History
Wichita is a member of the Caddoan language family, along with modern Caddo, Pawnee, Arikara, and Kitsai. When the Europeans began to settle North America, Wichita separated into three dialects; Waco, Towakoni, and KirikirÉi:s (aka, Wichita Proper). However, when the language was threatened and the number of speakers decreased, dialect differences largely disappeared While at present there is one living native speaker, as late as 2007 there were three living native speakers. This is a sharp decline from the 500 speakers estimated by Paul L. Garvin in 1950.
Read more about this topic: Wichita Language
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I assure you that in our next class we will concern ourselves solely with the history of Egypt, and not with the more lurid and non-curricular subject of living mummies.”
—Griffin Jay, and Reginald LeBorg. Prof. Norman (Frank Reicher)
““And now this is the way in which the history of your former life has reached my ears!” As he said this he held out in his hand the fatal letter.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)