Bidai language

Bidai
Bidai
Quasmigdo
Native to	United States
Region	Texas
Ethnicity	Bidai
Extinct	19th century?
Language family	unclassified (language isolate?; Atakapan?)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	bida1238

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’

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Zamponi, Raoul (2024). "Unclassified languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America. De Gruyter. pp. 1627–1648. doi:10.1515/9783110712742-061. ISBN 978-3-11-071274-2.
^ Gatschet, Albert S. 1891. The Karankawa Indians, the coast people of Texas. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology.
^ Gatschet, Albert S. & John R. Swanton. 1932. Dictionary of the Atakapa language accompanied by text material. (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 108). Washington: Government Printing Office.
^ Grant, Anthony P. 1994. Karankawa linguistic materials. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 19(2). 1–56.
^ Hoijer, Harry. 2018. Tonkawa texts: a new linguistic edition. Edited by Thomas R. Wier. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
^ Chafe, Wallace. 2018. The Caddo language: a grammar, texts, and dictionary based on materials collected by the author in Oklahoma between 1960 and 1970. Petoskey, MI: Mundart Press.
^ Grant, Anthony P. 1995. John Sibley’s Adai vocabulary: a contribution to Caddoan lexicography? Paper presented at the 15th annual Siouan and Caddoan Languages Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
^ Drechsel, Emanuel J. 1996. An integrated vocabulary of Mobilian Jargon, a native American pidgin of the Mississippi Valley. Anthropological Linguistics 38. 248–354.
^ Grant, Anthony P. 1995. "A note on Bidai." European Review of Native American Studies 9:45–47.

[Zamponi_2024-1] Zamponi, Raoul (2024). "Unclassified languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America. De Gruyter. pp. 1627–1648. doi:10.1515/9783110712742-061. ISBN 978-3-11-071274-2.

[2] Gatschet, Albert S. 1891. The Karankawa Indians, the coast people of Texas. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology.

[3] Gatschet, Albert S. & John R. Swanton. 1932. Dictionary of the Atakapa language accompanied by text material. (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 108). Washington: Government Printing Office.

[4] Grant, Anthony P. 1994. Karankawa linguistic materials. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 19(2). 1–56.

[5] Hoijer, Harry. 2018. Tonkawa texts: a new linguistic edition. Edited by Thomas R. Wier. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

[6] Chafe, Wallace. 2018. The Caddo language: a grammar, texts, and dictionary based on materials collected by the author in Oklahoma between 1960 and 1970. Petoskey, MI: Mundart Press.

[7] Grant, Anthony P. 1995. John Sibley’s Adai vocabulary: a contribution to Caddoan lexicography? Paper presented at the 15th annual Siouan and Caddoan Languages Conference, Albuquerque, NM.

[8] Drechsel, Emanuel J. 1996. An integrated vocabulary of Mobilian Jargon, a native American pidgin of the Mississippi Valley. Anthropological Linguistics 38. 248–354.

[9] Grant, Anthony P. 1995. "A note on Bidai." European Review of Native American Studies 9:45–47.

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v t e Native American tribes in Texas
Federally recognized tribes	Alabama–Coushatta Kickapoo Traditional Tribe Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Indigenous languages	Araname^† Atacapan^† Borrado^† Caddo Coahuiltecan^† Cotoname^† Garzan^† Pakawan^† Solano^† Tamaulipecan Tanpachoan^† Tiwa Tonkawan^† Wichita^†
Historical Indigenous peoples of Texas (Several are in Oklahoma today)	Adai^≠ Anxau^≠ Apache (Lipan Apache^°, Querecho^><) Aranama^≠ Atakapa^≠ (Akokna, Akokisa, Bidai, Deadose) Caddo^* (Eyeish, Hasinai, Hainai, Kadohadacho, Nabedache, Nabiti, Nacogdoche, Nacono, Nadaco, Nanatsoho, Lower Nasoni, Neche, Nechaui) Cherokee, Texas^°* Coahuiltecan^≠ (Ervipiame, Pajalat, Payaya, Sijame, Xarames) Comanche^* Decose^≠ Emet^≠ Jumanos^≠ Karankawa^≠ (Copano^≠) Kohani^≠ Mayeye^≠ Pachal^≠ Pacoa^≠ Paguame^≠ Pampopa^≠ Papanac^≠ Pastia^≠ Pasxa^≠ Patiri^≠ Pulacuam^≠ Sana^≠ Saracuam^≠ Semonam^≠ Tamique^≠ Teyas^° Tilijae Tomoacas Tonkawa^* Wichita and Affiliated Tribes^* (Kichai, Taovaya, Tawakoni, Waco, Wichita proper) Yojuane^≠
Related topics	Sam Houston and Native American relations
^† extinct language / ^≠ extinct tribe / ^>< early, obsolete name of Indigenous tribe / ^° people absorbed into other tribe(s) / ^* headquartered in Oklahoma today

Word list

Comparison of numerals

See also

References