Book Launch hosted by the Mikmaq-Wolastoqey Centre at UNB
May 21st sees the launch of the Second Edition of A Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Dictionary published by Goose Lane Editions, at UNB's Mi'kmaq-Wolastoqey Centre.
The first edition of Peskotomuhkati-Wolastoqey Latuwewakon that appeared in 2008 was the result of more than thirty years of collaboration among Indigenous speakers, educators, and linguists. Now, an enlarged, two-volume second edition is available, with more than 1,000 new entries as well as a revised introduction and updated charts of noun forms and verb conjugations.
A massive undertaking, the entries for this new edition illustrate the speakers’ detailed knowledge of the physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional environments in which they live, while sample sentences in the entries, taken from both oral tradition and contemporary conversation, present details of Peskotomuhkati–Wolastoqey thought and culture, personal attitudes, humour, and linguistic ingenuity. An extensive introduction also provides a grammatical sketch of the language, a pronunciation key, and a guide to using the dictionary.
Thursday May 21st at 4:30pm
Mikmaq-Wolastoqey Centre, Marshall d'Avray Hall, Room 337
Prof. Emeritus Dr. Robert Leavitt and long-time collaborators Margaret (Dolly) Apt and the late Elder David Francis were recently awarded the Governor General's Meritorious Service Medal "for their contributions to Indigenous language revitalization."
Over more than a dozen years, the libraries (especially Library Systems) have worked closely with Robert and Dolly on the development of the Peskotomuhkati-Wolastoqey (Passamaquoddy-Maliseet) Portal, from an early prototype "speaking" dictionary to the multi-modal language teaching and preservation resource it has grown to become, and provided support for the development of the massive print dictionary, now released in a second, expanded edition.
