Siouan languages

Siouan languages
Family of North American Indian languages, spoken mainly west of the Mississippi River in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The principal languages and language groups at this time were Winnebago in Wisconsin, Chiwere (Iowa, Oto, and Missouri) in Iowa and northern Missouri, Dhegiha (Ponca, Omaha, Kansa, Osage, Quapaw) in an area extending from eastern Nebraska to Arkansas, Sioux or Dakota (a range of dialects including Santee or Dakota proper in Minnesota, Teton or Lakota in North and South Dakota, and Assiniboine in Canada), Hidatsa and Mandan on the middle Missouri River, and Crow in Wyoming and Montana. Separated from the main body of Siouan languages were the now-extinct languages Tufelo and Biloxi, near the Gulf of Mexico, and the distantly related Catawba, once spoken in South Carolina. The extant Siouan languages are now spoken mainly or solely by older adults.

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      North American Indian family of languages that, with the Iroquoian and Caddoan language families, constitutes the Macro-Siouan language phylum. This phylum is, after the Algonquian, the largest native American linguistic phylum north of Mexico. Siouan includes at least five language groups: those of the Gulf Coast region (including Biloxi, Ofo, Tutelo), the upper Missouri River region (including Hidatsa, Crow), the northern plains (including Dakota, or Sioux proper), the central plains (Omaha, Osage, Ponca, Kansa, Quapaw), and the Great Lakes (including Winnebago). The Catawba language of the Carolinas is sometimes classified as a Siouan language.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Siouan languages — Infobox Language family name=(Western) Siouan region=central North America familycolor=American fam1=Siouan Catawban child1=Crow Hidatsa child2= Mandan child3=Mississippi Valley (Central) child4=Ohio Valley (Southeastern) map caption=Pre contact… …   Wikipedia

  • Macro-Siouan languages —       major grouping (phylum or superstock) of North American Indian languages; it is made up of 26 languages, grouped into 5 families: Siouan, with 12 languages; Catawba, with 1 language; Iroquoian, with 8 languages; Caddoan, with 4 languages;… …   Universalium

  • Macro-Siouan languages — Infobox Language family name=Macro Siouan altname=controversial region=eastern North America child1=Siouan Catawban child2= Yuchi child3=Caddoan child4=Iroquoian map caption=Pre contact distribution of the proposed Macro Souian language familyThe …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Canada — Languages of Canada[1] Official language(s) English (58%) and French (22%) Indigenous language(s) Abenaki, A …   Wikipedia

  • Siouan-Catawban languages — Infobox Language family name=Siouan Catawban altname=Siouan region=central North America familycolor=American family=one of the world s primary language families child1=Catawban child2=Siouan map caption=Pre contact distribution of the Siouan… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of North America — The languages of North America reflect not only that continent s indigenous peoples, but the European colonization as well. The most widely spoken languages in North America (which includes Central America and the Caribbean islands) are English,… …   Wikipedia

  • Siouan — /sooh euhn/, n. 1. an American Indian language family formerly widespread from Saskatchewan to the lower Mississippi, also found in the Virginia and Carolina piedmont, and including Catawba, Crow, Dakota, Hidatsa, Mandan, Osage, and Winnebago. 2 …   Universalium

  • Siouan — noun Date: 1885 1. an American Indian language family of central and southeastern North America 2. a member of any of the peoples speaking Siouan languages …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Languages of the United States — Official language(s) none Main language(s) English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo European 3.8%, Asian …   Wikipedia

  • Siouan — [so͞o′ən] n. a family of North American Indian languages formerly spoken in the WC U.S., central Canada, and parts of Virginia and the Carolinas: it includes Iowa, Mandan, Dakota, Crow, Omaha, Hidatsa, Osage, etc. adj. designating or of this… …   English World dictionary

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