Chickasaw language
| Chickasaw | |
|---|---|
| Chikashsha | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | South central Oklahoma, from Byng or Happyland (near Ada) north, and from Davis or Ardmore west to Fillmore and Wapanucka in east. Some in Los Angeles, California. |
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Native speakers
|
< 75 (2012) up to 2,000-3,000 in 1994 |
|
Muskogean
|
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | chic1270 |
Map showing the distribution of Oklahoma Indian Languages
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The Chickasaw language (Chikashshanompa’, IPA [tʃikaʃːanompaʔ]) is a Native American language of the Muskogean family. It is agglutinative and follows the word order pattern of subject–object–verb (SOV). The language is closely related to, though perhaps not entirely mutually intelligible with, Choctaw. It is spoken by the Chickasaw tribe, now residing in Southeast Oklahoma, centered on Ada.
The language is currently spoken by about 75 people.
Chickasaw is a Muskogean language, and Chickasaw and Choctaw together form the Western branch of the Muskogean language family.The Chickasaw and Choctaw were once one tribe who similarly spoke the Muskogean languages. The Chickasaw language was spoken until 1970 but has since become an endangered language. Chickasaw is also related to Alabama, Koasati, Mvskoke (Creek)-Seminole, Hitchiti and Mikasuki.
Sometime prior to the first European contact, the Chickasaw migrated from western regions and moved east of the Mississippi River, where they settled mostly in present-day northeast Mississippi. Chickasaw towns and villages were structured to be densely populated as a wartime measure but encompassed larger areas when there was no conflict with enemies. A main house and main meeting ground were used to gather groups from the Chickasaw community for ceremonies, celebratory affairs, and to discuss important social, cultural, and political matters. There was a division and specialization in labor done by men who prepared the community for war, hunted for food, and made provisions for the defense of their communities while Chickasaw women tended the home, handled farming and agriculture, and raised the families. They would eventually come into contact with Europeans as time passed on and European exploration of their lands took shape. That is where they encountered European explorers and traders, having relationships with French, English and Spanish during the colonial years. The United States considered the Chickasaw one of the Five Civilized Tribes, as they adopted numerous practices of European Americans. Resisting European-American settlers encroaching on their territory, they were forced by the US to sell their country in 1832 and move to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the era of Indian Removal in the 1830s.
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Wikipedia