Lenape Language Database Project

在国家科学基金会的支持下，James Rementer先生和Bruce Pearson博士将审阅追溯到20世纪中叶的约1,000小时特拉华州印第安语的磁带记录材料，并将其转换为数字格式。虽然这种语言过去已经被研究过，并且属于被广泛研究的阿尔冈琴语系，但关于这种语言的结构的信息很少以一种易于被该部落当代讲英语的成员或普通公众使用的形式获得。该项目将使许多现在变得脆弱的旧模拟录音得以数字化保存，并将以一种将单词和短语的语音翻译、上一代以英语为母语的人发音的单词和短语的声音文件以及在许多情况下被命名的文化项目的图片的格式永久存储起来。还将制作一张教授一些语言基础知识的参考CD，并向特拉华州部落成员和公众提供。除了该项目对总部位于俄克拉何马州的特拉华州部落的11,000名成员的重要性外，这种语言还具有历史重要性。它曾经在近25,000平方英里的区域内被使用，包括整个新泽西州，宾夕法尼亚州东部，特拉华州北部。和纽约东南部。作为Lenape人和该地区早期的荷兰、瑞典和英国定居者之间使用的语言，它也具有重要意义。这是威廉·潘在17世纪建立宾夕法尼亚州殖民地时用来对付他的媒介。从美国独立和向西扩张到19世纪末，Lenape的重要性一直持续到19世纪末。这种语言在俄克拉荷马州一直使用到20世纪，并一直存在到2002年8月，以纪念一位98岁的老人。一些中年部落成员对这种语言的掌握有限，一些学者也是如此。为保存这些材料而开发的存储格式将促进特拉华部落创建语言教学材料的努力。这份文件还将支持语言学家、民俗学家和历史学家研究材料中所载叙述的工作，并编制更广泛公众感兴趣的特拉华州文本的英文翻译和/或双语版本。

ABSTRACTRementer & Pearson 0214422With National Science Foundation support, Mr. James Rementer and Dr. Bruce Pearson will review and convert to digital format some 1,000 hours of tape-recorded material in the Delaware Indian language dating back to the mid-20th century. Although this language has been studied in the past and belongs to the widely studied Algonquian family, little information about the structure of the language is available in a form that is readily usable by contemporary English-speaking members of the tribe or the general public. The project will result in the digitized preservation of the old analog recordings, many now growing brittle, and will lead to permanent storage of the material in a format that will bring together phonetic renditions of words and phrases, sound files of the words and phrases pronounced by the last generation of native speakers, and in many cases, pictures of cultural items being named. A reference CD that will teach some of the language basics will also be produced and made available to Delaware Tribal members as well as the general public.In addition to the importance of the project to the 11,000 members of the Oklahoma-based Delaware tribe, the language is historically important. It was once spoken over an area of almost 25,000 square miles, including all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware. and southeastern New York. It was also significant as the language used between the Lenape and the early Dutch, Swedish, and English settlers in the area. It was the medium used to deal with William Penn when he established the Pennsylvania colony in the 17th century. The importance of Lenape continued through the period of American independence and westward expansion to the end of the 19th century. The language remained in use in Oklahoma through the 20th century and survived until August, 2002, in the memory of a 98-year-old man. Some middle-aged tribal members have a limited command of the language, as do a few scholars. The storage format developed for preservation of the materials will facilitate efforts of the Delaware tribe to create language-teaching materials. This documentation will also support the work of linguists, folklorists, and historians in researching narratives contained in the material and in preparing English translations and/or bilingual editions of Delaware texts of interest to a wider public.