The Biloxi tribe first encountered Europeans in 1699, along the Pascagoula River. By the mid-18th century, they had settled in central Louisiana. Some were also noted in Texas in the early 19th century. By the early 19th century, their numbers were already dwindling. By 1934, the last native speaker, Emma Jackson, was in her eighties. Morris Swadesh and Mary Haas spoke with her in 1934 and confirmed that she spoke the language.
Classification
Biloxi is an Ohio Valley, or Southeastern, Siouan language. It is related to Ofo and Tutelo.
Phonology
Multiple possible inventories have been suggested. This article follows that of Einaudi.
Biloxi may have a phonetic schwa, but Dorsey-Swanton and Haas are consistent in marking it.
Dorsey & Swanton postulated phonemic vowel length, which was verified by Haas and Swadesh in speaking with Emma Jackson in 1934. Their findings appeared in Haas. Also, there may still be some uncertainty as to whether certain words contain /ą/ or /an/.
Phoneme
Word
Gloss
Phoneme
Word
Gloss
/i/
ide
'it falls'
/į/
įde
'dung, manure'
/u/
ku
'he gives'
/e/
ane
'louse'
/o/
dohi
'anything rubbed or smeared'
/ǫ/
dǫhi
'he sees'
/a/
da
'he gathers'
/ą/
dą
'he holds'
Consonants
Notes:
Has a marginal status
Biloxi may also have a phonemic aspiration distinction for some segments.
Phoneme
Word
Gloss
Phoneme
Word
Gloss
Phoneme
Word
Gloss
/p/
pa
'head'
/m/
ma
'ground'
/w/
wa
'very'
/t/
ti
'house'
/c/
ci
'they lie down'
/s/
si
'yellow'
/k/
ką
'when'
/x/
xą
'where'
/h/
hą
'and'
/d/
de
'he went'
/n/
ne
'he stands'
/y/
yahe
'this'
Phoneme
Examples
/b/
/f/
/š/
Phonotactics
Syllable structure is V or V. However, clusters of three consonants are rare. Most words end in a vowel. The others usually end in /k/ or /x/ as a result of deletion: tox from toho "he fell." Few consonant clusters end syllables. Most exceptions are caused by vowel deletion: tohoxk from tohoxka "horse." The following consonant clusters are observed:
p
t
d
c
k
s
x
h
m
n
w
y
p
x
x
x
x
x
?
t
x
x
x
x
?
x
x
d
?
c
x
x
x
k
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
s
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
h
m
n
x
x
?
x
x
w
y
Geminates do not occur. /n/ sonorants and probably /d/ occur only as the second elements of clusters. /h/ and /m/ are never the second element. Fricatives do not co-occur. There are a few three-consonant clusters, all of the form C+s+stop or C+x+glide and some with alternate forms: ; pst ; psd ; tsp ; tsk ; kst ; nsk ; pxw ; txy ; kxw ; kxy
Grammar
Morphophonemics
There are many verb roots and two mode markers with the morphophonemically-conditioned alternation e~a~i :
dE 'go'
andE, yukE 'be'
yE 'cause'
E 'say'
tE
dandE
The alternation depends on the following morpheme:
Nouns and verbs whose stems end in -Vhi or -Vhį change to -Vx before the plural marker -tu: That may occur with duti 'to eat' also: The rule may optionally also apply in compounds and across word boundaries if the next element starts with CV: Nouns that end in -di and can undergo pluralization change to -x: ||adi + tu|| > /axtu/ 'their father'. Verbs whose stems end in -Vki, -Vpi, or -si optionally lose their -i before the plural marker: The rule may cause the previous vowel to denasalize. Verbs whose stems end in -ti or -hi may optionally change to -x before the negative mode marker ni: Stems ending in -si optionally become -s. The dative marker ki becomes kiy before a vowel. The following rule is optional in compounds and across word boundaries and obligatory everywhere else: V1V1 > V1 V1V2 > V2 However, there are a few words with two adjacent vowels: naǫ 'day', hauti 'be sick', etc. Two morphophonemically-identical syllables may not appear contiguously, but the former is dropped. Einaudi finds one counterexample, ||kite + te|| > /kite te/ 'she wanted to hit him'. C1C1 > C1 The following rule optionally applies to compounds: XV#CY > XCY That may lead to otherwise-disallowed clusters, including geminates: The following rule applies to compounds: Vn#C > V̨#C The following rules are conditioned by person markers on nouns and verbs: Stems beginning with /h/ and some beginning with /y/ undergo the following : However, that does not apply for y-initial stems: The following rule applies before roots and the dative marker ki: ||ay|| > /aya~ya/ /___k,x The use of different allomorphs in free variation is attested for some verbs. The next four rules combine personal affixes and so apply only to verbs: The subjunctive mode marker ||xo|| undergoes the following rule: The habitual mode marker ||xa|| optionally undergoes the following rule: The auxiliary ande undergoes the following rule:
