Language of the Adena Native Americans/Woodland Indians

childeroland · Feb 22, 2010

I can't figure this out for the life of me:

Did the Adena Native Americans of the Early Woodland Period speak Pro-Algonquin or did an Algonquin/Algic family of languages develop into early forms of Mahican, etc. by then?

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

childeroland

Tsu Dho Nimh · Feb 23, 2010

No one knows, because their era was over about 1000CE ... and no one recorded what they spoke.

The tribe culturally closest to late Woodland were the Iroquois ... they might have kept the language too.

childeroland · Feb 23, 2010

Thanks, Tsu. Didn't the Iroquois displace the Algonquins of the Woodland Periods? If they did keep the language(s), would the extinct and currently moribund Iroquois dialects be nearly identical to those of the people they displaced, or would they have definitely changed over time so as to be completely different?

Tsu Dho Nimh · Feb 24, 2010

No one will be able to dispute whatever you decide to use, unless you have them speaking Aramaic or Tibetan.

FWIW, the Athabascans of Canada split from the Navajo about 1200-1300 (apparently the Navajo kept going south and the Athabaskans didn't) ... and they can still understand each other. There are dialect differences, but not so much that they can't get ideas across.

http://www.native-languages.org/famath_words.htm shows the differences in the Na-Dene (athabaskan) languages. I'd expect similar changes in any language.

childeroland · Feb 24, 2010

Thanks again, Tsu, and thanks for the link.

Language of the Adena Native Americans/Woodland Indians

childeroland

What happened to my LIFE?!

Tsu Dho Nimh

childeroland

What happened to my LIFE?!

Tsu Dho Nimh

childeroland

What happened to my LIFE?!