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Abenaki
Eastern: Alnombak, Alnôbak, Eastern Abnaki, Wawenock Western: Abenaqui, Alnombak, Saint Francois, Western Abnaki
Eastern:Alənαpαtəwéwαkan Western:Alnôbaôdwawôgan
Eastern Abenaki Western Abenaki
Native to	Canada,United States
Region	Quebec,New Brunswick,Maine,Vermont,New Hampshire
Ethnicity	1,800Abenaki andPenobscot (1982)[1]
Native speakers	14 Western Abenaki (2007–2012)[2] Last fluent speaker of Eastern Abenaki died in 1993.[2]
Language family	Algic Algonquian Eastern Algonquian Abenaki
Writing system	Latin script
Official status
Official language in	Wabanaki Confederacy
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: aaq – Eastern Abenaki abe – Western Abenaki
Glottolog	aben1250  Abenaki
Western Abenaki is classified as critically endangered by theEndangered Languages Project (ELP).
This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

Abenaki (Eastern:Alənαpαtəwéwαkan, Western:Alnôbaôdwawôgan), also known asWôbanakiak,^[3] is an endangeredEastern Algonquian language ofQuebec and the northern states ofNew England. The language has Eastern and Western forms which differ in vocabulary andphonology and are sometimes considered distinct languages.

Western Abenaki was spoken in New Hampshire, Vermont, north-western Massachusetts, and southern Quebec.^[4] Odanak, Quebec is a First Nations reserve located near the Saint-François River—these peoples were referred to as Saint Francis Indians by English writers after the 1700s.^[5] The few remaining speakers of Western Abenaki live predominantly in Odanak and the last fully fluent speaker, Cécile (Wawanolett) Joubert died in 2006.^[4] A revitalization effort was started in Odanak in 1994; however, as of 2004 younger generations are not learning the language and the remaining speakers are elderly, making Western Abenaki nearly extinct.^[6]

Eastern Abenaki languages are spoken by several peoples, including thePenobscot of what is nowMaine. The last known natively fluent speaker of Penobscot Abenaki, Madeline Shay, died in 1993.^[7][8] However, several Penobscot elders still speak Penobscot, and there is an ongoing effort to preserve it and teach it in the local schools;^[9] much of the language was preserved byFrank Siebert.^[10] Other speakers of Eastern Abenaki included tribes such as theAmoscocongon who spoke the Arosagunticook dialect,^[11] and theCaniba, which are documented in French-language materials from the colonial period.

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Due to French and English contact with Western Abenaki people in the 1640s and earlier, many loan words were quickly incorporated into Western Abenaki and have stayed for nearly four centuries. During the latter half of the 19th century, word borrowing increased due to many Western Abenaki people being in close contact with summer resorts in Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as continued contact with French-Canadians. Notably, plural English nouns were borrowed into Western Abenaki as a singular form that were then made plural by adding Abenaki plural endings. For example, the word oxen was borrowed asasken 'an ox' that was pluralized intoaksenak. Similarly, the word potatoes was borrowed asbadades 'potato' that was pluralized intobadadesak.^[5]

Amaseconti,Androscoggin,Kennebec,Maliseet, Ouarastegouiak,Passamaquoddy,Patsuiket,Penobscot,Pigwacket,Rocameca,Sokoni, andWewenoc.^{[citation needed]}

Seven mission orientated communities along theSt. Lawrence River in 1750: Caughnawaga (Mohawk), Lake of the Two Mountains (Iroquois and Nipissing), St. Francois (Sokoki,Pennacook, and New EnglandAlgonquin,Becancour (Eastern Abenaki),Oswegatchie (Onondaga andOneida), Lorette (Huron), and St. Regis (Mohawk).^{[citation needed]}

Amaseconti (between upperKennebec River andAndroscoggin River, western Maine)Androscoggin (Amariscoggin, Ameriscoggin, Anasaguniticook, Arosaguntacook, Asschincantecook). Important note - Main village, on the river of the same name was called Arosaguntacook Town. Arosaguntacook is sometimes applied in error to the St. Francois Indians. Kennebec (Caniba, Sagadahoc, Kanibesinnoak, Norridgewock, Nurhantsuak) lived along the Kennebec River in northern Maine.^{[citation needed]}

