Editing Massachusett language (section)

{{Short description|Algonquian language in Massachusetts}}
{{see also|Massachusett dialects}}
{{for|the languages spoken in the modern Commonwealth of Massachusetts|Demographics of Massachusetts#Languages}}
{{Very long|date=November 2023}}

{{Infobox language
| name             = Massachusett
| nativename       = {{Lang|wam|Massachusee unnontꝏwaonk}}<br/>{{Lang|wam|Mâsach8see unôt8âôk}}{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}<br/>({{lang|wam|Muhsachuweesee unôtuwâôk}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trumbull |first=J. H. |date=1903 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cu4NAAAAIAAJ |title=Natick Dictionary |page=285 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[Government Printing Office]]}}</ref><br/>{{Lang|wam|Wôpanâôtuwâôk}}<ref name="Project History">Baird, J. L. D. (2014). [http://www.wlrp.org/project-history.html 'Project History.']{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119030821/http://www.wlrp.org/project-history.html |date=2015-11-19 }} Retrieved 29 December 2015.</ref>
| states           = [[United States]]
| region           = Eastern [[Massachusetts]], southeastern [[New Hampshire]], and northern and southeastern [[Rhode Island]]<ref name="Day">Day, G. M. (1998). M. K. Foster & W. Cowan (Eds.), ''In Search of New England's Native Past: Selected Essays from Gordon M. Day.''</ref><ref name="Ager">Ager, S. (1998–2013). [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/massachusett.htm "Massachusett (wôpanâak / wampanoag)"]. ''Omniglot,'' the online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages. Accessed 2014-02-26</ref>
| ethnicity        = [[Massachusett people|Massachusett]], [[Wampanoag people|Wômpanâak]] (Wampanoag), [[Pawtucket tribe|Pawtucket]] ([[Naumkeag people|Naumkeag]], [[Agawam tribe|Agawam]]), [[Nauset]], and Coweset. Neighboring Algonquian peoples as a second language.<ref name="Goddard, Ives 1996. pp. 1">Goddard, Ives. 1996. "Introduction." Ives Goddard, ed., ''The Handbook of North American Indians,'' Volume 17. Languages, pp. 1–16.</ref>
| extinct          = Late 19th century (possibly around 1890)<ref name="Speck">Speck, F. G. (1928). ''[https://natickpaintingcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/territorial_boundaries_-wampanoags-1928.pdf Territorial Subdivisions and Boundaries of the Wampanoag, Massachusett and Nauset Indians].'' Frank Hodge (ed). Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Press. p. 46.</ref>
| ref              = <ref name="Goddard, I. 1988 p. 20">Goddard, I., & Bragdon, K. (1988). ''Native writings in Massachusetts''. In ''Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society'' (185 ed., p. 20). Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society.</ref>
| revived          = Revitalization from 1993. As of 2014, 5 children are native speakers, 15 are proficient second-language speakers and 500 are adult second-language learners.<ref name="pbs">[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/we-still-live-here Saskia De Melker, "'We Still Live Here' Traces Comeback of Wampanoag Indian Language"], [[PBS Newshour]], 11-10-2011, accessed 18 November 2011</ref><ref name="Rose">{{cite web | last = Rose | first = Christina | date = 2014-02-25 | url = http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/25/sleeping-language-waking-thanks-wampanoag-reclamation-project-153715 | title = Sleeping Language Waking Up Thanks to Wampanoag Reclamation Project | website = Indian Country Today Media Network | access-date = 2014-02-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140305133311/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/25/sleeping-language-waking-thanks-wampanoag-reclamation-project-153715 | archive-date = 5 March 2014}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Algic
| fam1             = [[Algic languages|Algic]]
| fam2             = [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]
| fam3             = [[Eastern Algonquian languages|Eastern Algonquian]]
| fam4             = [[Southern New England Algonquian]]
| script           = [[Latin script]]
| iso3             = wam
| linglist         = wam
| glotto           = wamp1249
| glottorefname    = Wampanoag
| notice           = IPA
| map              = Tribal_Territories_Southern_New_England.png
| mapcaption       = The location of the Massachusett/Wampanoag tribe and their neighbors, c. 1600
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|/məhsatʃəw[iː]see ənãtuwaːãk/|lang=wam}}<br />{{IPA|/wãpanaːãˈtuwaːãk/|lang=wam}}
| altname          = Wampanoag
}}
The '''Massachusett language''' is an [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian language]] of the [[Algic languages|Algic language family]] that was formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern [[Massachusetts]]. In its revived form, it is spoken in four [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]] communities. The language is also known as {{lang|alg|Natick}} or {{lang|alg|Wôpanâak}} (Wampanoag), and historically as {{lang|alg|Pokanoket}}, Indian or {{lang|alg|Nonantum}}.<ref>Costa, D. J. (2007). 'The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian'. Wolfart, H. C. (Eds.), ''Papers of the 38th Algonquian Conference.'' (pp. 81–127). Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press.</ref>

The language is most notable for its community of literate Native Americans and for the number of translations of religious texts into the language. [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]]'s translation of the Christian Bible in 1663 using the Natick dialect, known as ''[[Eliot Indian Bible|Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God]]'', was the first printed in the Americas, the first Bible translated by a non-native speaker, and one of the earliest examples of a Bible translation into a previously unwritten language. Literate Native American ministers and teachers taught literacy to the elites and other members of their communities, influencing a widespread acceptance. This is attested in the numerous court petitions, church records, [[praying town]] administrative records, notes on book margins, personal letters, and widespread distribution of other translations of religious tracts throughout the colonial period.<ref>Ricky, D. B. (1999). ''Encyclopedia of Massachusetts Indians''. Hamburg, MI: North American Book Dist LLC. p. 142.</ref>

The dialects of the language were formerly spoken by several peoples of southern [[New England]], including all the coastal and insular areas of eastern [[Massachusetts]], as well as southeastern [[New Hampshire]], the southernmost tip of [[Maine]] and eastern [[Rhode Island]], and it was also a common second or third language across most of New England and portions of [[Long Island]].<ref name="Goddard, I. 1988 p. 20"/> The use of the language in the intertribal communities of Christian converts, called [[praying town]]s, resulted in its adoption by some groups of [[Nipmuc]] and [[Pennacook]].<ref name="Spread">Connole, D. A. (2007). ''Indians of the Nipmuck Country in Southern New England 1630–1750: An Historical Geography''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. pp. 41, 90–120.</ref><ref>[http://public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/Indian%20Converts/the_puritans3.htm Shannon, T. J. (2005). "Puritan Conversion Attempts"], Gettysburg College</ref>

The revitalization of the language began in 1993 when [[Jessie Little Doe Baird]] ([[Mashpee Wampanoag]]) launched the [[Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project]] (WLRP). It has successfully reintroduced the revived Wampanoag dialect to the [[Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe|Mashpee]], [[Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head|Aquinnah]], Assonet, and [[Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe|Herring Pond]] communities of the Wampanoag of Cape Cod and the Islands, with a handful of children who are growing up as the first native speakers in more than a century.<ref>Doane, S. (Correspondent) (2012). 'Wampanoag: Reviving the language' [Television news feature]. In CBS News. New York, NY: CBS Broadcast Inc. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50135817n</ref><ref name="wlrp.org">Baird, J. L. D. (2013). Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project. Retrieved from http://www.wlrp.org/.</ref>