The Pakawan languages were a small language family spoken in what is today northern Mexico and southern Texas. All Pakawan languages are today extinct.

Classification

Five clear Pakawan languages are attested:

Coahuilteco Coahuilteco was one of the Pakawan languages that was spoken in southern Texas (United States) and northeastern Coahuila (Mexico). It is now extinct. Classification Coahuilteco was grouped in an eponymous Coahuiltecan family by John Wesley Po ...

Cotoname Cotoname was a Pakawan language spoken by Native Americans indigenous to the lower Rio Grande Valley of northeastern Mexico and extreme southern Texas (United States). Today it is extinct. Vocabulary The following vocabulary list of Cotoname ...

, Comecrudo, Garza and Mamulique. The first three were first proposed to be related by

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

in 1891, in a grouping then called Coahuiltecan. Goddard (1979) groups the latter three in a Comecrudan family while considering the others language isolates. The current composition and the present name "Pakawan" are due to Manaster Ramer (1996). The term Coahuiltecan languages today refers to a slightly expanded and less securely established grouping. Most Pakawan languages have at times been included also in the much larger and highly hypothetical

Hokan The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families that were spoken mainly in California, Arizona and Baja California. Etymology The name ''Hokan'' is loosely based on the word for "two" in the various Hokan ...

"stock".

Common vocabulary

The following word comparisons are given by Manaster Ramer (1996): The following sound changes and

correspondences Correspondence may refer to: *In general usage, non-concurrent, remote communication between people, including letters, email, newsgroups, Internet forums, blogs. Science * Correspondence principle (physics): quantum physics theories must agree ...

should be noted: * Vocalization of word-final *l in Cotoname: 'sun', 'straw', red' * Lenition of *p to /xw/ in Coahuilteco between vowels: #apel', #mapi * Syncope of * Apocope of final ''e'' (perhaps ) in Comecrudo: 'man', 'low

ater Ater (Hebrew אֲתַר) is an Old Testament male name. #A descendant of Hezekiah, who returned from Babylon ; #An Israelite, who subscribed to Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in r ...

, 'to kneel'. * /k/, /kw/ in other languages correspond to /x/, /xw/ in Cotoname, when before /a/ ('man', 'low

, 'to eat', 'to suck', 'to write'), as well as in Coahuilteco, when before any low vowel (__examples). * /kiV/ in Comecrudo corresponds to /kuV/ in Coahuilteco: 'blood', 'to go' * ''s ~ l'' (perhaps indicating a lateral fricative ) in Comecrudo corresponds to ''s'' in Coahuilteco: Comecrudo 'blood', 'devil', 'to fall'. * Initial ''y'' in Comecrudo corresponds to /ts/ in Coahuilteco: ''I'', ''chest'', ''to hear''

Classification

Common vocabulary

References

Further reading