Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern
Florida, southern
Georgia, and eastern
Alabama by the
Timucua people. Most of what is known of the language comes from a
Spanish-Timucuan document of 1688 and the works of Father Francisco Pareja and Father Gregorio de Monilla who were missionaries for the Timucua.
Encyclopedia
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern
Florida, southern
Georgia, and eastern
Alabama by the
Timucua people. Most of what is known of the language comes from a
Spanish-Timucuan document of 1688 and the works of Father Francisco Pareja and Father Gregorio de Monilla who were missionaries for the Timucua.
Linguistic relations
Relations have been proposed with
Muskogean,
Algonquian, Cariban,
Siouan, Arawakan, and Chibchan languages. None of these proposals have been convincingly demonstrated. In recent years the linguist Julian Granberry has suggested that the Timucuan language may be related to a language in northern South America called Warao. His claim is still under debate by scholars.
Dialects
Father Pareja named nine dialects spoken in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia:
- Timucua proper - north of the Santa Fe River in what are now Columbia, Suwannee and Madison counties in Florida.
- Potano - in what is now Alachua County and the northern part of Marion County in Florida.
- Itafi - in southeast Georgia.
- Yufera - in southeast Georgia.
- Mocama or Agua Salada - along the Atlantic coast from St. Augustine north to the Altamaha River in Georgia.
- Tucururu - uncertain, possibly in south-central Florida .
- Agua Fresca - along the lower St. Johns River, north of Lake George.
- Acuera - on the upper reaches of the Oklawaha River and around Lake Weir.
- Oconi - "three days travel" from Cumberland Island, possibly around the Okefenokee Swamp.
The isolated dialect of Tawasa was spoken in Alabama. Most of the linguistic documentation is from Mocama and Potano.
Sounds
Consonants
Timucua has 13 consonants:
| | Labial | Alveolar | Post-
alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
|---|
| plain | labial |
| Stop | p | t | | k | k? | |
|---|
| Affricate | | | ? | | |
|---|
| Fricative | f | s | | | h |
|---|
| Nasal | m | n | | | |
|---|
| Rhotic | | r | | | |
|---|
| Approximant | | | j | | |
|---|
Voiced stop, fricative,
or approximant | b | | | | |
|---|
Vowels
Timucua has 5
vowels:
| | Front | Back |
|---|
| High | i | u |
|---|
| Mid | e | o |
|---|
| Low | a |
|---|
Sample vocabulary
Vocabulary
English | Timucua |
| one | yaha |
|---|
| two | yucha |
|---|
| three | hapu |
|---|
| man | biro |
|---|
| woman | nia |
|---|
| dog | efa |
|---|
| sun | ela |
|---|
| moon | acu |
|---|
| water | ibi |
|---|
| door | unuchua |
|---|
| fire | taca |
|---|
| tobacco | hinino |
|---|
| bread | pesolo |
|---|
| drink | ucu |
|---|
|
Sample text
Here is a sample from a priest's interview of Timucua speakers preparing for conversion:
Hachipileco, cacaleheco, chulusi eyolehecote, nahebuasota, caquenchabequestela, mota una yaruru catemate, caquenihabe, quintela manta bohobicho?Do you believe that when the blue jay or another bird sings and the body is trembling, that is a signal that people are coming or something important is about to happen?.
See also
Notes
References
- Campbell, Lyle. . American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
- Crawford, James. . Southeastern Indian languages. In J. Crawford , Studies in southeastern Indian languages . Athens, GA: University of Georgia.
- Goddard, Ives . . Languages. Handbook of North American Indians . Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-1604-8774-9.
- Granberry, Julian. . A grammatical sketch of Timucua. International Journal of American Linguistics, 56, 60-101.
- Granberry, Julian. . A Grammar and Dictionary of the Timucua Language . Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. .
- Milanch, Jerald T. . Timucua. In R. D. Fogelson , Southeast . Handbook of North American Indians . Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
- Mithun, Marianne. . The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 ; ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
- Mooney, James. . Timucua. Bureau of American Ethnology, bulletin .
- Pareja, Fray Francisco. . Arte y pronunciación en lengua timvquana y castellana. Mexico: Emprenta de Ioan Ruyz.
- Sturtevant, William C. . . Handbook of North American Indians . Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. .
- Swanton, John R. . The Indians of the southeastern United States. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin . Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
External links
