Kirikirʔis
Wichita
Caddoan (Northern Caddoan)
Wichita is a Northern Caddoan language of Oklahoma famous for lacking a bilabial stop /p/ entirely — a typologically extreme rarity worldwide. Its polysynthetic verbs can express whole sentences in a single word, and a glottal stop ʔ and long vowels are phonemically contrastive.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Wichita
Water
kicʔa
/kit͡sʔa/
Fire
hatʔihks
/hatʔihks/
Sun
saːkihirikiʔis
/saːkihiɾikiʔis/
Moon
—
/—/
Mother
ʔatsi
/ʔatsi/
Father
ʔaːsi
/ʔaːsi/
Eat
taʔac
/taʔat͡s/
Drink
kiːckiriʔeːhirʔa
/kiːt͡skiɾiʔeːhiɾʔa/
Love
—
/—/
Heart
kaːc
/kaːt͡s/
Tree
tahaːriʔ
/tahaːɾiʔ/
House
kaːhikʔa
/kaːhikʔa/
Dog
kicʔariːh
/kit͡sʔaɾiːh/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
ʔiskʔa
/ʔiskʔa/
Eye
kiriːkihinaʔ
/kiɾiːkihinaʔ/
Hello
nakahaʔahirʔa
/nakahaʔahiɾʔa/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
cʔiːʔas
/t͡sʔiːʔas/
Good
—
/—/
Sources
- Rood, David S. (1976) Wichita Grammar. New York: Garland.
- Rood, David S. (1975) The Implications of Wichita Phonology. Language 51(2):315-337.
- Glottolog: Wichita
Words compared
Compared with related Caddoan (Northern Caddoan) languages
| Meaning | Wichita | Faliscan | Tuyuca | Oscan | Neko | Messapic | Venetic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | kicʔa /kit͡sʔa/ | — /—/ | oko /oko/ | — /—/ | wai /wai/ | — /—/ | ouriom /ˈou.ri.om/ |
| Fire | hatʔihks /hatʔihks/ | — /—/ | pekãbẽ /pekãbẽ/ | — /—/ | titɛ /titɛ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | saːkihirikiʔis /saːkihiɾikiʔis/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | aatʌ /aːtʌ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | ʔatsi /ʔatsi/ | — /—/ | pakó /pakó/ | maatúf /maːtof/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | matur /ˈma.tur/ |
| Father | ʔaːsi /ʔaːsi/ | pater /ˈpa.ter/ | — /—/ | patír /patiːr/ | — /—/ | ana /ˈana/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | taʔac /taʔat͡s/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | nei /nei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | kiːckiriʔeːhirʔa /kiːt͡skiɾiʔeːhiɾʔa/ | pipafo /ˈpi.pa.foː/ | sĩdĩ /sĩdĩ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | kaːc /kaːt͡s/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | tahaːriʔ /tahaːɾiʔ/ | — /—/ | yukɨgɨ /jukɨɡɨ/ | — /—/ | tei /tei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | kaːhikʔa /kaːhikʔa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | trííbúm /triːbom/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | kicʔariːh /kit͡sʔaɾiːh/ | — /—/ | diayi /diaji/ | — /—/ | gonʌ /ɡonʌ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | ʔiskʔa /ʔiskʔa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | manim /manim/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | kiriːkihinaʔ /kiɾiːkihinaʔ/ | — /—/ | kapea /kapea/ | — /—/ | ta /ta/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | nakahaʔahirʔa /nakahaʔahiɾʔa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | cʔiːʔas /t͡sʔiːʔas/ | oinos /ˈoi̯.nos/ | sika /sika/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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