Jicaquean languages

Jicaquean
Tolan
Geographic distribution	Honduras
Ethnicity	Tolupan
Linguistic classification	Hokan ? Jicaquean
Subdivisions	Tol (Eastern Jicaque) Western Jicaque †
Language codes
Glottolog	jica1245
The Jicaque languages are in Honduras in the center of the map

Jicaquean, also known as Tolan, is a small language family of Honduras. There are two attested Jicaquean languages, Tol (Eastern Jicaque) and Western Jicaque (Holt 1999), which Campbell (1997) reports were about as distant as English and Swedish. Only Tol survives.

Classification

Prior to an influential paper by Greenberg and Swadesh in 1953 Tol (a.k.a. Eastern Jicaque) was thought to be a language isolate, i.e., there existed no knowledge as to its possible genetic affinities. They argued that Tol should be added to the Hokan stock, a large language stock, phylum or family, which was proposed by R. B. Dixon and Alfred D. Kroeber in 1913. In 1977, David Oltrogge proposed to link Tol to the extinct Subtiaba language of Nicaragua, and also to Chontal of Oaxaca, also known as Tequistlateco. This indirectly amounted to a mere sub-classification, since all of the three languages in question were part of the proposed Hokan stock. A couple of years later, Campbell and Oltrogge published a reconstruction of Jicaquean phonemes, based on the available information on Western and Eastern Jicaque. In that same paper they expressed strong doubt in the Hokan affiliation of Tol and mild enthusiasm regarding the possible link to Chontal of Oaxaca, but stressed that much more information was needed to be able to say anything reasonable. More recently, Kaufman has expressed his continuing support of the Hokan affiliation of Tol.

Granberry & Vescelius (2004) speculate that the extinct Ciguayo language of Hispaniola might have its most likely relatives in the Tolan languages.

Proto-language

Proto-Jicaque
Reconstruction of	Jicaquean languages

Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980):

Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980)

no. gloss Proto-Jicaque 2 all *pʰɨ(t) 3 always *han- 5 arm, back, shoulder *pʰel 7 arrow *¢imea ? 8 ashes *pʰɨpʰɨh 13 to be *kʼos 16 bed *kʰan 17 belly *-kol 18 big *pɨneh ? 24 black *te(kʰ) 27 blood *kʼas 28 blue *¢u(h) 30 body *pʼɨ(y) 32 bone *kʰele 34 bow (of bow and arrow) *halek 37 to burn *tV-pʷe 38 bush (forest) *hokʼ-la 40 buzzard *mantɨ 45 cloud *mol 46 coal(s) *¢ʰek 51 cougar *pɨkʼa(-he) 59 daughter *(ku)kus 62 deer *pʼɨs 63 to die *pɨʔ ? 65 dog *¢ʰiyo(h) 66 to drink *mɨʔ 67 (to) dry *pʰa 69 ear *pʰa¢ʼ 70 earth, land *(a)ma(h) 71 to eat *la ? 72 egg *pehey 75 excrement *pɨ(y) 78 far *kampa 79 father *(pa)pa(y) 84 fire *kʼawa 85 firewood *wɨ(t) 86 fish *kʰul 89 flea *pel 91 fly *no¢o¢ 93 forehead *wala 94 to forget *-pɨʔ 95 four *(y)ulupʰana 97 fruit *wolas 99 to give *-tekʼa 101 good *wɨ(k) 102 grain (cf. maize) *hulup 103 grandmother, female *(mɨ)mɨy 104 to grind *kʰol ? 106 hair *¢ʼil 107 hand *mas ? 108 he, that *hup 109 head *ha(y)pʰuk 110 to hear *pʰak 111 heart *has- 114 horn *¢ʰeme 115 house *wa 117 I *nap ? 119 intestines *¢ʼul 123 knee *tikʼ- 125 to laugh *wiʔ 126 leg *tek 128 lip *lɨp 129 liver *kom 131 long *kampa 132 to look for *pal- 133 louse *tɨtʼ 135 macaw *pʼɨsa(h) 137 male, grandfather *(ko)koy 138 man *yom 140 meat *pis 143 moon *mɨmɨy 144 month *mɨy-pʰini(h) 148 mouth *lala 149 much *pɨlɨk 150 my, mine *na¢aʔ 152 navel *lulu 153 nephew *kelew ? 155 no *ma- 156 nose *mik 157 to nurse *¢oʔ 158 oak *¢ʼolol 159 one *pʰani(h) 164 parrot *kʰuyu(h) 168 red *he(h) 172 round *mul- ? 175 salt *¢olim 177 sandal, shoe *¢ompit 178 scorpion *¢ʰew ? 179 to see *nu(k) 186 skinny *kʰele 187 sky *alpa 188 sleep *han- 190 smoke *mus 192 to snore *-hol- 194 to sow, plant *sin- 195 to speak *wele 196 spider *kolok 201 stone *pe(h) 202 summer *¢ʰikin 203 sun *lo¢ʼak 204 tail *sokʼ 207 there is/are not (Sp.: no hay) *kuwa 210 thorn *ham ? 212 to tie *¢upa- 215 tongue *pelam 216 tooth *wis 217 tree *yo(h) 220 two *matʼɨ 221 uncle *kokʰam ? 224 wasp *petʰel 225 water *sɨ(tʰ) 226 we *-kup 228 white *pʰe(kʰ) 229 wind *lɨpʰɨ(kʰ) 230 woman *kep 233 word *wele 235 worm, caterpillar *¢ʼihih 237 yellow *lu(pʰ) 239 you *hip

References

• Campbell, Lyle. (1979). "Middle American languages." In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment (pp. 902–1000). Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian Languages, The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford UP.
• Campbell, Lyle, and David Oltrogge (1980). "Proto-Tol (Jicaque)." International Journal of American Linguistics, 46:205-223.
• Granberry, Julian, and Gary Vescelius (2004). Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. Birmingham: University of Alabama Press.
• Greenberg, Joseph H., and Morris Swadesh (1953). "Jicaque as a Hokan Language." International Journal of American Linguistics 19: 216-222.
• Holt, Dennis. (1999). Tol (Jicaque). Languages of the World/Materials 170. Munich: LincomEuropa.

External links

• Jicaquean basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database