Two slightly different dialects prevailed among the Delawares themselves, the one spoken by the Unami and Unalachtgo, the other by the Minsi. The former is stated by the Moravian missionaries to have had an uncommonly soft and pleasant sound to the ear[158], and William Penn made the same remark. It was also considered to be the purer and more elegant dialect, and was preferred by the missionaries as the vehicle for their translations.
The Minsi was harsher and more difficult to learn, but would seem to have been the more archaic branch, as it is stated to be a key to the other, and to preserve many words in their integrity and original form, which in the Unami were abbreviated or altogether dropped. The Minsi dialect was closely akin to the Mohegan.
How far the separation of the Delaware dialects had extended may be judged from the subjoined list of words. They are selected, as showing the greatest variation, from a list of over one hundred, prepared by Mr. Heckewelder for the American Philosophical Society, and preserved in MS. in its library.
The comparison proves that the differences are far from extensive, and chiefly result from a greater use of gutturals.
COMPARISON OF THE UNAMI AND MINSI DIALECTS.
| Unami. | Minsi. | |
| God | Patamawos | Pachtamawos |
| Earth | hacki | achgi |
| Valley | pasaeck | pachsajech |
| Beard | wuttoney | wuchtoney |
| Tooth | wipit | wichpit |
| Blood | mocum | mochcum |
| Night | ipocu | ipochcu |
| Pretty | schiki | pschickki |
| Small | tangeto | tschankschisu |
| Stone | assinn | achsun |
| The Sea | kithanne | gichthanne |
| Light | woacheu | woashe´jeek |
| Black | süksit | neesachgissit |
| Chief | saki´ma | wajauwe |
| Green | asgask | asgasku |
| No, not | matta | machta |
What differences there were have been retained and perhaps accentuated in modern times, if we may judge from the names of consanguinity obtained by Mr. Lewis H. Morgan on the Kansas Reservation in 1860. These are given in part in the annexed table, and the Mohegan is added for the sake of extending the comparison.
| Delaware. | Minsi. | Mohegan. | |
| My grandfather | no mohómus | na māhomis´ | nuh māhome´ |
| My grandmother | noo home´ | na nóhome | no ome´ |
| My father | noh´h | na no´uh | noh |
| My mother | ugā´hase | nain guk´ | n'guk |
| My son | n'kweese´ | nain gwase´ | n'diome´ |
| My daughter | n´dānuss | nain dāness´ | ne chune´ |
| My grandchild | noh whese´ | nain no whasé | nā hise´ |
| My elder brother | nah hāns | nain n´hans | n tā kun´ |
| My elder sister | na mese´ | nain nawesé | nā mees |
| My younger brother | nah eese umiss | nain hisesamus´ | nhisum |
A noteworthy difference in the Northern and Southern Lenape dialects was that the latter possessed the three phonetic elements n, l and r, while the former could not pronounce the r, and their neighbors, the Mohegans, neither the l nor the r.