Wappo is an extinct language that was spoken by the Wappo tribe, Native Americans who lived in what is now known as the Alexander Valley north of San Francisco. The last fluent speaker, Laura Fish Somersal, died in 1990. The loss of this language is attributed to the general use of English in schools and workplaces.[4] Wappo is generally believed to be distantly related to the Yuki language. It is distinguished by influence of the nearby Pomoan languages.[5]
| Wappo | |
|---|---|
| Micewal | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Alexander Valley, California |
| Ethnicity | Wappo people |
| Extinct | 1990, with the death of Laura Fish Somersal[1] 2 (1994)[2] |
Yuki–Wappo
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wao |
| Glottolog | wapp1239 |
| ELP | Wappo |
 Distribution of Wappo | |
 Wappo is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger [3] | |
According to Somersal, the English name for the people and language is derived from the Spanish word guapo, meaning "handsome" or "brave".[6] The people called themselves Micewal.[7] The Pomoan exonym, or name for them, was Ashochimi ("northerners").[8][9]
Paul Radin published the first texts on Wappo grammar in the 1920s. Jesse O. Sawyer published English-Wappo Vocabulary in 1965 and continued to study Wappo grammar throughout his life. Other linguists who have contributed to the study of Wappo include William E. Elmendorf, Alice Shepherd, Sandra Thompson, Joseph Sung-Yul Park, and Charles N. Li.[4]
Phonology
editVowels
editWappo has five vowel qualities, but the literature is inconsistent as to whether a length distinction exists. In his Wappo lexicon, Sawyer transcribes long vowels, but Thompson et al., who worked with the same speaker, report that they did not hear any long vowels.[6][10]
According to Radin, the following diphthongs occur in Wappo: /ao/, /ai/, /ɛo/, /ɛi/, /ɛu/, /ei/, /ɔi/, /iɛ/, and /ui/.[11]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Low | a | |
Consonants
editThe transcription style (bolded symbols below) is based on Sawyer's work with Somersal, with further interpretation by Thompson, Park and Li. Thompson et al. propose that Wappo has three types of stops: plain, aspirated and glottalized. Stops plus /h/ are therefore treated as single aspirated stops.[6] Sawyer notes that /f/, /d/, /g/, /r/ and /rʼ/ are used for Spanish borrowings.[10]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p [p] | t [t̻] | ṭ [t̺] | k [k] | ʔ [ʔ] | |
| aspirated | pʰ [pʰ] | tʰ [t̻ʰ] | ṭʰ [t̺ʰ] | kʰ [kʰ] | |||
| glottalized | pʼ [pʼ] | tʼ [t̻ʼ] | ṭʼ [t̺ʼ] | kʼ [kʼ] | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | c [t͡s] | č [t͡ʃ] | ||||
| aspirated | ch [t͡sʰ] | čh [t͡ʃʰ] | |||||
| glottalized | cʼ [t͡sʼ] | čʼ [t͡ʃʼ] | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | s [s] | š [ʃ] | h [h] | |||
| Nasal | plain | m [m] | n [n] | ||||
| glottalized | mʼ [mʼ] | nʼ [nʼ] | |||||
| Approximant | plain | w [w] | l [l] | y [j] | |||
| glottalized | wʼ [wʼ] | lʼ [lʼ] | yʼ [jʼ] | ||||
Stress and tone
editWappo word stress is predictable, in that the first syllable of the word stem is stressed. In the examples below, the accent marks stress.
- méhwa "wild grape vine"
- kálkuʔ "greyhound"
Wappo does not make distinctions in tone.
Phonological processes
edit- Glottal stops are inserted word-initially in words that would otherwise begin with a vowel.
