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 1953Greenberg, Joseph Harold, and Morris Swadesh. 1953 Jicaque as a Hokan Language. IJAL 19:3 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.Dixon, R. B., and Alfred L. Kroeber 1913 New Linguistic Families in California. American Anthropologist 15(4): 647–655. In 1977, David OltroggeOltrogge, 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. 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 OltroggeCampbell, Lyle, and David Oltrogge 1980 Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46(3): 205–223. 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, KaufmanKaufman, Terrence 2006 Hokan Languages. In Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier. has expressed his continuing support of the Hokan affiliation of Tol.
Julian Granberry & Gary Vescelius (2004) propose that the extinct Ciguayo language of Hispaniola has its closest relatives in the Tolan languages.
Proto-language
Proto-Jicaque reconstructions by Campbell and Oltrogge (1980),Campbell, Lyle and David Oltrogge. 1980. Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics 46: 205-223. along with daughter language data from Campbell (1999). Note minor differences in transcription.
no. gloss Proto-Jicaque Western Jicaque Tol 2 all *pʰɨ(t) 3 always *han- 5 arm, back, shoulder *pʰel pʰen pʰel 7 arrow *ȼimea ? harek halek 8 ashes *pʰɨpʰɨh pʰɨbɨh pʰɨpʰɨh 13 to be *kʼos 16 bed *kʰan kan kʰan 17 belly *-kol kon kol 18 big *pɨneh ? pɨné pɨné 24 black *te(kʰ) te te 27 blood *kʼas kat ʔas 28 blue *ȼu(h) ču(h) tsu 30 body *pʼɨ(y) pɨj pʼɨj 32 bone *kʰele kere kʰele 34 bow (of bow and arrow) *halek 37 to burn *tV-pʷe to-bwe to-pwe 38 bush (forest) *hokʼ-la 40 buzzard *mantɨ 45 cloud *mol mon mol 46 coal(s) *ȼʰek 51 cougar *pɨkʼa(-he) 59 daughter *(ku)kus 62 deer *pʼɨs pɨt pʼɨs 63 to die *pɨʔ ? 65 dog *ȼʰiyo(h) ʃijó tsʰijó 66 to drink *mɨʔ 67 (to) dry *pʰa -pʰa -pʰa 69 ear *pʰaȼʼ pat pʰatsʼ 70 earth, land *(a)ma(h) ma ma 71 to eat *la ? 72 egg *pehey 75 excrement *pɨ(y) 78 far *kampa kamba kampa 79 father *(pa)pa(y) 84 fire *kʼawa kaw- ʔaw-a 85 firewood *wɨ(t) 86 fish *kʰul kun kʰul 89 flea *pel 91 fly *noȼoȼ nočot notsots 93 forehead *wala wara wala 94 to forget *-pɨʔ 95 four *(y)ulupʰana urubana (j)ulupʰana 97 fruit *wolas 99 to give *-tekʼa te-ga te-ʔa 101 good *wɨ(k) 102 grain (cf. maize) *hulup huruk hulup 103 grandmother, female *(mɨ)mɨy 104 to grind *kʰol ? to-gon- to-kʰol 106 hair *ȼʼil čin tsʼil 107 hand *mas ? 108 he, that *hup huk hup 109 head *ha(y)pʰuk abuk ajpʰuk 110 to hear *pʰak 111 heart *has- hoč(uruk) hos- 114 horn *ȼʰeme ʃeme tsʰeme 115 house *wa wa wa 117 I *nap ? nak nap 119 intestines *ȼʼul -čun tsʼul 123 knee *tikʼ- 125 to laugh *wiʔ 126 leg *tek tek tek 128 lip *lɨp rɨk lɨp 129 liver *kom kon kom 131 long *kampa kamba kampa 132 to look for *pal- 133 louse *tɨtʼ tɨt tɨtʼ 135 macaw *pʼɨsa(h) pɨčá pʼɨsá 137 male, grandfather *(ko)koy 138 man *yom 140 meat *pis pit pis 143 moon *mɨmɨy 144 month *mɨy-pʰini(h) 148 mouth *lala 149 much *pɨlɨk pɨrɨk pɨlɨk 150 my, mine *naȼaʔ 152 navel *lulu 153 nephew *kelew ? keré kelé 155 no *ma- 156 nose *mik mik mik 157 to nurse *ȼoʔ čo?- tsoʔ 158 oak *ȼʼolol čoron tsʼolol 159 one *pʰani(h) 164 parrot *kʰuyu(h) kujuh kʰujuh 168 red *he(h) he he 172 round *mul- ? 175 salt *ȼolim čorin tsolin 177 sandal, shoe *ȼompit 178 scorpion *ȼʰew ? ʃe(w) tsʰew 179 to see *nu(k) 186 skinny *kʰele 187 sky *alpa 188 sleep *han- 190 smoke *mus -mut mus 192 to snore *-hol- 194 to sow, plant *sin- 195 to speak *wele 196 spider *kolok korok kolok 201 stone *pe(h) pe pe 202 summer *ȼʰikin čikin- tsikin 203 sun *loȼʼak ločak lotsʼak 204 tail *sokʼ čok sokʼ 207 there is/are not (Sp.: no hay) *kuwa 210 thorn *ham ? 212 to tie *ȼupa- čuba tsupa 215 tongue *pelam 216 tooth *wis 217 tree *yo(h) jo jo 220 two *matʼɨ mata matʼa 221 uncle *kokʰam ? 224 wasp *petʰel peten petʰel 225 water *sɨ(tʰ) -čɨ -sɨ 226 we *-kup -kuk -kup 228 white *pʰe(kʰ) pʰe pʰe 229 wind *lɨpʰɨ(kʰ) lɨbɨ- lɨpʰɨ 230 woman *kep kek kep 233 word *wele 235 worm, caterpillar *ȼʼihih čih tsʼih- 237 yellow *lu(pʰ) 239 you *hip ik hip
References
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.
External links
Jicaquean basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
br:Toleg hr:Jicaque Indijanci