Quapaw language

Quapaw, or Arkansas, is a Siouan language of the Quapaw people, originally from a region in present-day Arkansas. It is now spoken in Oklahoma.

Quapaw
Arkansas, O-gah-pah, Okáxpa
Native to	United States
Region	Arkansas, Oklahoma
Ethnicity	160 Quapaw (2000 census)[1]
Extinct	April 19 2022, with the death of Ardina Moore[2]
Language family	Siouan Western Siouan Mississippi Valley Dhegiha Quapaw
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qua
Glottolog	quap1242
ELP	Quapaw
Map showing the distribution of Oklahoma Indian languages

It is similar to the other Dhegihan languages: Kansa, Omaha, Osage and Ponca.

Written documentation

The Quapaw language is well-documented in field notes and publications from many individuals including by George Izard in 1827, by Lewis F. Hadly in 1882, from 19th-century linguist James Owen Dorsey, in 1940 by Frank Thomas Siebert, and, in the 1970s by linguist Robert Rankin.^[3]

The Quapaw language does not conform well to English language phonetics, and a writing system for the language has not been formally adopted. All of the existing source material on the language utilizes different writing systems, making reading and understanding the language difficult for the novice learner. To address this issue, an online dictionary of the Quapaw language is being compiled which incorporates all of the existing source material known to exist into one document using a version of the International Phonetic Alphabet which has been adapted for Siouan languages.^[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Siebert found 23 consonants in his limited research,^[5] while Rankin found 26. When compared with Rankin, Siebert does not include /b/, /d/, or /ʔ/. He also puts the velar plosives and postalveolar fricatives together in a palatal column. The following chart uses Rankin's analysis.

Quapaw Consonants^[6]

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p pː	t tː			k kː	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ			kʰ
	glottalized		tʼ			kʼ
	voiced	b	d
Fricative	voiceless			s	ʃ	x	h
	glottalized			sʼ	ʃʼ	xʼ
	voiced			z	ʒ
Nasal		m		n
Approximant		w

Vowels

In addition to the vowels Rankin found in the below chart, Siebert included four long oral vowels /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, and /oː/.

Quapaw Vowels^[6]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ
Mid	e		o õ
Open		a ã

Revitalization

Ardina Moore taught Quapaw language classes through the tribe.^[7]

An online audio lexicon of the Quapaw language is available on the tribal website to assist language learners.^[8] The lexicon incorporates audio of first language speakers who were born between 1870 and 1918.

The 2nd Annual Dhegiha Gathering in 2012 brought Quapaw, Osage, Kaw, Ponca, and Omaha speakers together to share best practices in language revitalization.^[9] A Quapaw Tribal Youth Language and Cultural Preservation Camp taught the language to children.^[10]

In 2024, the Quapaw Nation Culture Division created a permanent language department which hired language staff, restarted Quapaw language community classes, and is working towards increased language services. ^[11]