Coosan languages

Coosan languages
Coosan
Kusan
Ethnicity: Coos people
Geographic
distribution:
Oregon
Linguistic classification: Oregon Coast Penutian ?
  • Coosan
Subdivisions:
Hanis
Coos langs.png
Pre-contact distribution of Coosan languages

The Coosan (also Coos or Kusan) language family consists of two languages spoken along the southern Oregon coast. Both languages are now extinct.

Classification

  • Hanis
  • Miluk (aka Lower Coquille)

Melville Jacobs (1939) says that the languages are as close as Dutch and German. They share more than half of their vocabulary, though this is not always obvious, and grammatical differences cause the two languages to look quite different.

The origin of the name Coos is uncertain: one idea is that it is derived from a Hanis stem gus- meaning 'south' as in gusimídži·č 'southward'; another idea is that it is derived from a southwestern Oregon Athabaskan word ku·s meaning 'bay'.

In 1916 Edward Sapir suggested that the Coosan languages are part of a larger Oregon Penutian genetic grouping. This is currently being investigated. See Oregon Coast Penutian languages.

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Languages of the United States — Official language(s) none Main language(s) English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo European 3.8%, Asian …   Wikipedia

  • Penutian languages — Infobox Language family name=Penutian altname=controversial region=North America child1=Chinookan child2=Plateau Penutian child3=Takelma child4=Kalapuyan child5=Alsean child6=Siuslaw child7=Coosan child8=Wintuan child9=Maiduan child10=Utian… …   Wikipedia

  • Alsean languages — Infobox Language family name=Alsean altname=Yakonan region=Oregon familycolor=American fam1=Oregon Coast Penutian ? child1= Alsea child2= Yaquina map caption=Pre contact distribution of Alsean languagesThe Alsean (also Yakonan) language family… …   Wikipedia

  • Indigenous languages of the Americas — Yucatec Maya writing in the Dresden Codex, ca. 11–12th century, Chichen Itza Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which… …   Wikipedia

  • Classification schemes for indigenous languages of the Americas — This article is a list of different language classification proposals developed for indigenous languages of the Americas. The article is divided into North, Central, and South America sections; however, the classifications do not always neatly… …   Wikipedia

  • Oregon Coast Penutian languages — Oregon Coast Penutian Geographic distribution: western North America Linguistic classification: Oregon Coast Penutian Subdivisions: Alsean Siuslaw Coosan The Oregon Coast Penutian languages are …   Wikipedia

  • Dravidian languages — For other uses, see Dravidian (disambiguation). Dravidian Geographic distribution: South Asia Linguistic classification: Dravidian Proto language: Proto Dravidian Subdivisions: Northern Cen …   Wikipedia

  • Indo-European languages — Indo European redirects here. For other uses, see Indo European (disambiguation). See also: List of Indo European languages Indo European Geographic distribution: Before the 16th century, Europe, and South, Central and Southwest Asia; today… …   Wikipedia

  • Mayan languages — Maya language redirects here. For other uses, see Maya language (disambiguation). Mayan Geographic distribution: Mesoamerica: Southern Mexico; …   Wikipedia

  • Oto-Manguean languages — Oto Manguean Geographic distribution: Currently Mexico; previously Mesoamerica and Central America Linguistic classification: Not positively related to any other language families. Subdivisions: Oto Pamean Chinantecan Tl …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”