Uto-Aztecan languages

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Pre-contact distribution of Northern Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the total distribution in Mexico)
Pre-contact distribution of Northern Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the total distribution in Mexico)

Uto-Aztecan (also Uto-Aztekan) is a Native American language family. It is one of the largest (both in geographical extension and number of languages) and most well-established linguistic families of the Americas. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States (Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, California, Nevada, Arizona), through western, central and southern Mexico (incl. Sonora, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Durango, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Puebla, Veracruz, Morelos, Estado de México, and the Federal District), and into parts of Central America (Pipil in El Salvador; extinct varieties in Guatemala and Honduras). Utah is named after the indigenous Uto-Aztecan Ute people. Classical Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and its modern relatives are part of the Uto-Aztecan family.

Contents

[edit] History of classification

The similarities between the Uto-Aztecan languages were noted as early as 1859 by J.C.E. Buschmann. However, Buschmann failed to recognize the genetic affiliation between the Aztecan branch and the Northern Uto-Aztecan languages, instead ascribing the similarities between the two groups to Aztec contact influence. Brinton included the Aztecan languages in the linguistic family 1891 and coined the term Uto-Aztecan. The idea nonetheless remained controversial, and was rejected in Powell's 1891 classification.

The Uto-Aztecan family was established through systematic work in the early 1900s by linguists such as Alfred L. Kroeber, who established the relations between the Shoshonean languages, and especially Edward Sapir, who proved the unity between Powell's Sonoran and Shoshonean languages in a series of groundbreaking applications of the comparative method to unwritten Native American languages.

Most issues related to Uto-Aztecan subgrouping are uncontroversial. Six groupings are universally accepted as valid--the Numic, Takic, Pimic, Taracahitic, Corachol, and Aztecan branches--along with two ungrouped languages--Tübatulabal and Hopi. Higher level relations between these groups remain controversial. The Sonoran branch (including Pimic, Taracahitic and Corachol) and Shoshonean branch (including Numic, Takic, Tübatulabal and Hopi) first postulated in the 19th century, in particular, are not accepted by a number of scholars.

Uto-Aztecan has been included in some long range proposals of linguistic super-families. A hypothesis proposed by Benjamin Lee Whorf relating Uto-Aztecan to Kiowa-Tanoan, in an Aztec-Tanoan family formerly had modest support, but Lyle Campbell (1997) and the great majority of modern specialists consider this hypothesis possible, but unproven (Mithun 1999). Joseph Greenberg included Uto-Aztecan in his widely criticized and highly controversial Amerind macro-family along with all Native American linguistic families except for Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene.

[edit] Geographical extension and Homeland

The proto-Uto-Aztecan homeland is generally thought to have been somewhere in the Southwestern United States - Arizona, New Mexico or northern Mexico where the first split between Northern and Southern branches took place. The homeland of the Numic branch has been placed near Death Valley, California and the Southern Uto-Aztecan languages are thought to have spread out from a place in north-western Mexico in southern Sonora or northern Sinaloa.


[edit] Original locations of living and extinct Uto-Aztecan languages in the USA and Mexico

[edit] Locations of living Uto-Aztecan languages in Mexico and Mesoamerica

[edit] The proto-Uto-Aztecan language

Main article: Proto-Uto-Aztecan language

[edit] Vowels

Proto-Uto-Aztecan is reconstructed as having an unusual five-vowel system: *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 (Campbell 1997:136).

[edit] Consonants

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

Note that in Americanist phonetic notation, <c> and <y> are equivalent to IPA /t͡s/ and /j/, respectively. *n and *ŋ may have actually been *l and *n, respectively.