Penobscot (Pentagoet, Panaomeska). Meaning "rocky place", or "ledge place". Penobscot Tribe subdivisions and villages included: Moosehead Lake area tribes were known as "Moosehead Lake Indians". Villages: Agguncia, Asnela, Catawamtek, Kenduskeag, Mattawamkeag, Meecombe, Negas, Olamon, Oldtown, Passadumkeag, Pentagouet, Precaute, Segocket, and Wabigganus. Pigwacket (Pegouakki, Peguaki, Pequawket). Main village called Pequawket Town was located on the upper Saco River. Rocameca Upper Androscoggin River. Wewenoc (Ouanwinak, Sheepscot, Wawenock, Wawnock) Coastal areas of southern Maine. Wolinak (Becancour) Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.^{[citation needed]}

Amaseconti (Amesokanti, Anmissoukanti), Norridgewock (Naridgewalk, Neridgewok, Noronjawoke), Kennebec, and Sagadahoc.^{[citation needed]}

Ossipee: located on a lake of the same name in east-central New Hampshire. Other names associated with the eastern Abenaki are Arsikantegou, Kwupahag (Kwapahag).^{[citation needed]}

Closer in language and culture to the Micmac, the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy have been listed as Abenaki for historical reasons. The French usually referred to both tribes as the Etchemin. Maliseet (Aroostook, Malecite, Malicite, St. John's Indians). From theMi'kmaq wordmalisit meaning'broken talker'. Their own nameWulastegniak means'good river people'. They were located along the St. John River in northeastern Maine and western New Brunswick. Devon, Kingsclear, Madawaska, Mary's, Medoctec (Medoktek, Meductic), Okpaak, Oromocto, St. Anne, St. Basile, The Brothers (Micmac), Tobique, Viger, and Woodstock.^{[citation needed]}

Passamaquoddy (Machias Tribe, Opanango, Pesmokant, Quoddy, Scotuks, Scootuck, St. Croix Indians, Unchechauge, Unquechauge). The name means'pollock spearing place' with their villages were located on Passamaquoddy Bay, the St. Croix River, and Schoodic Lake. Villages: Gunasquamekook, Imnarkuan, Machias, Sebaik, and Sipayik. There were other towns at Lewis Island and Calais in Maine with a few locations on the Canadian side of the St. Croix River.^{[citation needed]}

Originally composed of Abenaki tribes in Vermont and New Hampshire west of the White Mountains, Sokoki means'people who separated'. Various forms of Sokoki are: Assokwekik, Ondeake, Onejagese, Sakukia, Sokokiois, Sokoquios, Sokoquis, Sokokquis, Sokoni, Sokwaki, Soquachjck, and Zooquagese. Some accounts include groups of the western Pennacook as Sokoki: Amoskeag, Naamkeek, Nashaway, Souheyan, and Winnipesaukee.^{[citation needed]}

Sokoki is often confused with the Saco, a name given to eastern Abenaki who lived near the Saco River (a combination of Pigwacket, Kennebec, and Androscoggin). Cowasuck (Cahass, Cohassiac, Coos, Coosuc, Koes). Hoosac was a mixed settlement with the Mahican. Missisquoi (Mazipskoik, Misiskuoi, Missiassik, Missique, Missisco) means'place of flint'. It was located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. Schaghticoke. Mixed Mahican and New England Algonquin on the Hudson River north of Albany, New York. Squakheag (Squaeg, Squawkeag). Mixed population and probably at various times was occupied by any of these tribes.^{[citation needed]}

Aquadocta, Cobbosseecontee, Ebenecook, Ketangheanycke, Mascoma, Masherosqueck, Mecadacut, Moshoquen, Muscongus, Negusset, Ossaghrage, Ouwerage, Pasharanack, Pauhuntanuc, Pemaquid, Pocopassum, Sabino, Sagadahoc, Satquin, Segotago, Sowocatuck, Taconnet, Unyjaware, and Wacoogo.^{[citation needed]}...end of section needing more work-->

