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Mingo

The People and the Language

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People and Language
The Mingo People
The name "Mingo" refers to an Iroquoian people (i.e. Native American). They use to live along the basin of the Ohio river, in what is today Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and Northern West-Virginia. In fact, the name "Ohio" itself is a Mingo word («Ohíyo'», "Good River"), referring originally to the Ohio river. The Mingo people are speculated to be a branch of the Erie.

The Mingoes did not belong to the Iroquois League. Perhaps this fact can account (among other things) for the reason that the Mingoes have not been seriously studied or documented over the years.

The Name "Mingo"
The word "Mingo" itself is not a Mingo word; it stems from the Delaware word (minqua or minque) which they used for any Iroquoian people.

The original use of the word was to denote the Susquehannoc (the Iroquoian people with whom the Delaware had most contact), and then to the "Honnaisont" people (explained below), with whom the Delaware has somewhat less contact. In later stages, the term "Mingo" has been expanded (mostly by Europeans) to include various other Iroquoian groups. See "Mingo Definitions" for a nice summary of the development of the term Mingo throughout history.

This site uses the term Mingo to denote the "Honnaisont" people. The word "Honnaisont" (and several other related variations of that name) stems from «Honyææshâôt» -- "he ties a band around his neck". This name refers to the old Mingo custom of wearing a black badge around the neck. This custom also lead to the term "Black Minqua", used to distinguish the Honnaisonts from the "White Minqua" (i.e. "Non-Black Minqua"), denoting the Susquehannoc (who were also "minque" by the Delaware).



The Mingo Language
The Mingo language belongs to the Western sub-group of the North Iroquoian languages, together with Seneca, Cayuga, and Onondaga. These languages are mutually understandable. Linguistically, Mingo is practically identical to Seneca, with only some dialectical differences (they are less different from eachother than American English is from Brittish English). However, ethnically, historically and culturally, the Mingo and the Seneca are distinctly different tribes.



Dialects
The West-Viriginian Mingo dialect is seemingly unique in that it pronounces "u" where other dialects of Ökwe'öwékhá' pronounce a clear (non-nasal) "o". For example, the West-Virginian Mingo word for "now" is "únë", where others say "ónë".

History

Other Sources

Translations
Kányö'ökhá'   Tekawënötenyô



honyææshâôt -- a Mingo ("Honnaisont") person
literally: "He ties a strap around his neck"; this stems from the the original Mingo custome of wearing a black badge around the neck (hence also their nickname "Black Minqua")
ho- : he, him (Patient pronomial prefix;   3rd person, male, singular)
The Patient form is required by the Stative aspect of the verb stem «-nyææshâôt»
-nyææshâôt :   to tie a strap around the neck
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect; the verb base is «-nyææshæöt-» (in this case, the Stative form is identical to the verb base).
The penultimate vowel, («æ») is lengthened according to the vowel-lengthening rules.
The last vowel («ö») is lengthened in assimilation to the previous long vowel («â»).
-nya- : neck
The root for "neck" is changed into «-nyæ-» when its vowel is not the one before last.
The reason for this is that the original root was «-nyar-» (i.e. ended with the consonant «r»). Over the course of history, the «r» dropped, and caused the following linking vowel to change from its original «a» to an «æ». This linking vowel then cause the preceeding vowel (the «a» of the root), which was no longer separated by a consonant, to change to an «æ» itself. When the root "neck" («-nyar-») was the one before last, the assimilation into «æ» did not happen (on the contrary, the «a» became long, due to the vowel-lengthening rules, and caused the following linking vowel «æ» to turn into a long «a» itself. So, for example, the word "neck" on its own is «onyáá'», from the original «onyára'»).
-æ- :   linking vowel
-shâôt [or -shêôt] : to tie with a strap, to attach a strap
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect (the verb-root is -shâôt- or -shêôt-, in this case identical to the Stative aspect).
-sha- : strap;
The root for "strap" turns into «-shæ-» whenever the vowel is not the one before last in the word. The reason for this is that the original root used to be «-shar-»; see the full grammatical explanation given above for the root «-nya-», neck. The word for "strap" on its own is «kasháá'», from the original «kashára'»
The final «æ» may be nasalized into «ë» because of the following «ö».
The vowel is lengthened according to the vowel-lengthening rules
-öt : to attach,
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect. The verb root is -öt- (in this case identical to the Stative aspect).
The vowel is lenghened in assimilation to the preceeding long vowel

Notes:
  1. Seneca Spelling:
    This spelling reflects the Seneca pronunciation (an exceptional for this site); in West-Virginian Mingo, the «o» would be «u», yielding «HUnyææshâôt»

  2. (Speculated) Original Form:
    As explained in the grammatical analysis of this word, the original form of two of the incorporated words used to contain the consonant «r». I can, therefore, speculate that the original form of the word was (something like): «Honyarasháröt».


Kányö'ökhá' -- Whitely, Englishly (i.e. in English))
ka- : it (Agent pronomial prefix); the vowel is lengthened by the following verb-stem (type LX)
-nyö'ö : o be a white person, in the Stative aspect
-khá' : characterizer suffix (such as "-ly" in English)

Ohíyo' -- (1) Good River;   (2) the Ohio river;   (3) Ohio state.
o- :   it (Patient pronomial prefix; 3rd person, neuter, singular)
-ih- :   river
The «i» disapears after the previous «o-» pronomial prefix.
The penultimate vowel («i») is lengthened according to the vowel-lengthening rules.
-iyo' :   to be good, big, beautiful
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect. The verb root is «-iyo-».

Note:
This spelling reflects the Seneca pronunciation (an exception in this site). In West-Virginian Mingo «o» is pronounced «u», so the word is «Uhíyu'»

ökwe'öwékhá' -- (1) Natively (2) The name of any Irroquoian language (all the North-Iroquoian languages call their language «Ökwe'öwékhá'»).
If the word is capitalized («Ökwe'öwékhá'») then it is means the name of a language. If it is not capitalized («ökwe'öwékhá'»), then it means the adverb "natively".
ökwe'ôwe : a native person, an Indian. Literally: "authentic person".
            ökwe : person
            -'öwe : authenticator suffix (the "ö" is long if this suffix is the last in the word)
-khá' : characterizer suffix ("-ly")

tekawënötenyô -- It is translated
te- : dual (verb prefix); in this case: "one for another"
ka- : it (Agent pronomial prefix)
-wënötenyô : to translate something, in the Stative-aspect form; i.e. "to be translated"
From:
te-...-wënöteny- -- to translate something (literally: to change one word for another)
te- : dual (verb prefix); in this case: "one for another"
-wën- : sound, word (incorporated noun, i.e. the object of the verb)
-ö- : linking-vowel (an «a» nasalized to «ö» because of the preceding «n»)
-teny- : (verb root) to change something

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