Editing Alabama language

{{Expand Portuguese|Língua alabama|date=March 2025}}
{{Short description|Muskogean language spoken in Texas, US}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Alabama
| nativename = {{lang|akz|Albaamo innaaɬiilka}}
| states = [[United States]]
| region = Currently in [[Texas]], Formerly in [[Oklahoma]] and [[Alabama]]
| ethnicity = [[Alabama people|Alabama]]
| speakers = approx. 370<!--this looks like half the combined number of Alabama+Koasati, not Alabama alone-->
| date = 2015 census
| ref = e21
| familycolor = American
| fam1 = [[Muskogean languages|Muskogean]]
| fam2 = Eastern
| fam3 = Alabama–[[Koasati language|Koasati]]
| iso3 = akz
| glotto = alab1237
| glottorefname = Alabama
| image = Alabama-Coushatta Rez.jpg
| imagecaption = Sign on the [[Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation]] with phrase "On ti chuka" meaning "welcome"
| map2 = Lang Status 60-DE.svg
| mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Alabama is classified as Definitely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''}}}}
}}

'''Alabama''', also known as '''Alibamu,'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=akz |title=Ethnologue report for language code: akz |publisher=Ethnologue.com |access-date=2011-10-27}}</ref> ({{Langx|akz|Albaamo innaaɬiilka}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alabama Dictionary |url=http://www.lingtechcomm.unt.edu/~montler/alabama/dictionary/index.htm |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=www.lingtechcomm.unt.edu}}</ref> is a [[Native American languages|Native American language]], spoken by the [[Alabama-Coushatta]] tribe of [[Texas]].{{sfn|Hardy|2005|p=75}} It was once spoken by the [[Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town]] of Oklahoma, but there are no more Alabama speakers in Oklahoma.  It is a [[Muskogean languages|Muskogean language]], and is believed to have been related to the Muklasa and Tuskegee languages, which are no longer extant. Alabama is closely related to [[Koasati language|Koasati]] and [[Apalachee language|Apalachee]], and more distantly to other [[Muskogean languages]] like [[Hitchiti language|Hitchiti]], [[Chickasaw language|Chickasaw]] and [[Choctaw language|Choctaw]].

==History==
The Alabama first encountered Europeans when [[Hernando de Soto]] arrived in 1540. (See [[List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition|here]] for other de Soto contactees) In the 18th century, the French arrived on the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] and built a fort at what became [[Mobile, Alabama]].

The ''Alibamu'' and ''Koasati'' tribes were part of the [[Creek Confederacy]]. They had less contact with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] settlers than other [[Creek people|Creek tribes]] did.  They were the first to leave when British settlers swarmed into the area by the middle of the 18th century, after the land was ceded by the French following the British victory in the [[French and Indian War]].  Under pressure as well by Native American enemies, the Alabama and Coushatta tribes wanted to avoid the powerful [[Choctaw]] in present-day [[Mississippi]]. They moved into territories of future states, first into [[Louisiana]] and then into [[Texas]].

In 1795, the Coushatta arrived in the Big Thicket area of East Texas. In 1805, nearly 1,000 Alabama came to [[Tyler County, Texas|Tyler County]]'s Peach Tree Village in East Texas. The two tribes developed a strong friendship as they roamed and hunted their new land together. In the early 19th century, the Texas Congress granted each tribe two strips of land along the [[Trinity River (Texas)|Trinity River]]. Their land was soon taken over by European-American settlers, leaving them homeless.  [[Sam Houston]], the governor of Texas, recommended that the state purchase {{convert|1280|acre|km2}} for the Alabamas.  Although money was appropriated to buy {{convert|640|acre|km2}} for the Coushatta, the land was never bought. Either through marriage or special permission, many Coushatta went to live on the land given to the Alabama.  Other Coushatta had stayed in an area in southern Louisiana near the Red River. Many of their descendants are enrolled members of the federally recognized Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

Alabama and Coushatta towns were divided into "red" and "white" towns.  The "white" towns were responsible for keeping the peace and for providing refuge, while the "red" towns were responsible for conducting military campaigns. Though they had "red" and "white" towns, the Alabama-Coushatta thought of themselves as a peace-loving people.<ref name="Indians">{{cite book |last=Hook |first=Jonathan |title=The Alabama-Coushatta Indians |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=1997}}</ref>

