The tribe has begun language revival efforts, based on early-20th-century books and manuscripts, and new teaching programs.

The Narragansett spoke a "Y-dialect", similar enough to the "N-dialects" of the Massachusett and Wampanoag to be mutually intelligible.

Other Y-dialects include the Shinnecock and Pequot languages spoken historically by tribes on Long Island and in Connecticut, respectively.

American English has absorbed a number of loan words from Narragansett and other closely related languages, such as Wampanoag and Massachusett.

According to Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien, who has taught the language for the Aquidneck Indian Council, "Narragansett was understood throughout New England."