Morphology
The three word classes in Biloxi are verbs, substantives, and particles. Only first two take affixes. Verbs are always marked for person and number and may also take dative, reciprocal, reflexive, and/or instrumental markers as well as mode markers, the object specifier, and auxiliaries. They are at or immediately before the end of clauses. All nominal affixes may also be used with verbs, but nouns use a subset of the verbal affixes. They may not use dative, reciprocal, reflexive, or instrumental markers or mode markers or auxiliaries. Particles serve many functions, including noun phrase marking and acting as adverbials.
Inflection
Nouns
Nouns may be inflectable or, as most are, non-inflectable. The former group inflects for person and number. It contains names of body parts and kin terms, which must inflect, and a few other personal possessions, with option inflection. The person markers are nk- for the first person, ay- second person, and Ø- for the third person. They may be pluralized with the marker -tu. The noun's number itself is not marked explicitly. Examples of inflected nouns are below: Here are examples of optionally-inflected nouns: Personal pronouns are formed by inflecting the root indi for person and number. Pronouns are always optional, and are emphasis. Singular pronouns may occur as either the subject or the object, but the plurals are always subjects.
nkindi 'I'
nkįxtu 'we'
ayindi 'you'
ayįxtu 'you all'
indi1 'he, she, it'
įxtu2 'they'
In free variation with ind and int before /h/
In free variation with įxt before /h/
Biloxi has two common demonstratives: de 'this' and he 'that'. They may be marked for plurality as denani and henani, but that is very rare since they areused if plurality is unmarked elsewhere, and it is marked on the verb in noun phrases with classificatory verbs:
Verbs
Verbs inflect for person, number, and mode. Morphemes within verbs have the following order:
person
thematic
dative, reciprocal, reflexive
instrumentals
root
number1
mode
Very occasionally an enclitic will proceed -tu, e.g. supi xti tu 'they are very black'.
Verbs may either be classificatory or normal. Classificatory verbs specify the subject's position and differ from normal verbs in that the first person is not inflected for person. Inflection for person and number is identical to inflected nouns: Because of the rules determining the surface manifestations of some combinations of person markers, 2nd person on 1st and 3rd person on 1st forms are identical, e.g. yaxtedi 'you hit me, he hit me'. Also, 2nd person subj., 2nd person on 3rd, and 3rd person on 2nd are identical, e.g. idǫhi 'you see, you see him, they see you'. -tu marks animate plurality. However, -tu is not used:
In the presence of the plural auxiliary yuke 'are':
: dǫhi yuke 'they were looking at it'
When the sentence has already been marked as plural:
: aditu ką, hidedi nedi 'they climbed up, and were falling continually'
If it is followed by a plural motion verb:
: dą kahi hą 'they took it and were returning'
Some verbs of motion mark plurality with the prefix a- inserted directly before the root: But there are counterexamples : daha marks plural objects when they are not specified elsewhere. It comes after -tu and before all mode markers. Examples: There are two examples of daha being reduced to ha: a- may be added to some verb roots to mark an unspecified indefinite object:
Mode markers
There are many mode markers in Biloxi. Some are common and well understood, while others are infrequent and have elusive meanings.
Stems ending in -di lose -i and gain -ki, others just gain tki
Derivation
Nouns
Nouns may be derived either through nominalizing verbs or by compounding. Verbs are nominalized via the prefix a-: Compound nouns may either be formed by combining two nouns or a noun and a verb. noun + noun: noun + verb:
Pronouns
For the personal pronoun indi, see above. įkowa may be used as a reflexive pronoun. It is possible that both of these, and perhaps the reflexive pronoun -įxki- are derived from a root in.
