Adai

Adai (also Adaizan, Adaizi, Adaise, Adahi, Adaes, Adees, Atayos) is the name of a people and language that was spoken in eastern Louisiana. The name Adai is derived from the Caddo word hadai meaning 'brushwood'.

The Adai were among the first peoples in North America to experience European contact—the Adai were profoundly affected. In 1530 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca writes of them using the name Atayos. The Adai subsequently moved away from their homeland. By 1820, there were only 30 persons remaining.

Language

The Adai language is a language isolate unrelated to any other language. It was previously proposed that there was a connection between Adai and the Caddoan languages, but this now seems unlikely.

Adai is now extinct.

Bibliography

• Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0–19–509427–1.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0–521–23228–7 (hbk); ISBN 0–521–29875-X.