Nawathinehena language

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Nawathinehena
Nawathi'nehena, nawaθiʔnehena
Native to United States
Region Oklahoma
EthnicityNawathi'neha/Southern Arapaho
Eraattested 1899 [1]
Algic
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nwa
nwa
Glottolog nawa1259

Nawathinehena is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken among the Arapaho. It had a phonological development quite different from either Gros Ventre or Arapaho proper. It has been identified as the former language of the Southern Arapaho, who switched to speaking Arapaho proper in the 19th century. However, the language is not well attested, being documented only in a vocabulary collected in 1899 by Alfred L. Kroeber from the Oklahoma Arapaho.

Contents

Phonology

While it shares many important phonological innovations with Arapaho, it presents the merger of *r, *θ and *s with *t as t instead of n as in Arapaho, a sound change reminiscent of Blackfoot and Cheyenne. [2] [3] PA *w changes to m instead of merging with *r, *s and *n as n.[ citation needed ]

Vocabulary

Some numbers of the Nawathinehena language:

Numbers
NawathinehenaEnglish
tcäⁿcinaha’one
nīsähä’two
nahahathree
niabaha’four
niotanähä’five
neixθiotisix
nīciotaⁿseven
nexiotähähäⁿeight
cioxtähähäⁿnine
maxtoxtanähäⁿten

Notes

  1. Asher, R.E.; Moseley, Christopher (eds.). Atlas of the World’s Languages (2nd ed.). ISBN   9781315829845.
  2. Goddard 1974.
  3. Jacques 2013.

Works cited

General references