A new generation is actively preserving and revitalizing the language.^[12] The late Joseph Elie Joubert from the Odanak reservation and fluent speaker,Jesse Bruchac, lead partial immersion classes in the language across theNortheastern United States. They have created several Abenaki books, audio, video, and web-based media to help others learn the language.^[13] In July 2013, the Penobscot Nation, theUniversity of Maine and theAmerican Philosophical Society received a grant from theNational Endowment for the Humanities to expand and publish the first Penobscot Dictionary.^[14]

Middlebury College in Vermont, in collaboration with Bruchac, opened its School of Abenaki in 2020, which offers a two-weekimmersion program in the summer.^[15][16]

As with most Indigenous languages, due to residential schooling and colonialism, and with the fading of generations, the number of speakers has declined. Abenaki had as few as twelve native speakers in 2015, but with recent focus and extra efforts in the Abenaki community, this number seems to be growing. Today, there are some passionate Abenaki, likeJeanne Brink,^[17] and non-Abenaki people who are trying to revitalize Abenaki culture, including their language and basket-making traditions. Currently, there are about 12,000 people of varying Abenaki heritage in the Canadian and New England regions. InMaine, there are about 3,000Penobscot Native Americans, and this group is a large driving force of the language resurrection.^[18]

In addition to Brink and others, Jesse Bruchac is a loud voice in the Abenaki culture. Along with writing and publishing various Abenaki books, he created a movie and sound piece telling theNative American side of Thanksgiving, spoken in Abenaki. In this film,Saints & Strangers, the three actors not only memorized their lines in Abenaki but also learned the syntax behind the language.^[19] This revitalization of the famousThanksgiving story from a new tongue and perspective offered a more original and full version of what Thanksgiving might have really been like so many years ago.

In his novel,L8dwaw8gan Wji Abaznodakaw8gan: The Language of Basket Making, Bruchac notes that Abenaki is a polysynthetic language. Abenaki consists of both dependent and independent grammar which addresses the gender of the speaker. Abenaki has nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives. The structure of the sentence or phrase varies depending on whether the noun is animate or inanimate.^[20]

Although written primarily in English,Aln8bak News helped to preserve the Abenaki language through the inclusion of Abenaki words and their translations.Aln8bak News was a quarterly newsletter that discussed cultural, historical, and contemporary information regarding the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki. It was started in 1993 by Paul Pouilot, Sagamo of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki.^[21] The wordAln8bak/Alnôbak (pronounced:/'al.nɔ̃.bak/) is often used as a synonym toAbenaki. Initially the newsletter was calledAln8ba8dwa National News (Aln8ba8dwa orAlnôbaôdwa means 'Speaking Abenaki').^[22] Issues of the quarterly newsletter from 2003 to 2010 were published by the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki on their website.^[23] According to a statement made by the Band, after 2010, they stopped publishing the newsletter on their website due to a lack of financial support from online readers.^[24]Aln8bak News included community-related information such as updates on governance issues, notices of social events, and obituaries. The newsletter also included Band history, genealogy, language lessons, recipes, plant and animal studies, books reviews, and writings by Band members.^[21]

The English wordskunk, attested inNew England in the 1630s, is probably borrowed from the Abenakisegôkw.^[25] About 500 Penobscot words are still being used in the community in everyday language such asMuhmum for 'grandpa' andnolke for 'deer'.^[14]

The 2015National Geographic Channel miniseriesSaints & Strangers told the story of the founding ofPlymouth Plantation and the celebration of the "First Thanksgiving". It contained a considerable amount of dialogue in Western Abenaki. Several actors, includingTatanka Means (Hobbamock), andRaoul Trujillo (Massasoit) spoke the language exclusively throughout the series, and Kalani Qweypo (Squanto) spoke both Abenaki and English. Western Abenaki language teacherJesse Bruchac of Ndakinna Education Center was hired as a language consultant on the film.^[26]

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Eastern Abenaki dialects include Penobscot, Norridgewock, Caniba, Androscoggin, and Pequawket.

Western Abenaki dialects are Arsigantegok, Missisquoi, Sokoki, Pennacook, and Odanak.

