Western Siouan languages facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Western Siouan
Siouan Proper
Geographic distribution:	central North America
Linguistic classification:	Siouan Western Siouan
Subdivisions:	Missouri River (Crow–Hidatsa) Mandan Mississippi Valley (Central) Ohio Valley (Southeastern)
Pre-contact distribution of the Western Siouan languages

The Western Siouan languages are a group of languages spoken by Native American people in North America. They are also called Siouan proper or just Siouan. These languages belong to a larger group called the Siouan (Siouan–Catawban) language family. This means they are related to the Catawban languages, which are sometimes called Eastern Siouan.

Experts believe the people who spoke these languages originally came from the southern parts of North America. Over a thousand years ago, they started moving from places like North Carolina and Virginia towards Ohio. Some groups traveled along the Ohio River to the Mississippi and then up to the Missouri. Others went south along the Mississippi, settling in areas that are now Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Still others moved across Ohio to what is now Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, where the Dakota people live today.

What Are Western Siouan Languages?

The Western Siouan family includes about 18 different languages and many dialects. A dialect is a different way of speaking a language. Some of these languages are still spoken today, while others are no longer used.

Main Language Groups

The Western Siouan languages are divided into several main groups:

• Mandan: This language is no longer spoken. It had two main dialects called Nuptare and Nuetare.

• Missouri River Siouan: This group is also known as Crow–Hidatsa.
  • Crow is spoken by about 3,500 people.
  • Hidatsa is spoken by about 200 people.

• Mississippi Valley Siouan: This group is also called Central Siouan.
  • Dakotan: This includes the Sioux language, which has about 25,000 speakers.
    • The Lakota dialect has about 2,100 speakers.
    • The Dakota dialect has about 290 speakers.
  • Assiniboine is spoken by about 150 people.
  • Stoney is spoken by about 3,200 people.
  • Chiwere-Winnebago:
    • The Chiwere language is no longer spoken.
    • The Winnebago language has about 250 speakers.
  • Dhegihan:
    • The Omaha–Ponca language has about 85 speakers.
    • The Quapaw language has only 1 speaker left.

• Ohio Valley Siouan:
  • Virginia Siouan: These languages are no longer spoken. They include Tutelo and Moneton.
  • Mississippi Siouan: These languages are also no longer spoken. They include Biloxi and Ofo.

Some languages, like Kansa and Osage, are no longer spoken but there are efforts to bring them back. When a language is no longer spoken by anyone, it is called an extinct language.

How Are These Languages Written?

People use different ways to write down the Western Siouan languages:

• Latin alphabet: Most of these languages use the Latin alphabet. This is the same alphabet used for English.

• Osage script: A special writing system called the Osage script was created in 2005 by Herman Mongrain Lookout. This script was made for the Osage language. People are also thinking about using it for other languages in the Dhegiha group.