Northern Paiute /ˈpaɪuːt/,[2] endonym Numu or nɨɨmɨ,[3][4] also known as Paviotso, is a Western Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, which according to Marianne Mithun had around 500 fluent speakers in 1994.[5] It is closely related to the Mono language.
Northern Paiute | |
---|---|
Paviotso | |
Numu, nɨɨmɨ | |
Native to | United States |
Region | Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho |
Ethnicity | 6,000 Northern Paiute and Bannock (1999)[1] |
Native speakers | 700 (2007)[1] |
Uto-Aztecan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | pao |
Glottolog | nort2954 |
ELP | Northern Paiute |
Map showing the traditional geographic distribution of Northern Paiute and Mono | |
Northern Paiute is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Language revitalization
editIn 2005, the Northwest Indian Language Institute of the University of Oregon formed a partnership to teach Northern Paiute and Kiksht in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation schools.[6] In 2013, Washoe County, Nevada became the first school district in Nevada to offer Northern Paiute classes, offering an elective course in the language at Spanish Springs High School.[7] Classes have also been taught at Reed High School in Sparks, Nevada.[8]
Elder Ralph Burns of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation worked with University of Nevada, Reno linguist Catherine Fowler to help develop a spelling system. The alphabet uses 19 letters. They have also developed a language-learning book, “Numa Yadooape,” and a series of computer disks of language lessons.[8]
Phonology
editNorthern Paiute's phonology is highly variable, and its phonemes have many allophones.[9]
Consonants
editBilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plain | Lab. | |||||
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
Stop | p | t | k | kʷ | ʔ | |
Affricate | ts | tʃ | ||||
Fricative | s | h | ||||
Semivowel | w | j |
Vowels
editFront | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u |
Open-Mid | e | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Morphology
editNorthern Paiute is an agglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.
References
edit- ^ a b Northern Paiute at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
- ^ Leonard, Wesley Y.; Haynes, Erin (December 2010). "Making "collaboration" collaborative: An examination of perspectives that frame linguistic field research". Language Documentation & Conservation. 4: 269–293. hdl:10125/4482. ISSN 1934-5275.
- ^ Liljeblad, Sven; Fowler, Catherine S.; Powell, Glenda (2012). "pɨnanɨmɨ". Northern Paiute–Bannock Dictionary. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. p. 401. ISBN 9781607819684.
- ^ Mithun 1999, p. 541.
- ^ Mulcahy, Joanne B. (2005). "Warm Springs: A Convergence of Cultures". Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
- ^ Joe Hart (Director). "Nevada Proud: Students get a chance to learn native language in school". My News 4. KRNV-TV. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Vogel, Ed (February 1, 2014). "Paiute elder rescues language near extinction". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^ Haynes, Erin Flynn (2010). Phonetic and Phonological Acquisition in Endangered Languages Learned by Adults: A Case Study of Numu (Oregon Northern Paiute) (PhD thesis). Berkeley: University of California.
- ^ Babel, Molly; Houser, Michael J.; Toosarvandani, Maziar (2012), "Mono Lake Northern Paiute", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (2): 240, doi:10.1017/S002510031100051X
Bibliography
edit- Liljeblad, Sven; Fowler, Catherine S.; Powell, Glenda (2012). The Northern Paiute-Bannock Dictionary, with an English-Northern Paiute-Bannock Finder List and a Northern Paiute-Bannock-English Finder List. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-1-60781-030-8.
- Mithun, Marianne (1999). Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Snapp, Allen; Anderson, John L.; Anderson, Joy (1982). "Northern Paiute" (PDF). In Langacker, Ronald W. (ed.). Sketches in Uto-Aztecan grammar, III: Uto-Aztecan grammatical sketches. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics. Vol. 57. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. pp. 1–92. ISBN 0-88312-072-0. [The publication erroneously stated vol. 56, but this has been amended in the PDF made available online by the publisher.]
- Thornes, Tim (2003). A Northern Paiute Grammar with Texts (PhD thesis). Eugene: University of Oregon.
External links
edit- Northern Paiute page, with sound sample
- Northern Paiute language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
- Northern Paiute Indian Language (Paviotso, Bannock)
- Northern Paiute resources at the Open Language Archives Community
- Northern Paiute Language Project, University of California, Santa Cruz
- World Atlas of Language Structures: Northern Paiute
- OLAC resources in and about the Northern Paiute language