• [a] is alow back unrounded vowel; before /m/ in a final syllable it becomes close to [u] in English 'goose'^[5]
• [ə] is amid-central unrounded vowel; normally pronounced like in the English word 'label'; occurs only in the middle of a word between consonants, except for three words––enni 'which',enna 'who' andenigakw 'a spear'––[e] in these words is pronounced like in the English word 'end'.^[5]
• [i] is a lower-highfront vowel; normally pronounced between the English words 'peat' and 'pit', it varies between the high front tense vowel [i] and the mid front lax vowel [e].^[5][6]
• [o] is a higher mid-back vowel pronounced like in the English word 'poke', however some speakers pronounce it like [ʊ].^[5]
• [ɔ̃] is a roundednasalized vowel and is sometimes written as ⟨ô⟩ or simply as “8”.^[6][27]
• Historically, it was common for speakers to drop h between vowels and to drop w before the nasal vowel [ɔ̃].^[5]

Both the Eastern and Western dialects of Abenaki have 18 consonant sounds in total.^[6][28]

• In Western Abenaki there is a distinction betweenfortis consonants (always voiceless and aspirated) represented as [p, t, k, s, ts], andlenis consonants (voiced betweenresonants, voiceless in word-initial and word-final positions and before a fortis consonant, unaspirated but become aspirated when they close a strongly accented syllable, which includes all final syllables) represented as [b, d, g, z, dz].^[5][6] The lenis consonants generally exist between vowels and at the end of words but rarely next to each other or at the beginning of words.^[5]
• [b] is a laxbilabial stop; between [a, e, i, o, j, m, n, l] it is voiced and pronounced like in the English word 'habit'; beginning a word it is voiceless and pronounced like a weak English /p/ but unaspirated; at the end of a word it is voiceless and made long by the stress assigned on the final syllable.^[5]
• [ts] is a tenseapico-alveolaraffricate that is voiceless in all positions and pronounced by most speakers like /ts/ in English 'hats'.^[5]
• [d] is a laxapico-alveolar stop that is voiced betweenresonants and pronounced like in English word 'body'; at the start of a word it is voiceless and pronounced that a weak English /t/ but unaspirated; at the end of a word is it voiceless and made long and tense by the stress assigned on the final syllable, pronounced like in English 'hit'.^[5]
• [g] is a laxvelar stop; between resonants is it pronounced like in English 'ago'; beginning a word it is pronounced like a weak unaspirated /k/; at the end of a word it is voiceless and made long and tense by the stress assigned on the final syllable, pronounced like /k/ in 'score'.^[5]
• [h] occurs only before a vowel or /l/ and is pronounced like in English word 'heel', 'hat', or 'hit'; lax consonants before it become voiceless; when is it between vowels it is usually dropped by speakers in most words.^[5]
• [dz] is anapico-alveolaraffricate pronounced betweenresonants like the /dz/ in English word 'adze'; at the start of a word it is pronounced like /ts/ in the English word 'lets'; at the end of a word it is pronounced like the /ts/ in 'hats'.^[5]
• [k] is a tense,dorso-velar stop, long, voiceless and unaspirated in all positions and pronounced like /k/ in English word 'score'.^[5]
• [l] is a lateral sonorant; it is pronounced with a lot of tongue tension and is influenced by the vowel which follows it, or, in syllable-final position, by the vowel that precedes it.^[5]
• [m] is abilabial nasalsonorant pronounced in all positions like English /m/.^[5]
• [n] is anapico-alveolarsonorant pronounced in all positions like English /n/.^[5]
• [p] is abilabial stop, tense, voiceless, unaspirated, and long in all positions; it is similar to the combined sounds of a /p/ ending a word and beginning the next, like in 'stop payment'.^[5]
• [s] is a tensealveolar fricative that is always voiceless and long, much like the English /s/ in all positions.^[5]
• [t] is a tenseapico-alveolar stop that is always voiceless and long, longer than the English /t/, similarly to the Western Abenaki [p].
• [w] is amid-back rounded non-syllabic with a similar sound to [o]; occurs before or after a vowel; at the end of a word after /k/ or /g/ it becomes avoiceless fricative.^[5]
• [y] is a high front non-syllabic with a similar sound to [i] but is pronounced before a vowel with greater tongue tension than [i].^[5]
• [z] is a laxalveolar fricative that is voiced, and between resonants is pronounced like English /z/; voiceless when it is at the beginning of a word, both voiceless and long when it is at the end of a word.^[5]

