Kansa language

Kansa
Kansa
Káⁿza
Native to	United States
Region	Kansas, Oklahoma
Ethnicity	Kaw people
Extinct	June 1982, with the death of Ralph Pepper
Revival	c. 12 L2 speakers (2007)
Language family	Siouan Western Siouan Mississippi Valley Dhegiha Kansa–Osage Kansa; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ksk
Linguist List	qlc Kansa-Osage
Glottolog	kans1243
ELP	Kanza
	Kansa is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Kansa is a Siouan language of the Dhegihan group once spoken by the Kaw people of Oklahoma. Vice President Charles Curtis spoke Kansa as a child. The last mother-tongue speaker, Ralph Pepper, died in June 1982.^[3]

Classification

Kansa is a Dhegiha Siouan language, a broader category containing other languages such as Quapaw, Omaha, Ponca and Osage. This group of languages falls under Mississippi Valley Siouan, which is grouped under the largest category of the Siouan language family.^[4]

History

The speakers of Kansa, known as the Kaw people, lived together with the Siouan-speakers in a united nation known as the Dhegiha Siouan group. This group was originally situated north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River and then moved west down the Ohio River. Following their westward migration, the Dhegiha Siouan group branched into five indigenous tribes (Sioux subgroups) known mainly as Ponca, Osage, Omaha, Quapaw or Kaw people. Later on, many Kaw people migrated west of Missouri river and were called "People of the Southwind."^[5] The languages of the 5 tribes originating from the single Dhegiha group are quite similar, and have been regarded as dialects of each other.^[4]

Geographic distribution

The Kansa Sioux language was mostly spoken only in the plains region now known as the U.S. state of Kansas, and now because all of the descendants of Native Kansa speakers have died, Kansa is no longer natively spoken. Members of the tribe now use English, while some still understand certain Kansa phrases and words.^[5] There are, however, ongoing language revitalization efforts to document and study several Native languages, both to improve understanding of language evolution and to honor the legacy of indigenous peoples.

Scholarship and resources

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.^[6] Dorsey also collected 24 narratives, historical accounts, and personal letters from nine Kansa speakers.^[7]

In 1974, linguist Robert L. Rankin met Walter Kekahbah (d. 1979), Ralph Pepper (d. 1982), and Maud McCauley Rowe (d. 1977), 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.^[8]

Phonology

Kansa has 29 consonants and 8 vowels.^[9]

Consonants
		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiced	b	d		dʒ		ɡ
	tense	pː	tː		tʃː		kː
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		tʃʰ		kʰ
	glottalized	pʼ	tʼ	tsʼ			kʼ	ʔ
Fricative	voiceless			s	ʃ		x	h
Fricative	voiced			z	ʒ		ɣ
Nasal		m		n
Approximant		w		l		j

Vowels
	Front		Back
Close	i ĩ	y
Mid	ɛ		o õ
Open	a ã

/ɛ/ is phonetically open-mid, whereas /o/ is phonetically close-mid. Additionally, /a/ and /o/ can also be pronounced as [ə] and [u] respectively.^[10]

Grammar

Nouns

Kansa does not mark nouns for number^[4]^[10] or gender.^[10] The number of a particular noun can be determined from the verb, an article or from context. For example, the word sínga could be translated to English as "squirrel" or "squirrels" depending on context,^[4] in the sentence Sínga miⁿ aⁿdómbabe, (transl. We looked at a squirrel), it must be a single squirrel because of the article miⁿ.

Verbs

Kansa is a SOV language^[10] and the verbs are inflected based on the person and number of their subjects and objects.^[10] For example, in the sentence ni kóⁿbla (transl. I want water), the object ni, (transl. water), comes before the verb kóⁿbla (transl. I want).

Kansa does not have verb tenses.^[4]

Orthography

Kansa alphabet^[10]
Upper case	Lower case	Pronunciation	Example
Upper case	Lower case	Pronunciation	Kansa	English translation
A	a	/a/	a	arm
Aⁿ^{[note 1]}	aⁿ	/ã/	aⁿhá	yes (female speaker)
B	b	/b/	ble	I go
Č^{[note 2]}	č	/tʃː/	česká	cow
Čh^{[note 2]}	čh	/tʃʰ/	čhiⁿ	strike
D	d	/d/	dómbe	look at
E	e	/ɛ/	égo	like, as
G	g	/g/	gáxe	make
H	h	/h/	ho	fish
I	i	/i/	itá	egg
Iⁿ^{[note 1]}	iⁿ	/ĩ/	ìⁿtánga	gravel
J	j	/dʒ/	je	lake
K	k	/kː/	ke	turtle
Kh	kh	/kʰ/	khága	third son
K'	k'	/kʼ/	k’óse	dice
L	l	/l/	léze	striped
M	m	/m/	miⁿ	blanket
N	n	/n/	ni	water
O	o	/o/	obáhaⁿ	wear
Oⁿ^{[note 1]}	oⁿ	/õ/	oⁿháⁿ	boiling
P	p	/pː/	pa	nose
Ph	ph	/pʰ/	phóke	thud
P'	p'	/pʼ/	yup’íⁿze	blink
S	s	/s/	sábe	black
Sh	sh	/ʃ/	shábe	brown
T	t	/tː/	ta	deer
T'	t'	/tʼ/	t’óxa	bent
Ts'	ts'	/tsʼ/	ts'e	dead
U	u	/y/	úbe	bird's tail
W	w	/w/	wahú	bone
X	x	/x/	xlexlé	tattoo
Y	y	/j/	yéba	jaw
Z	z	/z/	zíhi	yellow
Zh	zh	/ʒ/	zhúje	red
Ɣ^{[note 3]}	ɣ	/ɣ/	ɣagé	cry
’	’	/ʔ/	’oⁿ	use

