admitted, I am persuaded the Chippeway language possesses as much, if not greater merit, as it is in every respect better understood by the north-west Indians. But as the knowledge of both {ix} may not only be useful, but necessary, I have given a comparative table of about two hundred and sixty words in both tongues, that the reader may use either as he shall find it best understood by the tribes with whom he may have occasion to trade; though he will find, in a variety of instances, a perfect accordance.
The table of words in the Muhhekaneew, or Mohegan, and Shawanee tongues, are extracted from the Rev. Mr. Edwards's publication, and are inserted to shew their analogy with the Chippeway language;[1] and, as he observes that the language of the Delawares in Pennsylvania, of the Penobscots on the borders of Nova Scotia, of the Indians of St. Francis, in Canada, of the Shawanees on the Ohio, and many other tribes of Savages radically agree, I judged the tables of analogy would not be unacceptable.
In the course of the historical part, several speeches in the Chippeway language are introduced: and at the end of the Vocabulary, a number of familiar phrases, which not only serve to shew the mode of speech, but give a better idea of the language than single words.
The numeral payshik, or one, is frequently used to express the articles a and the; and woke is the general word for the plural number, though not always used.
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- ↑ Rev. Jonathan Edwards was much interested in Indian missions; and having been brought up among the Stockbridges, published (1788) Observations on the Language of the Mukhekaneew Indians. In a republication with notes by John Pickering, in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, 2nd series, x, pp. 81 ff., the added Chippewa vocabulary is that of Long.—Ed.