It is important to note that historically Western Abenaki speakers varied in the ways they pronounced thealveolaraffricate phonemes /ts/ and /dz/. More than half of the population pronounced ⟨c⟩ like /ts/ and ⟨j⟩ like /dz/ and the rest pronounced ⟨c⟩ like /ʃ/ and ⟨j⟩ like /ʒ/.^[5]

There is not one Western Abenakiorthography that is generally accepted by linguists or Abenaki speakers, but speakers typically do understand the orthographies ofJoseph Laurent andHenry Lorne Masta––Western Abenaki writers who taught the language atOdanak.^[5]

Masta and Laurent's orthographies.^[6]

Stress within words in Western Abenaki is based on an alternating stress rule:

• Stress is initially assigned to the final syllable and then to every other syllable from right to left.^[6][29] Yet this assignment skips the vowel/ə/ and falls to the next syllable, even if thenucleus of that syllable is also /ə/.^[6] In fact, the presence of the unstressed/ə/ results instead in a lengthening of the preceding consonant and the vowel is often deleted in writing and rapid speech.^[5][29]
• Personal prefixes ne-, ke-, we- are not stressed, thus in words containing these prefixes, the stress shift willnot occur on the syllable to the right.^[29]

As of 2004, linguists are unsure if a minimum syllable count is present in order for a word to be stressed.^[6]

Stress within sentences:^[30]

• In adeclarative sentence, the pitch goes from high-low.
• Questions have a low-high pitch at the end of the sentence, yet the entire sentence is generally said with a higher pitch.
• Stressed syllables that exist in the middle of a sentence tend to be pronounced at a standard pitch level.

When a word is pronounced on its own, its stressed final syllable is typically high pitched. However, this is not necessarily characteristic of the specific word, because as stated above, declarative sentences end on a low pitch.^[30]

The words of Western Abenaki are generally made up of a central core (theroot) withaffixes attached. Often a single word will translate to a phrase in English. The affixes themselves typically do not translate to just one word either. Western Abenaki utilizes bothsuffixes andprefixes, often in combination (prefix-...-suffix; ...-suffix -suffix; etc.).^[27] The affixes tend to be quite short compared to the root of the word. With these observations in mind, Western Abenaki can be considered asyntheticagglutinative language.

Like all Algonquin languages, theanimacy ofnouns is important to distinguish in Western Abenaki. Animate nouns refer to animals, people, and other living or powerful things. Inanimate nouns refer to lifeless things. This is necessary to know because the animacy of a noun plays a large role in what form the endings of other words connected to them will take. However, some classifications are arbitrary. For example, the wordzegweskimen'raspberry' is animate while the wordzata'blueberry' is inanimate. So the animacy of certain nouns must be learned individually.^[27]

The pluralsuffixes of both noun forms:

• Animate:-ak, -ik, -ok, -k
• Inanimate:-al, -il, -ol, -l

Each suffix is used according to the final sound of the noun:

• -ik afterd, t; both-dik and-tik become-jik
• -il afterg, k
• -ok, -ol after-gw, -kw and the w drops (also sometimes words ending inm orn)
• -k, -l aftera, ô
• -ak, -al after other consonants and the vowelso, i

There are a few exceptions to these rules that have to be learned individually.

In most Western Abenaki sentences,pronouns are expressed asaffixes attached to other words. However, separate words are sometimes used to emphasize the pronoun in use.^[27]

The first person plural exclusive and inclusive pronouns are very important distinctions in Western Abenaki. The inclusive form means you are including the person you are talking to in the "we" or "us", while the exclusive form means you are excluding them from the "we" or "us".

The form of thepossessive pronoun affix you must use depends on the sound next to it. The formsnd-, kd-, wd- are used if the word begins with a vowel. Thew- forms becomeo- in front of consonants. If ak- form needs to be attached to a word that begins withg- ork-, they fuse into a singlek- as the prefix. Possessive pronoun prefixes are written with an apostrophe before the word (as shown in examples below).

