Pakawan languages
The Pakawan languages were a small language family spoken in what is today northern Mexico and southern Texas. All Pakawan languages are today extinct.
Classification
Five clear Pakawan languages are attested: Coahuilteco, Cotoname, Comecrudo, Garza and Mamulique. The first three were first proposed to be related by John Wesley Powell in 1891, in a grouping then called Coahuiltecan. Goddard groups the latter three in a Comecrudan family while considering the others language isolates. The current composition and the present name "Pakawan" are due to Manaster Ramer.The term Coahuiltecan languages today refers to a slightly expanded and less securely established grouping. Most Pakawan languages have at times been included also in the much larger and highly hypothetical Hokan "stock".
Common vocabulary
The following word comparisons are given by Manaster Ramer :| Coahuilteco | Comecrudo | Cotoname | Karankawa | tentative reconstruction |
| axtē 'two' | ale-kueten 'two' | #al-, #axte 'two' | ||
| ' | #ali 'ear' | |||
| uxualʼ 'heaven' | apel 'sky, heaven, clouds' | #apel' 'sky' | ||
| ' | #axə 'juice, water' | |||
| ' | #dem 'salt' | |||
| xāi 'to be extinguished, to come to an end' | kai 'to eat' | #kai 'to eat up, consume' | ||
| axām 'not' | kam 'no' | #kam 'no' | ||
| hām 'to eat' | kam 'to eat' | hahame, xaxame 'to eat; food' | #kam 'to eat, drink' | |
| ' | #kamkam 'body of water' | |||
| xasal 'heart' | kayasel 'heart' | #kayasel 'heart' | ||
| pe=kĕwek 'low ' | xuăxe 'low ' | #kwaka 'low ' | ||
| kemen 'vein' | kemma 'bow' | #keme 'sinew, vein' | ||
| pa=kna 'high, big' | kenex 'good' | #kenex 'good, big' | ||
| ' | #ketekawi 'sun, star' | |||
| talōm 'fire' | klewem, klewen, len | #klewem 'fire' | ||
| ' | #knem 'breast' | |||
| kuas | kial | #kual 'blood' | ||
| kuan 'to go' | kio; kie 'to go'; 'to come' | #kuV- 'to go, come' | ||
| gnax, na 'man' | xuainaxe 'man' | #kwainaxə 'man' | ||
| ' | kuak 'reed, cane; arrow' | ka-u, kau 'reed; arrow' | #kwak 'reed' | |
| pe=kla 'to suck' | huäxle 'to suck' | #kwala 'to suck' | ||
| kʼāu 'to marry' | kuau, kwai 'married' | #k'aw 'to marry' | ||
| ' | wax 'belly' | kox 'belly' | #k'wax 'belly' | |
| tšum 'night, evening' | lesum, lesom 'evening' | #lesum 'evening' | ||
| ' | #lel 'buttock, leg' | |||
| ' | #lot 'arm' | |||
| ' | #makə 'to give' | |||
| masõ 'to give up, abandon, desert, leave' | mel, pa=mesai 'to fall' | #maɬ- 'to fall' | ||
| māux 'hand' | mapi 'hand' | miapa 'wing' | #mapi 'hand' | |
| pa=msol, pa=msul 'red' | msae 'red' | #msa'ol 'red' | ||
| el-pau 'to kneel down, sink or sit down' | pawe 'to sit' | #pawə 'to sit' | ||
| pilʼ 'one' | pe-kueten 'one' | #pil' 'one' | ||
| ānua 'moon' | kan 'moon' | #q'an 'moon' | ||
| ' | #sayex 'to want' | |||
| sel 'straw' | suau 'grass, tobacco; to smoke' | #sel 'grass' | ||
| pa=kahuai, -kawai 'to write, paint; paper' | thawe 'painted ' | #tkawai 'paint' | ||
| tʼāhaka, tʼāxakan 'what' | tete 'how, what, why' | *tit 'what' | #t'ete- 'what' | |
| tʼil 'day' | al 'sun' | o 'sun' | #t'al 'sun' | |
| xop 'far, distant' | huanpa, xuanpa 'far' | #xwanpa 'far' | ||
| ' | #ya'ex 'nose' | |||
| yēwal 'to bewitch' | yamel, yamis 'devil' | #yameɬ 'evil spirit' | ||
| na- 'my, me' | na 'I' | na 'I' | ||
| mai- '2PS subject prefix' | emnã 'you ' | *men 'you ' | ||
| pamawau | ' | |||
| la-ak 'goose' | krak 'goose' | |||
| kol 'crane' | karakor 'crane' | |||
| ketuau 'dog' | kowá-u 'dog' | |||
| kiextuén 'rabbit' | kiáx̣nem 'rabbit' | |||
| pa=kwessom 'orphan' | kuwosam 'small, little; boy, girl' | |||
| malāux 'male sexual organs' | melkuai 'female sexual organs' | |||
| xūm 'to die' | kamau 'to kill' | |||
| tzin 'I' | yen 'I' | |||
| tzōtz 'chest' | yeso knem 'to nurse' | |||
| *tšei 'to hear' | ye 'to hear' | |||
| tilʼ 'posterior, anus' | alel; el 'leg'; 'buttocks, backsides, bottom' | |||
| tām 'woman's breast' | dom 'breast' | |||
| mās 'to look, observe' | max, ma, mahe 'to see' | |||
| kuāx 'to suffer' | kayau 'ache, sore' | |||
| ' | ' |
The following sound changes and correspondences should be noted:
- Vocalization of word-final *l in Cotoname: 'sun', 'straw', red'
- Lenition of *p to /xw/ in Coahuilteco between vowels: #apel', #mapi
- Syncope of
- Apocope of final e in Comecrudo: 'man', 'low ', 'to kneel'.
- /k/, /kw/ in other languages correspond to /x/, /xw/ in Cotoname, when before /a/, as well as in Coahuilteco, when before any low vowel.
- /kiV/ in Comecrudo corresponds to /kuV/ in Coahuilteco: 'blood', 'to go'
- s ~ l in Comecrudo corresponds to s in Coahuilteco: Comecrudo 'blood', 'devil', 'to fall'.
- Initial y in Comecrudo corresponds to /ts/ in Coahuilteco: I, chest, to hear
Literature
- Manaster Ramer, Alexis. 1996. Sapir's Classifications: Coahuiltecan. Anthropological Linguistics 38/1, 1–38.
- Sapir, Edward. 1920. The Hokan and Coahuiltecan languages. International Journal of American Linguistics, 1, 280-290.
- Swanton, John R.. Linguistic position of the tribes of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. American Anthropologist, 17, 17–40.