By 1820, there were three main Alabama towns and three large Coushatta towns in east [[Texas]], in the region known as the Big Thicket. In 1854, the Alabama were given {{convert|1,280|acres|km2}} in [[Polk County, Texas|Polk County]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mattox |first1=Jim |author-link1=Jim Mattox |title=Opinion No. JM-17 Re: Enforcement of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code within the confines of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation |url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm |website=The Office of the Attorney General of Texas |publisher=State of Texas |access-date=26 January 2015|at=Paragraph 2 |date=March 22, 1983 |quote=The 'reservation' consists principally of two tracts located in Polk County. One of them, consisting of 1,280 acres, was purchased in several parcels for the Alabama Indians by the state government in 1854 and 1855. The purchase was authorized to honor a claim held by the Alabama tribe against the Republic of Texas. Acts 1854, 5th Leg., ch. 44, at 68; Acts 1840, 4th Congress of the Republic, at 197 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119131158/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm |archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> The following year, {{convert|640|acres|km2}}, also in Polk County, were given to the Coushattas. The Coushatta claim was disputed by white settlers in 1859. When the Coushatta lost the land claim, the Alabama invited them to live on their land claim.

The federal government approved a large grant in 1928 to purchase additional land near the reservation;<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mattox, Jim|author-link1=Jim Mattox|title=Opinion No. JM-17 Re: Enforcement of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code within the confines of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation|url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm|website=The Office of the Attorney General of Texas|publisher=State of Texas|access-date=26 January 2015|location=Paragraph 11|page=1|date=March 22, 1983|quote=It was not until 1928 that the federal government purchased the larger tract 'in trust for the Alabama and Coushatta Indians of Texas.' See Act of May 29, 1928, ch. 853, 45 Stat. 883, 900; 88 Deed Records of Polk County Texas 209 (1928)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119131158/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm|archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> it was granted to the "Alabama and Coushatta tribes." Since that time, the reservation has officially been known as “Alabama-Coushatta".

Origin myths focus on the interconnectedness of the tribes. One myth states that the two tribes sprouted from either side of a [[cypress]] tree. Another legend was recorded in 1857 from {{lang|mus|Se-ko-pe-chi}}, one of the oldest Creeks in [[Indian Territory]]. He said that the tribes “sprang out of the ground between the [[Cahaba River|Cohawba]] and [[Alabama River]]s.” The symbol of the Alabama-Coushatta tribe comes from pre-contact [[Mississippian culture]]: two intertwined woodpeckers, now symbolic of the connection between the two tribes.

==Phonology==

===Consonants===
There are fourteen consonant [[phoneme]]s in Alabama.{{sfn|Hardy|2005|p=82}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! colspan=2|[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan=2|[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]/<br />[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| align="center" colspan=2|{{IPA link|m}}
| align="center" colspan=2|{{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| align="center"|{{IPA link|p}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|b}}
| align="center" colspan=2|{{IPA link|t}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|tʃ}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| align="center" colspan=2|{{IPA link|f}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|s}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|ɬ}}
|
|
| align="center"|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| align="center" colspan=2|{{IPA link|w}}
| colspan=2 align="center"|{{IPA link|l}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|}

{{IPA|/s/}} is [[Apical consonant|apico-alveolar]], {{IPA|[s̺]}}. The voiceless stops {{IPA|/p t k/}} are typically [[Fortis and lenis|fortis]]{{clarify|date=February 2012}} and unlike in many other Southeastern languages they are not [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] between vowels. All consonants can occur [[Gemination|geminated]].<ref name="hardy2005p83">Hardy 2005:83</ref> The post-alveolar affricate {{IPA|/tʃ/}} is realized as {{IPA|[s]}} when it occurs as the first member of a consonant cluster and the geminate is realized as {{IPA|[ttʃ]}}. The only voiced [[stop consonant|plosive]] in Alabama is {{IPA|/b/}}, which is realized as {{IPA|[m]}} when it occurs in coda (syllable final) position. The geminate {{IPA|/bb/}} is realized as {{IPA|[mb]}}.<ref name="hardy2005p83" /> The two nasal phonemes become velar {{IPA|[ŋ]}} before the velar stop {{IPA|/k/}}. In syllable-final position, {{IPA|/h/}} is often realized as lengthening of the preceding vowel.<ref name="hardy2005p83" />

