A Key to the Language of America
Title
A Key to the Language of America
Date
1643
Description
Printed in London in 1643, Roger Williams’s Key to the Language of America functions as a dictionary of the Algonquian language. Within the text, Williams lists English to Algonquian translations of common words or phrases with sections on the time of day, family businesses, travel, and the like. The dictionary also offers a glimpse into the religious beliefs and lifeways of the Narragansett Indians of Rhode Island. Williams’s work is the earliest printed lexicon of any Native American language.
Creator
Williams, Roger, 1604?-1683.
Publisher
London: Printed by Gregory Dexter.
Extent
[16], 200 [i.e., 224] p. ; 16 cm. (8vo)
Bibliographic Citation
Identifier
204126
Type
Book
Alternative Title
A key to the language of America: or, An help to the language of the natives in that part of America, called New-England. Together, with briefe observations of the customes, manners and worships, &c. of the aforesaid natives, in peace and warre, in life and death. On all which are added spirituall observations, generall and particular by the author, of chiefe and speciall use (upon all occasions,) to all the English inhabiting those parts; yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men: by Roger Williams of Providence in New-England.
Collection
Citation
Williams, Roger, 1604?-1683., “A Key to the Language of America,” From English to Algonquian: Early New England Translations, accessed July 6, 2024, https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/EnglishtoAlgonquian/items/show/38.
Item Relations
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