# Quiripi language
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{{Short description|Language}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Quiripi
| altname =
| states = [United States](/source/United_States)
| extinct = ca. 1900
| familycolor = Algic
| fam1 = [Algic](/source/Algic_languages)
| fam2 = [Algonquian](/source/Algonquian_languages)
| fam3 = [Eastern Algonquian](/source/Eastern_Algonquian_languages)
| iso3 = qyp
| glotto = wamp1250
| glottorefname = Wampano
| map = Tribal_Territories_Southern_New_England.png
| mapcaption = The location of the Paugussett, Tunxis, Podunk, Quinnipiac, Mattabesic (Wangunk), Unquachog and their neighbors, c. 1600
| region = [Gold Coast](/source/Gold_Coast_(Connecticut)), [Long Island](/source/Long_Island)
| ethnicity = [Quinnipiac](/source/Quinnipiac), [Unquachog](/source/Metoac), [Mattabessett (Wangunk)](/source/Wangunk), [Podunk](/source/Podunk_people), [Tunxis](/source/Tunxis), [Paugussett](/source/Paugussett)
}}
'''Quiripi''' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|r|ɪ|p|iː}}{{respell|KWIH|rih|pee}})[Salwen (1978:175)] was an [Algonquian language](/source/Algonquian_languages) formerly spoken by the [Quinnipiac](/source/Quinnipiac), an Indigenous nation of [southwestern Connecticut](/source/Gold_Coast_(Connecticut)) and central [Long Island](/source/Long_Island),[Rudes (1997:1)][Goddard (1978:72)] It has been [extinct](/source/Language_death) since the end of the 19th century,[Goddard (1978:71)] although [Frank Siebert](/source/Frank_Siebert) was able to record a few Unquachog words from an elderly woman in 1932.[Rudes (1997:5)]
== Name ==
Quiripi has also been called also known as Mattabesic,[Native American Language Net] Quiripi-Unquachog, Quiripi-Naugatuck, and Wampano.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
==Affiliation and dialects==
Quiripi is an [Eastern Algonquian language](/source/Eastern_Algonquian_language) of the Algonquian language family.[Goddard (1978)][Mithun (1999:327)] It shared several linguistic features with the other Algonquian languages of southern New England, such as [Massachusett](/source/Massachusett_language) and [Mohegan-Pequot](/source/Mohegan-Pequot_language), including the shifting of Proto-Eastern Algonquian *{{IPA|/aː/}} and *{{IPA|/eː/}} to {{IPA|/ãː/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}}, respectively, and the [palatalization](/source/Palatalization_(sound_change)) of earlier *{{IPA|/k/}} before certain [front vowel](/source/front_vowel)s.[Goddard (1978:75)][Rudes (1997:27)] There appear to have been two major dialects of Quiripi: an "insular" dialect spoken on Long Island by the Unquachog and a "mainland" dialect spoken by the other groups in Connecticut, principally the Quinnipiac.[Rudes (1997:6–7)][Costa (2007:116, 119)]
==Attestation==
Quiripi is very poorly attested,[Costa (2007:116, 118)] though some sources do exist. One of the earliest Quiripi vocabularies was a 67-page bilingual [catechism](/source/catechism) compiled in 1658 by [Abraham Pierson, the elder](/source/Abraham_Pierson%2C_the_elder), during his ministry at [Branford, Connecticut](/source/Branford%2C_Connecticut),[Mithun (1999:331)] which remains the chief source of modern conclusions about Quiripi.[Costa (2007:118)] It also displays signs of dialect mixture.[Costa (2007:116)] Other sources of information on the language include a vocabulary collected by the Rev. [Ezra Stiles](/source/Ezra_Stiles) in the late 1700s[Rudes (1997:4)] and a 202-word Unquachog vocabulary recorded by [Thomas Jefferson](/source/Thomas_Jefferson) in 1791,[Costa (2007:120)] Additionally, three early hymns written circa 1740 at the [Moravian](/source/Moravian_Church) Shekomeko mission near [Kent, Connecticut](/source/Kent%2C_Connecticut), have been translated by Carl Masthay.[Rudes (1997:2)]
==Phonology==
Linguist [Blair Rudes](/source/Blair_Rudes) attempted to reconstitute the phonology of Quiripi, using the extant documentation, comparison with related Algonquian languages, as "reconstructing forward" from [Proto-Algonquian](/source/Proto-Algonquian_language).[Rudes (1997:6)] In Rudes' analysis, Quiripi contained the following consonant [phoneme](/source/phoneme)s:[Rudes (2007:18)]
{| class="wikitable"
!
! align="center"|[Labial](/source/Bilabial_consonant)
! align="center"|[Alveolar](/source/Alveolar_consonant)
! align="center"|[Palatal](/source/Palatal_consonant)
! align="center"|[Velar](/source/Velar_consonant)
! align="center"|[Glottal](/source/Glottal_consonant)
|-
! [Plosive](/source/Plosive_consonant)
| align="center"|{{IPA link|p}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|t}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|tʃ}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
! [Fricative](/source/Fricative)
|
| align="center"|{{IPA link|s}}
| align="center"|({{IPA link|ʃ}}){{ref|a|*}}
|
| align="center"|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! [Nasal](/source/Nasal_stop)
| align="center"|{{IPA link|m}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! [Rhotic](/source/Rhotic_consonant)
|
| align="center"|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|-
! [Semivowel](/source/Semivowel)
| align="center"|{{IPA link|w}}
|
| align="center"|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|}
{|
|-
|{{note|a unlabeled||{{IPA|/ʃ/}} was a distinct phoneme only in the mainland dialect; in Unquachog it had merged with {{IPA|/s/}}}}
|}
Quiripi's vowel system as reconstituted by Rudes was similar to that of the other Southern New England Algonquian languages. It consisted of two short vowels {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}}, and four long vowels {{IPA|/aː/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}}, and {{IPA|/ʌ̃/}}.