Siouan languages
Encyclopedia
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American
language family
of North America
, and the second largest indigenous language
family in North America, after Algonquian
. The Western Siouan family is related to the Catawban languages
, also called Eastern Siouan, which together make up the Siouan (Siouan–Catawban)
language family.
While the Lakota and Dakota comprise "the Great Sioux Nation
", the language family is much broader and includes "the old speakers", the Ho-Chunk
and their linguistic cousins, the Crow
. The Siouan family also extends eastward to Virginia
and southward to the Gulf of Mexico
.
Linguistic and historical records indicate a possible southern origin of Siouan people, with migrations over a thousand years ago from North Carolina
and Virginia
to Ohio
. Some peoples continued down the Ohio River
to the Mississippi
and up to the Missouri
, and others across Ohio
to Illinois
, Wisconsin
and Minnesota
, home of the Dakota
.
I. Missouri River Siouan ( Crow–Hidatsa)
II. Mandan Siouan
III. Mississippi Valley Siouan ( Central Siouan)
IV. Ohio Valley Siouan ( Southeastern Siouan) (†)
(†) – Extinct language
Another view of both the Dakotan and Mississippi Valley branches is to represent them as dialect continuum
s.
All the Virginia Siouan dialects listed here are thought to have been closely related to one another; the term Tutelo language
is also used in reference to their common tongue.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and the second largest indigenous language
Indigenous language
An indigenous language or autochthonous language is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples but has been reduced to the status of a minority language. This language would be from a linguistically distinct community that has been settled in the area for many generations...
family in North America, after Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
. The Western Siouan family is related to the Catawban languages
Catawban languages
The Catawban, or Eastern Siouan, languages form a small language family in east North America. The Catawban family is a branch of the larger Siouan Siouan–Catawban family.-Family division:The Catawban family consists of two languages:...
, also called Eastern Siouan, which together make up the Siouan (Siouan–Catawban)
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
language family.
While the Lakota and Dakota comprise "the Great Sioux Nation
Great Sioux Nation
The Great Sioux Nation is a general term sometimes applied to the Sioux. The Great Sioux Nation is divided into three linguistically and regionally based groups and several subgroups:# Lakota...
", the language family is much broader and includes "the old speakers", the Ho-Chunk
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....
and their linguistic cousins, the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
. The Siouan family also extends eastward to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and southward to the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
.
Linguistic and historical records indicate a possible southern origin of Siouan people, with migrations over a thousand years ago from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
to Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Some peoples continued down the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to the Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and up to the Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and others across Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
to Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, home of the Dakota
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
.
Family division
The Siouan family proper consists of some 18 languages and various dialects:I. Missouri River Siouan ( Crow–Hidatsa)
- 1. CrowCrow languageCrow is a Missouri Valley Siouan language spoken primarily by the Crow Nation in present-day southeastern Montana...
( Absaroka, Apsaroka, Apsaalooke, Upsaroka) - 2. HidatsaHidatsa languageHidatsa is an endangered Siouan language, closely related to the Crow language. It is spoken by the Hidatsa tribe, primarily in North Dakota and South Dakota....
( Gros Ventre, Minitari, Minnetaree)
II. Mandan Siouan
- 3. MandanMandan language-Genetic relations:It was initially thought to be closely related to the languages of the Hidatsa and the Crow tribes. However, since the Mandan language has been in contact with Hidatsa and Crow for many years, the exact relationship between Mandan and other Siouan languages has been obscured and...
- a. Nuptare
- b. Neutare
III. Mississippi Valley Siouan ( Central Siouan)
- A. Dakotan ( Sioux–Assiniboine–Stoney)
- 4. SiouxSioux languageSioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 33,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo, Cree, Inuit and Ojibwe.-Regional variation:...
- a. Santee–SissetonDakota languageDakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language.-Dialects:...
( Santee, Eastern Sioux, Eastern Dakota)- i. Santee
- ii. Sisseton
- b. Yankton–YanktonaiDakota languageDakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language.-Dialects:...
( Yankton, Central Sioux, Eastern Dakota)- i. Yankton
- ii. Yanktonai
- c. LakotaLakota languageLakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
( Lakhota, Teton, Western Sioux)- i. Northern Lakota
- ii. Southern Lakota
- a. Santee–Sisseton
- 5. AssiniboineAssiniboine languageThe Assiniboine language is a Nakotan Siouan language of the Northern Plains, spoken by around 200 Assiniboine people, most of them elderly. The name Asiniibwaan is an Ojibwe term meaning "Stone Siouans"...
( Assiniboin, Nakhóta, Nakhóda, Nakhóna) - 6. StoneyNakoda (people)The Nakoda are a First Nation group, indigenous to both Canada and, originally, the United States....
