Gulf languages
Gulf is a proposed native North American language family composed of the Muskogean languages, along with four language isolates: Natchez, Tunica, Atakapa, and Chitimacha.
Gulf was proposed as a language family by Mary Haas, but the family has not been rigorously established by the comparative method. Historical linguists such as Lyle Campbell list the relationship as unproven, though a number of Muskogean scholars believe that Muskogean is at least related to Natchez.
However, it is considered by a number of specialists on Muskogean languages, including Mary Haas and Pamela Munro. Munro has regarded the hypothesis of a Gulf family of languages as promising; Haas thought the closest language to Muskogean would be Natchez, followed by Tunica, Atakapa, and, rather dubiously, Chitimacha. A difficulty in evaluating the hypothesis is the lack of available data. Most of the data on Chitimacha and Natchez is still unpublished and held in archives.