- If a word stem ends in a vowel and a suffix immediately following the stem begins with a vowel, one of those vowels is elided. In most cases, the vowel at the beginning of the suffix is deleted. For example, čoči-iʔ, which is the root "weave" plus the durative suffix, has the surface representation of čoči?.[6]
Morphology
editNouns
editNouns can be divided into human and non-human classes, which is relevant for pluralization. Human nouns are consistently inflected for plurality, but non-human nouns do not have to be inflected for plurality, even when their reference is in fact plural. For example, onoʔšiʔ-te "Indians" has the plural suffix -te, but mansanaʔi "apples" lacks the suffix.[6]
Verbs
editWappo also has rich inflectional and derivational morphology in its verb phrases. There are five categories of tense or aspect: habitual/progressive, stative, past, inchoative and future. Each verb root takes at least two forms to which suffixes are added. The form used depends on the tense. The forms themselves are determined by the verb's semantic class, which is basically determined by the habitual/progressive suffix used. Specific suffixes result in changes to the verb stem, for example, -lik- is added to the root of verbs occurring with the rare imperative suffix -laʔ. This occurs in the imperative for "sleep", in which the stem is changed from hinto- to hintolik-. Epenthesis also occurs in certain situations, depending on the form of the root and the suffix added.[6]
Thompson et al. provide the following examples of tense/aspect categories. The relevant forms are bolded, and all of the forms follow Sawyer's transcription style.
| Category | Suffix(es) | Wappo example | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Habitual/progressive | 13 different forms exist | ah yekhe k'el-iʔ | "I eat acorn mush" |
| Stative | -khiʔ | i-meʔ c'ic'-i čhoʔel-khiʔ | "my bird has died" |
| Past | -taʔ | ah leʔa mey-ocow el-taʔ | "I dug many swamp-roots" |
| Inchoative | -iš and -eš | ah yomtoʔ-iš-khiʔ | "I've become a doctor" |
| Future | -ya:miʔ (more certain) and -siʔ (less certain) | miʔ may' ohk'eč'e-siʔ | "[be careful-] you'll cut yourself" |
Negatives are marked by the suffix lahkhiʔ.
paʔ
eat
-ta
-PST
-lahkhiʔ
-NEG
"did not eat"
ah
1SG:NOM
te
3SG
oyaʔ
pot
keʔ
break
-
-
tis
CAUS
-
-
ta
PST
-
-
lahkhiʔ
NEG
"I didn’t make him/her break the pot"
Prefixes are also added to verb phrases. There are speaker-oriented directional prefixes which are grouped into two classes, depending on whether the motion of the verb is directed at or away from the speaker. In narrative contexts, the direction may refer to a character. For example, two directional prefixes are ma- "away from speaker" and te- "toward speaker". Non-speaker-oriented directional prefixes include ho-, meaning "around" and pi-, meaning "accidentally". Wappo also includes pre-verbal desiderative and optative mood particles. The desiderative particle, k'ah, is used to indicate that the speaker wishes something were true. The optative particle, keye, is translated as "could", "can", or "should".
Syntax
editWord order
editWappo has a predicate-final word order.
cephi
3SG:NOM
onoʔšiʔ
Indian
okel
language
haṭel
learn
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
"s/he's learning Indian language"
Patient-initial structures are acceptable, albeit less common.
ce
DEM
ew
fish
ce
DEM
k'ew
man
-
-
i
NOM
t'um
buy
-
-
taʔ
PST
"that fish, the man bought (it)"
Wappo allows for more freedom in word order in complement clauses, especially when they have first person subjects. All three sentences below are acceptable translations of "I know that the man caught a fish".
ah
1SG:NOM
ce
DEM
k'ew
man
ew
fish
ṭ'oh
catch
-
-
taʔ
PST
haṭis
know
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
ah
1SG:NOM
haṭis
know
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
ce
DEM
k'ew
man
ew
fish
ṭ'oh
catch
-
-
taʔ
PST
ce
DEM
k'ew
man
ew
fish
ṭ'oh
catch
-
-
taʔ
PST
ah
1SG:NOM
haṭis
know
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
In noun phrases, demonstrative and genitive modifiers precede the noun, while numerals and adjectives follow the noun.
he
DEM
tonči
cat
"this cat"
te
3SG
-
-
meʔ
GEN
č'ešma
bed
"his/her bed"
hinta
day
hopoka
three
ah
1SG:NOM
k'ešu
deer
mehlahi
hunt
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
"for three days, I was hunting"
In verb phrases, oblique arguments and adverbs come before the verb.
