Narragansett People - Name and Language

Name and Language

The word "Narragansett" means, literally, "(People) of the Small Point." Traditionally the tribe spoke the Narragansett language, a member of the Algonquian language family. The language became extinct during the Narragansetts' years of living within the larger majority society and its members declining in speaking their own language.

The tribe has begun revival efforts, based on early-20th-century books and manuscripts, and new teaching programs. The Narragansett spoke a "Y-dialect", similar enough to the "N-dialects" of the Massachusett and Wampanoag to be mutually intelligible. Other Y-dialects include the Shinnecock and Pequot languages spoken historically by tribes on Long Island and in Connecticut.

In the 17th century, Roger Williams, a co-founder of Rhode Island, learned the tribe's language, documenting it in his 1643 work, A Key Into the Language of America. Williams gave the tribe's name as Nanhigganeuck.

American English has absorbed a number of loan words from Narragansett and other closely related languages, such as Wampanoag and Massachusett. Such words include quahog, moose, papoose, powwow, squash, and succotash.