the St. Francis mission to the Abenaki in Quebec. The descendants of these refugees became speakers of Western Abenaki in the eighteenth century. Loup B refers to a second word list, which shows extensive dialectal variation. This may not be a distinct language, but just notes on the speech of various New England Algonquian refugees in French missions. According to Gustafson 2000, the geographical location and phonology of Loup rule out association with any other tribes except for the Nipmuck.

Phonology

The phonology of Loup A (Nipmuck), reconstructed by Gustafson 2000:

The vowel sounds likely have the same phonetic quality as other southern New England Algonquian languages. The short vowels /i o e a/ may represent the sounds as , , , and , while the long vowels /iː/, /oː/, and /ã/ correspond to /i/, /o/, and /ã/.

References

1. ^ Gustafson, Holly Suzanne (2000). A Grammar of the Nipmuck Language (PDF). Deparament of Linguistics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
2. ^ Goddard, Ives (2012). "The 'Loup' Languages of Western Massachusetts: The Dialectal Diversity of Southern New England Algonquian". Papers of the 44th Algonquian Conference. 44. SUNY Press: 104–138.
3. Victor Golla, 2007. Atlas of the World's Languages
4. Costa, David J. (2007). The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2018.

External links

• OLAC resources in and about the Loup A language
• OLAC resources in and about the Loup B language
• Nipmuc Language.org

• Eastern Algonquian languages
• Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands
• Languages of the United States
• Extinct languages of North America
• Native American history of New York (state)
• Indigenous languages of North America
• Languages extinct in the 18th century
• Nipmuc