Similarities among the cultures among the indigenous people and the physical setting of south Texas led linguists to believe that the languages of the region were also similar. The Coahuiltecan language family was proposed to include all the languages of the region, including
Karankawa and
Tonkawa. Linguistic connections were proposed with
Hokan, a language family of several Native American peoples living in
California,
Arizona, and
Baja California. Most modern linguists, by contrast, see the Coahuiltecan region as one of linguistic diversity. A few words are known from seven different languages:
Comecrudo,
Cotoname,
Aranama,
Solano,
Mamulique,
Garza, and
Coahuilteco or Pakawa. In 1690, the population of Indians in northeastern Mexico and southern Texas may have been 100,000. The Coahuiltecans were sold into slavery, died of introduced European diseases, and were absorbed by the surrounding Hispanic population. Linguists have postulated a
Comecrudan language family with Comecrudo, Mamulique, and Garza as related and Coahuilteco and Cotoname possibly related. Comecrudo and Cotoname are the best known of the languages. They were spoken in the delta of the
Rio Grande. Not enough information exists to classify Solano and Aranama. However,
linguistic conservatives say that all these languages should be considered
language isolates, with insufficient data to establish relationships between and among the languages. The Coahuiltecan languages and cultures are now extinct. The names of many bands have been preserved, including the
Ervipiame,
Mayeye,
Pajalat,
Quems,
Quepano, Solano, and
Xarames. ==References==