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.

Jicaquean
Tolan
Geographic
distribution
Honduras
EthnicityTolupan
Linguistic classificationHokan ?
  • Jicaquean
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologjica1245
The Jicaque languages are in Honduras in the center of the map

Classification

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Prior to an influential paper by Greenberg and Swadesh in 1953[1] 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.[2] In 1977, David Oltrogge[3] 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[4] 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[5] 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

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Proto-Jicaque
Reconstruction ofJicaquean languages

Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980):[6]

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

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  1. ^ Greenberg, Joseph Harold, and Morris Swadesh. 1953 Jicaque as a Hokan Language. IJAL 19:3
  2. ^ Dixon, R. B., and Alfred L. Kroeber 1913 New Linguistic Families in California. American Anthropologist 15(4): 647–655.
  3. ^ Oltrogge, David Frederick 1977 Proto-Jicaque-Subtiaba-Tequistlateco: A Comparative Reconstruction. In Two Studies in Middle American Comparative Linguistics. Irvine Davis and Virgil Poulter, eds. [Dallas, TX]: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  4. ^ Campbell, Lyle, and David Oltrogge 1980 Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46(3): 205–223.
  5. ^ Kaufman, Terrence 2006 Hokan Languages. In Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier.
  6. ^ Campbell, Lyle and David Oltrogge. 1980. Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46: 205-223.
  • 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.
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