Timucua Language
The Timucua language is an extinct language that was historically spoken by the Timucua people along the Atlantic coast, stretching from central Florida to Georgia and possibly extending inland to the Tennessee-North Carolina-Georgia border. It served as the primary native language in this region at the time of European contact in the 1500s and is believed to have been the dominant language since as early as 2000 BCE. By the mid-1700s, the few remaining speakers were relocated to Cuba, specifically to a place known as San Augusta Nueva, or Ceibamocha, which translates to "speaking place by the ceiba tree."
Timucua encompasses several dialects, including Mocama, Potano, and Tawasa, among others. The written records of the language primarily originate from catechisms created by priests in the early 1600s, particularly in the Mocama dialect, and a limited vocabulary from the Tawasa dialect remains documented from the 1800s. While some scholars have historically regarded Timucua as a language isolate, Joseph H. Greenberg proposed its classification within the Paezan and Chibchan language family, which traditionally includes languages from South and Central America. As of now, there are no living speakers of Timucua, and the last known members of the Timucua tribe are no longer present.
Subject Terms
Timucua Language
Culture area: Southeast
Tribe affected: Timucua
An extinct language, possibly of Chibchen-Paezan stock, the Timucua language was originally spoken along the Atlantic coast from central Florida to Georgia and inland, perhaps as far as the Tennessee-North Carolina-Georgia border. It was the primary native language in this area at the time of European contact in the 1500’s. Evidence indicates that it had been the primary language in the area since 2000 b.c.e. By the mid-1700’s, the remnant Timucua speakers had been moved to Cuba where they were resettled in San Augusta Nueva, also known by the Timucua name Ceibamocha, meaning “speaking place by the ceiba tree.” There are no current speakers of Timucua and no members of the Timucua tribe today.
The written records of the language come from catechisms prepared by two priests, Francisco Paneja and Gregorio de Movilla, in the early 1600’s. They are written in the Mocama dialect of Timucua. Other dialects were Potano, Itafi, Yufera, Tucururu, Agui Fresca, Agua Salada, Acuera, Oconi, and Tawasa. There were apparently still speakers of Tawasa until the early 1800’s; a 1797 vocabulary of Tawasa still exists. There are also two seventeenth century letters extant to the Spanish crown from Timucuan leaders in the Potano dialect.
The orthography used in these letters as well as in the other sources was designed by Pareja. It is based on Spanish but takes into account phonological discrepancies between Spanish and Timucua.
The derivation of the word “Timucua” is perhaps ati-muca, literally “servants attend upon him,” or “ruler.” The language was first recognized as a distinct language in scholarship in 1858. With the exception of Edward Sapir, most linguists considered Timucua an isolate. Joseph H. Greenberg in Language in the Americas (1987), however, places it in the Paezan and Chibchan family. This family is found in South and Central America, and it was thought to be limited to those areas. Greenberg’s reclassification is doubly startling; he finds relations for Timucua which had previously been thought unrelated, and he erases the long-accepted boundaries for Chibchan-Paezan.