| Coahuiltecan | |
|---|---|
| (not a language family) | |
| Geographic distribution | Texas, northernMexico |
| Ethnicity | Coahuiltecan peoples |
| Extinct | by 1900s |
| Linguistic classification | related toHokan? |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | None |
 The range of Indians of Coahuiltecan culture in Texas, although most authorities would not include the Karankawa and Tonkawa as Coahuiltecan | |
Coahuiltecan was a proposed language family inJohn Wesley Powell's 1891 classification ofNative American languages.[1] Most linguists now reject the view that theCoahuiltecan peoples of southern Texas and adjacent Mexico spoke a single or related languages.[2] Coahuiltecan continues to be a convenient collective term for the languages and people of this region.
Similarities among the cultures among the indigenous people and the physical setting of south Texas led linguists to believe that the languages of the region were also similar.[3] The Coahuiltecan language family was proposed to include all the languages of the region, includingKarankawa andTonkawa. Linguistic connections were proposed withHokan, a language family of several Native American peoples living inCalifornia,Arizona, andBaja California.[4]
Most modern linguists, by contrast, see the Coahuiltecan region as one of linguistic diversity. A few words are known from seven different languages:Comecrudo,Cotoname,Aranama,Solano,Mamulique,Garza, andCoahuilteco or Pakawa.[2] Coahuilteco or Pakawa seems to have been alingua franca of Texas Coahuiltecans living at or near theCatholic Missions established atSan Antonio in the 18th century. Almost certainly, many more languages were spoken, but numerous Coahuiltecan bands and ethnic groups became extinct between the 16th and 19th century and their languages were unrecorded. In 1886, ethnologistAlbert Gatschet found perhaps the last surviving speakers of Coahuiltecan languages: 25 Comecrudo, 1 Cotoname, and 2 Pakawa. They were living nearReynosa, Mexico.[5] In 1690, the population of Indians in northeastern Mexico and southern Texas may have been 100,000. The Coahuiltecans were sold into slavery, died of introduced European diseases, and were absorbed by the surrounding Hispanic population.[6]
Linguists have postulated aComecrudan language family with Comecrudo, Mamulique, and Garza as related and Coahuilteco and Cotoname possibly related. Comecrudo and Cotoname are the best known of the languages. They were spoken in the delta of theRio Grande.[7] Not enough information exists to classify Solano and Aranama. However,linguistic conservatives say that all these languages should be consideredlanguage isolates, with insufficient data to establish relationships between and among the languages.[8]
The Coahuiltecan languages and cultures are now extinct. The names of many bands have been preserved, including theErvipiame,Mayeye,Pajalat,Quems,Quepano, Solano, andXarames.
| Federally recognized tribes | |
|---|---|
| Other consulted tribes | |
| Indigenous languages | |
| Historical Indigenous peoples of Texas (Several are in Oklahoma today) |
|
| Related topics | |
† extinct language /≠ extinct tribe / >< early,obsolete name of Indigenous tribe /° people absorbed into other tribe(s) /* headquartered in Oklahoma today | |
