Atakapa Language Family
The Atakapa Language Family encompasses the languages spoken by the Atakapa and Akokisa tribes, which historically occupied areas along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico, particularly in present-day Louisiana and Texas. This language group is closely related to other regional languages, such as Opeloosa and Bidai. The principal villages of the Atakapa were located near significant waterways, including the Vermillion Bayou and the Calcasieu River, while Akokisa villages were situated around Galveston Bay. Knowledge of these languages primarily stems from historical documentation and linguistic studies conducted in the late 19th century.
Atakapa is characterized by its verbalization of nouns and a complex system of verb suffixes, with a notable emphasis on verb forms that indicate plurality and emphasis through duplication. The numeral system used is decimal, and both Atakapa and Akokisa languages utilize independent personal pronouns as well as pronominal affixes. These languages reflect a rich linguistic structure, highlighting the cultural identity and heritage of the Atakapa and Akokisa peoples. Understanding these languages contributes to the broader appreciation of the indigenous cultures of the Gulf Coast region.
Atakapa Language Family
Culture area: Southeast
Tribes affected: Atakapa, Akokisa
The Atakapan language group includes the Atakapa and the Akokisa (Orcoqisac in Spanish texts), closely related to the Opeloosa and the Bidai. The language areas in the early modern period (circa 1500 through 1840) existed along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico, reaching from Vermillion Bayou to West Galveston Bay. The tribes occupied land along the Mermentou River, the Calcasieu River, the Sabine River, the Trinity River, and the Houston Bayou along the coast and as much as 100 miles inland. In the twentieth century, Atakapa has been a designate in the present parishes of St. Mary, Iberia, St. Martin, Lafayette, and Vermillion of Louisiana.
The principal villages of the Atakapa were situated on the Vermillion Bayou, the Mermentou River, the Calcasieu River, and the lower Sabine River. The Opeloosa village was situated at the location of the present town of Opelousa in Louisiana. The villages of the Akokisa existed on Galveston Bay, near the courses of the Trinity River and the Houston Bayou, as well as near Dollar Point and Shoal Point in present Texas City (across from Galveston) in Texas. The research of Herbert Eugene Bolton on Spanish missionary documents linked the Bidai language with that of the Akokisa.
The knowledge of these tribal languages rests almost entirely on the work of A. S. Gatschet of the Bureau of American Ethnology in the late nineteenth century. Besides the material collected by Gatschet, there exist the Akokisa word lists of the French sea captain Jean Berenger and the Atakapa word lists collected by Martin Duralde, the Spanish commandant at the Atakapa Post in 1802. The Akokisa of the late eighteenth century differed slightly from the Atakapa in the area of Lake Charles where the materials were collected in the early nineteenth century.
Atakapa makes frequent use of stems indicating certain general concepts (such as to sit, to go, to come, and to stand), accompanied by a single suffix. Verbalization of nouns is important to Atakapa. In fact, verbalization of all kinds of elements is accomplished with exceptional freedom. In the verb complexes, suffixes are more numerous than prefixes. The principal verb stem is placed near the beginning of the phrase. Plural forms and emphasis are constructed by simple duplication of the verb stem, as in its (“to wake”), wicakitsitso (“I wake someone repeatedly”); kuts (“red”), kutskuts (“red things”); and ak (“green”), akak (“very green or green things”). There are a few verb forms with distinct stems, singular and plural, such as itol, iwil (“to arrange, to put in order”); kau, pix (“to die”). The Atakapa numeral system is decimal.
Atakapa and Akokisa use both independent personal pronouns and pronominal affixes. Distinct independent pronouns are used in the first-person singular and the first-person plural, though the independent forms for the second and third persons of both numbers are closely related to the objective forms. The concept of self, as in myself, yourself, is represented by a separate word after the appropriate independent pronoun. Atakapa also employs reflexive affixes. The word “thing” is employed frequently in close connection with the verb so as to assume the appearance of an affix.