^ ^a ^b ^c ⟨ⁿ⟩ is written as ⟨n⟩ before ⟨g⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨kh⟩ or ⟨k’⟩, and ⟨m⟩ before ⟨b⟩, ⟨p⟩, ⟨ph⟩ or ⟨p’⟩. In written communications where ⟨ⁿ⟩ cannot be written ⟨~⟩ or ⟨N⟩ are used instead.
^ ^a ^b ⟨Č⟩ may be written as ⟨C⟩ when ⟨Č⟩ cannot be written easily.
^ ⟨Ɣ⟩ may be written as ⟨Gh⟩ in contexts where ⟨Ɣ⟩ cannot be written

Vocabulary

Kansa has a great deal of vocabulary in common with the other languages of the Dhegiha Siouan group.^[4] The following table compares cognates in Kansa and Osage:

English	Osage	Kansa
house	hcí	či
man	níhka	níka
woman	wak'ó	wak'ó

Language revitalization

As of 2012, the Kaw Nation offers online language learning for Kansa second language speakers.^[8]

The 2nd Annual Dhegiha Gathering in 2012 brought Kansa, Quapaw, Osage, Omaha and Ponca speakers together to share best practices in language revitalization.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Kansa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.
^ Ranney, Dave. "Researchers try to preserve Indian languages.", accessed 8 Apr 2011^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "WebKanza - KANZA". www.kawnation.com. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
^ ^a ^b "Kaws (or Kanzas, Kansas) - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society". www.kshs.org. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
^ 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
^ McBride, Justin T. "Orthography and Ideology: Examining the Development of Kaw Writing" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-02-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kanza Language for Families & Communities Volume 1 Online Edition (PDF). Kaw Nation of Oklahoma. 2003.
^ "Dhegiha Gathering Agenda, 2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2012-09-22.

External links

Kansa language at the Kaw Nation Archived 2014-05-22 at the Wayback Machine (extensive online language study resources and texts)
Kaw Indian Language (Kansa, Kanza)
OLAC resources in and about the Kansa language
English to Kansa Dictionary Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
Kansa Talking Dictionary
Kanza Language for Families and Communities
Examining the Development of Kaw Writing

[nasal-11] ⟨ⁿ⟩ is written as ⟨n⟩ before ⟨g⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨kh⟩ or ⟨k’⟩, and ⟨m⟩ before ⟨b⟩, ⟨p⟩, ⟨ph⟩ or ⟨p’⟩. In written communications where ⟨ⁿ⟩ cannot be written ⟨~⟩ or ⟨N⟩ are used instead.

[c-12] ⟨Č⟩ may be written as ⟨C⟩ when ⟨Č⟩ cannot be written easily.

[gh-13] ⟨Ɣ⟩ may be written as ⟨Gh⟩ in contexts where ⟨Ɣ⟩ cannot be written

[e18-1] Kansa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.

[3] Ranney, Dave. "Researchers try to preserve Indian languages.", accessed 8 Apr 2011^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[:1-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "WebKanza - KANZA". www.kawnation.com. Retrieved 2017-05-01.

[:0-5] "Kaws (or Kanzas, Kansas) - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society". www.kshs.org. Retrieved 2017-05-01.

[6] Unrau, William E. The Kansa Indians: A History of the Wind People, 1673-1873. Norman: U of OK Press, 1971, p. 12

[7] Kaanze Weyaje: Kanza Reader. Kanza Language Project, Kaw City, OK: Kaw Nation, 2010, p. xiii

[Ranney-8] Ranney, Dave. “Researchers try to preserve Indian languages.”, accessed 12 Apr 2011

[9] McBride, Justin T. "Orthography and Ideology: Examining the Development of Kaw Writing" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-02-23.

[:9-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kanza Language for Families & Communities Volume 1 Online Edition (PDF). Kaw Nation of Oklahoma. 2003.

[14] "Dhegiha Gathering Agenda, 2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2012-09-22.

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v t e Languages of Oklahoma
Italics indicate extinct languages * indicates extinct language in Oklahoma but still spoken elsewhere
Indigenous	Alabama* Arapaho Caddo Cayuga Cherokee Cheyenne Chickasaw Chiwere (Iowa and Otoe) Choctaw Comanche Delaware Hitchiti-Mikasuki Kansa Koasati Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache Mesquakie (Fox, Kickapoo, and Sauk) Muscogee Osage Ottawa Pawnee Plains Apache Ponca Potawatomi Quapaw Seneca Shawnee Tonkawa Wichita Wyandot Yuchi
Sign languages	American Sign Language Black American Sign Language Plains Sign Talk
Non-Indigenous	English German Spanish Vietnamese
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