Jicaquean languages

Last updated
Jicaquean
Tolan
Ethnicity Tolupan
Geographic
distribution
Honduras
Linguistic classification Hokan  ?
  • Jicaquean
Subdivisions
Glottolog jica1245
Tolatecan Languages.png
The Jicaque languages are in Honduras in the center of the map

Jicaquean, also known as Tolan, is a small language family of Honduras. There are two attested Jicaquean languages, Tol (Eastern Jicaque) and Western Jicaque (Holt 1999), which Campbell (1997) reports were about as distant as English and Swedish. Only Tol survives.

Contents

Classification

Prior to an influential paper by Greenberg and Swadesh in 1953 [1] Tol (a.k.a. Eastern Jicaque) was thought to be a language isolate, i.e., there existed no knowledge as to its possible genetic affinities. They argued that Tol should be added to the Hokan stock, a large language stock, phylum or family, which was proposed by R. B. Dixon and Alfred D. Kroeber in 1913. [2] In 1977, David Oltrogge [3] proposed to link Tol to the extinct Subtiaba language of Nicaragua, and also to Chontal of Oaxaca, also known as Tequistlateco. This indirectly amounted to a mere sub-classification, since all of the three languages in question were part of the proposed Hokan stock. A couple of years later, Campbell and Oltrogge [4] published a reconstruction of Jicaquean phonemes, based on the available information on Western and Eastern Jicaque. In that same paper they expressed strong doubt in the Hokan affiliation of Tol and mild enthusiasm regarding the possible link to Chontal of Oaxaca, but stressed that much more information was needed to be able to say anything reasonable. More recently, Kaufman [5] has expressed his continuing support of the Hokan affiliation of Tol.

Granberry & Vescelius (2004) speculate that the extinct Ciguayo language of Hispaniola might have its most likely relatives in the Tolan languages.

Proto-language

Proto-Jicaque
Reconstruction ofJicaquean languages

Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980): [6]

Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980)
no.glossProto-Jicaque
2all*pʰɨ(t)
3always*han-
5arm, back, shoulder*pʰel
7arrow*¢imea ?
8ashes*pʰɨpʰɨh
13to be*kʼos
16bed*kʰan
17belly*-kol
18big*pɨneh ?
24black*te(kʰ)
27blood*kʼas
28blue*¢u(h)
30body*pʼɨ(y)
32bone*kʰele
34bow (of bow and arrow)*halek
37to burn*tV-pʷe
38bush (forest)*hokʼ-la
40buzzard*mantɨ
45cloud*mol
46coal(s)*¢ʰek
51cougar*pɨkʼa(-he)
59daughter*(ku)kus
62deer*pʼɨs
63to die*pɨʔ ?
65dog*¢ʰiyo(h)
66to drink*mɨʔ
67(to) dry*pʰa
69ear*pʰa¢ʼ
70earth, land*(a)ma(h)
71to eat*la ?
72egg*pehey
75excrement*pɨ(y)
78far*kampa
79father*(pa)pa(y)
84fire*kʼawa
85firewood*wɨ(t)
86fish*kʰul
89flea*pel
91fly*no¢o¢
93forehead*wala
94to forget*-pɨʔ
95four*(y)ulupʰana
97fruit*wolas
99to give*-tekʼa
101good*wɨ(k)
102grain (cf. maize)*hulup
103grandmother, female*(mɨ)mɨy
104to grind*kʰol ?
106hair*¢ʼil
107hand*mas ?
108he, that*hup
109head*ha(y)pʰuk
110to hear*pʰak
111heart*has-
114horn*¢ʰeme
115house*wa
117I*nap ?
119intestines*¢ʼul
123knee*tikʼ-
125to laugh*wiʔ
126leg*tek
128lip*lɨp
129liver*kom
131long*kampa
132to look for*pal-
133louse*tɨtʼ
135macaw*pʼɨsa(h)
137male, grandfather*(ko)koy
138man*yom
140meat*pis
143moon*mɨmɨy
144month*mɨy-pʰini(h)
148mouth*lala
149much*pɨlɨk
150my, mine*na¢aʔ
152navel*lulu
153nephew*kelew ?
155no*ma-
156nose*mik
157to nurse*¢oʔ
158oak*¢ʼolol
159one*pʰani(h)
164parrot*kʰuyu(h)
168red*he(h)
172round*mul- ?
175salt*¢olim
177sandal, shoe*¢ompit
178scorpion*¢ʰew ?
179to see*nu(k)
186skinny*kʰele
187sky*alpa
188sleep*han-
190smoke*mus
192to snore*-hol-
194to sow, plant*sin-
195to speak*wele
196spider*kolok
201stone*pe(h)
202summer*¢ʰikin
203sun*lo¢ʼak
204tail*sokʼ
207there is/are not (Sp.: no hay)*kuwa
210thorn*ham ?
212to tie*¢upa-
215tongue*pelam
216tooth*wis
217tree*yo(h)
220two*matʼɨ
221uncle*kokʰam ?
224wasp*petʰel
225water*sɨ(tʰ)
226we*-kup
228white*pʰe(kʰ)
229wind*lɨpʰɨ(kʰ)
230woman*kep
233word*wele
235worm, caterpillar*¢ʼihih
237yellow*lu(pʰ)
239you*hip

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References

  1. Greenberg, Joseph Harold, and Morris Swadesh. 1953 Jicaque as a Hokan Language. IJAL 19:3
  2. Dixon, R. B., and Alfred L. Kroeber 1913 New Linguistic Families in California. American Anthropologist 15(4): 647–655.
  3. Oltrogge, David Frederick 1977 Proto-Jicaque-Subtiaba-Tequistlateco: A Comparative Reconstruction. In Two Studies in Middle American Comparative Linguistics. Irvine Davis and Virgil Poulter, eds. [Dallas, TX]: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  4. Campbell, Lyle, and David Oltrogge 1980 Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46(3): 205–223.
  5. Kaufman, Terrence 2006 Hokan Languages. In Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier.
  6. Campbell, Lyle and David Oltrogge. 1980. Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46: 205-223.