The Gulf languages are a proposed family of native North American languages composed of the Muskogean languages, along with four language isolates: Natchez, Tunica, Atakapa, and (possibly) Chitimacha.

Gulf
(proposed)
Geographic
distribution
Gulf Coast, United States
Linguistic classificationProposed language family
Subdivisions
Language codes
GlottologNone

History of proposal

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Gulf was proposed as a language family by Mary Haas (Haas 1951,[1] 1952[2]), but the family has not been rigorously established by the comparative method. Historical linguists such as Lyle Campbell (Campbell and Mithun 1979,[3] Campbell 1997[4]) list the relationship as unproven, though a number of Muskogean scholars believe that Muskogean is at least related to Natchez (Campbell 1997:305).

However, the Gulf hypothesis is considered by a number of specialists on Muskogean languages, including Mary Haas and Pamela Munro. Munro (1995) has regarded the hypothesis of a Gulf family of languages as promising; Haas thought the closest language to Muskogean would be Natchez, followed by Tunica, Atakapa, and, rather dubiously, Chitimacha.[5] A difficulty in evaluating the hypothesis is the lack of available data. Most of the data on Chitimacha and Natchez is still unpublished and held in archives.

Additionally, Haas (1958) proposed that the Gulf languages are related to the Algonquian languages.[6]

Lexical comparisons

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Lexical comparisons by Kimball (1994) showing areal similarities among the "Gulf" languages:[7]: 35–38 

gloss Proto-Muskogean Tunica
sibling of opposite sex *xaya -áhaya 'sister-in-law'
to want *kʷanna -wána
big gray heron *watola wátoru-hki 'whooping crane'
fruit; to bear fruit *aθi ʔélu
willow osí (Koasati) ʔx̌ša
gloss Tunica Natchez
to stick in čáhka cak-
to drip čólu col-
corn háhka haku
to gulp kɔ́ra kolkol-
to put in the mouth káhpu hi-kap-
chicken kápaši kapaꞏht(i)
wild goose lálahki láꞏlak
to fart píhču pic-
to shine réma leM-
to snore róhku loꞏk-
sassafras rɔ́wasi waꞏ
to blow the nose šímu šiꞏM-
to blow (of wind) wíhu *wiꞏW-
wild potato ʔɔ́ška- ʔac
to cough ʔúhu ʔohoꞏ-
like, resembling -nahku -neke
intestines -yóni ʔuꞏnuh
gloss Tunica Chitimacha
man / men ší ʔasi / ʔayš
ear -ála-wɛ́ča waʔaš
kingfisher čárina čana
cypress háhku ʔak-šuš
to die lúpi nuꞏp-
war náka nakš
gloss Tunica Atakapa
black méli meːl
to call wáli wan
gloss Natchez Proto-Muskogean
to buy ciꞏp-hakiʔiš *čoʔpa
pine tree col *čolyi
squash coꞏY *tahayo
fox / bark or yelp like a fox kaWkup *kaxʷ-ka
six lahanaW *xana-li
perch / fish šaꞏš(i) *θaθi-xo
wife ʔaꞏL *xalki
tooth ʔeNt *innoti
ten ʔoꞏko *poko-li
nothing but -aꞏnah (Koasati) -nánna
ergative / nominative -c -*t
absolutive / accusative -n -*n
gloss Natchez Chitimacha
water / liquid kuN kuꞏ
hundred puꞏp puꞏp
cow waštaꞏN waštik
spider web weykoL way’
to hear ʔeꞏp-le-halʔiš wopi-
vulture ʔoꞏši ʔoꞏš
twenty / two ʔoꞏk-ahp ʔupa
gloss Natchez Atakapa
name ʔinu eːŋ
persimmon ʔoꞏ oːl
gloss Chitimacha Atakapa
ten heyč’i hišiŋ
liver kesi keːc(k)
woman kiča kiš
gourd kupu kipaco
earth ney neː
Spanish moss siꞏc šiːt
mulberry sisč’up ses
beaver ʔaꞏci oc
gloss Atakapa Proto-Muskogean
shell iwal xʷolo
gloss Tunica Proto-Muskogean Natchez
red-headed woodpecker čuhčuhina *čaxčahka cawcah
pileated woodpecker páhpahkana *kʷahkʷa-ka pakpakuꞏ-šiꞏL
robin (Quapaw šį́kkokkóke) wiškʔohku *č/kʷiskoko miškokʷ
breast ʔúču *piči 'suckle; breasts' šuꞏ
gloss Tunica Chitimacha Natchez Atakapa Proto-Muskogean
hackberry kó- kamu koŋ
negative -ʔaha -haꞏt -hah
wind húri howi hi
uncle waʔa / waꞏ ʔaweh wahš
hand ʔiꞏš waši woːš / wiːš
to give ʔaꞏ- ha-ku-ši-ʔiš *im-aka
skunk šíki kištʔeʔe šic šikitiš

