The Jicaque languages are in Honduras in the center of the map
Jicaquean, also known as Tolan, is a small language family of Honduras. There are two attested Jicaquean languages, Tol (Eastern Jicaque) and Western Jicaque (Holt 1999), which Campbell (1997) reports were about as distant as English and Swedish. Only Tol survives.
Classification
Prior to an influential paper by Greenberg and Swadesh in 1953[1] Tol (a.k.a. Eastern Jicaque) was thought to be a language isolate, i.e., there existed no knowledge as to its possible genetic affinities. They argued that Tol should be added to the Hokan stock, a large language stock, phylum or family, which was proposed by R. B. Dixon and Alfred D. Kroeber in 1913.[2] In 1977, David Oltrogge[3] proposed to link Tol to the extinct Subtiaba language of Nicaragua, and also to Chontal of Oaxaca, also known as Tequistlateco. This indirectly amounted to a mere sub-classification, since all of the three languages in question were part of the proposed Hokan stock. A couple of years later, Campbell and Oltrogge[4] published a reconstruction of Jicaquean phonemes, based on the available information on Western and Eastern Jicaque. In that same paper they expressed strong doubt in the Hokan affiliation of Tol and mild enthusiasm regarding the possible link to Chontal of Oaxaca, but stressed that much more information was needed to be able to say anything reasonable. More recently, Kaufman[5] has expressed his continuing support of the Hokan affiliation of Tol.
Granberry & Vescelius (2004) speculate that the extinct Ciguayo language of Hispaniola might have its most likely relatives in the Tolan languages.
Proto-language
Proto-Jicaque
Reconstruction of
Jicaquean languages
Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980):[6]
Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980)
no.
gloss
Proto-Jicaque
2
all
*pʰɨ(t)
3
always
*han-
5
arm, back, shoulder
*pʰel
7
arrow
*¢imea ?
8
ashes
*pʰɨpʰɨh
13
to be
*kʼos
16
bed
*kʰan
17
belly
*-kol
18
big
*pɨneh ?
24
black
*te(kʰ)
27
blood
*kʼas
28
blue
*¢u(h)
30
body
*pʼɨ(y)
32
bone
*kʰele
34
bow (of bow and arrow)
*halek
37
to burn
*tV-pʷe
38
bush (forest)
*hokʼ-la
40
buzzard
*mantɨ
45
cloud
*mol
46
coal(s)
*¢ʰek
51
cougar
*pɨkʼa(-he)
59
daughter
*(ku)kus
62
deer
*pʼɨs
63
to die
*pɨʔ ?
65
dog
*¢ʰiyo(h)
66
to drink
*mɨʔ
67
(to) dry
*pʰa
69
ear
*pʰa¢ʼ
70
earth, land
*(a)ma(h)
71
to eat
*la ?
72
egg
*pehey
75
excrement
*pɨ(y)
78
far
*kampa
79
father
*(pa)pa(y)
84
fire
*kʼawa
85
firewood
*wɨ(t)
86
fish
*kʰul
89
flea
*pel
91
fly
*no¢o¢
93
forehead
*wala
94
to forget
*-pɨʔ
95
four
*(y)ulupʰana
97
fruit
*wolas
99
to give
*-tekʼa
101
good
*wɨ(k)
102
grain (cf. maize)
*hulup
103
grandmother, female
*(mɨ)mɨy
104
to grind
*kʰol ?
106
hair
*¢ʼil
107
hand
*mas ?
108
he, that
*hup
109
head
*ha(y)pʰuk
110
to hear
*pʰak
111
heart
*has-
114
horn
*¢ʰeme
115
house
*wa
117
I
*nap ?
119
intestines
*¢ʼul
123
knee
*tikʼ-
125
to laugh
*wiʔ
126
leg
*tek
128
lip
*lɨp
129
liver
*kom
131
long
*kampa
132
to look for
*pal-
133
louse
*tɨtʼ
135
macaw
*pʼɨsa(h)
137
male, grandfather
*(ko)koy
138
man
*yom
140
meat
*pis
143
moon
*mɨmɨy
144
month
*mɨy-pʰini(h)
148
mouth
*lala
149
much
*pɨlɨk
150
my, mine
*na¢aʔ
152
navel
*lulu
153
nephew
*kelew ?
155
no
*ma-
156
nose
*mik
157
to nurse
*¢oʔ
158
oak
*¢ʼolol
159
one
*pʰani(h)
164
parrot
*kʰuyu(h)
168
red
*he(h)
172
round
*mul- ?
175
salt
*¢olim
177
sandal, shoe
*¢ompit
178
scorpion
*¢ʰew ?
179
to see
*nu(k)
186
skinny
*kʰele
187
sky
*alpa
188
sleep
*han-
190
smoke
*mus
192
to snore
*-hol-
194
to sow, plant
*sin-
195
to speak
*wele
196
spider
*kolok
201
stone
*pe(h)
202
summer
*¢ʰikin
203
sun
*lo¢ʼak
204
tail
*sokʼ
207
there is/are not (Sp.: no hay)
*kuwa
210
thorn
*ham ?
212
to tie
*¢upa-
215
tongue
*pelam
216
tooth
*wis
217
tree
*yo(h)
220
two
*matʼɨ
221
uncle
*kokʰam ?
224
wasp
*petʰel
225
water
*sɨ(tʰ)
226
we
*-kup
228
white
*pʰe(kʰ)
229
wind
*lɨpʰɨ(kʰ)
230
woman
*kep
233
word
*wele
235
worm, caterpillar
*¢ʼihih
237
yellow
*lu(pʰ)
239
you
*hip
References
^Greenberg, Joseph Harold, and Morris Swadesh. 1953 Jicaque as a Hokan Language. IJAL 19:3
^Dixon, R. B., and Alfred L. Kroeber 1913 New Linguistic Families in California. American Anthropologist 15(4): 647–655.
^Oltrogge, David Frederick 1977 Proto-Jicaque-Subtiaba-Tequistlateco: A Comparative Reconstruction. In Two Studies in Middle American Comparative Linguistics. Irvine Davis and Virgil Poulter, eds. [Dallas, TX]: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
^Campbell, Lyle, and David Oltrogge 1980 Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46(3): 205–223.
^Kaufman, Terrence 2006 Hokan Languages. In Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier.
^Campbell, Lyle and David Oltrogge. 1980. Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46: 205-223.
Campbell, Lyle. (1979). "Middle American languages." In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment (pp. 902–1000). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian Languages, The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Campbell, Lyle, and David Oltrogge (1980). "Proto-Tol (Jicaque)." International Journal of American Linguistics, 46:205-223.
Granberry, Julian, and Gary Vescelius (2004). Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. Birmingham: University of Alabama Press.
Greenberg, Joseph H., and Morris Swadesh (1953). "Jicaque as a Hokan Language." International Journal of American Linguistics 19: 216-222.
Holt, Dennis. (1999). Tol (Jicaque). Languages of the World/Materials 170. Munich: LincomEuropa.
