Cahuilla language

Cahuilla
Ivilyuat
ʔívil̃uʔat
Pronunciation	[ʔivɪʎʊʔat]
Native to	USA
Region	Southern California
Ethnicity	800 Cahuilla (2007)[1]
Native speakers	35 (2009)[1]
Language family	Uto-Aztecan Northern Uto-Aztecan Cupan Cahuilla–Cupeño Cahuilla
Dialects	Desert, Mountain, Pass
Writing system	Latin, NAPA
Language codes
ISO 639-3	chl
Glottolog	cahu1264[2]

Cahuilla /kəˈwiːə/ (ʔívil̃uʔat IPA: [ʔiːviʎuʔat] or Ivilyuat), is an endangered Uto-Aztecan language, spoken by the various tribes of the Cahuilla nation, living in the Coachella Valley, San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Mountains region of Southern California.^[3] Cahuilla call themselves ʔívil̃uqaletem–speakers of ʔivil̃uʔat–or táxliswet meaning "person."^[4][5] A 1990 census revealed 35 speakers in an ethnic population of 800. It is nearly extinct, since most speakers are middle-aged or older.

Three dialects are known to have existed, referred to as Desert, Mountain and Pass Cahuilla.^[6]

Classification

Cahuilla is found in the Uto-Aztecan language family where it is denoted alongside Cupeño to be a Cupan language within the larger Californian language subgroup where it joins Serrano, Kitanemuk, Luiseño and Tongva (Gabrielino). This California subgroup consisting of Cupan and Serran languages was once titled the Takic group which has fallen out of use.

Exonyms and endonyms

One of the indigenous designations for the language is ʔívil̃uʔat where Cahuilla could call themselves ʔívil̃uʔqalet(em) 'speaker(s) of ʔívil̃uʔat.' Other variations include Ivilyuat and Ivia. However, both the language and the people are oftentimes called 'Cahuilla.'

Phonology

Cahuilla has the following vowel and consonant phonemes (Bright 1965, Saubel and Munro 1980:1-6, Seiler and Hioki 1979: 8-9):^[7]

Consonants

Consonants in parentheses only occur in loans.

Vowels

1. /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are allophones of /i/ and /u/, respectively, when in an unstressed or secondary stress position. However, both /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ appear in the stressed position and are preceding any of the following consonants: /k/, /kʷ/, /q/, /p/, /ʔ/. Lengthened version of both result in their opened variant occurring. Finally, word final instances of /i/ and /u/ are always open (/i/ and /u/ are considered word final even when followed by /h/).
2. Both long /oː/ and short /o/ only appear in borrowings.
3. As an allophone of /e/, /ɛ/-distribution is unclear, conforming to the same rules of /i/ and /u/ sometimes. The word final variant of /e/ is always the open /æ/.
4. Similar to the high and mid vowels, /a/ sees similar allophonic distribution where /ɒ/ occurs under stress and /a/ falls in unstressed positions. /a/ is found in monosyllabic and polysyllabic words containing only one instance of the /a/.
5. The semivowels, /j/ and /w/, are difficult to distinguish from their counterpart diphthongs: /i̯/ and /u̯/. When the semivowel is following an /i/ or /u/, it is realized as /ɪi̯/ or /ʊu̯/ (/ɪj/ or /ʊw/). When /i/, /u/ or /ɛ/ is followed by /a/, the /a/ usually becomes half-long.

Grammar

Ivilyuat is an agglutinative language. It uses various affixes, alternating between prefixes and suffixes, to change the meaning and grammatical function of words. As well, Ivilyuat leans heavily on descriptive properties in the construction of nouns, turning predicates into nouns.

Morphology

Ivilyuat consists of rich morphological phenomena, especially through its descriptive properties. For example, the word 'arrow,' or húyal, is derived from 'it is straightened' (húya) which has been transformed into 'that which is straightened' or 'the straightened one' (húya + -l), where the verb stem 'to straighten' is immediately recognizable. This phenomena permeates the language such that some words are examples of a double derivation, such as 'blue/green' (túkvašnekiš). The word for the colour, túkvašnekiš, is derived from 'that which comes from heaven' which in turn comes from 'the thing where carrying [of the sun?] takes place,' where túkvaš means 'sky' and -nek is from nek-en ('to carry' with -en being the realized suffix).^[7]

Noun phrases

Some, but not all, nouns occur in two different states: absolutive and construct. Outside of these two states fall certain other nouns that both refuse to take a P₁ (see below) nor a construct state form such as ʔáwal ('dog') and almost all additional animal terms which cannot be directly possessed; however, there is indication that some of these nouns show historical ties to both states, and issues present with either state usage tend to be semantic.

Distinguishing a noun from a verb can sometimes be difficult in Ivilyuat, however, whereas both verbs and nouns can take P₁ prefixes, only nouns can take P₂ ones.

