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
31 core words in Wichita
Water
kicʔa
/kitsʔa/
Fire
hatʔihks
/hatʔihks/
Sun
saːkihirikiʔis
/saːkihiɾikiʔis/
Moon
—
/—/
Star
hokʼwahriʔ
/hokʼʷahriʔ/
Mother
ʔatsi
/ʔatsi/
Father
ʔaːsi
/ʔaːsi/
I
náⁱʔ
/náːʔ/
You
áⁱʔ
/áːʔ/
Name
-riʔ
/riʔ/
Eye
kiriːkihinaʔ
/kiɾiːkihinaʔ/
Hand
ʔiskʔa
/ʔiskʔa/
Heart
kaːc
/kaːts/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
tahaːriʔ
/tahaːɾiʔ/
House
kaːhikʔa
/kaːhikʔa/
Dog
kicʔariːh
/kitsʔaɾiːh/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
taʔac
/taʔats/
Drink
kiːckiriʔeːhirʔa
/kiːtskiɾiʔeːhiɾʔa/
One
cʔiːʔas
/tsʔiːʔas/
Two
wic
/wits/
Hello
nakahaʔahirʔa
/nakahaʔahiɾʔa/
Thank you
—
/—/
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 | Proto-Afroasiatic | Proto-Austroasiatic | Neko | Iberian | Tuyuca | Messapic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | kicʔa /kitsʔa/ | *maw- /maw-/ | *ɗaːk /ɗaːk/ | wai /wai/ | — /—/ | oko /oko/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | hatʔihks /hatʔihks/ | — /—/ | *ʔuːs /ʔuːs/ | titɛ /titɛ/ | — /—/ | pekãbẽ /pekãbẽ/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | saːkihirikiʔis /saːkihiɾikiʔis/ | — /—/ | *tŋiːʔ /tŋiːʔ/ | aatʌ /aːtʌ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Star | hokʼwahriʔ /hokʼʷahriʔ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | kumba /kumba/ | — /—/ | ñokõ /ɲokõ/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | ʔatsi /ʔatsi/ | *ʔim- /ʔim-/ | *maʔ /maʔ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | pakó /pakó/ | — /—/ |
| Father | ʔaːsi /ʔaːsi/ | *ʔab- /ʔab-/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ana /ˈana/ |
| I | náⁱʔ /náːʔ/ | *ʔan- /ʔan-/ | *ʔaɲ /ʔaɲ/ | na /na/ | — /—/ | yʉʉ /jɨː/ | — /—/ |
| You | áⁱʔ /áːʔ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ga /ɡa/ | — /—/ | mʉʉ /mɨː/ | — /—/ |
| Name | -riʔ /riʔ/ | *sim- /sim-/ | — /—/ | iwi /iwi/ | — /—/ | wamé /wamẽ/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | kiriːkihinaʔ /kiɾiːkihinaʔ/ | *ʕayn- /ʕayn-/ | *mat /mat/ | ta /ta/ | — /—/ | kapea /kapea/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | ʔiskʔa /ʔiskʔa/ | — /—/ | *tiːʔ /tiːʔ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | kaːc /kaːts/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | tahaːriʔ /tahaːɾiʔ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tei /tei/ | — /—/ | yukɨgɨ /jukɨɡɨ/ | — /—/ |
| House | kaːhikʔa /kaːhikʔa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | iltiŕ /iltir̥/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | kicʔariːh /kitsʔaɾiːh/ | — /—/ | *cɔː /cɔː/ | gonʌ /ɡonʌ/ | — /—/ | diayi /diaji/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | taʔac /taʔats/ | — /—/ | *ɟaː /ɟaː/ | nei /nei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | kiːckiriʔeːhirʔa /kiːtskiɾiʔeːhiɾʔa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | sĩdĩ /sĩdĩ/ | — /—/ |
| One | cʔiːʔas /tsʔiːʔas/ | — /—/ | *muːj /muːj/ | — /—/ | ban /ban/ | sika /sika/ | — /—/ |
| Two | wic /wits/ | *sin- /sin-/ | *ɓaːr /ɓaːr/ | iri /iri/ | bi /bi/ | pʉ́aro /pɨ́aɾo/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | nakahaʔahirʔa /nakahaʔahiɾʔa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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