Uto-Aztecan languages

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Uto-Aztecan
Geographic
distribution:		 Western United States, Mexico
Linguistic classification: Uto-Aztecan
Proto-language: Proto-Uto-Aztecan
Subdivisions:
ISO 639-5: azc
Uto-Aztecan langs.png
Pre-contact distribution of Northern Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the total distribution in Mexico).

Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan /ˈjuːtoʊ.æzˈtɛkən/ is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The Pipil language, an offshoot of Nahuatl, spread to Central America by a wave of migration from Mexico, formerly had many speakers there. Now it has gone extinct in Guatemala and Honduras and it is nearly extinct in western El Salvador. Classical Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and its modern relatives are part of the Uto-Aztecan family. The state of Utah and the Uto-Aztecan language family are both named after the indigenous Ute tribe.

Contents

[edit] Proto-language and Uto-Aztecan homeland

The Proto–Uto-Aztecan language is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Uto-Aztecan languages. Authorities on the history of the language group have usually placed the Proto-Uto-Aztecan homeland in the border region between the USA and Mexico, namely the upland regions of Arizona and New Mexico and the adjacent areas of the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuaua, roughly corresponding to the Sonoran Desert and the western part of the Chihuahuan Desert. The proto-language would have been spoken by Mesolithic foragers in Aridoamerica, about 5,000 years ago. The homeland of the Numic languages has been placed in Southern California near Death Valley, and the homeland of the proposed Southern Uto-Aztecan group has been placed on the coast of Sonora.[1]

A contrary proposal of a location much further south for the territory of Proto-Uto-Aztecan was published in 2001 by Jane H. Hill based on her reconstruction of maize related vocabulary in Proto-Uto-Aztecan. This would make the assumed speakers of Proto-Uto-Aztecan maize cultivators in Mesoamerica who were gradually pushed north, bringing maize cultivation with them, during the period of roughly 4,500 to 3,000 years ago, the geographic diffusion of speakers corresponding to the breakup of linguistic unity.[2][3] This hypothesis has been criticized on several grounds, and is not generally accepted by Uto-Aztecanists.[4][5][6][7][8]

[edit] Geographic distribution

Northern-UA-languages.png

Uto-Aztecan languages are spoken in the North American mountain ranges and adjacent lowlands of the western United States (in the states of (Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, California, Nevada, Arizona)) and of Mexico (states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Durango, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Puebla, Veracruz, Morelos, Estado de México, and the Federal District).

[edit] Present day locations of living Uto-Aztecan languages in Mexico and Mesoamerica

UtoAztecanlanguages.png

[edit] Classification of Uto-Aztecan languages

[edit] History of classification

Uto-Aztecan has been accepted by linguists as a language family since the early 1900s, and six subgroups are universally accepted as valid: Numic, Takic, Pimic, Taracahitic, Corachol, and Aztecan. This leaves two ungrouped languages—Tübatulabal and Hopi (sometimes termed "isolates within the family"). As to higher level groupings, disagreement has persisted since the 19th century. Presently there is also disagreement as to where to draw language boundaries within dialect continua.

The similarities between the Uto-Aztecan languages were noted as early as 1859 by J.C.E. Buschmann, who however failed to recognize the genetic affiliation between the Aztecan branch and the rest, instead ascribing the similarities between the two groups to diffusion. Brinton added the Aztecan languages to the family in 1891 and coined the term Uto-Aztecan. John Wesley Powell, however, rejected the claim in his own classification of North American indigenous languages (also published in 1891). Powell recognized two language families: "Shoshonean" (encompassing Takic, Numic, Hopi, and Tübatulabal) and "Sonoran" (encompassing Pimic, Taracahitan, and Corachol). In the early 1900s Alfred L. Kroeber filled in the picture of the Shoshonean group, while Edward Sapir proved the unity between Aztecan, "Sonoran", and "Shoshonean". Sapir's applications of the comparative method to unwritten Native American languages are regarded as groundbreaking.[citation needed]

