The Mikasuki language (also Miccosukee or Hitchiti-Mikasuki) is a Muskogean language spoken by around 500 people in southern Florida. It is spoken by the Miccosukee tribe as well as many Florida Seminoles. The now-extinct Hitchiti language was mutually intelligible with Mikasuki.

As of 2002, the language was taught in the local school, which had "an area devoted to 'Miccosukee Language Arts'".^[1]

As of 2011, the University of Florida Department of Anthropology is home to The Elling Eide Endowed Professorship in Miccosukee Language and Culture, for Native American languages of the southeastern United States.^[2]

Sounds [edit]

There are three tones, high, low and falling. Vowel length is distinctive, for example eche ('mouth') vs eeche ('deer'), ete ('eye') vs eete ('fire').

Grammar [edit]

Nouns are marked with suffixes for various functions, some examples:

Free pronouns exist (aane "I", chehne "you", pohne "we") but are rarely used. Verb suffixes are the usual way of marking person.

Writing System [edit]

Mikasuki is written using the Latin alphabet. The vowels are pronounced as follows:

The consonants are:

High tone is indicated with an acute, low tone with a grave and falling tone with an acute (on a long vowel this is typographically split over both vowels, otherwise the grave is placed over the next consonant):

An epenthetic [ə] vowel appears in kl, kw and kn clusters in careful speech.

Examples [edit]

Verbs [edit]

Numerals [edit]

Kinship Terms [edit]

References [edit]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2009)

• West, J. & Smith, N. A Guide to the Miccosukee Language, Miami: Miccosukee Corporation 1978.
• West, J. The Phonology of Mikasuki in Studies in Linguistics 1962, 16:77-91.

External links [edit]

Indigenous peoples of North America portal

• A Global Linguistic Database: Mikasuki
• Ethnologue report for Mikasuki
• Miccosukee place names
• Mikasuki, Omniglot
• Miccosukee Indian Language (Mikasuki, Hitchiti)
• OLAC resources in and about the Mikasuki language
• The Common Maskoki Language

v t e Languages of Oklahoma Alabama* Arapaho Caddo Cayuga Cherokee Cheyenne Chickasaw Chiwere (Iowa and Otoe) Choctaw Comanche Delaware English German Hitchiti-Mikasuki Kansa Koasati Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache Mesquakie (Fox, Kickapoo, and Sauk) Muscogee Osage Ottawa Pawnee Plains Apache Ponca Potawatomi Quapaw Seneca Shawnee Spanish Tonkawa Vietnamese Wichita Wyandot Yuchi Italics indicate extinct languages * indicates extinct language in Oklahoma but still spoken elsewhere

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