The Eastern Siouan branch consists of various historical languages spoken by Siouan peoples of the Appalachian Plateau and Piedmont regions of present-day Virginia and the Carolinas. These languages are sometimes collectively referred to as Catawban, Tutelo, Tutelo-Saponi, or Yesah (Yesa:sahį).[1] Eastern Siouan languages were historical spoken by the Monacan Indian Nation, Haliwa-Saponi, Catawba/Iswa, Occaneechi, and Waccamaw peoples. They possibly represent a dialect continuum with Ohio Valley Siouan languages (Ofo language/Mosopelea, Biloxi language).[2] The Catawban family is a branch of the larger Siouan a.k.a. Siouan–Catawban family.

Catawban
Eastern Siouan
Geographic
distribution
The Carolinas
Linguistic classificationSiouan
  • Catawban
Subdivisions
Linguasphere64-AB
Glottologcata1285
Pre-contact distribution of the Catawban languages

Family division edit

Recognized members of the Eastern Siouan/Catawban family include:

  1. Catawba – spoken by the Catawba people
  2. Woccon (†) – spoken by the Waccamaw people

References edit

  1. ^ https://www.yesasahin.org/
  2. ^ Ryan M. Kasak. 2016. A distant genetic relationship between SiouanCatawban and Yuchi. In Catherine Rudin & Bryan J. Gordon (eds.), Advances in the study of siouan languages and linguistics, 5–39. Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI:10.17169/langsci.b94.120 https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/be94144a-3e4f-4913-9089-2bcfe5bd0879/611691.pdf
  • Parks, Douglas R.; & Rankin, Robert L. (2001). The Siouan languages. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 1, pp. 94–114). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.