Catawba language

Catawba (/kəˈtɔːbə/) is one of two Eastern Siouan languages of the eastern US, which together with the Western Siouan languages formed the Siouan language family.

Catawba
Katapa
Native toUnited States
RegionSouth Carolina
EthnicityYe Iswąˀ (Catawba)
Extinct1959, with the death of Samuel Taylor Blue[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3chc
Glottologcata1286
ELPCatawba[2]
Linguasphere64-ABA-ab

The last native speaker of Catawba died before 1960.[1] Red Thunder Cloud, apparently an impostor born Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West, claimed to speak the language until he died in 1996 (Goddard 2000). The Catawba tribe is now working to revive the Catawba language.

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d
Affricate
Fricative s ʃ h
Trill r
Nasal m n
Approximant w j

There is also a [ɡ] sound, which happens to be an allophone of /k/. /ʃ/ is rare.

Vowels

Short Long Nasal
Close i ĩ
Mid e
Open a ã
Back u ũ

Short vowel sounds /i, e, a, u/ can be unstressed, ranging to [ɪ, ə~ɛ, ɑ, ʊ]. Back vowel sounds can range from /u/ to [o], and a short /a/ can range to a back vowel sound [ɑ].[3]

References

  1. Catawba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Catawba.
  3. Rudes, Costa, Blair, David (2003). Essays in Algonquian, Catawban, and Siouan Linguistics in Memory of Frank T. Siebert, Jr.


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