Shoshoni language

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Shoshoni
Sosoni' da̲i̲gwape
Native to United States
Region Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Idaho
Native speakers 2900[1]  (2000)
Language family
Uto-Aztecan
Language codes
ISO 639-3 shh
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Shoshoni or Shoshone (/ʃoʊˈʃoʊni/;[2] Shoshoni: Sosoni' da̲i̲gwape or newe da̲i̲gwape) is a Native American language spoken by the Shoshone people. Principal dialects of Shoshoni include Western Shoshoni in Nevada, Gosiute in western Utah, Northern Shoshoni in southern Idaho and northern Utah, and Eastern Shoshoni in Wyoming.

Shoshoni-speaking Native Americans occupy areas of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Montana. The number of people who speak Shoshoni has been steadily dwindling over the last few decades, so there are only a few hundred people who speak the language fluently today. A few thousand know it to one degree or another. The Shoshoni language is defined as "severely endangered" in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming by UNESCO.[3]

Shoshoni is the northernmost member of the large Uto-Aztecan language family, which includes over thirty languages whose speakers originally inhabited a vast territory stretching from the Salmon River in central Idaho down into El Salvador. Shoshoni belongs to the Numic subbranch of Uto-Aztecan. The word Numic comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for "person". For example, in Shoshoni the word is neme, in Timbisha it is nümü, and in Southern Paiute the word is nuwuvi.

Contents

Language revitalization[edit]

As of 2012, Idaho State University offers Elementary, Intermediate, and conversational Shoshoni,[4] with open-source Shosoni audio available online to complement classroom instruction, as part of its long-standing Shoshoni Language Project.[5][6] Shoshoni classes are also taught as a part of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe's Language and Culture Preservation Program.[7] On the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, elders have been active in digital language archiving, and Shoshoni is taught using Dr. Steven Greymorning's Accelerated Second Language Acquisition techniques.[8]

A summer Shoshone/Goshute Youth Language Apprenticeship Program (SYLAP), held at the University of Utah's Center for American Indian Languages since 2009 has been featured on NPR's Weekend Edition program.[9][10][11] Shoshoni youth serve as interns, assisting with digitization of Shoshoni language recordings and documentation from the Wick R. Miller collection, so that the materials can be made available for tribal members.[9]

In July 2012, Blackfoot High School in Southeastern Idaho announced it would offer Shoshoni language classes. A Shoshoni charter school has also been proposed for Fort Hall, with a decision expected in September 2012.[12]

Morphology[edit]

Shoshoni is an agglutinative language, in which words, especially verbs, tend to be quite complex with several morphemes strung together.

Sounds[edit]

Vowels[edit]

Shoshoni has a typical Numic vowel inventory of five vowels. In addition, there is the common diphthong ai, which varies rather freely with e, although certain morphemes always contain ai and others always contain e.

front back
unrounded		 back
rounded
High i ɨ u
Non-High a o
Diphthong ai

Consonants[edit]

Shoshoni has a typical Numic consonant inventory:

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

Phonology[edit]

Shoshoni stops (including the affricate) and nasals are voiced and lenited between vowels (the stops and affricate becoming voiced fricatives and the nasals becoming nasalized glides), are voiced in nasal-stop clusters, and are lenited (but not voiced) following h.

Short vowels are commonly devoiced word-finally and in unstressed syllables preceding /h/.

Writing system[edit]

There are two main spelling systems in use. The older system is the Crum-Miller system used in Miller 1972; Crum & Dayley 1993 and 1997; and Crum, Crum, & Dayley 2001.[13][14][15][16] The other system is the Idaho State University system and is used in Gould & Loether (2002).[17] The Idaho State system is more phonetically based while the Crum-Miller is more phonemically based. Both systems use "e" to represent the vowel ɨ.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Data Center States Results
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". Retrieved 2012-09-29. 
  4. ^ "Native American Academic Services". Idaho State University. Retrieved 2012-08-29.  Text " Diversity Resource Center " ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Idaho State University Shoshoni Language Project still going strong after 20 years". Idaho State University. Retrieved 2012-08-29. 
  6. ^ "An Introduction to the Shoshoni Language : University Press Catalog". Utah University Press. Retrieved 2012-08-29. 
  7. ^ "Language and Culture Preservation Program". Shoshone-Bannock tribe. Retrieved 2012-08-29. 
  8. ^ Tetona Dunlap. "As elders pass, Wind River Indian Reservation teachers turn to technology to preserve Shoshone language". County 10. Retrieved 2012-08-29. 
  9. ^ a b "Shoshone/Goshute Youth Language Apprenticeship Program". Center for American Indian Languages, University of Utah. Retrieved 2012-08-30. 
  10. ^ Paul Koepp (2010-07-21). "University of Utah program helps Shoshone youths keep language alive". Deseret News. Retrieved 2012-08-30. 
  11. ^ Jenny Brundin (2009-07-18). "Ten Teens Study To Guard Their Native Language". Morning Edition, NPR. Retrieved 2012-08-30. 
  12. ^ "Idaho district to offer Shoshoni classes". Deseret News. Retrieved 2012-08-29. 
  13. ^ Miller, Wick R. (1972). Newe Natekwinappeh: Shoshoni Stories and Dictionary. University of Utah Anthropological Papers 94. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. 
  14. ^ Crum, Beverly; Dayley, Jon P. (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. ISBN 978-0-9639749-0-7. 
  15. ^ Crum, Beverly; Dayley, Jon P. (1997). Shoshoni Texts. Occasional Papers and Monographs in Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics Volume No. 2. Boise, Idaho: Department of Anthropology, Boise State University. 
  16. ^ Crum, Beverly; Crum, Earl; Dayley, Jon P. (2001). Newe Hupia: Shoshoni Poetry Songs. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. 
  17. ^ Drusilla Gould & Christopher Loether. 2002. An Introduction to the Shoshoni Language: Dammen Daigwape. Salt Lake City, Utah: The University of Utah Press.

External links[edit]

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