Cayuse is an extinct unclassified language once spoken by the Cayuse people (autonym: Liksiyu[3]) of Oregon.

Cayuse
Liksiyu
Native toUnited States
RegionOregon
EthnicityCayuse
Extinct1930s[1]
unclassified
(Plateau Penutian?)
  • Waiilatpuan?
    • Cayuse
Language codes
ISO 639-3xcy
xcy
Glottologcayu1241
Pre-contact distribution of the Cayuse language
Cayuse is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2]

Classification

edit

The first written vocabulary of the Cayuse language was published by Horatio Hale in 1846. As a member of the United States Exploring Expedition, he had visited the Pacific Northwest in 1841. Missionary Marcus Whitman was credited for providing "much valuable information" about the Cayuse people and other natives nearby Waiilatpu.[4] In his Waiilatpuan language family, Hale put Cayuse and the Molala language as the sole members.[5]

In 1910 or 1911, Stephens Savage, a Molala speaker, had told Leo Frachtenberg that the following five words were identical in both Cayuse and Molala:[6]

sorrel horse qasqasi tasiwitkwi
spotted horse yuꞏk tasiwitkwi
black horse múkimuki tasiwitkwi
comb taꞏsps
spoon ƚúꞏpinc

In 1929 Edward Sapir grouped Cayuse with Molala as part of the Waiilatpuan branch of the Plateau Penutian languages.[7]

Bruce Rigsby reexamined the Cayuse-Molala lexical pairs provided by Hale in 1969 and found only a tenth to be potentially related terms. Whitman was credited as the origin of the Waiilatpuan linguistic family. The words presented by Savage were concluded by Rigsby to likely be loanwords. Upon his review of extant Molala and Cayuse linguistic data, Rigsby concluded "I do not see how the two languages could have possibly been mutually intelligible."[8]

Pronouns

edit

Cayuse pronouns listed by Hale:[6]

I iniŋ
you (sg.) nikí
you (du.) nkímiš
he nip
we námək
you (pl.) mkímiš
they nípik

Cayuse pronouns listed by McBean:[6]

I in ning
you (sg., pl.) in kai
he neepe
we nung naw naw
they cap pick

Verbs

edit

Cayuse verb paradigms documented by Henry W. Henshaw:[6]

'hungry'
I am hungry. wi-tu-tŭnt
I was hungry. kler-ka-wĭ-tu-tŭnt
I will be hungry. wí-tu-näk-sŭnt
You and I are hungry. swi-tu-ter-yìk
You and I were hungry. swi-tu-te-lì-kai-ĭk
You and I will be hungry. nĭng-i-li-pʔl-swi-tu-nak-stunk-a-wak
You are hungry. tu-swi-tu-tuñg-a
You were hungry. swi-tu-til-kutla
You will be hungry. swi-tu-nak-stung-at-la
'thirsty'
I am thirsty. nĭs-ka-mu-tiñg
I was thirsty. nĭs-ka-mu-til
I will be thirsty. nĭs-ka-mu-näk-skĭn
You are thirsty. tu-mĭs-ka-mu-tĭñg
You were thirsty. mĭs-ka-mu-til-hă
You will be thirsty. mĭs-ka-mu-na-stĭnk-la

Vocabulary

edit

Limited lexical items in Cayuse have been collected by Rigsby, Melville Jacobs, Verne Ray, and Theodore Stern. Their Cayuse informants had highly limited knowledge of the language and were more fluent in either Sahaptin or Nez Perce.

Hale

edit

A word list of Cayuse with nearby 200 lexical items was documented by Hale.[9] The word list has been reproduced below.

