Southern Tiwa language

Southern Tiwa
Spoken in United States
Region New Mexico
Ethnicity Tiwa
Native speakers unknown (1,630, mostly older adults cited 1980 census)
Language family
Kiowa–Tanoan
  • Tiwa
    • Southern Tiwa
Language codes
ISO 639-3 tix

The Southern Tiwa language is a Kiowa–Tanoan language spoken at Sandia Pueblo and Isleta Pueblo in New Mexico and Ysleta del Sur in Texas.

Contents

Genealogical relations

Southern Tiwa belongs to the Tiwa sub-grouping of the Kiowa–Tanoan language family. It is closely related to the more northernly Picurís (spoken at Picuris Pueblo) and Taos (spoken at Taos Pueblo). Trager stated that Southern Tiwa speakers were able to understand Taos and Picurís, although Taos and Picurís speakers could not understand Southern Tiwa very easily. Harrington (1910) observed that an Isleta person (Southern Tiwa) communicated in "Mexican jargon" with Taos speakers as Taos and Southern Tiwa were not mutually intelligible.

Language variation

Southern Tiwa had three dialectal variants

  1. Sandía
  2. Isleta
  3. Ysleta del Sur (Tigua)

Trager reported that Sandía and Isleta were very similar and mutually intelligible.

Sound system

Grammar

See also

External links

Bibliography