Bidai | |
---|---|
Quasmigdo | |
Region | Texas |
Extinct | 19th century? |
Language family | unclassified (language isolate? Atakapan?) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
Glottolog | bida1238 |
Bidai (also spelled Beadeye, Bedias, Bidey, Viday, etc.; autonym: Quasmigdo) is an unclassified extinct language formerly spoken by the Bidai people of eastern Texas. Zamponi (2024) notes that the numerals do not appear to be related to those of any other languages and hence proposes that Bidai may be a language isolate.
Rufus Grimes, a Texan settler in Navasota, Grimes County sent a letter dated November 15, 1887 to Albert S. Gatschet that contained several Bidai words. The word list was published in Gatschet (1891: 39, fn. 2).
gloss | Bidai |
---|---|
one | namah |
two | nahonde |
three | naheestah |
four | nashirimah |
five | nahot nahonde |
six | nashees nahonde |
boy | púskus |
corn | tándshai |
Below is Zamponi's (2024) comparison of Bidai numerals with those of neighboring languages.
language | one | two | three | four | five | six |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bidai | namah | nahonde | naheestah | nashirimah | nahot nahonde | nashees nahonde |
W. Atakapa | tanuʹk, taʹnuk | tsīk | lāt | (h)imatoʹl | nīt, nit | latsīʹk |
Karankawa | náatsa | háikia | kaxáji | hájo hakn | náatsa béhema | hájo háikia |
Tonkawa | we·ʔis-pax | ketay | metis | sikit | kaskwa | sikwa·law |
Caddo | ’wísts’i’ | bít | daháw’ | híwí’ | diːsik’an | dáːnkih |
Adai | nancas | nass | colle | tacache | seppacan | pacanancus |
Mobilian Jargon | (a)čaf(f)a | tok(o)lo | točena | ošta | taɫape | han(n)ale |
Anthony Grant (1995) finds the following cognates shared with Choctaw and Mobilian Jargon.
language | boy | corn |
---|---|---|
Bidai | púskus | tándshai |
Choctaw | poškoš ~ poskos ‘child’ | tãci’ |
Mobilian Jargon | posko(š) ~ poškoš ‘baby, child’ | tãče ‘baby, child’ |
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Native American tribes in Texas | |
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Federally recognized tribes | |
Indigenous languages | |
Historical Indigenous peoples of Texas (Several are in Oklahoma today) |
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Related topics | |
† extinct language / ≠ extinct tribe / >< early, obsolete name of Indigenous tribe / ° people absorbed into other tribe(s) / * headquartered in Oklahoma today |