The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages, are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family. Munsee and Unami were spoken aboriginally by the Lenape people in the vicinity of the modern New York City area, including western Long Island, Manhattan and Staten Island, as well as adjacent areas including southeastern New York State, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware.
Facts
Partially Attested
Speaker CountFigure is for Munsee alone, one of the two Delaware languages; Unami has no remaining native speakers Proto-Language StatusA common ancestor, referred to as Common Delaware, is identified; not described as a formally reconstructed proto-language 1 Source names a shared ancestor stage, Common Delaware, but does not describe a formal comparative reconstruction of it RegionVicinity of New York City, including western Long Island, Manhattan and Staten Island, and adjacent areas of southeastern New York, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware 1 In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Wikidata: Delaware languages
Sources
1. Delaware languages, Wikipedia
Geographic distribution section
Munsee and Unami were spoken aboriginally by the Lenape people in the vicinity of the modern New York City area in the United States, including western Long Island, Manhattan Island, Staten Island, as well as adjacent areas on the mainland: southeastern New York State, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware.
Infobox: date
2022, Munsee
Classification section
The linguistic closeness of Munsee and Unami entails that they share an immediate common ancestor which may be called Common Delaware; the two languages have diverged in distinct ways from Common Delaware.
View the SourceWikidata: Delaware languages
Wikidata Q2665761, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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