Comparisons with Algonquian

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Some lexical similarities between the Algonquian and Gulf languages given by Haas (1958):[6]

gloss Proto-
Central Algonquian
Proto-Muskogean Natchez Tunica Chitimacha Atakapa
beat *pak- paꞏk- pɛ́ka pak
cold *tahk- takap- láka č’aki
cut *kiꞏšk- *kač- kec- káhču kec
die *nepe- *ili- lúpi nuꞏp- (pih)
fish *nameꞏ- *ɴaɴi/u ʔeɴ níni (ni-) nti
hand *-neθk-i *-mkʷi -hkeni nok
name *-iꞏn- ʔinu nuy-t-
neck *-hkweꞏ- kʷaht k’eʔ koy
night *tepeθk- tewe láwu t’apk’i iti
one *kwet-; *nekwet- wiꞏt- ʔunk’u (ta)nuk
scrape *kaꞏšk- *kaꞏs- koꞏc- kɔ́sa k’atka- kau-š
see *neꞏw- ʔeʟ- hɛ́ra heč-t- ini
sharp(en) *kiꞏn-t- *xʷulut- pilit- kíri kihci kini
shoot *pemw-, *-el- -epenel- paꞏhma- pem
split *paꞏθk- *paƚ- paꞏʟ- pása [č]ap-t- paƚ
swallow *kwan- *kʷalak- -akun- kɔ́ra kaꞏč-t- kul
tail *-aθany- *haci ʔisi -ása mahči
three *neʔθ- neꞏ- ʔéni- lat
through *šaꞏpw- *ƚuput- šíhpu ƚop
tree *meʔtekw- *itti/u cuꞏ ríhku šuš
turn *kwetekw- kitip- kúra kut’ih-t-

Pronoun comparisons

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Below are pronouns comparisons by Geoffrey Kimball (1994) showing areal similarities among the "Gulf" languages.[7]: 39  Note that Tunica distinguishes masculine and feminine pronominal forms.

Independent pronouns
gloss Proto-Muskogean Tunica Natchez Chitimacha Atakapa
I *ano ʔíma takeꞏha ʔiš wiš
you *ično má (M); hɛ́ma (F) ʔakahni himʔ naš
s/he ʔúwi (M); tíhci (F) ʔišina hus haːš
we *posno ʔinima takahniꞏ ʔus yukitiš
you (pl) *hačno wínima (M); hínima (F) ʔaNkahniꞏ was nakit
they sɛ́ma (M); sínima (F) ʔišinaꞏniꞏ hunks hakitiš
Possessive pronouns
gloss Proto-Muskogean Tunica Natchez Chitimacha Atakapa
my *ca- / *am- ʔi- -niš ʔiš wi
your *či- / *čim- wi- (M); hi-, he- (F) -piš himʔ na
her / his *i- / *im- ʔu- (M); ti- (F) -ʔiš hus ha
our *po- / pom- ʔi-n ʔus yukit
your (pl) *hači- / *hačim- wi-n- (M); hi-n- (F) was nakit
their si- (M); si-n- (F) hunks hakit
Agentive pronouns
gloss Proto-Muskogean Tunica Natchez Chitimacha Atakapa
I *-li -ni ta- / ya- / ʔa- (ka-) -ki -o
you *ič- / *či- wí- (M); hɛ́- (F) pan- / pi- / paꞏ- -iʔi naš
s/he *Ø- ʔú- (M); ʔá- (F) na- / ʔi- / ʔaꞏ- -iʔi haš
we *il- / -*li ʔína- -naka -cel
you (pl) *hač- / *-hači wína- (M); hɛ́na- (F) -naʔa -tem
they ʔúna- (M); sina- (F) -naʔa -oɬ
Patient pronouns
gloss Proto-Muskogean Tunica Natchez Chitimacha Atakapa
I *ca- ʔihk- -t- -ki- hi
you *či- wihk- (M); hihk- (F) -p- -Ø- n
s/he *Ø- ʔuhk- (M); tihk- (F) -Ø- -Ø- ha
we *po- ʔink- -kuy-
you (pl) *hači- wink- (M); hink- (F) -Ø- nak-
they sihk- (M); sink- (F) -Ø- šak-
reflexive *ili- -hši- hat-
reciprocal *ixti- ʔak- -tahn- hok-
Stative verb subject pronouns
gloss Proto-Muskogean Tunica Natchez Chitimacha Atakapa
I *ca- ʔi- -t- -ki- hi
you *či- wi- (M); hi- (F) -p- -Ø- n
s/he *Ø- ʔu- (M); ti- (F) -Ø- -Ø- Ø-
we *po- ʔi-n -kuy- ic-
you (pl) *hači- wi-n- (M); hi-n- (F) -Ø-
they si- (M); si-n- (F) -Ø- Ø-

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Haas, Mary. (1951). The Proto-Gulf word for water (with notes on Siouan-Yuchi). International Journal of American Linguistics 17: 71-9.
  2. ^ Haas, Mary. (1952). The Proto-Gulf word for 'land' (with notes on Proto-Siouan). International Journal of American Linguistics 18: 238-240.
  3. ^ Campbell, Lyle and Marianne Mithun. 1979. The Languages of Native America: A Historical and Comparative Assessment. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
  4. ^ Campbell, Lyle. 1997. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  5. ^ Munro, Pamela. 1995. Gulf and Yuki-Gulf. Anthropological Linguistics 36: 125-222.
  6. ^ a b Haas, Mary R. (1958). A New Linguistic Relationship in North America: Algonkian and the Gulf Languages. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 14(3), 231-264.
  7. ^ a b Kimball, Geoffrey. 1994. Comparative difficulties of the "Gulf" languages. In Langdon, Margaret (ed.), Proceedings of the Meeting of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous languages of the Americas July 2–4, 1993 and the Hokan-Penutian Workshop July 3, 1993 (both held at the 1993 Linguistic Institute at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio). Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, Report 8. Berkeley: University of California.