Linguistic connections
Caddo is linguistically related to the members of the Northern Caddoan language family; these include the Pawnee-Kitsai (Keechi) languages (Use and language revitalization efforts
The Caddo Nation is making a concentrated effort to save the Caddo language. The Kiwat Hasinay ('Caddo Home') foundation, located at the tribal home of Binger, Oklahoma, offers regular Caddo language classes, in addition to creating dictionaries, phrase books, and other Caddo language resources. They have also made a long-term project of trying to record and digitally archive Caddoan oral traditions, which are an important part of Caddo culture. As of 2012, the Caddo Nation teaches weekly language classes; language CDs, a coloring book, and an online learning website are also available. As of 2010, a Caddo app is available for Android phones. There is a Caddo grammar, published August 2018, and an in-depth examination of the Caddo verb, published in 2004.Phonology
Consonants
Caddo has 19 contrastive consonants, a normal-sized consonant inventory. It is somewhat unusual in that it lacksVowels
Caddo has three contrastive vowel qualities: , and , and two contrastive vowel lengths, long and short. However, there is a great deal of phonetic variation in the short vowels. The high front vowel is generally realized as its lower counterpart , and the high back vowel is similarly often realized as its lower counterpart . The low central vowel has a wider range of variation, pronounced (most commonly) as when it is followed by any consonant except a semivowel or a laryngeal consonant, as a low central vowel (for which IPA lacks a symbol) at the end of an open syllable or when followed by a laryngeal consonant, and as before a semivowel. In general, the long vowels do not feature this kind of variation but are simply lengthened versions of the phonemes that are represented in the chart.Melnar, 2004 Caddo also has four diphthongs, which can be written a number of different ways; the transcription below shows the typical Caddo Nation orthography (a vowel paired with a glide) and the IPA version, represented with vowels and offglides. *ay – English ''eye'' *aw – English ''ou''t *iw – English ''ew'' *uy – English b''oy''Tone
Caddo has three lexical tones: a low tone (e.g. /ù/), unmarked in the orthography ⟨u⟩; a high tone (e.g. /ú/), marked by an acute accent over the vowel ⟨ú⟩; and falling tone, which always occurs on long vowels (e.g. /ûː/) and is marked by a grave accent over the vowel ⟨ù:⟩. Tone occurs both lexically (as a property of the word), non-lexically (as a result of tonological processes), and also as a marker of certain morphological features. For instance, the past tense marker is associated with high tone.Tonological processes
There are three processes that can create non-lexical high tone within aPhonological processes
Vowel syncope
There are two vowel syncope processes in Caddo, which both involve the loss of a low-tone vowel in certain environments. The first syncope process was described above as low tone-deletion. The second syncope process is described below: :Interconsonantal syncope :VCVLowCV → VCCV :A low-tone vowel in between a vowel-consonant sequence and a consonant-vowel sequence is deleted. :(Shown with intermediary form): /kak#(ʔi)t'us-jaʔah/ → kahʔit'uʃaʔah → ahʔit'uʃʔah"foam, suds"Consonant cluster simplification
As a result of the syncope processes described above, several consonant clusters emerge that are then simplified by way of phonological process. At the present stage of research, the processes seem to be unrelated, but they represent a phonetic reduction in consonant clusters; therefore, they are listed below without much further explanation. # nw → mm # tw → pp # tk → kk # n → m / __Syllable coda simplification
Similar to the consonant cluster simplification process, there are four processes by which a syllable-final consonant is altered: # b → w / syllable final # d → t / syllable final # k → h / syllable final (but not before k) # tʃ → ʃ / syllable finalWord boundary processes
There are three word-boundary processes in Caddo, all of which occur word-initially: # n → t / # __ # w → p / # __ # y → d / # __ : ni-huhn-id-ah/ → ihúndah "she returned" Such processes are generally not applicable in the case of proclitics (morphemes that behave like an affix and are phonologically dependent on the morpheme to which they are attached). An example is the English articles.Glottalization
Caddo has a glottalization process by which any voiceless stop or affricate (except p) becomes an ejective when it is followed by a glottal stop. :Glottalization : sonorant, -continuant, -voice, -labial, -spread glottis→ constricted glottis/ ___ constricted glottis, -spread glottis'' :A voiceless stop or affricate (except p) becomes an ejective when it is followed by a glottal stop. :/sik-ʔuh/ → ik'uh"rock"Palatalization
Caddo has a palatalization process that affects certain consonants when they are followed by /j/, with simultaneous loss of the /j/. : Palatalization # /kj/ → ʃ# /sj/ → �:/kak#ʔa-k'as-jaʔah/ → ahʔak'a ʃʔah" one's leg" (Melnar includes a third palatization process, /tj/ → s However, /ts/ is not a palatal affricate so it has not been included here. Nevertheless, the third process probably occurs.)Lengthening
Caddo has three processes by which a syllable nucleus (vowel) may be lengthened: :Syllable Lengthening Process One :VHigh(Resonant)CVC# → VHigh(Resonant)ːCVC# :When the second-to-last syllable in a word has a nucleus consisting of a high tone vowel (and, optionally, a resonant), and the last syllable has the form CVC, the high tone nucleus is then lengthened. :/bak-'ʔawɑ́waʔ/ → ahʔwɑ́ːwaʔ"they said" :Syllable Lengthening Process Two :V(Resonant)ʔ → V(Resonant) ː / in any prepenultimate syllable :In any syllable before the penultimate, a glottal stop coda is deleted, and the remaining nucleus is lengthened. :/hɑ́k#ci-(ʔi)bíhn-saʔ/ → ɑ́hciːbíːsaʔ" I have it on my back" : Syllable Lengthening Process Three # ij → iː # uw →uː :Any syllable nucleus with ij or uw must convert to a long vowel.Citations
General and cited references
* Caddo Nation. 2007External links