Kansa language
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Kansa language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |
| Kansa | |
|---|---|
| Kánza | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Oklahoma |
| Ethnicity | Kaw |
| Native speakers | 19 (1990 census), decreasing (date missing) |
| Language family |
Siouan
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ksk |
Kansa is a Siouan language of the Dhegihan group once spoken by the Kaw people of Oklahoma. The last mother-tongue speaker, Walter Kekahbah, died in 1983.[1]
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Scholarship and resources [edit]
Pioneering anthropologist and linguist James Owen Dorsey collected 604 Kansa words in the 1880s and also made about 25,000 entries in a Kansa-English dictionary which has never been published.[2] Dorsey also collected 24 myths, historical accounts, and personal letters from nine Kansa speakers.[3]
In 1974, Linguist Robert L. Rankin met Kekahbah, Ralph Pepper (d. 1982), and Maud McCauley Rowe (d. 1978), the last surviving native speakers of Kansa. Rankin made extensive recordings of all three, especially Rowe, and his work over the next 31 years documented the language and helped the Kaw Nation to develop language learning materials.[4]
Language revitalization [edit]
As of 2012, the Kaw Nation offers online language learning for Kansa second language speakers.[4]
The 2nd Annual Dhegiha Gathering in 2012 brought Kansa, Quapaw, Osage, Ponca and UmoNhoN speakers together to share best practices in language revitalization.[5]
References [edit]
- ^ Ranney, Dave. "Researchers try to preserve Indian languages." , accessed 8 Apr 2011
- ^ Unrau, William E. The Kansa Indians: A History of the Wind People, 1673-1873. Norman: U of OK Press, 1971, p. 12
- ^ Kaanze Weyaje: Kanza Reader. Kanza Language Project, Kaw City, OK: Kaw Nation, 2010, p. xiii
- ^ a b Ranney, Dave. “Researchers try to preserve Indian languages.”, accessed 12 Apr 2011
- ^ "Dhegiha Gathering Agenda, 2012". Retrieved 2012-09-22.
External links [edit]
- Kansa language at the Kaw Nation (extensive online language study resources and texts)
- Kaw Indian Language (Kansa, Kanza)
- OLAC resources in and about the Kansa language
- English to Kansa Dictionary
- Kansa Talking Dictionary
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