Julian Granberry (1994) suggests that the Calusa language was related to the Tunica language of the lower Mississippi River Valley, with Calusa possibly being relatively a recent arrival from the lower Mississippi region. Another possibility was that similarities between the languages were derived from long-term mutual contact.[1]
Comparison of morphemes
Granberry (1994: 510–512) compares the following Tunica and Calusa morphemes. The Tunica data is from Mary Haas,[2][3] while the Proto-Tunica reconstructions are Granberry's own work.[1] The Calusa data is primarily drawn from Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda's 16th-century writings.
^Haas, Mary R. 1946. A Grammatical Sketch of Tunica. In Linguistic Structures of Native America, Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology No. 6, ed. by Harry Hoijer, et al., New York, pp. 337-366.
^Haas, Mary R. 1953. Tunica Dictionary. University of California Publications in Linguistics, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 175-332, Berkeley.