Tongva language
| Tongva | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spoken in | USA | |||
| Region | Southern California | |||
| Extinct | 1970s? | |||
| Language family |
Uto-Aztecan
|
|||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-3 | xgf | |||
 |
||||
|
||||
The Tongva language (also known as Gabrielino or Gabrieleño) is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Tongva, a Native American people who live in and around Los Angeles, California. Tongva is closely related to several other Takic languages, including Cahuilla and Serrano.
The last fluent native speakers of Tongva lived in the early 20th century. The language is primarily documented in the unpublished field notes of John Peabody Harrington made during that time. There are claims of native speakers of Tongva who have died as late as in the 1970s, but there is no independent verification of these individuals having been fluent speakers.
Evidence of the language also survices in modern toponymy of Southern California, including Pacoima, Tujunga, Topanga, Azusa, Cahuenga in Cahuenga Pass, and Cucamonga in Rancho Cucamonga.
Members of the contemporary Tongva (Gabrieleño) tribal council are attempting to revive the language, by making use of written vocabularies and comparison to better attested members of the Takic group to which Tongva belonged.
Contents |
[edit] Phonology
[edit] Consonants
The following is a list of the consonants of the Tongva language. In parenthesis is the spelling of the specific sound. Note that there are multiple orthographies for the Tongva language and certain letters represent more than one sound therefore certain sounds may have multiple ways to be spelled.
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m (m) | ɱ (m) | n (n) | ŋ (ng~n) | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p (p) | t (t) | k (k~c~qu) | (ʔ) | ||||
| voiced | b (b) | d (d) | ɡ (g~gu) | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | ɸ (p) | f (p~v~f) | s (s) | ʃ (sh~ch) | ç (h~r) | x ~ χ (h~g) | ||
| voiced | β (b) | v (v~w) | z (z) | ʒ (x~sh~ch) | ʝ (y~x~j) | ɣ (x~h) | ʁ (r) | ɦ (h) | |
| Trill | r (r) | ||||||||
| Approximant | ʋ-ʍ (w) | l (l) | j (y~j) | ||||||
[edit] Morphology
Tongva is an agglutinative language, where words use suffixes and multiple morphemes for a variety of purposes.
[edit] Vocabulary
[edit] The Lord's Prayer[1]
The Lord's Prayer is called 'Eyoonak in Tongva. The following text was derived from old Mission records.
'Eyoonak
'Eyoonak, 'eyooken tokuupanga'e xaa;
hoyuuykoy motwaanyan;
moxariin mokiimen tokuupra;
maay mo'wiishme meyii 'ooxor 'eyaa tokuupar.
Hamaare, 'eyoone' maxaare' 'wee taamet,
koy 'oovonre' 'eyoomamaayntar momoohaysh, miyii 'eyaare
'oovonax 'eyoohiino 'eyooyha';
koy xaare' maayn 'iitam momoohaysh,
koy xaa mohuu'esh.
'Wee menee' xaa'e.
[edit] Collected by C. Hart Merriam (1903)[2]
(Merriam refers to them as the Tongvā)
- Numbers
- Po-koo /bo'kʰøː/
- Wěh-hā /ʋɛj'χɒː/
- Pah-hā /pa'χɒː/
- Wah-chah /ʋa'ʃɒχ/
- Mah-har /ma'χɒʁ/
- Pah-vah-hā /pa'va'χɒː/
- Wah-chah-kav-e-ah /ʋa'ʃa'kʰav̥eʲa/
- Wa-ha's-wah-chah /ʋa'χz̥ʷaʃa/
- Mah-ha'hr-kav-e-ah /ma'χaɣ̥ʁ'kʰav̥eʲa/
- Wa-hās-mah-hah'r /ʋa'χɑz'ma'χaɣ̥ʁ/
- Wa-hā's-mah-hah'r-koi-po-koo /ʋa'χɑz'ma'χaɣ̥ʁ' kʰoi'bokʰu/
- Wa-hā's-mah-hah'r-koi-wěh-hā /ʋa'χɑz'ma'χaɣ̥ʁ' kʰoi'ʋɛj'χɒː/
- grizzly bear
- hoó-nahr /χœ'naʁ/
- hoon-nah /χun'na/ (subject)
- hoon-rah /χun'ra/ (object)
- black bear
- pí-yah-hó-naht /pija'χø'natʰ/
[edit] Collected by Alexander Taylor (1860)[2]
- Numbers
- po-koo /po'kʰø/
- wa-hay /ʋa'χai/
- pa-hey /ʋa'χai/
- wat-sa /ʋa'tsa/
- mahar /maχʁ/
- pawahe /paʋaχe/
- wat-sa-kabiya /ʋa'tsa'kʰaβɨjɒː/
- wa-hish-watchsa /ʋa'χɪʃwatsʒz̥ɒː/
- mahar-cabearka /maχar'çaβir'kʰɒː/
- wa-hish-mar /ʋa'χɪʃ'mar'/
Taylor claims "they do not count farther than ten"
- bear
- hoo-nar /χø'nar/
[edit] Collected by Dr. Oscar Loew (1875)[2]
- Numbers
- pu-gu' /pu'guʲ/
- ve-he' /vɛ'χɛʲ/
- pa'-hi /pʰa'çi/
- va-tcha' /va'tsʃaʲ/
- maha'r /maχ'aʁ/
- pa-va'he /pʰa'vaʝe/
- vatcha'-kabya' /va'tsʃaʲ kʰabʲɒː/
- vehesh-vatcha' /vɛχɛʃ'va'tsʃaʲ/
- mahar-kabya' /maχ'aʁ'kʰabʲɒː/
- vehes-mahar /vɛχɛs'ma'χar/
- puku-hurura /bukʰy'χurura/
- vehe-hurura /vɛ'χɛ'χurura/
- bear
- unar /œ'nar/
[edit] Collected by Charles Wilkes, USN (1838-1842)[2]
- Numbers
- pukū
- wehē
- pāhe
- watsā
- bear
- hundr
[edit] Other sources
- desert fox: erow[3]
- Pacoima = from the root word Pako enter, meaning the entrance[citation needed]
- Tujunga = from the root word old woman tux'uu[citation needed]
- Azusa = from the word -shuuk 'Ashuuksanga = his grandmother[citation needed]
[edit] Toponymy
The table below gives various place names in the Tongva language, and in Spanish.[1]
| English | Tongva | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Yaa | /jɒː/ |
| San Bernardino | Wa'aach | /ʋaj'ɒʃ/ |
| San Gabriel | Shevaa | /sʃe'vɒː/ |
| San Pedro | Chaaw | /ʃɒːʋ/ |
| Santa Ana | Hotuuk | /χo'tʰykʰ/ |
| Santa Monica | Kecheek | /kʰɛʃeɪkʰ/ |
| Santa Catalina | Pemu | /bʰɛmɯ/ |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Munro, Pamela, et al. Yaara' Shiraaw'ax 'Eyooshiraaw'a. Now You're Speaking Our Language: Gabrielino/Tongva/Fernandeño. Lulu.com: 2008.
- ^ a b c d McCawley, William. The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles. Malki Museum Press, 1996
- ^ Native Languages of the Americas[year needed]
[edit] External links
- The Limu Project (active language revitalization)
- Reconstructed Tongva spoken (streaming video, Tongva speech beginning at 35:10)
- www.native-languages.org (Native Languages of the Americas)
- Gabrielino language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
- Keepers of Indigenous Ways: Tongva Language History & classes
