Shasta language

The Shasta language is an extinct Shastan language formerly spoken from northern California into southwestern Oregon. It was spoken in a number of dialects, possibly including Okwanuchu. By 1980, only two fluent speakers, both elderly, were alive. Today, all surviving Shasta people speak English.

Sounds

Consonants

Length is distinctive for consonants in Shasta. The affricates are generally written <c> and <č>, and the ejectives indicated by an apostrophe written over the character. The phoneme /j/ is represented by <y>.

Vowels

Shasta has four vowels, /i e a u/, with contrastive length, and two tones: high tone, marked with an acute accent, and low tone, which is unmarked.

References

• Mithun, Marianne (1999), The Languages of Native North America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 

External links

• Shasta language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• Shasta basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• OLAC resources in and about the Shasta language

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