Tunica language
At a glance:
- Series: American Indians Ready Reference
- Categories: Language, Linguistics, Philology
- Subcategories: Native Americans, American Indians
- Curriculum: American Indian History
- Geographical Location: Louisiana
Long believed to be an isolate, Tunica was spoken by people in three locations: the lower Yazoo River, the eastern shore of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, and Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. The language is extinct and there is no extant Tunica writing system.
A controversial 1987 grouping (Joseph H. Greenberg, Languages in the Americas) places Tunica with Chitimacha in the Gulf Group of the Penutian family. Among the other members of this group are Natchez, Muskogean, and, most unexpectedly, the Yuki and Wappo languages of California. The suggestion is that Yuki and...
[The entire page is 207 words long]
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