Yaqui language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yaqui Yoem Noki |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation: | IPA: /joʔem nok⁼i/ | |
| Spoken in: | Mexico, USA | |
| Region: | Sonora, Arizona | |
| Total speakers: | 16,000 | |
| Language family: | Uto-Aztecan Taracahitic Cáhita Yaqui |
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | nai | |
| ISO 639-3: | yaq | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
Yaqui (Yoem Noki), or Yoeme, is a Native American language of the Uto-Aztecan family. It is spoken by about 15,000 people, mostly of the border Yaqui tribe, in the region around the Mexican state of Sonora, and Arizona in the United States.
Contents |
[edit] Phonology
The remarks below use the orthography used by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in the United States. There are also several orthographic systems used in Mexico differing slightly from this, mainly in using Spanish language values for several consonants and Spanish language spelling rules [e.g., "rohikte" would be written "rojicte"]. There are minor differences between Mexican and US dialects in inclusion or exclusion of sounds, most notably the US dialects tend to exclude an intervocalic "r" and final "k".
[edit] Vowels
Yaqui vowels are pronounced very much like they are in standard Spanish:
"A" is pronounced similar to that in "father" (International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) /a/).
"E" is pronounced similar to that in "get" (IPA /e/).
"I" is pronounced similar to that in "machine" (IPA /i/).
"O" is pronounced similar to that in "go" (IPA /o/).
"U" is pronounced similar to that in "rude" (IPA /u/).
Vowels may be either short or long in duration. Often, long vowels are reduced in length when the word they are used in is used constructively, e.g., 'maaso' ('deer') is shortened to 'maso' in 'maso bwikam' ('deer songs'). Long vowels are written by doubling the vowel. Long vowels may change tone, and this is not represented in the written language. Some writers have referred to Yaqui as being a tonal language, but the modern forms of the language do not show any wide-spread and significant use of tonemes.
[edit] Consonants
The following consonantal sounds are present in Yaqui: b, ch, (d), (f), (g), h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, and y. Most of them are pronounced nearly the same as they are in English, although "p", "t", and "k" are not aspirated. In the IPA, they are respectively /b ʧ (d) (f) (ɡ) h k l m n p r s t β w j/. Many Yaqui speakers make no difference between b and v, pronouncing both as /β/, and this appears to be intrinsic to the language and not an influence of Spanish. Additionally, there are two consonants written as clusters: "bw" (IPA /bʷ/) and "kt" (IPA /k͡t/), "bw" being a rounded "b" ('bwikam') and "kt" a simultaneous articulation of "k" and "t" ('rohikte'). The latter consonant is found in many other Uto-Aztecan languages. Pronunciation of the rounded "b" as "b"+"w" and the "kt" as "k"+"t" is acceptable, but non-native.
Note that "d", "f", and "g" are present only in English and Spanish loanwords. Often they are substituted with the native sounds "t"/"r"/"l", "p", and "w"/"k", respectively.
In Mexico, many speakers will often substitute "g" for syllable-initial "w". This is largely because the phoneme /w/ is not present in northern Mexican Spanish as an independent consonantal phoneme, but rather as either a variant of the vowel /u/ or as an adjunct to /g/ and /k/. Use of "g" in place of "w" is considered by Yaqui speakers as a Mexicanism and not as standard Yaqui usage even in Mexico.
[edit] Glottal Stops
Yaqui also features glottal stops (IPA /ʔ/), as in the middle of the English interjection "uh-oh". These stops are represented by an apostrophe.
[edit] Sound Symbolism
Sound symbolism is present in Yaqui. For example, a word with the letter "l" in it may either be pronounced normally, to denote approval from the speaker, or with an "r" in place of the "l" to denote disapproval or disfavor on the part of the speaker. Either variant form is correct.
[edit] Devoicing
Devoicing occurs at the ends of phrases. This is especially notable with the sound "m" and with vowels. Yaqui speech often has a "breathy" sound to English speakers.