[edit] Genealogy of Uto-Aztecan languages

Uto-Aztecan has long been accepted as a genuine linguistic family, and there is general agreement on the eight primary groups into which it is divided. Disagreement arises as to the question of which varieties are separate languages and which are dialects of a single language; and higher-level groupings. Below is a consensus classification based on Campbell (1997), Mithun (1999), and Goddard (1999). The notes discuss divergent interpretations proposed by other recent authorities, such as Goddard (1996), Miller (1983), and Mithun (1999). Among the differences are the larger level subgroupings called Northern and Southern Uto-Aztecan. Some linguists have argued for a grouping including Takic, Numic, Hopi, and Tübatulabal and have grouped them together as "Northern Uto-Aztecan." In the southern branch, some linguists formerly grouped the Pimic, Taracahitan, and Corachol languages into a larger level group called "Sonoran", but this grouping has also not gained wide acceptance. Many scholars instead see a closer connection between Pimic, Taracahitan, Corachol, and Aztecan and group the four into a common group called "Southern Uto-Aztecan", but this also has its critics. Ties between Corachol and Aztecan have been recognized by Kaufman (2001[1] ), who argues that they are best understood as the result of a period of close contact and linguistic diffusion between the Nahuan and Coracholan groups. Most scholars recognize an increasing need to look at the breakup of Proto-Uto-Aztecan as a case of the gradual disintegration of a dialect continuum (Mithun 1999).

[edit] Northern Uto-Aztecan [2]

Hopi [3]

Tübatulabal [4]

Numic [5]

Takic [23]

Serrano-Gabrielino
Serran
Serrano [24]
Kitanemuk † [25]
Gabrielino-Fernandeño †
Cupan
Cahuilla-Cupeño
Cahuilla [26]
Cupeño [27]
Luiseño-Juaneño [28]

[edit] Southern Uto-Aztecan [2]

Pimic (Tepiman)

Pima-Papago [29] (Upper Piman)
Pima Bajo [30] (Lower Piman)
Tepehuán languages (Northern [31] and Southern [32])
Tepecano [33] †

Taracahitic

Tarahumaran
Tarahumara [34]
Guarijío [35] (Varihio)
Tubar [36] †
Cahita [37] (Yaqui [38]-Mayo [39]-Cahita)
Opatan
Ópata [40] †
Eudeve [41] †? (Heve, Dohema)

Corachol-Aztecan

Cora-Huichol
Cora [42]
Huichol [43]
Nahuan [44] (Aztecan, Nahua, Nahuatlan)
Pochutec [45] †
Core Nahua
Pipil (Nahuate, Nawat) [46])
Nahuatl [47] (Mexicano, Aztec )

In addition to the above languages for which linguistic evidence exists, there were several dozen extinct languages with little or no documentation in Northern Mexico, many of which were probably Uto-Aztecan (Campbell 1997).