As of about 2000, the most widely accepted view divides the family into "Northern Uto-Aztecan" and "Southern Uto-Aztecan". The former is Powell's "Shoshonean", while the latter is all the rest, i.e., Powell's "Sonoran" plus Aztecan. But since about 1980, there have been dissenters. They reject either both nodes or the Northern node alone.[9][10][11] Although Kaufman recognizes similarities between Corachol and Aztecan, he explains them by diffusion instead of genetic evolution.[12] Most scholars view the breakup of Proto-Uto-Aztecan as a case of the gradual disintegration of a dialect continuum.[13]

[edit] Present scheme

Below is the current most prevalent classification as synthesized from Campbell (1997), Mithun (1999), and Goddard (1999). For most of the individual languages and proposed nodes, links are provided to a selected bibliography of grammars, dictionaries, and linguistic researches. ( † = extinct)

[edit] Northern Uto-Aztecan

Hopi[A 1]

Tübatulabal[A 2]

Numic[A 3]

Takic[A 21]

Serrano–Gabrielino
Serran
Serrano[A 22]
Kitanemuk †[A 23]
Gabrielino–Fernandeño †
Cupan
Cahuilla–Cupeño
Cahuilla[A 24]
Cupeño†[A 25]
Luiseño–Juaneño[A 26]

[edit] Southern Uto-Aztecan

Pimic (Tepiman)

Pima–Papago[A 27] (Upper Piman)
Pima Bajo[A 28] (Lower Piman)
Tepehuán languages (Northern[A 29] and Southern[A 30])
Tepecano[A 31] †

Taracahitic

Tarahumaran
Tarahumara[A 32]
Guarijío[A 33] (Varihio)
Tubar[A 34] †
Cahita[A 35] (Yaqui[A 36]–Mayo[A 37]–Cahita)
Opatan
Ópata[A 38] †
Eudeve[A 39] †? (Heve, Dohema)

Corachol

Cora[A 40]
Huichol[A 41]

Aztecan

Pochutec[A 42] †
Nahuan[A 43] (Aztecan, Nahua, Nahuatlan)
Core Nahua
Pipil (Nahuate, Nawat)[A 44]
Nahuatl (Mexicano, Aztec)[A 45][A 46]

In addition to the above languages for which linguistic evidence exists, it is suspected that among dozens of now extinct, undocumented or poorly known languages of northern Mexico, many were Uto-Aztecan.[14]

[edit] The proto–Uto-Aztecan language

[edit] Vowels

Proto-Uto-Aztecan is reconstructed as having an unusual vowel inventory: *i *a *u *o *ɨ. Langacker (1970) demonstrated that the fifth vowel should be reconstructed as *ɨ as opposed to *e—there had been a long-running dispute over the proper reconstruction.[15][16][17]

[edit] Consonants

Bilabial Coronal Palatal Velar Labialized
velar		 Glottal
Stop *p *t *k *kʷ *ʔ
Affricate *ts
Fricative *s *h
Nasal *m *n *ŋ
Rhotic *r
Semivowel *j *w

*n and *ŋ may have actually been *l and *n, respectively.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Campbell 1997, p. 137.
  2. ^ Hill 2001, [1].
  3. ^ Hill 2010, [2].
  4. ^ Kemp et al. 2010, [3].
  5. ^ Merrill et al. 2010, [4].
  6. ^ Brown 2010, [5].
  7. ^ Campbell 2003.
  8. ^ Campbell & Poser 2008, p. 346-350.
  9. ^ Goddard 1996, p. 7.
  10. ^ Miller 1983, p. 118.
  11. ^ Mithun 1999, p. 539-540.
  12. ^ Kaufman 2001, [6].
  13. ^ Mithun 1999.
  14. ^ Campbell 1997.
  15. ^ Langacker 1970, [7].
  16. ^ Dakin 1996, [8].
  17. ^ Campbell 1997, p. 136.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Further reading

  • Campbell, Lyle (1979). "Middle American languages". In Campbell, Lyle; Mithun, Marianne. The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 902–1000. 
  • Goddard, Ives (1999). Native languages and language families of North America (wall map). Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 
  • Steele, Susan. "Uto-Aztecan: An assessment for historical and comparative linguistics". In Campbell, Lyle; Mithun, Marianne. The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment.. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 444–544. 
  • Suárez, Jorge (1983). The Mesoamerican Indian languages. Cambridge University Press. 