Absolutive and construct states

Absolutive (absol) and construct (constr) states help in the classification of nouns. For nouns that take either state, the process can either exhibit itself where the noun takes one form, both forms or even more productive derivations. For example, the word for (its) flower/blossom can be: séʔiš ('the flower' or 'the blossom'), séʔi ('its blossom'), séʔiški ('its flower') where séʔ- means to blossom and iš is the relativizing and absolutive suffix. Thus, séʔiš means 'blossom/flower' or, more literally, 'having completed the act of blossoming.'

The absolutive state occurs when a relational expression is transformed into an absolute expression, or when a predicate becomes an argument that can then be assigned to a particular place in a predicate. This state is constructed using the absolutive suffix, being one of four consonants (-t, -š, -l, -l̃). The suffix often is found in amalgamation with the preceding vowel, mostly -a or -i; however the case may be that there are more complex underlying functions than just that of the absolutive suffix.

The construct state is marked with P₁ relational constructions and translates very roughly to possession.

Inflection

Prefixes

Inflection in Ivilyuat is realized through both prefixation and suffixation, where prefixes mark the distinction of persons and suffixes mark plurality and case. Both O and P₂ may co-occur, which sees O precede P₂; P₂ may precede P₁. Never can all three prefixes occur simultaneously. O, for example, cannot combine with P₁ within nouns (it can within verbs); P₂ can only occur in nouns.

1. he- is only found alongside monosyllabic noun stems.
2. -y only occurs if an O prefix precedes it.

Suffixes

Possession is marked with the suffixes -m, -em, -im and -am (táxliswetem 'the Indigenous person'). Some nouns are not pluralizable, such as kʷíñil̃ 'acorn(s)' or méñikiš 'mesquite bean(s).'

The oblique case is marked by the suffixes -i, -y and -iy which includes glottalization either through insertion or infixation:

• táxliswet : 'the Indigenous person' (sing. subject)
• táxlisweʔt-i : 'id.' (sing. object)

• táxliswet-em : 'the Indigenous people' (plur. subject)
• táxliswet-m-i : 'id.' (plur. object)

The other cases are the: locative -ŋa (loc), lative -(i)ka (lat) and abl -ax (abs), marking roughly location/placement, direction/towards and point of departure, respectively. The lative case appears to combine only with construct state nouns only:

• kú-t : 'fire' (-ku- + abs)
• kú-t-ŋa / kú-ŋa : 'in the fire'
• kú-yka / *kút-ika : 'into the fire'

Case and plural endings can combine with one another, especially the locative and ablative:

• táxliswet-m-i : 'the Indigenous people'

• téma-l-ŋa-x / téma-ŋa-x : 'from the earth'

Pronouns

Pronouns in Ivilyuat can be broken down into three categories: personal, question/answer – indefinite and non-personal – non-question/answer – non-indefinite.

Verb morphology

Cahuilla verbs show agreement with both their subject and object. Person agreement is shown by prefixes and number agreement is shown by suffixes. (Saubel and Munro p. 29)

Basic sample vocabulary

Place names

Few place names within Cahuilla remained the same over the years with English or Spanish names taking over. Here are several examples:

• káviñiš & qàwal hémaʔ – Indian Wells
• kíš čáwal – White Water
• pàl téwet – Indio
• wìyal ʔámuyka – Torres Peak
• yamesével – Mission Creek
• qáwiš húlawet (Mtn: qáwiš yúlawet) – near La Quinta

Writing systems

Cahuilla has been and, to an extent, still is an unwritten language. Between IPA and NAPA, there are ways to write the language down, but there is no agreed-upon script used nation-wide. That being said, the most employed orthography is that of a modified NAPA found in Seiler and Hioki's "Cahuilla Dictionary". The alphabet has 35 letters with an accent (either ' ´ ' or ' ` ') over vowels denoting stress patterns.

IPA notation

Use and revitalization efforts

Alvin Siva of the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians, a fluent speaker, died on June 26, 2009. He preserved the tribe's traditional bird songs, sung in the Cahuilla language, by teaching them to younger generations of Cahuilla people.^[9] Katherine Siva Saubel (b. 1920 - d. 2011) was a native Cahuilla speaker dedicated to preserving the language.^[10]

In April 2014, the University of California, Riverside offered free public workshops in the Cahuilla language.^[11]

See also

• Cahuilla mythology
• Cahuilla traditional narratives

References

• Saubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982.
• Seiler, Hansjakob, Cahuilla Texts with an Introduction, Bloomington, Language Science Monographs, Indiana University Press, 1970.
• Seiler, Hansjakob, Cahuilla Grammar, Banning, Malki Museum Press, 1977.
• Seiler, Hansjakob, Kojiro Hioki, Cahuilla Dictionary, Banning, Malki Museum press, 1979.

External links

• The Limu Project active language revitalization
• Resources in and about the Cahuilla language
• Cahuilla pronunciation guide
• Cahuilla grammar, available through the Long Now Foundation
• Cahuilla language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• OLAC resources in and about the Cahuilla language
• Cahuilla basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• "Cahuilla sound recordings". Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2012-07-20. 
• David Olson (2011-01-26). "Pauline Murillo, 76, San Manuel tribal elder". PE.com - Press-Enterprise. Retrieved 2012-08-10. 

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