† = extinct

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kaufman, Terrence, (2001) Nawa linguistic prehistory, published at website of the Mesoamerican Language Documentation Project
  2. ^ a b Many recent linguists have not accepted the validity of the division between Northern and Southern Uto-Aztecan as a genuine genetic branching. They have either recognized seven to nine independent branches of Uto-Aztecan or accepted Southern Uto-Aztecan but recognized four independent branches in the place of Northern Uto-Aztecan (Goddard 1996:7; Miller 1983:118; Mithun 1999:539-540).
  3. ^ Benjamin Lee Whorf. 1946. "The Hopi Language, Toreva Dialect," Linguistic Structures of Native America. Ed. Cornelius Osgood. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology 6. New York: Wenner-Gren Foundation. Pages 158-183.
    LaVerne Masayesva Jeanne. 1978. "Aspects of Hopi grammar," Massachusetts Institute of Technology PhD dissertation.
    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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ John E. McLaughlin. 2006. Timbisha (Panamint). Languages of the World/Materials 453. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Drusilla Gould & Christopher Loether. 2002. An Introduction to the Shoshoni Language: Dammen Daigwape. Salt Lake City, Utah: The University of Utah Press.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ Talmy Givón. 1980. Ute Reference Grammar. 1st edition. Ignacio, Colorado: Ute Press.
    Jean O. Charney. 1996. A Dictionary of the Southern Ute Language. Ignacio, Colorado: Ute Press.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Evan J. Norris. 1986. "A Grammar Sketch and Comparative Study of Eastern Mono," University of California, San Diego Ph.D. dissertation.
  19. ^ Anonymous. 1987. Yerington Paiute Grammar. Anchorage, Alaska: Bilingual Education Services.
    Arie Poldevaart. 1987. Paiute-English English-Paiute Dictionary. Yerington, Nevada: Yerington Paiute Tribe.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Timothy John Thornes. 2003. "A Northern Paiute Grammar with Texts," University of Oregon Ph.D. dissertation.
  22. ^ Sven Liljeblad. 1966-1967. "Northern Paiute Lessons," manuscript.
    Sven Liljeblad. 1950. "Bannack I: Phonemes," International Journal of American Linguistics 16:126-131
  23. ^ 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)
  24. ^ Kenneth C. Hill. 1967. "A Grammar of the Serrano Language," University of California, Los Angeles PhD dissertation.
  25. ^ Alice J. Anderton. 1988. "The Language of the Kitanemuks of California," University of California, Los Angeles PhD dissertation.
  26. ^ Hansjakob Seiler. 1977. Cahuilla Grammar. Banning, California: Malki Museum Press.
    Hansjakob Seiler and Kojiro Hioki. 1979. Cahuilla Dictionary. Banning, California: Malki Museum Press.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ Roberto Escalante H. & Zarina Estrada Fernandez. 1993. Textos y gramatica del pima bajo. Sonora: Departamento de Letra y Linguistica, Universidad de Mexico.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ T. Willett. 1991. A reference grammar of southeastern Tepehuan. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington.
  33. ^ J. Alden Mason. 1916. "Tepecano, A Piman language of western Mexico," Annals of the New York Academy of Science 25:309-416.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ Wick R. Miller. 1996. La lengua guarijio: gramatica, vocabulario y textos. Mexico City: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, UNAM.
  36. ^ 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.
  37. ^ Andrés Lionnet. 1978. Elementos de la lengua cahita (yaqui-mayo). México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  38. ^ 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.
  39. ^ 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.
  40. ^ Natal Lombardo. 1702. Arte de la Lengua Teguima vulgarmente llamada Opata. Mexico: Miguel de Ribera.
  41. ^ 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.
  42. ^ 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.
  43. ^ 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.
  44. ^ Yolanda Lastra de Suárez. 1986. Las áreas dialectales del náhuatl moderno. Mexico: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  45. ^ Franz Boas. 1917. "El dialecto mexicano de Pochutla, Oaxaca," International Journal of American Linguistics 1:9-44.
  46. ^ Lyle Campbell. 1985. The Pipil language of El Salvador. Mouton grammar library No. 1. Berlin: Mouton Publishers.
  47. ^ Fray Alonso de Molina. 1555. Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana y Mexicana y Castellana. Reprinted, Porrúa México, 1992.
    Horacio Carochi. 1645. Arte de la lengua mexicana: con la declaración de los adverbios della. Reprinted, México D.F.: Porrúa, 1983.

[edit] References

  • Campbell, Lyle. 1979. Middle American languages. In The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment, edited by Lyle Campbell and Marianne Mithun, pp. 902-1000. University of Texas Press, Austin.
  • Campbell, Lyle. 1997. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press.
  • Goddard, Ives. 1996. Introduction. In Languages, edited by Ives Goddard, pp. 1-16. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, Vol. 17. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  • Goddard, Ives. 1999. "Native Languages and Language Families of North America." Wall Map. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.
  • Miller, Wick R. 1983. Uto-Aztecan languages. In Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz, pp. 113-124. Handbook of North American Indians. William C. Sturtevant, general editor, Vol. 10. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
  • Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
  • Steele, Susan. 1979. Uto-Aztecan: An assessment for historical and comparative linguistics. In The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment, edited by Lyle Campbell and Marianne Mithun, pp. 444-544. University of Texas Press, Austin.
  • Súarez, Jorge. 1983. The Mesoamerican Indian Languages. Cambridge University Press.

[edit] External links