Talk:mochipwis

Lenape

I would not use simply call the language Unami since this refers to the revived Lenape language. Although it is mostly based on the Unami dialect rather than Munsee, calling Unami and Munsee different languages obscures the process of standardization and revitalization that is currently in process for Lenape.

You would not in every day speech say “Ktalënixsi Wënami hach?” (Do you speak Unami?). You would say “Ku uwatu Lënapei lixsëwakan” (He does not speak the Lenape language). Andreas.b.olsson (talk) 13:19, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

@Andreas.b.olsson: Back in 2012–13 there was a discussion (archived at Category talk:Unami language) where it was decided to accept only Unami and Munsee as canonical language names and to deprecate the name Lenape as a language name (it's considered a language family, see CAT:Lenape languages). If you want to re-examine the issue, please start a new discussion thread at WT:RFM. —Mahāgaja · talk 15:30, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

@Mahagaja: This decision needs to be revisited. Granted, I'm a learner of modernized Lenape, a language in the process of being revived. I am not an expert in the differences between Wënami versus Munsee. What I do know is that there are no first-language speakers of either dialect left. It seems to me that removing Lenape as a canonical language is like removing French as a canonical language and instead having only Quebecois and Parisian. Classifying Wënami and Munsee as seperate canonical languages is a narrow linguistic differentiation that quickly spills into the political. It's very different from Scotts and English because the political and cultural situation is no way analogous. The continuum of dialects once spoken in Southern New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania were on the brink of disappearing forever. What we are witnessing now is a process of standardization that could revive the Lenape language. Unnecessary rigidity about what is to be considered a canonical language could jeopardize such standardization and revival. I strongly urge to reconsider having a canonical language category for Lenape, and specifying the dialect of origin. Note that all orthographies for Lenape are recent European inventions. Andreas.b.olsson (talk) 04:58, 29 July 2021 (UTC)