Atakapa is an extinct language isolate native to southwestern Louisiana and nearby eastern Texas. According to some definitions an extinct language is a Language which no longer has any speakers, whereas a dead language is a language which is no longer spoken A language isolate, in the absolute sense is a Natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic" relationship with other living languages that is The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State.

Pre-contact distribution of the Atakapa language

Geographic variation

There were two varieties of Atakapa (i. e. dialects):

1. Eastern
2. Western

The Eastern Atakapa dialect is known from a word list of 287 entries recorded in 1802 by Martin Duralde. This dialect appears to be the most divergent of the three. These speakers lived around Poste des Attackapas (Saint Martinville) which is now Franklin, Louisiana. Franklin is a city in and the Parish seat of St Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States.

The Western Atakapa dialect is the best known with words, sentences, and texts recorded from 1885, 1907, and 1908 by Albert Gatschet. Albert Samuel Gatschet ( October 3, 1832 in Beatenberg - March 16, 1907) was an Ethnologist. The main language consultant was recorded in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Lake Charles is the fifth largest incorporated City in the US state of Louisiana. The last speakers were Louison Huntington, Delilah Moss, Teet Verdine, and Armojean Reon. An older vocabulary is in a list of 45 words recorded in 1721 by Jean Béranger. These speakers were captured around Galveston Bay. Galveston Bay is a large Estuary located along Texas 's upper coast

Although John Swanton claimed that Béranger vocabulary was an Akokisa dialect spoken by the Akokisa, there is no real evidence to support this connection. John Reed Swanton ( 19 February 1873 – 2 May, 1958) was an American Anthropologist who worked with Native American peoples The Akokisa were a people that lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and San Jacinto rivers in Texas.

Genealogical relations

Sounds

Grammar

See also

• Atakapa

Bibliography

• Campbell, Lyle. The Atakapa (pronounced "uh-TAK-uh-paw" also spelled Attakapa, Attakapas, Attacapa, formally known as the Ishaks, pronounced (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
• Gatschet, Albert S. , and Swanton, John R. (1932) A Dictionary of the Atakapa Language. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Athnology, bulletin 108. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
• Goddard, Ives. (2005). The indigenous languages of the Southeast. Anthropological Linguistics, 47 (1), 1-60.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Swanton, John R. A sketch of the Atakapa language. International Journal of American Linguistics. 5 (2-4), 121-149.

External links

• A Dictionary of the Atakapa Language by

Albert S. Gatschet and John R. Swanton, hosted by the Portal to Texas History