[edit] Gestures
One word, laute, has two contradictory meanings: "quickly" and "slowly". It is often accompanied with a quick or slow open-handed movement to indicate the meaning. (Alternatively, laute could be translated as "at a different rate of speed" which requires a hand gesture to indicate the nature of the difference when needed for clarification.)
[edit] Grammar
[edit] Syntax
Yaqui word order is generally Subject Object Verb.
The object of a sentence is suffixed with "-t", or, if the word already ends in "t", with "-a".
Here is a simple sentence: "Inepo huuhit vichnu", or "I am looking at the woman."
| Inepo | huuhit | vichnu |
| I | woman | look at |
[edit] Case
Yaqui is a "noun-heavy" agglutinative language. Nouns and pronouns are often declined in ways that do not seem reasonable to Western learners.
For example, the first person singular pronoun "in" or "ne" (which varies by dialect), is more often used in the form "inepo", which can be translated "within me". The "-(e)po" ending is quite common and seems to denote much more than simple physical inclusion.
[edit] Nouns
Plural nouns are formed by adding the suffix "-im", or "-m" if the noun ends in a vowel.
-
- Tekil - Job
- Tekilim - Jobs
If a plural noun is the object of a sentence, the suffixation of "-t" or "-ta" is not used.
| Inepo | huuhim | vichnu |
| I | women | look at |
[edit] Verbs
Usually, adding the suffix "-k" to a verb indicates past tense, though there are many exceptions. If a verb ends in a diphthong, "-kan" is added. If a verb ends in "-i", "-akan" is added. If a verb ends in "-o" or "-u", "-ekan" is added, and if a verb ends in "-a", "-ikan" is added. If a verb ends in "-k", "-an" is added.
Regularly, "-ne" indicates the future.
[edit] Adjectives
In Yaqui, adjectives very often act as verbs (in Oriental linguistics, they would be called stative verbs). For instance, "vemela" or "new", would most often be used to mean "is new". Adjectives have tenses, the same as verbs.
[edit] Reduplication
Reduplication is present in Yaqui. Reduplicating the first syllable of a verb indicates habitual action:
-
- eta - shuts
- e'eta - usually shuts
Primary reduplication is also used to pluralize adjectives.
Reduplicating the second consonant of a verb is used to show that an action is performed rarely.
[edit] Sample Words and Phrases
-
- o'ow - man
- hamut - woman
- tu'i hiapsek - kind (lit. "good hearted")
- halla'i - friend
- maaso - deer
- aamu - to hunt
-
- aman ne tevote em yevihnewi - "I extend my greetings"
Greetings often are very formal. The following formula of four phrases is often used even among close friends:
-
- Lios em chania - "Greetings!" (to one person, to more than one: Lios em chaniavu) (lit. "God preserves you!", Lios [sometimes pronounced Lioh] is a very early borrowing of the Spanish "Dios")
- Lios em chiokoe - (the reply to the above, lit. "God pardons you!")
- Empo allea - "May you rejoice!" (lit. "In you happy", 'allea' is said to be from the Spanish 'alegre', meaning 'happy')
- Kettu'i - "How kind!"
[edit] Kinship Terminology
| Immediate family | Male | Female |
| Mother | Ae | Ae |
| Father | Achai | Hapchi |
| Older Brother | Sai | Avachi |
| Younger Brother | Saila | Wai |
| Older Sister | Ako | Ako |
| Younger Sister | Wai | Wai |
| Extended family | Father's | Mother's |
| Grandmother | Namuli | Namuli |
| Grandfather | Hamuli | Hamuli |
| Mother | Haaka | Asu |
| Father | Havoi | Apa |
| Older Brother | Haavi | Kumui |
| Younger Brother | Samai | Taata |
| Older Sister | Ne'esa | Chi'ila |
| Younger Sister | Nana | Mamai |
[edit] External links
- Report on Yaqui from the Ethnologue
[edit] Bibliography
- Shaul, David L. (1999). Yoeme-English English-Yoeme Standard Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-7818-0633-X.