Interrogatives
A number of interrogatives come from the prefix ca- : Some are derived from pronouns:
Verbs
Verbal derivation may occur by root derivation or stem derivation
Reduplication
Reduplication, common in Biloxi, is used for intensification or distributiveness. Usually, the first CVC of the root is reduplicated but sometimes it is only the first CV:
Compounding
Verbal compounds may be noun + verb or verb + verb. It seems that most noun-verb compounds are formed by using the verb ǫ 'do, make': Examples of verb-verb compounds: Some of the above compounds end up having adjacent vowels, since syncope in compounds is optional.
Thematic prefixes
Thematic prefixes come after person markers and before dative markers and instrumentals.
Prefix
Meaning
Examples
Comments
-
-
-
-
a-
habitual action
Dative, reciprocal, and reflexive markers
The dative marker ki- is used after thematic prefixes. It is peculiar in that it may be used if someone else's body parts are the direct object. It appears as kik- before ǫ 'do, make' and gives it a benefactive gloss. The reduplicated kiki- marks reciprocity. The plural marker -tu is then optional. įxki- marks reflexives. It normally comes immediately after person markers, but in some third-person cases, ki- may come before it:
Instrumental prefixes
Instrumentals serve to mark how the event was carried out and immediately precede the root.
Prefix
Meaning
Examples
da-
'with the mouth or teeth'
Einaudi speculates that V1V2 is not removed because of possible ambiguity.
Only traces of the prefixes remain.
Adverbs
Adverbs may be derived from connectives, pronouns, and verbs and particles via a number of affixes:
Affix
Meaning
Examples
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
e-
'and, the aforesaid '
Connectives
There are various instances of derived connectives: ;e- 'and, the aforesaid ' ;eke 'so'
may be derived from ||nǫpa + ahudi|| 'two + bones' and ||dani + ahudi|| 'three + bones'
11-19 are derived via the formula 'X sitting on Y'.
Biloxi
Gloss
ohi sǫsaxehe
'eleven'
ohi nǫpaxehe
'twelve'
ohi danaxehe
'thirteen'
ohi topaxehe
'fourteen'
ohi ksanaxehe
'fifteen'
ohi akuxpaxehe
'sixteen'
ohi nąpahu axehe
'seventeen'
ohi dąxu axehe
'eighteen'
ohi ckanaxehe
'nineteen'
20-99 are derived via the formula 'X sitting on Y Zs'
Biloxi
Gloss
ohi nǫpa
'twenty'
ohi nǫpa sǫsaxehe
'21'
ohi dani
'30'
ohi dani sǫsaxehe
'31', etc.
ohi topa
'40'
ohi ksani
'50'
ohi akuxpe
'60'
ohi nąpahudi
'70'
ohi dąhudi
'80'
ohi ckane
'90'
Biloxi
Gloss
tsipa
'100'
tsipa sǫsaxehe
'101', etc.
tsipa ohi sǫsaxehe
'111', etc.
tsipa nǫpa
'200'
tsipa dani
'300'
tsipa topa
'400'
tsipa dani
'500'
tsipa akuxpe
'600'
tsipa nąpahudi
'700'
tsipa dąhudi
'800'
tsipa ckane
'900'
tsipįciyą
'1000'
ukikįke1
'one half'
shows up twice as kįkįke
Ordinal numerals are not attested. To express 'once', 'twice', 'three times', etc.', use the verb de 'to go' before cardinal numbers: To form multiplicatives, use akipta 'to double' before cardinal numbers:
Syntax
Biloxi is a left-branchingSOV language. Its lexical categories include interjections, adverbials, subjects, objects, verbs, and connectives. The three types of phrases are:
interjectory phrases: I with pauses before and after it
Vocatives are almost always unmarked: There are only three exceptions:
Adverbials
Adverbials most often appear directly before the verb, but they may also act as subjects and object. They may not follow verbs or precede connectives in sentence-initial position. Adverbials may be:
Adverbial particles
Some particles: Usage examples:
Postpositional phrases
Postposition
Gloss
Example
itka
'in, among'
Notes:
may have a base form yaski
less occurrences than kuya~okaya
eu here, an unexpected diphthong, is shortened ewa 'there'
Almost all of the above allow following de or yą. de has the expected meaning 'here' or 'this', while yą may be glossed 'the' or 'yonder'. Prepositions are sometimes used without modifying a noun, becoming adverbial:
Multiplicatives
Such as:
Some interrogatives
Interrogative
Gloss
Example
cidike~cidiki
'how? why?'
