An 18th-century Missionary Grammarian: Micmac studies of Father Maillard

John Hewson

Summary

Until the publication of the Micmac grammar of Father Pacifique (1939, 1990), the only published grammar of Micmac was that of Father Pierre-Antoine Maillard (c. 1710–1762), which although it was written early in the 18th century, was not published until the middle of the 19th century (1864). This work has formed the basis of all subsequent linguistic analysis of Micmac, since the missionary priests used it to help them learn the language, and Father Pacifique, in his 1939 grammar (which is today used as a handbook by those learning the language) acknowledges his profound debt to his distinguished predecessor.

Quick links
Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Bakker, Peter
1989 “Two Basque Loan Words in Micmac”. IJAL 55.258261.Google Scholar
1991 “La lengua de las tribus costeras es medio vasca: Un pidgin vasco y amerindio utilizado por europeos y nativos americanos en Norteamérica, h.1540-h.1640”. International Journal of Basque Linguistics and Philology 25.439–467.Google Scholar
Battiste, Marie Ann
1983An Historical Investigation of the Social and Cultural Consequences of Micmac Literacy. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif.Google Scholar
Hanzeli, Victor E.
1969Missionary Linguistics in New France. The Hague: Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Micheline D.
1970Apôtres ou agitateurs. Trois-Rivières: Le Boréal Express.Google Scholar
LeClercq, Chrestien
1910[1691]New Relation of Gaspesia. Transl. and ed. by W. F. Ganong. Toronto: The Champlain Society. (French original, Nouvelle relation de la Gaspésie. Paris: A. Auroy.)Google Scholar
Lenhart, Rev. John, OFMCAP
1921 “History of the Ideographic Manual of the Micmacs”. Prefaced to 2nd ed. of Maillard 1866 (Later published separately, History Relating to Manual of Prayers, Instructions, Psalms and Hymns in Micmac Ideograms Used by Micmac Indians of Eastern Canada and Newfoundland. Sydney, Nova Scotia: Cameron Print 1932.).Google Scholar
Lescarbot, Marc
1907–1914[1609]History of New France. Transl. and ed. by W. F. Ganong. Toronto: The Champlain Society. (Repr., New York: Greenwood Press 1968.) [French original, Histoire de la Nouvelle-France, published, Paris: Tross 1866.]Google Scholar
Maillard, Pierre-Antoine
1758An Account of the Custom and Manners of the Micmakis and Maricheets Savage Nation, Now Dependent on the Government of Cape Breton. London: S. Hooper & A. Morley.Google Scholar
1863[1755] “Lettre de M. l’abbé Maillard sur les missions d’Acadie et particulièrement sur les missions micmaques”. Les soirées canadiennes: 290–426. Québec: Brousseau Frères.Google Scholar
1863Grammaire de la langue micmaque. New York: Cramoisy Press of John Gilmary Shea. (Repr., New York: AMS Press 1970.)Google Scholar
1921 [1866]Manual of Prayers, Instructions, Psalms and Hymns in Micmac Ideograms. 2nd ed. by R. P. Pacifique. Restigouche: The Micmac Messenger. (Earlier ed. by Christian Kauder, with the title Buch das gut enhaltend den Katechismus, Betrachtung, Gesang, Vienna: Ludwig-Missionsverein 1866].Google Scholar
Pacifique, Rév. Père [Henri Joseph Louis Buisson] 1939Traité théorique et pratique de la langue micmaque. Restigouche: Bureau de Messager Micmac.Google Scholar
Pacifique, Rév. Père [Henri Joseph Louis Buisson] 1990The Micmac Grammar of Father Pacifique. Transl. and retranscribed with an Introduction by John Hewson & Bernard Francis. (= Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics; Memoir 7.) Winnipeg: Department of Linguistics, Univ. of Manitoba.Google Scholar
Pastore, Ralph T.
1977 “Micmac Colonization of Newfoundland”. Paper presented to the Canadian Historical Association, Fredericton, N.B.
Pilling, James C.
1891Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages. (= Bureau of American Ethnology; Bulletin 13.) Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Schmidt, David
1993 “The Micmac Hieroglyphs: A reassessment”. Papers of the Twenty-Fourth Algonquian Conference ed. by William Cowan, 346–363. Ottawa: Carleton Univ.Google Scholar
Shea, John G.
1861 “Micmac or Recollect Hieroglyphics”. The Historical Review 5.289–292.Google Scholar