Western Siouan languages

The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan,^[1] are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian. The Western Siouan family is related to the Catawban languages, also called Eastern Siouan, which together make up the Siouan (Siouan–Catawban) language family.

While the Lakota and Dakota comprise "the Great Sioux Nation", the language family is much broader and includes "the old speakers", the Ho-Chunk and their linguistic cousins, the Crow. The Siouan family also extends eastward to Virginia and southward to the Gulf of Mexico.

Linguistic and historical records indicate a possible southern origin of Siouan people, with migrations over a thousand years ago from North Carolina and Virginia to Ohio. Some peoples continued down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and up to the Missouri, and others across Ohio to Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, home of the Dakota.

Family division

The Siouan family proper consists of some 18 languages and various dialects:

I. Missouri River Siouan (aka Crow–Hidatsa)

1. Crow (aka Absaroka, Apsaroka, Apsaalooke, Upsaroka)

2. Hidatsa (aka Gros Ventre, Minitari, Minnetaree)

II. Mandan Siouan

3. Mandan

a. Nuptare

b. Neutare

III. Mississippi Valley Siouan (aka Central Siouan)

A. Dakotan (aka Sioux–Assiniboine–Stoney)

4. Sioux

a. Santee–Sisseton (aka Santee, Eastern Sioux, Eastern Dakota)

i. Santee

ii. Sisseton

b. Yankton–Yanktonai (aka Yankton, Central Sioux, Eastern Dakota)

i. Yankton

ii. Yanktonai

c. Lakota (aka Lakhota, Teton, Western Sioux)

i. Northern Lakota

ii. Southern Lakota

5. Assiniboine (aka Assiniboin, Nakhóta, Nakhóda, Nakhóna)

6. Stoney (aka Alberta Assiniboine, Nakhóda)

B. Chiwere–Winnebago (aka Chiwere)

7. Chiwere (aka Ioway–Otoe–Missouria, Ioway–Otoe)

a. Iowa (aka Ioway)

b. Otoe (aka Oto, Jiwere)

c. Missouria (aka Missouri)

8. Winnebago (aka Hocák, Hochunk, Hochank, Hocangara, Hotcangara, Hochangara)

C. Dhegiha (aka Dhegihan)

9. Omaha–Ponca

a. Omaha

b. Ponca (aka Ponka)

10. Kansa–Osage

a. Kansa (aka Kanza, Kaw) (†)

b. Osage

11. Quapaw (aka Kwapa, Kwapaw, Arkansas) (†)

IV. Ohio Valley Siouan (aka Southeastern Siouan) (†)

A. Virginia Siouan (aka Tutelo) (†)

12. Tutelo (†)

13. Saponi (aka Saponey) (†)

14. Moniton (aka Monacan) (†)

15. Occaneechi (†)

B. Mississippi Siouan (aka Ofo–Biloxi) (†)

16. Biloxi (†)

17. Ofo (aka Ofogoula) (†)

(†) – Extinct language

Another view of both the Dakotan and Mississippi Valley branches is to represent them as dialect continuums.

All the Virginia Siouan dialects listed here are thought to have been closely related to one another; the term Tutelo language is also used in reference to their common tongue.

See also

• Siouan–Catawban languages

Bibliography

• Parks, Douglas R.; & Rankin, Robert L. (2001). "The Siouan languages", in R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 1, pp. 94–114). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.

• Rood, David S.; & Taylor, Allan R. (1996). "Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan language", in Handbook of North American Indians: Languages (Vol. 17, pp. 440–482). Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution.

• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: [1]

• Ullrich, Jan. (2008). New Lakota Dictionary: Incorporating the Dakota Dialects of Santee–Sisseton and Yankton–Yanktonai (Lakota Language Consortium). ISBN 0-9761082-9-1.

References

External links

• The Siouan Languages Bibliography
• Siouan languages FAQ
• Siouan languages mailing list archive
• Siouan family (Ethnologue)
• Comparative Siouan languages Swadesh vocabulary lists (from Wiktionary)