A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Languages

Alternate Language Names

Biloxi: We are not aware of any alternate language names.

Ofo: Mosopelea.

Region

Biloxi: Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, United States.

Ofo: Mississippi, United States.

Who

James Owen Dorsey (Compiler of Biloxi); John Swanton (Editor and Compiler of Ofo).

Others Involved

Betsey Joe, Maria Joe, Bankston Johnson (Biloxi Speakers); Rosa Pierette (Ofo Speaker); Charles D. Walcott, W.H. Holmes (Endorsement).

Publishing Information

Published 1912 by the Government Printing Office in Washington. The digitized version available through Hathi Trust was published in 2024.

How People are Cited

Biloxi speakers are cited in the Introduction of the resource and in the introductory paragraph of the Biloxi dictionary section. The Ofo speaker is cited in the Ofo section of the Historical Sketches of the Biloxi and Ofo.

How Information is Cited

Speakers are cited in the resource’s Introduction, the Ofo section of the Historical Sketches of the Biloxi and Ofo, and in the introductory paragraph of the Biloxi dictionary section. Previously documented materials are also cited in the Historical Sketches but in the Biloxi section.

Where is Information Coming from

Information in this resource predominantly comes from Dorsey and Swanton’s fieldwork documenting the Biloxi and Ofo languages respectively. Dorsey worked with speakers of Biloxi in 1892-1893. Swanton worked with who he describes to be the final living speaker of Ofo in 1908. Dorsey also utilized the language documentation work done by A.S. Gatschet, building on it and making corrections/clarifications where necessary. Upon Dorsey’s death, Swanton organized and edited both Dorsey’s and his own language data into this resource.

Tools and Framework used

This dictionary is available as both a physical and digital book.

Access

The physical book is available through libraries. The digital book is available open access through Hathi Trust as a scanned PDF.

Included Languages and Directionality

Biloxi to English; English to Biloxi (Index). Ofo to English; English to Ofo (Index).

Dialects Included

No dialect is specified for either language included in this dictionary.

Type of Dictionary

This is a multilingual, multi-directional dictionary.

How are Entries Organised

Entries are organized alphabetically by Biloxi in the Biloxi-English Dictionary and contain the Biloxi headword (either a stem or the simplest element), the English translation, and related words (i.e., words made using the stem headword). When there are variations, they are listed after the headword, and cross references are listed in parentheses after the English translation. Many entries list example phrases taken from stories provided by speakers and documented by Dorsey. Entries are organized alphabetically by English in the Index to the Biloxi Dictionary and contain the English headword and the Biloxi translation(s).

Entries are organized alphabetically by Ofo in the Ofo-English Dictionary based on the alphabet listed in the introduction to this section. Entries contain the Ofo headword, the English translation, and related words. Some entries contain example phrases or grammatical information (e.g., pluralization or affix-related details). Entries are organized alphabetically by English in the Index to the Ofo Dictionary and contain the English headword and the Ofo translation(s).

The dictionary sections form the latter half of the resource. The resource begins with historical information about both Biloxi and Ofo languages and peoples from first contact with Europeans. Following this, there is a large collection of texts in Biloxi. These are written in Biloxi first with the English gloss written directly below the related word. Following this, there is a number of notes related to the story, and then there is an English free translation for each story. After the texts, there is a large section of Biloxi phrases divided into two sections: those collected in 1892 and those collected in 1893. These are listed first in Biloxi with an English gloss directly below the related word. Every fifth phrase is numbered for easier reference.

Other Features

Other Notes

While this is an outdated resource in many ways, it seems to continue to be a valuable resource for Biloxi and Ofo.