| Siouan-Catawban
Siouan
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|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
central North America |
| Genetic classification: |
one of the world's primary language families |
| Subdivisions: | |
 Pre-contact distribution of the Siouan-Catawban languages |
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Siouan-Catawban (also Siouan) is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains of North America with a few outlier languages in the east.
Some authors call this family simply Siouan. Other writers favor the name Siouan-Catawaban so that Catawban is clearly indicated as a separate branch of the family and not under Siouan proper.
Contents |
Family division
Siouan-Catawban consists of 19 languages with 2 main branches:
- I. Siouan (a.k.a. Siouan proper, Western Siouan)
- 1. Mandan
- A. Missouri River (a.k.a. Crow-Hidatsa)
- B. Mississippi Valley (a.k.a. Central Siouan)
- C. Ohio Valley (a.k.a. Southeastern Siouan)
- 12. Tutelo (†)
- 13. Saponi (†)
- 14. Moniton (†)
- 15. Occaneechi (†)
- 16. Biloxi (†)
- 17. Ofo language (†)
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- Note: #12-15, all native to Virginia / West Virginia, are thought to have been closely related dialects; the term Tutelo language is sometimes also used in reference to their common tongue.
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Quapaw, Saponi, Biloxi, Ofo, Woccon, and Catawba are now extinct (†).
Phonology
There is certain amount of comparative work in siouan-catawban languages. Wolff [1950-51] is among the first amd more complete works on the subject. Wolff reconstructed the system of proto-Siouan, and this was modified by Matthews (1958), the system generally accepted is:
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plosive | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ | |
| fricative | *s | *š | *x | *h | |
| nasal | *m | *n | |||
| approximant | *w | *r | *y |
With respect to vowels, five oral vowels are being reconstructed /*i, *e, *a, *o, *u/ and three nasal vowels /*į, *ą, *ų/. Wolff also reconstrycted some consonantal clusters /*tk, *kš, *šk, *sp/.
External relations
The Yuchi language may be the closest relative of Sioux-Catawban, but this has not been verified. Numerous attempts to link these languages with the Caddoan and Iroquoian languages in a Macro-Siouan language family are suggestive but remain hypothetical.
See also
External links
Bibliography
- Parks, Douglas R.; & Rankin, Robert L. (2001). The Siouan languages. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 1, pp. 94-114). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.
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