The First French-Huron Dictionary by Father Jean De BrÉbeuf and His Jesuit Brethren

This work provides, for the first time, the Jesuit lexical and grammatical description of the Huron language. It includes a translation and analysis of what may be the oldest surviving French-Huron dictionary composed by French-Jesuit missionaries, dated to sometime during the 1640s or 1650s. The work of the missionaries with Father Jean de Brébeuf’s early studies in the 1620s to Father Pierre Potier’s efforts during the mid-eighteenth century established a body of linguistic work unique from any other Aboriginal language in the Americas.