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A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language
Excerpt from A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language
It has been my good fortune to have enlisted as coeditor Mr. Henry S. Halbert, of the Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Ala., who has spent Many years of his life among the Choctaw Indians, is familiar with their language, and is an enthusiastic student of everything relating to the history and present culture of the tribe. While he has noted and corrected many errors, he has deemed it best to let certain doubtful words and sentences stand as in the original manuscript, with the idea that they may represent certain dialectic or archaic variations which have escaped him.
It has been my good fortune to have enlisted as coeditor Mr. Henry S. Halbert, of the Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Ala., who has spent Many years of his life among the Choctaw Indians, is familiar with their language, and is an enthusiastic student of everything relating to the history and present culture of the tribe. While he has noted and corrected many errors, he has deemed it best to let certain doubtful words and sentences stand as in the original manuscript, with the idea that they may represent certain dialectic or archaic variations which have escaped him.
678 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1915
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About the author
Cyrus Byington
28 booksCyrus Byington (March 11, 1793 – December 31, 1868) was a White Christian missionary from Massachusetts who began working with the Choctaw in Mississippi in 1821. Although he had been trained as a lawyer, he abandoned law as a career and became a minister affiliated with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. During this period he learned the Choctaw language, which was then entirely unwritten. He also began to develop a Choctaw orthography.
After the U.S. government began enforcing its Indian Removal policy to relocate Native Americans from their lands in the Southeastern states to Indian Territory, later called Oklahoma, during the 19th century. In 1835, Byington and his family returned to the new Choctaw homeland and founded a mission near Eagletown. He sought to construct a lexicon and develop other linguistic tools for the Choctaw language to translate Christian prayers, hymns, and bible passages. Byington's work is considered one of the most complete lexicons for a Native American language. He worked nearly 50 years translating Choctaw as a written language.
After the U.S. government began enforcing its Indian Removal policy to relocate Native Americans from their lands in the Southeastern states to Indian Territory, later called Oklahoma, during the 19th century. In 1835, Byington and his family returned to the new Choctaw homeland and founded a mission near Eagletown. He sought to construct a lexicon and develop other linguistic tools for the Choctaw language to translate Christian prayers, hymns, and bible passages. Byington's work is considered one of the most complete lexicons for a Native American language. He worked nearly 50 years translating Choctaw as a written language.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 9, 2022
an important record of the language. Wish it was not in PDF format
May 18, 2014
Best Choctaw to English dictionary
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews