Kansa language
Siouan language of the Dhegihan group once spoken by the Kaw people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kansa (native name: Kaáⁿze Íe),[4] sometimes known as Kaw or Kanza, 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, Walter Kekahbah, died in 1983.[2]
| Kansa | |
|---|---|
| Kaáⁿze Íe | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Kansas, Oklahoma |
| Ethnicity | Kaw people[1] |
| Extinct | 1983, with the death of Walter Kekahbah[2][1] |
| Revival | c. 12 L2 speakers (2007)[1] |
Siouan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ksk |
qlc Kansa-Osage | |
| Glottolog | kans1243 |
| ELP | Kanza |
 Kansa is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. [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.[5]
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."[6] The languages of the five tribes originating from the single Dhegiha group are quite similar, and have been regarded as dialects of each other.[5]
Geographic distribution
The Kansa Sioux language was mostly spoken in the U.S. state of Kansas.[citation needed]
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.[7] Dorsey also collected 24 narratives, historical accounts, and personal letters from nine Kansa speakers.[8]
In 1974, linguist Robert L. Rankin met Walter Kekahbah (d. 1983), 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.[2]
Language revitalization
Kansa has no native speakers. Members of the tribe now use English, while some still understand certain Kansa phrases and words.[6] As part of a broader trend toward Native language revitalization efforts, the Kaw Nation offers online language learning for Kansa second language speakers (as of 2012).[2]
The 2nd Annual Dhegiha Gathering in 2012 brought Kansa, Quapaw, Osage, Omaha and Ponca speakers together to share best practices in language revitalization.[9]
Phonology
Kansa has 29 consonants and 8 vowels.[10]
/ɛ/ is phonetically open-mid, whereas /o/ is phonetically close-mid. Additionally, /a/ and /o/ can also be pronounced as [ə] and [u] respectively.[11]
Orthography
| Upper case | Lower case | Pronunciation | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansa | English translation | |||
| A | a | /a/ | a | arm |
| Aⁿ[12] | aⁿ | /ã/ | aⁿhá | yes (female speaker) |
| B | b | /b/ | ble | I go |
| Č[13] | č | /tʃː/ | česká | cow |
| Čh[note 1] | 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 2] | 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 2] | 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[14] | ɣ | /ɣ/ | ɣagé | cry |
| ’ | ’ | /ʔ/ | ’oⁿ | use |
Grammar
Nouns
Kansa does not mark nouns for number[5][11] or gender.[11] 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,[5] 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[11] and the verbs are inflected based on the person and number of their subjects and objects.[11] 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.[5][dubious – discuss]