[edit] Grammars or linguistic researches for individual languages and Uto-Aztecan groupings

  1. ^ Whorf, Benjamin Lee. 1946. The Hopi Language, Toreva Dialect. In Cornelius Osgood, ed., Linguistic structures of native America. New York: Wenner-Gren Foundation pp. 902-1000. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology; 6.
    Hopi Dictionary Project (1998). Hopi Dictionary: Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni: A Hopi–English Dictionary of the Third Mesa Dialect With an English–Hopi Finder List and a Sketch of Hopi Grammar. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 
    • Jeanne, LaVerne Masayesva (1978). Aspects of Hopi grammar. MIT, dissertation. 
  2. ^ C.F. Voegelin. 1935. Tübatulabal Grammar. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 34/2. Berkeley: University of California Press.
    C.F. Voegelin. 1958. "Working Dictionary of Tubatulabal," International Journal of American Linguistics 24:221–228.
  3. ^ David Iannucci. 1972. "Numic historical phonology," Cornell University PhD dissertation.
    Michael Nichols. 1973. "Northern Paiute historical grammar," University of California, Berkeley PhD dissertation
    Wick R. Miller. 1986. "Numic Languages," Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 11, Great Basin. Ed. by Warren L. d’Azevedo. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Pages 98–106.
  4. ^ Lila Wistrand Robinson & James Armagost. 1990. Comanche Dictionary and Grammar. Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics Publication 92. Dallas, Texas: The Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington.
    Jean O. Charney. 1993. A Grammar of Comanche. Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.
  5. ^ Jon P. Dayley. 1989. Tümpisa (Panamint) Shoshone Grammar. University of California Publications in Linguistics Volume 115. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
    Jon P. Dayley. 1989. Tümpisa (Panamint) Shoshone Dictionary. University of California Publications in Linguistics Volume 116. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
  6. ^ John E. McLaughlin. 2006. Timbisha (Panamint). Languages of the World/Materials 453. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa.
  7. ^ Richley H. Crapo. 1976. Big Smokey Valley Shoshoni. Desert Research Institute Publications in the Social Sciences 10. Reno: University of Nevada Press.
    Beverly Crum & Jon Dayley. 1993. Western Shoshoni Grammar. Boise State University Occasional Papers and Monographs in Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics Volume No. 1. Boise, Idaho: Department of Anthropology, Boise State University.
  8. ^ Wick R. Miller. 1972. Newe Natekwinappeh: Shoshoni Stories and Dictionary. University of Utah Anthropological Papers 94. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
    Wick R. Miller. 1996. "Sketch of Shoshone, a Uto-Aztecan Language," Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 17, Languages. Ed. Ives Goddard. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Pages 693–720.
  9. ^ Drusilla Gould & Christopher Loether. 2002. An Introduction to the Shoshoni Language: Dammen Daigwape. Salt Lake City, Utah: The University of Utah Press.
  10. ^ D.B. Shimkin. 1949. "Shoshone, I: Linguistic Sketch and Text," International Journal of American Linguistics 15:175–188.
    D. B. Shimkin. 1949. "Shoshone II: Morpheme List," International Journal of American Linguistics 15.203–212.
    Malinda Tidzump. 1970. Shoshone Thesaurus. Grand Forks, North Dakota.
  11. ^ Maurice L. Zigmond, Curtis G. Booth, & Pamela Munro. 1991. Kawaiisu, A Grammar and Dictionary with Texts. Ed. Pamela Munro. University of California Publications in Linguistics Volume 119. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
  12. ^ Margaret L. Press. 1979. Chemehuevi, A Grammar and Lexicon. University of California Publications in Linguistics Volume 92. Berkeley, California. University of California Press.
