Beothuk language - Definition

The Beothuk language was the language spoken by the Beothuk indigenous people of Newfoundland.

As the Beothuk are extinct and few written accounts of their language exist, little is known about it. It is believed to be part of the Algonquian language family, probably closer to Innu than Mi'kmaq. The few words from their language which are known came from captives such as Demasduwit and Shanawdithit.

A recording of the Beothuk language in song, as performed by a 75-year old native woman named Santu, was made in 1910 by the American anthropologist Frank Speck, and resurfaced at the very end of the twentieth century. The text is uncertain and not understood. (Some sources report 1929, but the 1910 date is confirmed in Speck's book Beothuk and Micmac, New York 1922, p. 67.)

External links

• Stories of Musical Memories: A Song from the Beothuk (http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/thismorning/lfnsound/musical_memories/musical_memories_091300.html)
• Text including Beothuk vocabulary (http://www.mun.ca/rels/native/beothuk/beo2gifs/texts/HOW19c.html)

Example Usage of language