Hokan
/ˈhəʊkan
/adjective
Relating to or denoting a group of American Indian languages of California and western Mexico, considered as a possible language family. They include Yuman, Mojave, and several other languages now extinct or almost so.Tlapanec is the most recent addition, having been tentatively linked with Hokan languages earlier....
- The Hokan languages include families of languages in Mexico and in the western part of the United States, especially in California.
- The Hokan language, a dialect of which is spoken by the Washo people, is apparently of great antiquity - it belongs to what is very likely the oldest of California languages.
noun [mass noun]
The hypothetical Hokan language family.Although some Hokan families may indeed be related, especially in northern California, few linguists today expect Hokan as a whole to prove to be valid, and the term is often used as a convenient label to simplify one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world.
Origin
From Hokan hok 'about two' + -an.