===Vowels===
There are three vowel qualities, {{IPA|/i o a/}}. Vowel length is distinctive. Vowels can be nasalized in certain morphological contexts.<ref name="hardy2005p83" />

===Prosody===
In Alabama, the final syllable generally carries the primary stress, except in the case of certain grammatical operations which move the stress. There is also a pitch accent system with two contrastive tones: high-level and high-falling. The two phonemic tones have several different allophonic realizations depending on vowel length and neighboring consonants.{{sfn|Hardy|2005|pp=83-84}}

==Revitalization efforts==
Since January 2024, the [[Alabama–Coushatta Tribe of Texas]] has engaged in a revitalization and documentation effort in partnership with the WOLF (Working on Language in the Field) Lab at Harvard University, with a five-year goal "to document the language, study its grammar and lexicon, and produce educational resources for the Alabama-Coushatta community."<ref>{{cite news |last=Brennan |first=Maeve |date=2024-03-02 |title='I Want People to Know It': Ava E. Silva '27 Works to Preserve the Alabama Language |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/3/2/alabama-language-project/ |work=The Harvard Crimson |access-date=2024-11-22}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite news |last=Brennan |first=Maeve |date=2024-03-02 |title='I Want People to Know It': Ava E. Silva '27 Works to Preserve the Alabama Language |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/3/2/alabama-language-project/ |work=The Harvard Crimson |access-date=2024-11-22}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Philip |last2=Hardy |first2=Heather |year=1988 |title=Absence of noun marking in Alabama |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=279–308 |doi=10.1086/466087|s2cid=145397345 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hardy |first1=Heather K. |year=2005 |editor-last1=Hardy |editor-first1=Heather K. |editor-last2=Scancarelli |editor-first2=Janine |chapter=Alabama |title=Native Languages of the Southeastern United States |location=Lincoln |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |pages=75–113 |isbn=0-8032-4235-2}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hardy |first1=Heather |last2=Davis |first2=Philip |year=1988 |title=Comparatives in Alabama |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=209–231 |doi=10.1086/466082|s2cid=144076045 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hardy |first1=Heather |last2=Davis |first2=Philip |year=1993 |title=Semantics of agreement in Alabama |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=453–472 |doi=10.1086/466214|s2cid=145425590 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hardy |first1=Heather |author-link2=Timothy Montler |last2=Montler |first2=Timothy |year=1988 |title=Imperfective gemination in Alabama |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=399–415 |doi=10.1086/466094|s2cid=144053231 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Montler |first1=Timothy |last2=Hardy |first2=Heather |year=1991 |title=Phonology of negation in Alabama |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1086/ijal.57.1.3519711|s2cid=147850761 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rand |first=Earl |year=1968 |title=Structural phonology of Alabaman, a Muskogean language |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=94–103 |doi=10.1086/465002|s2cid=145333066 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Sylestine |first1=Cora |last2=Hardy |first2=Heather |last3=Montler |first3=Timothy |title=Dictionary of the Alabama Language |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |year=1993 |isbn=0-292-73077-2 |url=http://www.ling.unt.edu/~montler/Alabama |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050206223551/http://www.ling.unt.edu/~montler/Alabama/ |archive-date=2005-02-06}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{incubator|akz}}
{{Wiktionary|Category:Alabama language}}
* [http://www.cas.unt.edu/~montler/Alabama/Dictionary/index.htm Online Alabama-English-Alabama Dictionary]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070127162721/http://www.alabama-coushatta.com/ Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060110215130/http://hello-oklahoma.benjaminbruce.us/alabama.htm Chíkmàa Oolahomma!] – How to say "hello" in Alabama
* [http://www.language-archives.org/language/akz OLAC resources in and about the Alabama language]

{{Languages of Oklahoma}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Definitely endangered languages]]
[[Category:Muskogean languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Southeast]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Oklahoma]]