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Lenape Talking Dictionary

By English WORD or PHRASE

By Lenape WORD or PHRASE

Enta Kahta Wëlahëlat Awèni

When One Wants to Marry Someone . . . Told by Bessie Snake (1896 - 1999) to Nora Thompson Dean, Bruce Pearson and Jim Rementer in 1978. Bessie was a member of the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma (now The Delaware Nation).
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English:
My late grandmother said that when a young woman
Lenape:
Luwe naka nuhëmënana kènu hunt ènta skixkwe
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English:
is already grown and she wants to marry someone
Lenape:
kènu mèchi kishikit ènta kahta wëlahëlat awèni
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English:
she should first marry an old man.
Lenape:
hìtami hùntànk hilusësa wëlahële.
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English:
That is the way my late grandmother was done
Lenape:
Na hunt naka nuhëmënana nëni lihan
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English:
she first married an old man before she married another person.
Lenape:
hilusësa hìtami wëlahële na kënch nahkoi awèni ulhalan.
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English:
And the young man he too did that way
Lenape:
Ok wa skìnu hunt nanë lihan
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English:
a young man should marry an old person before
Lenape:
skìnu kìkaya wëlahële na kënch
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English:
a different person, a young woman, a person he would like to have.
Lenape:
pili awëni, skixkweyo, awèni winkalat ulhalao.