"Because of this insufficiency; Potier’s as well as other missionary manuscripts cannot serve as the last word in the study or lroquoian languages, Huron in particular. Their utility lies in their contents as a whole, which may be utilized as a supplement to more accurate recordings. Potier’s and the other Huron documents have the rare merit of being the only extant records of a language which became extinct over seventy-five years ago; I say “extinct”, because Wyandot was spoken in Oklahoma until about 1925 and recorded by myself, is not the complete equivalent of the Huron as described in the written records. Differences can be observed in the paradigms, and phonetic variations also exist for instance m in Wyandot, becomes w in Huron, as in Tsawenhuhi, eagle in Huron; and Tsamenhuhi in Wyandot."

How Was This Iroquoian Dialect Saved From Oblivion

By Charles Marius Barbeau

The Voyages
The Missions
Native Informants/Footnotes


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