Note that/w/ is pronounced as/o/ when it appears at the beginning or end of a word before a consonant or between two consonants. It is sometimes written as⟨o⟩ in these situations and is still considered a consonant.

Examples of the possessive pronoun affixes on an animate and inanimate noun:

Two main verb distinctions in Western Abenaki are intransitive verbs and transitive verbs.^[27]

• Intransitive verbs only need one participant that is doing the action or has the quality, such as'to run','to jump', or'to be angry'. Western Abenaki examples areabi'to sit' andaloka'to work'.
• Transitive verbs need two participants: one doing the action (subject) and one being acted on (object), such as'to hit','to see','to love'. Western Abenaki examples arenamiha'to see' andwawtam'to understand something'.

In thinking about these two verb types along with Western Abenaki's distinction between animate and inanimate things, this results in a split of four different types of verbs in Western Abenaki (which is true of allAlgonquian languages).

There are seven morphological processes in Western Abenaki. These processes are used to describe the changes to affixes that occur when they are combined in different ways.^[6]

• Vowel truncation –– the initial vowel of a suffix is deleted when it follows a vowel. The only exception is -wi followed by peripheral formatives, here the initial vowel of the suffix is not deleted.  
• Final glide delegation –– suffix-final glide w is deleted after a vowel when the suffix is word-final.
• Vocalization –– glide w changes to a vowel o when the glide becomes the nucleus of a syllable due to affixation.
• Coalescence of aw+e –– the combination of aw+e results in a single vowel o or 8.
• Coalescence of aw+a –– the preterit -ob is created from the combination of aw+ab(ani).
• Coalescence of a+a –– long /a:/ becomes nasalized ɔ̃ in some instances such as -ba+ab(ani).
• Coalescence of wV –– w coalescence that explains why the plural peripheral formative -ak occasionally becomes -ok.

In general, the sentence structure appears to be SOV (Subject-Object-Verb), but word order is largely free, being mainly dependent on pragmatic factors.^[6][30] While the verb phrase tends to not have a common, basic order, there are stillcomplementizer phrases and inflectional phrases that are more clear.^[30] In Abenaki, there are no apparent complementizers, but it is assumed that wh-words (who, what, when, why) start complementizer phrases, whiledeclarative sentences are assumed to be inflectional phrases.^[30]

Enclitic particles function in a syntactically interesting way. In Western Abenaki, there are ten enclitic particles.^[30]

These are also known as 'second-position'clitics because they come after the first word within the complementizer phrase or inflectional phrase.^[30] However, clitics do not always simply follow the first word of a sentence. Clitics can also attach to clause-initialconjunctions, such as tta 'and', ni 'and then', and ala 'or' or to the word that follows the conjunction.^[30] A focusednoun phrase sometimes appears between a conjunction and the word that could potentially host the clitic, in this case the clitic will not be attached to the conjunction, but to the word after the noun phrase.^[30] In general, though they may typically exist in the second word of the sentence, clitics are mainly clause dependent, and are situated according to what clauses are functioning in a sentence and where, according to conjunctions.^[30]

pazekw = one
nis = two
nas = three
iaw = four
nôlan = five
ngwedôz = six
tôbawôz = seven
nsôzek = eight
noliwi = nine
mdala = ten

A root is an element in astem; it does not havelexical meaning like a stem does. In other words, a root is dependent on other pieces of meaning to create a word.

This list is just a handful of Western Abenaki roots. Roots attached to the front of a stem are written with a hyphen at the front (typically refer people or parts of the body), roots that are attached to the end of a stem are written with a hyphen at the end, and roots that constitute the only element of a stem are written without a hyphen.^[5]

adag- 'dishonest, uncertain, unreliable'

akika 'sow, plant'

alem- 'continuing, going farther'

aodi- 'fight as in battle, make war'

azow- 'change, exchange, trade'

basoj- 'near in space or time'

-beskwan 'the back of the body'

bid- 'unintentional, accidental, by mistake'

cegas- 'ignite, kindle, burn'

cik- 'sweep'

cow- 'must, certain, need, want'

dab- 'enough'

dok- 'wake'

