Pre-contact distribution of Beothuk language

The Beothuk language (also Beothukan) was the language spoken by the Beothuk indigenous people of Newfoundland. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (612x657, 101 KB) distribution of Beothuk language info created by w:User:Ish_ishwar in 2005 released under CC-by-2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (612x657, 101 KB) distribution of Beothuk language info created by w:User:Ish_ishwar in 2005 released under CC-by-2. ... Beothuk The Beothuks were the native inhabitants of the island of Newfoundland at the time of European contact in the 15th and 16th centuries. ... This is about the island in Canada. ...

As the Beothuk are extinct and few written accounts of their language exist, little is known about it. It is sometimes assumed to be part of the neighboring Algonquian language family, but there is insufficient evidence to draw any strong conclusions, and this theory has not gained general acceptance. The few words of the language which are known came from captives such as Demasduwit and Shanawdithit. In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... The Algonquian languages are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic language family (others are Wiyot and Yurok of northwestern California). ... Portrait of Demasduwit (Mary March), Library and Archives Canada Demasduwit (c. ... Statue of Shanawdithit, at the Boyds Cove Beothuk Site, Newfoundland. ...

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.) 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

External links

• Stories of Musical Memories: A Song from the Beothuk
• Text including Beothuk vocabulary