( Alberta Assiniboine, Nakhóda)
- 4. Sioux
- B. Chiwere–Winnebago ( Chiwere)
- 7. ChiwereChiwere languageChiwere is a Siouan language originally spoken by the Missouria, Otoe, and Iowa peoples, who originated in the Great Lakes region but later moved throughout the midwest and plains. The language is closely related to Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago...
( Ioway–Otoe–Missouria, Ioway–Otoe)- a. IowaIowa tribeThe Iowa , also known as the Báxoje, are a Native American Siouan people. Today they are enrolled in either of two federally recognized tribes, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska....
( Ioway) - b. OtoeOtoe tribeThe Otoe or Oto are a Native American people. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa and Missouri tribes.-History:...
( Oto, Jiwere) - c. Missouria ( Missouri)
- a. Iowa
- 8. WinnebagoWinnebago languageThe Winnebago language is the language of the Ho-Chunk tribe of Native Americans in the United States. The language is part of the Siouan language family, and is closely related to the languages of the Iowa, Missouri, and Oto...
( Hocák, Hochunk, Hochank, Hocangara, Hotcangara, Hochangara)
- 7. Chiwere
- C. DhegihaDhegihanThe Dhegihan languages are a group of Siouan languages that include Kansa–Osage, Omaha–Ponca, and Quapaw. Their historical region included parts of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, the Great Plains, and southeastern North America....
( Dhegihan)- 9. Omaha–Ponca
- a. Omaha
- b. Ponca ( Ponka)
- 10. KansaKansa languageKansa is a Siouan language once spoken by the Kaw people of Oklahoma. The last mother-tongue speaker, Walter Kekahbah, died in 1983.-Scholarship and Resources:...
–OsageOsage languageOsage is a Siouan language spoken by the Osage people of Oklahoma. The last native speaker, Lucille Roubedeaux, died ca. 2005.Osage has an inventory of sounds very similar to that of Dakota, plus vowel length, preaspirated obstruents, and an interdental fricative...
- a. KansaKansa languageKansa is a Siouan language once spoken by the Kaw people of Oklahoma. The last mother-tongue speaker, Walter Kekahbah, died in 1983.-Scholarship and Resources:...
( Kanza, Kaw) (†) - b. OsageOsage languageOsage is a Siouan language spoken by the Osage people of Oklahoma. The last native speaker, Lucille Roubedeaux, died ca. 2005.Osage has an inventory of sounds very similar to that of Dakota, plus vowel length, preaspirated obstruents, and an interdental fricative...
- a. Kansa
- 11. QuapawQuapawThe Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
( Kwapa, Kwapaw, Arkansas) (†)
- 9. Omaha–Ponca
IV. Ohio Valley Siouan ( Southeastern Siouan) (†)
- A. Virginia Siouan ( Tutelo) (†)
- 12. TuteloTutelo languageThe Tutelo language is a member of the Virginian branch of Siouan languages that was originally spoken in what is now Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in the later travels of the speakers through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally, Ontario...
(†) - 13. SaponiSaponiSaponi is one of the eastern Siouan-language tribes, related to the Tutelo, Occaneechi, Monacan, Manahoac and other eastern Siouan peoples. Its ancestral homeland was in North Carolina and Virginia. The tribe was long believed extinct, as its members migrated north to merge with other tribes...
( Saponey) (†) - 14. MonitonMonetonsThe Moneton people were a historical Native American tribe from West Virginia'. In the late 17th century, they lived in the Kanawha Valley, near the Kanawha and New Rivers.-Name:...
( Monacan) (†) - 15. OccaneechiOccaneechiThe Occaneechi are Native Americans who lived primarily on a large, long Occoneechee Island and east of the confluence of the Dan and Roanoke Rivers, near current day Clarksville, Virginia in the 17th century...
(†)
- 12. Tutelo
- B. Mississippi Siouan ( Ofo–Biloxi) (†)
- 16. BiloxiBiloxi languageBiloxi is an extinct Siouan language which was at one time spoken in Mississippi, Louisiana. and southeast Texas.- History :Biloxis first encountered Europeans in 1699 along the Pascagoula River. By the mid-18th century they had settled in central Louisiana. Some were also noted in Texas in the...
(†) - 17. OfoOfo LanguageThe Ofo language was a language spoken by the Mosopelea tribe who lived until c. 1673 in what is now Ohio along the Ohio River, at which time they moved down the Mississippi River to Mississippi, near the Natchez, and thence to Louisiana, near the Tunica....
( Ofogoula) (†)
- 16. Biloxi
(†) – Extinct language
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
Another view of both the Dakotan and Mississippi Valley branches is to represent them as dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
s.
All the Virginia Siouan dialects listed here are thought to have been closely related to one another; the term Tutelo language
Tutelo language
The Tutelo language is a member of the Virginian branch of Siouan languages that was originally spoken in what is now Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in the later travels of the speakers through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally, Ontario...
is also used in reference to their common tongue.