Lenape Tribe Seal

Lenape Talking Dictionary

By English WORD or PHRASE

By Lenape WORD or PHRASE

Detailed Entry Information

English:we were killed (by him); he killed us
Lenape:nhilkuna [vta]

Comments

The root is reshaped as /hnil/.
The first person prefix /n-/ metathesizes with /h/ and merges with /n/.
Unstressed /ë/ of the inverse suffix is elided.
/w/ is vocalized as /u/ between consonants.
First person plural /-nan/ is realized as /-na/ in final position.

Analysis

Form:
hnilkuna
Structure:
n-nëhl-ëk-w-nan
Meaning:
1-kill-inv-3-1.pl