Bidai language
Extinct language of eastern Texas, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bidai (also spelled Beadeye, Bedias, Bidey, Viday, etc.; autonym: Quasmigdo) is an unclassified extinct language formerly spoken by the Bidai people of eastern Texas. Zamponi (2024) notes that the numerals do not appear to be related to those of any other languages and hence proposes that Bidai may be a language isolate.[1]
Word list
Rufus Grimes, a Texan settler in Navasota, Grimes County, sent a letter dated November 15, 1887, to Albert S. Gatschet that contained several Bidai words. The word list was published in Gatschet (1891: 39, fn. 2).[1][2]
gloss Bidai one namah two nahonde three naheestah four nashirimah five nahot nahonde six nashees nahonde boy púskus corn tándshai
Comparison of numerals
Below is Zamponi's (2024) comparison of Bidai numerals with those of neighboring languages.[1]
language one two three four five six Bidai namah nahonde naheestah nashirimah nahot nahonde nashees nahonde W. Atakapa[3] tanuʹk, taʹnuk tsīk lāt (h)imatoʹl nīt, nit latsīʹk Karankawa[4] náatsa háikia kaxáji hájo hakn náatsa béhema hájo háikia Tonkawa[5] we·ʔis-pax ketay metis sikit kaskwa sikwa·law Caddo[6] ’wísts’i’ bít daháw’ híwí’ diːsik’an dáːnkih Adai[7] nancas nass colle tacache seppacan pacanancus Mobilian Jargon[8] (a)čaf(f)a tok(o)lo točena ošta taɫape han(n)ale
Anthony Grant (1995) finds the following cognates shared with Choctaw and Mobilian Jargon.[9]
language boy corn Bidai púskus tándshai Choctaw poškoš ~ poskos ‘child’ tãci’ Mobilian Jargon posko(š) ~ poškoš ‘baby, child’ tãče ‘baby, child’