how: why:
derived from cina
cak and caką appear to be in free variation
occurs indicatively a few times, e.g. anahįk cinani kiduwe 'he untied some hair for her'
Subjects and Objects
Subjects and objects are formed almost identically, save for the fact that the nominal particle ką may only be used after objects. A subject or object must include a simple noun, and may optionally also include a verb, nominal particle, and/or demonstrative pronoun, in that order. If the noun is a personal pronoun, it may only be followed by either a demonstrative pronoun or a nominal particle, but not both. For other pronouns, they may not be followed by anythihng. Examples: N V N np N dp N V np N V dp N np dp N V np dp Possession in S's and O's is expressed by the possessor followed by the possessed, followed by np's. Two subjects may be juxtaposed with reciprocal verbs: Additives may be expressed by juxtaposition followed by the np yą, but this is not used often due to ambiguity : Alternatives are expressed with juxtaposition followed by the particle ha :
Nominal particles (np)
Biloxi has many nominal particles, and for the most part their function is unclear. A non-exhaustive list: For the most part it's unclear what conditions the use of a particular np, but the following can be said:
ką, -k, yąk, yąką are only used with objects
yandi almost always is used with human nouns
ko is used when the noun is a pronoun, when the main verb is stative, or when there is an interrogative present
Verbs
Simple verbs must contain a person marker, root, and number marker, and optionally the following: Prefixes: Suffixes:
Auxiliary constructions
Biloxi contains a defective auxiliary verbandE/yukE. By itself it may mean 'to be' or 'to stay', but with another verb it lends durativity. The plural marker -tu is not used with yuke since the defective form itself already serves to mark number. When the auxiliary construction is used, both the main verb and the auxiliary are inflected. Examples: Generally to express the negative the stem is negated, rather than the auxiliary:
Classificatory verbs
Biloxi contains five classificatory verbs, which indicate duration and position of the subject: ; nąki 'sitting' ; mąki 'reclining', 'in a horizontal position' ;; plural form:mąxtu~amąki ;: dǫhi amąx ką 'while they were looking at him' ;: akikahį mąktu 'they were telling news to one another' ; ne 'upright' ;; plural form:ne ;: ade ne di 'they were moving' ; hine 'walking' ; ande 'running' They may be used alone as verbs but often reinforce synonymous roots: They are used mostly with animates. Classificatory verbs are only inflected for 2nd person when used as auxiliaries. hamaki~amaki is used as the plural form for all five classificatory verbs :
Causatives
The causative verb ||YE|| comes after stems to form a causative construction. In first and second person ha is inserted between the stem and ||YE||. Examples:
axehe hanke nąki na 'I have stuck it in '
ca hiyetu 'you kill them all'
te ye 'he killed her'
Expanded verbs
s occur with two or three verbs in sequence. All are of the same person and number, but only the final stem has suffixes:
Connectives
Connectives may be co-ordinating or subordinating:
Co-ordinating
Subordinating
All subordinating connectives end the clause. ką is the most common by far and may be related to the np ką.
Connective
Meaning
Example
de hed hą
Clauses
Clauses may end no more than one clause final connective. Subordinating connectives are used to create dependent clauses. In clauses, the following order generally holds: Verb There are occasional examples of S and/or O occurring after the verb, always with animates. O rarely precedes S, possibly for emphasis. Direct objects always precede indirect objects: ąya xi yandi ąxti yą int ką ku 'the chief gave him the woman'. Full sentences always end in independent clauses. Embedded sentences are not usually marked, but the horatory marker hi can be used if the embedded action has not yet occurred, and ni can be used if the action was not performed. wo is used for mistaken ideas.
