Algonquian–Basque pidgin

Not to be confused with Belle Isle Pidgin.
Algonquian–Basque pidgin
Region Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Era 16th to 18th century
Basque-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog basq1252[1]

Basque fishing sites (in French)

The Algonquian–Basque pidgin was a pidgin spoken by the Basque whalers and various Algonquian peoples.[2] It was spoken near the Saint Lawrence River. It was last attested in 1710.[2]

There were three groups of First Nations that the Basque people distinguished. The ones with which they had good relations were the Montagnais and the Iroquois. They also knew of the Inuit, whom they considered hostile. The Basque people referred to them as the Montaneses, the Canaleses and the Esquimoas, respectively.[3]

Example words

Pidgin Original language English translation
Normandia Normandia (eu), 'Normandy' French
kir kir (mic) you
ania anaia (eu) brother
capitana capitaina (eu), kapitaina in Standard Basque captain
endia andia (eu), handia in Standard Basque large
chave chave (roa) know

[4]

References

  1. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Basque-Amerindian Pidgin". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  2. 1 2 Bakker, Peter (1989). ""The Language of the Coast Tribes is Half Basque": A Basque-American Indian Pidgin in Use between Europeans and Native Americans in North America, ca. 1540-ca. 1640". Anthropological Linguistics 31 (3/4): 117–147. JSTOR 30027995.
  3. Echoes from the Past
  4. Gray, Edward (2000). The Language Encounter in the Americas, 1492-1800. Berghahn Books. p. 342. ISBN 9781571812100.
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