    Laird, Carobeth. 1976. The Chemehuevis. Malki Museum Press, Banning, California.
  13. ^ Edward Sapir. 1930. Southern Paiute, a Shoshonean Language. Reprinted in 1992 in: The Collected Works of Edward Sapir, X, Southern Paiute and Ute Linguistics and Ethnography. Ed. William Bright. Berlin: Mouton deGruyter.
    Edward Sapir. 1931. Southern Paiute Dictionary. Reprinted in 1992 in: The Collected Works of Edward Sapir, X, Southern Paiute and Ute Linguistics and Ethnography. Ed. William Bright. Berlin: Mouton deGruyter.
    Pamela A. Bunte. 1979. "Problems in Southern Paiute Syntax and Semantics," Indiana University Ph.D. dissertation.
  14. ^ Talmy Givón. 2011. Ute Reference Grammar. Culture and Language Use Volume 3. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    Jean O. Charney. 1996. A Dictionary of the Southern Ute Language. Ignacio, Colorado: Ute Press.
  15. ^ Sidney M. Lamb. 1957. "Mono Grammar," University of California, Berkeley Ph.D. dissertation.
    Rosalie Bethel, Paul V. Kroskrity, Christopher Loether, & Gregory A. Reinhardt. 1993. A Dictionary of Western Mono. 2nd edition.
  16. ^ Evan J. Norris. 1986. "A Grammar Sketch and Comparative Study of Eastern Mono," University of California, San Diego Ph.D. dissertation.
  17. ^ Anonymous. 1987. Yerington Paiute Grammar. Anchorage, Alaska: Bilingual Education Services.
    Arie Poldevaart. 1987. Paiute–English English–Paiute Dictionary. Yerington, Nevada: Yerington Paiute Tribe.
  18. ^ Allen Snapp, John Anderson, & Joy Anderson. 1982. "Northern Paiute," Studies in Uto-Aztecan Grammar, Volume 3, Uto-Aztecan Grammatical Sketches. Ed. Ronald W. Langacker. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics Publication Number 57, Volume III. Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington. Pages 1–92.
  19. ^ Timothy John Thornes. 2003. "A Northern Paiute Grammar with Texts," University of Oregon Ph.D. dissertation.
  20. ^ Sven Liljeblad. 1966–1967. "Northern Paiute Lessons," manuscript.
    Sven Liljeblad. 1950. "Bannack I: Phonemes," International Journal of American Linguistics 16:126–131
  21. ^ In addition to the Takic languages considered by Campbell, Tataviam has been recognized as a separate Takic language (Goddard 1996:7; Mithun 1999:539). Tataviam has sometimes been called by a Chumash name, Alliklik, although other scholars have reserved that name for a Chumash dialect or language (cf. Campbell 1997:135; Mithun 1999:544)
  22. ^ Kenneth C. Hill. 1967. A Grammar of the Serrano Language, University of California, Los Angeles, PhD dissertation.
  23. ^ Alice J. Anderton. 1988. The Language of the Kitanemuks of California, University of California, Los Angeles, PhD dissertation.
  24. ^ Hansjakob Seiler. 1977. Cahuilla Grammar. Banning, California: Malki Museum Press.
    Hansjakob Seiler and Kojiro Hioki. 1979. Cahuilla Dictionary. Banning, California: Malki Museum Press.
  25. ^ Jane H. Hill & Rosinda Nolasquez. 1973. Mulu'wetam, the First People: Cupeno Oral History and Language. Banning, California: Malki Museum Press.
    Jane H. Hill. 2005. A Grammar of Cupeño. University of California Publications in Linguistics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  26. ^ Most authorities have agreed with Campbell in considering Juaneño (now extinct) a dialect of Luiseño, but Mithun (1999:539) classified it as a separate language.
    Alfred L. Kroeber & George William Grace. 1960. The Sparkman Grammar of Luiseño. University of California Publications in Linguistics 16. Berkeley: The University of California Press.
    William Bright. 1968. A Luiseno Dictionary. University of California Publications in Linguistics 51. Berkeley: University of California Press.
    Villiana Hyde. 1971. An Introduction to the Luiseño Language. Banning, California: Malki Museum Press.
