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Hasí:nay - Caddo LanguagePhoto by Benjamin Bruce

Spoken by the Caddo Nation (Hasí:nay)
Thanks to Robert Brian Levy and Wallace Chafe for helping me with this language.


Kúhaʔahat Oklahoma!

[ˈkʊhaʔahat oklaˈhoma]          (kou-hah-'ah-hot Oklahoma!)

Note:  In fast speech, which is usually used with greetings, "kúhaʔahat" is pronounced "kúaʔa:t" [ˈkʊaʔaːt] (kou-ah-'aaht).

 

 

Greetings and Basic Phrases

Kúhaʔahat : hello haʔahat ts'iʔ ahyaʔtiʔ! : Good morning
Nà:wih! : Welcome! Háht'aybáws ah. : It's good to see you.
Sisímbak'ihah? : What is your name? Kúmbak'ihah ___. : My name is ___.
Dí: dikat daʔah? : What is this? Dí: ___ daʔ ah. : This is a ___.
Náh sídímbak'ihah? : What is that called? Dí: ___ sayʔ ah? : Is this a __?
aháy : yes hunnaʔ : no
núkkah : I don't know háwwih : thank you


Numbers

wísts'iʔ : one bit : two
dahawʔ : three hiwiʔ : four
díssik'an : five dánkih : six
bíssik'ah : seven dahàwsik'ah : eight
hí:wìsik'ah : nine bináyʔah : ten


Animals

miyuʔ : cat dì:tsiʔ : dog
nuʔ : turkey daʔ : deer
táshah : wolf, coyote ut : raccoon
wihit : skunk iwiʔ : eagle


Colors

haká:yuh : white hadikuh : black
banushah : blue hatinuʔ : red
hak'aykuh : yellow hasik'uh : green
haku:nuʔ : brown dakánk'uh : purple


Food

kapí: : coffee
kù:kuh : water
tsú:tsuh : milk dáshkattiʔti : cracker, cookie
dáshkat kayust'uh : frybread kisiʔ : corn
iʔ : potato naʔah : grapes
nidimbin : jerky, poundmeat widish : salt

 

Kúsinah : That's enough!

 


©2003-5 Kiwat Hasinay Foundation, used with permission.

Source: "Vocabulary." Internet: <http://www.ahalenia.com/kiwat/vocab.html> September 6, 2005.

Caddo Alphabet

Letter As in English Caddo example IPA
   
a father as "persimmon" [a]
b baker batah  "fish" [b]
ch chew ch’ayah "turtle" [ʧ]
d door daʔ "deer" [d]
i police ibat "grandfather" [i]
h ham hatiduʔ "hot" [h]
k keep kaʔan "bottle" [k]
k’ * k’unuʔ "melon" [k’]
m mean miyuʔ "cat" [m]
n nice nápbaʔ "night" [n]
p peach páhtsiʔ "nephew, niece" [p]
s sister sisih "flea" [s]
sh shoot shiwah "squirrel" [ʃ]
t take tanahaʔ "buffalo" [t]
ts what's tsíwʔk’as "star" [ʦ]
ts’ * ts’í:nih "nothing" [ʦ’]
u push uʔush "owl" [ʊ]
w want waduʔ "wildcat" [w]
y yard yá:hah "tobacco" [j]
ʔ middle of uh-oh aʔah "father" [ʔ]

* These consonants are pronounced by raising the adam’s apple and then letting go.

  • Long vowels are shown with a colon, as in i:ʔ “potato”. [ː]
  • High-pitched vowels are shown with an acute accent mark, as in dáshkat “bread”. [´]
  • Falling-pitched vowels are shown with a grave accent mark, as in dì:tamah “horse”. [^]

 

Source: "Caddo Alphabet." Internet: <http://www.ahalenia.com/kiwat/caddo_alphabet.pdf> September 6, 2005. IPA transcriptions added by Benjamin Bruce.

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