Nouns

edit
gloss Cayuse
man yúant
woman pintχlkaíu; watχlóa
boy láutlaŋ
girl staítχləŋ; staítlaŋ
infant; child skútχla
father pintét; títʃa
mother penín; nínʃa
husband ináiu
wife inχlkaío
son wái
daughter wái
brother pnákən; pənátaŋ
sister pənátiaŋ; pənwaíəq
Indian; people -
head talʃ; táəlʃ
hair tχlókomot
face léequkʃ
forehead penátχliʃ
ear takʃ
eye hăkaməʃ
nose pitχlóken
mouth səmqakʃ
tongue puʃ
teeth tenif
beard ʃimkéməʃ
neck yet
arm tiélaq
hand épip
fingers épip
nails ʃíŋiʃ
body ʃilăməʃ
leg maúwət
foot tiʃ
toes tiyəyáu
bone pápət
heart -
blood tiwéə̈ʃ
town; village -
chief iatóiaŋ
warrior lotéwa
friend enlápoit
house niʃt
kettle tχlípaniʃ
bow hífoit
arrow lalχ
axe; hatchet yeŋgókinʃ
knife ʃekt
canoe; boat tχláap
shoes täítχlo
pipe iptnχlónʃ
tobacco hanʃ
sky; heaven ndjălawaía, tíŋpap
sun huéwiʃ
moon hátχltóp
star tχlítχliʃ
day ewéiə̈
night ftalp
light notawásim
darkness ʃilímtiŋk
morning tétχlpəna
evening wəχaía
spring ʃuatoluŋátntiŋ; kiátim
summer ʃqáätim
autumn təŋ
winter wit
wind húntilχp
thunder tiŋtululutéʃin
lightning ʃniktawíŋtiŋ
rain tiʃtkitχlmítiŋ
snow pói
hail puŋiós
fire tetʃ
water iʃkáiniʃ
ice tók
earth; land liŋʃ
sea yamué-iʃkaíniʃ
river luʃmi
lake fuŋʃ
valley paniákp
hill; mountain téit
island liŋtkaíli
stone ápit
salt kamtiʃímpen
iron qauqauítχliínik
tree laúik
wood hútiʃ
leaf qaisós
bark pétimi
grass tχleft; qə́ïʃt
pine laúikʃ
flesh; meat pítχli
dog náapaŋ
buffalo -
bear liméakʃ; nokoláo
wolf tχlaíu; tsóilaχs
deer aitχléwa
elk yútiŋʃ
beaver pīeká
tortoise atsík
fly tqaínʃiʃ; katχlísaŋ
mosquito píŋkii
snake waíimaʃ
bird tianíyiwa
egg lópitχl
feathers tiaqaímutχl
wings haŋ
duck əʃimtχl
pigeon súuku
fish wiaíiʃ
salmon milóqli
sturgeon -
name peʃp
affection atíŋp; tiʃktaʃewetáuŋko

Adjectives

edit
gloss Cayuse
white tχlaktχláko
black ʃkupʃkúpu
red lakaítlakaítu
blue yotsyóts
yellow qəʃqə́ʃu
green yotsyóts
great yaúmua; yiyímu (pl.)
small etsáŋua
strong ntáloa; naantáloa
old kuiátsu
young itsáŋu
good suaíu; sasuáiu (pl.)
bad luastu; laluástu (pl.)
handsome hapútsu; suaíu
ugly huástu
alive wióko
dead úwaa
cold ʃúŋa
warm lokóia

Pronouns

edit
gloss Cayuse
I íniŋ
thou nikí
he nip
we námək
ye mkímiʃ; nkímiʃ (dual)
they nípik
this qe, qă, ke
that qá, ká
all naŋináo
many (much) yíphea
who

Adverbs and others

edit
gloss Cayuse
near piáfi
today páməŋ
yesterday iétin
tomorrow tetχlp
yes i
no téehu

Numerals

edit
gloss Cayuse
one na
two lépli
three mátnin
four pípiŋ
five táwit
six nōiná
seven nóilip
eight nōimát
nine tanáuiaiʃímʃim
ten niŋítelp
eleven nántetχle
twelve leplin-ntétχle
twenty lépuik
thirty mátuík
one hundred niŋítalpuík
one thousand -

Verbs

edit
gloss Cayuse
to eat pitáŋa
to drink pasqunstáŋa
to run pqíntuql
to dance iókseak
to sing tuŋséaql
to sleep ʃpíʃiŋql
to speak úlipkin
to see miskaléntənt
to love ktáʃo
to kill piaíitχltiŋ
to sit ifníql; ifníkta
to stand laútsiŋ
to go wintúkstaŋa; wintúql (imp.)
to come wintúkum

References

edit
  1. ^ Cayuse at MultiTree on the Linguist List
  2. ^ UNESCO 2010, p. 11.
  3. ^ Aoki 1998.
  4. ^ Hale 1846, p. 542.
  5. ^ Hale 1846, p. 561.
  6. ^ a b c d Rigsby 1969.
  7. ^ Sapir 1929.
  8. ^ Rigsby 1969, pp. 82–83.
  9. ^ Hale 1846, pp. 570–629.

Bibliography

edit
  • Aoki, Haruo (1998). A Cayuse Dictionary based on the 1829 records of Samuel Black, the 1888 records of Henry W. Henshaw and others. Mission, OR: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
  • Hale, Horatio (1846). Ethnography and Philology. Philadelphia: C. Sherman – via Internet Archive.
  • Rigsby, Bruce (Spring 1969). Sprague, Roderick; Goss, James A. (eds.). "The Waiilatpuan Problem: More on Cayuse-Molala Relatability". Journal of Northwest Anthropology. 3 (1): 68–146 – via Google Books.
  • Sapir, Edward (1929). "Central and South American Languages". Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 5 (14th ed.). pp. 138–141.
  • Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010.
edit