    Eric Bryant Elliott. 1999. "Dictionary of Rincon Luiseno," University of California, San Diego PhD dissertation.
  27. ^ Ofelia Zepeda. 1983 . A Tohono O'odham Grammar. Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press.
    Dean Saxton, Lucile Saxton, & Susie Enos. 1998. Dictionary: Tohono O'Odham/Pima to English, English to Tohono O'Odham/Pima. 2nd edition. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press.
  28. ^ Roberto Escalante H. & Zarina Estrada Fernandez. 1993. Textos y gramatica del pima bajo. Sonora: Departamento de Letra y Linguistica, Universidad de Mexico.
  29. ^ Burton W. Bascom. 1982. "Northern Tepehuan," Studies in Uto-Aztecan Grammar, Volume 3, Uto-Aztecan Grammatical Sketches. Ed. by Ronald W. Langacker. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Pages 267–393.
  30. ^ T. Willett. 1991. A reference grammar of southeastern Tepehuan. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington.
  31. ^ J. Alden Mason. 1916. "Tepecano, A Piman language of western Mexico," Annals of the New York Academy of Science 25:309–416.
  32. ^ Donald H. Burgess. 1984. "Western Tarahumara,"‭ Studies in Uto-Aztecan grammar 4: Southern Uto-Aztecan grammatical sketches. Ed. Ronald W. Langacker. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics 56. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Pages 1–149.
  33. ^ Wick R. Miller. 1996. La lengua guarijio: gramatica, vocabulario y textos. Mexico City: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, UNAM.
  34. ^ Andrés Lionnet. 1978. El idioma tubar y los tubares. Segun documentos ineditos de C. S. Lumholtz y C. V. Hartman. Mexico, D. F: Universidad Iberoamericana.
  35. ^ Andrés Lionnet. 1978. Elementos de la lengua cahita (yaqui–mayo). México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  36. ^ John M. Dedrick & Eugene H. Casad, ed. 1999. Yaqui Language Structures. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
    David L. Shaul. 1999. Yoeme–English English–Yoeme Standard Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books.
  37. ^ Howard Collard & E. Collard. 1962. Vocabulario Mayo. Vocabularios Indígenas No. 6. México: ILV.
    Jeff Burnham. 1984. Una gramática de la Lengua Mayo. Hermosillo, Sonora: Universidad de Sonora.
  38. ^ Natal Lombardo. 1702. Arte de la Lengua Teguima vulgarmente llamada Opata. Mexico: Miguel de Ribera.
  39. ^ Andrés Lionnet. 1986. El eudeve, un idioma extinto de Sonora (Study based on materials of J. Johnson, Loaysa, Bartlett, and Smith). Mexico: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
    David L. Shaul. 1991. "Eudeve morphosyntax: an overview," International Journal of American Linguistics 57:70–107.
  40. ^ Eugene H. Casad. 1984. "Cora,"‭ Studies in Uto-Aztecan grammar 4: Southern Uto-Aztecan grammatical sketches. Ed. Ronald W. Langacker. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics 56. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Pages 153–149.
  41. ^ José Luis Iturrioz Leza y Julio Ramírez de la Cruz, et al. 2001. Gramática Didáctica del Huichol: Vol. I. Estructura Fonológica y Sistema de Escritura. Departamento de Estudios en Lenguas Indígenas–Universidad de Guadalajara – Secretaria de Educación Pública.
  42. ^ Franz Boas. 1917. "El dialecto mexicano de Pochutla, Oaxaca," International Journal of American Linguistics 1:9–44.
  43. ^ Yolanda Lastra de Suárez. 1986. Las áreas dialectales del náhuatl moderno. Mexico: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  44. ^ Lyle Campbell. 1985. The Pipil language of El Salvador. Berlin: Mouton. Mouton grammar library; 1.
  45. ^ Fray Alonso de Molina. 1992 [1555]. Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana y Mexicana y Castellana. Mexico, D.F.: Porrúa.
  46. ^ Horacio Carochi. 1983 [1645]. Arte de la lengua mexicana: con la declaración de los adverbios della. Mexico, D.F.: Porrúa.

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