-don 'mouth'

gata- 'ready, prepared'

gelo- 'speak, talk'

gwesi- 'respect, honor'

-ilalo 'tongue'

jajal- 'incapable'

-jat 'sinew, tendon'

jig- 'let, allow'

-kezen 'shoe, moccasin'

kwaji- 'outside, outdoors'

la 'be true'

lakann- 'travel'

legwas- 'dream'

lina- 'seem, feel, appear like'

mad- 'bad'

msk- 'grass'

nakwh- 'sneeze'

-nijôn 'child'

nsp- 'with'

odana 'village'

ômilka 'smoke dry meat'

-ôwigan 'spine, backbone'

pkwam- 'ice'

pôlôba- 'proud, vain'

segag- 'vomit'

skoôb- 'wait and watch'

spôz- 'early, in the morning'

tekwen- 'arrest, make prisoner'

-tôgan 'Adam's apple'

waja- 'kiss'

wazas- 'slippery'

wôgas 'bear's den'

-zegwes 'mother-in-law'

zowi 'sour'

zôkwta 'exhaust, run out of'

bitawabagwizibo 'Lake Champlain River'

masisoliantegw 'Sorel River'

masipskwbi 'Missisquoi Bay'

baliten 'Burlington'

Source:^[31]

sanôba = man
phanem * = woman
kwai = hello (casual)
pahakwinôgwezian = hello; lit. you appear new to me (after long separations)

* letters in square brackets often lost in vowelsyncope.

• Abenaki people

• Bach, Emmon (2014)."Wôbanakiôdwawôgan: Sketch of Western Abenaki Grammar". Linguistics Department Faculty Publication Series. Amherst: University of Massachusetts. — this paper has been withdrawn
• Beach, Jesse (2004).The Morphology of Modern Western Abenaki (Thesis). Dartmouth College.
• Day, Gordon M. (1994a).Western Abenaki Dictionary. Vol. 1: Abenaki to English. Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization.ISBN 978-0-660-14024-7.
• Day, Gordon M. (1994b).Western Abenaki Dictionary. Vol. 2: English to Abenaki. Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization.ISBN 978-0-660-14030-8.
• Harvey, Chris."Abenaki". Language Geek. RetrievedMarch 12, 2007.
• Heald, B. (2014).A History of the New Hampshire Abenaki. Charleston, SC: The History Press.
• Laurent, Joseph (2006) [1884, Quebec, Joseph Laurent].New Familiar Abenakis. Vancouver: Global Language Press.ISBN 0-9738924-7-1.
• LeSourd, Philip S. (June 2011). "Enclitic Particles in Western Abenaki: The Syntax of Second Position".Anthropological Linguistics.53 (2):91–131.doi:10.1353/anl.2011.0009.
• LeSourd, Philip S. (July 2015). "Enclitic Particles in Western Abenaki: Form and Function".International Journal of American Linguistics.81 (3):301–335.doi:10.1086/681577.S2CID 141980112.
• Masta, Henry Lorne (2008) [1932; Victoriaville, QC; La Voix des Bois-Franes].Abenaki Legends, Grammar and Place Names. Toronto: Global Language Press.ISBN 978-1-897367-18-6.
• Voorhis, Paul (October 1979).Grammatical Notes on the Penobscot Language from Frank Speck's Penobscot Transformer Tales. University of Manitoba Anthropology Papers. Vol. 24.hdl:1993/18305.
• Warne, Janet (1975).A historical phonology of Abenaki (MA thesis). McGil University.

• Media related toAbenaki language at Wikimedia Commons
• Western Abenaki Online Dictionary and Radio
• "Native American Audio Collections: Abenaki".American Philosophical Society. Archived fromthe original on August 14, 2013. RetrievedMay 20, 2013.
• "Native American Audio Collections: Penobscot".American Philosophical Society. Archived fromthe original on March 2, 2013. RetrievedMay 20, 2013.
• Abenaki orthography and phonology
• Abenaki-Penobscot at Native-languages.org
• Penobscot at Native-languages.org
• Western Abenaki grammar sketch
• Western Abenaki morphology
• Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs

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