Case system
editWappo has a rich case system which uses suffixes to mark cases. In the examples below, the words relevant to the case being discussed are in boldface.
The accusative case is unmarked. Patients, arguments of transitive verbs that are patient-like, all subjects in dependent clauses and single arguments in copulas take the accusative case.
ce
DEM
k'ew
man
ceʔeʔ
COP
i
1SG
ek'a
son
"that man is my son"
The nominative case is marked with the suffix -i. Words functioning as initiators, agents, experiencers of transitive verbs and the single argument of an intransitive verb take the nominative case. If the noun stem to which this suffix is added happens to ends with a vowel, the stem-final vowel is dropped or changed. Otherwise, adding the nominative suffix does not change the stem. The examples below illustrate the contrast.
- pol'eʔ "boy" → pol'eʔi "boys"
- k'ešu "deer (singular)" → k'eši "deer (plural)"
The dative case, which is used to indicate the recipient or direction, is marked with -thu.
chic
bear
-i
-NOM
i
1SG
-thu
-DAT
te-
DIR-
laha
come
-khiʔ
-STAT
"the bear is coming toward me"
The benefactive case is marked with -ma. It is used to mark whom the action benefits.
may-
who-
ma
BEN
miʔ
2SG:NOM
ce
DEM
takaʔ
basket
mes-taʔ
make-PST
"who did you make that basket for?"
The instrumental case, used with intensive reflexives and instruments, is marked with -thiʔ.
cephi
3SG:NOM
kuči:ya
knife
-
-
thiʔ
INST
chica
bear
ṭ'oh
kill
-
-
taʔ
PST
"s/he killed the bear with a knife"
The comitative case is marked with -k'a and is used to indicate accompaniment.
ah
1SG:NOM
mi
2SG
-k'a
-COM
čo:
go
-siʔ
-FUT
"I’ll go with you"
The genitive case is marked with -meʔ. It can only be used in constructions with alienable possession. (Inalienable possession is expressed through the juxtaposition of the two relevant nouns.)
i
1SG
-
-
meʔ
GEN
luč
tobacco
-
-
i
NOM
lakhiʔ
missing
"I don’t have any cigarettes"
Wappo also has a locative case, which is marked with suffixes such as -pi "away from" and -cawoh "on top of".
Questions
editYes–no questions
editTo mark yes–no questions, a question particle, /hVʔ/, is added after the verb. It does not have to directly follow the verb. The particle's vowel harmonizes with the vowel that precedes it. In all of the examples below, the question word is glossed as "Q" and is also in boldface.
uh
already
miʔ
2SG:NOM
c'ey
finish
-
-
taʔ
PST
haʔ
Q
"have you finished already?
miʔ
2SG:NOM
i
1SG
hak'
like
-šeʔ
-DUR
heʔ
Q
"do you like me?"
te
3SG
ceʔ
COP
mi
2SG
ek'a
son
haʔ
Q
"is he your son?"
The particle is usually at the end of the sentence, but as the example below demonstrates, it is not always sentence-final. Its location depends on the composition of the verb phrase.
luče
tobacco
neʔ
have
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
hiʔ
Q
miʔ
2SG:NOM
"do you have any cigarettes?"
Question-word questions
editQuestion words are usually located clause-initially.
iṭa
where
miʔ
2SG:NOM
i
1SG
yok'
sit
-okh
-INF
hak'
want
-šeʔ
-DUR
"where do you want me to sit?"
Question words can also get case inflection, except in cases of inalienable possession, where no suffix is added.
may
who
-i
-NOM
oyok'
win
-eʔ
-DUR
"who’s winning?"
thal
what
-i
-NOM
čhuya
house
-cawote-
-on:top-DIR-
cewte
fall
-khiʔ
-STAT
"what fell on the roof?"
Question words can also be used as indefinite pronouns.
cephi
3SG:NOM
thal
what
t'um'i
go:buy
-
-
khiʔ
STAT
"s/he went to buy something"
Language contact and influence
editLanguage contact with Spanish has influenced Wappo's sound structure and vocabulary. As listed above in the consonant section, /f/, /d/, /g/, /r/ and /rʼ/ are used for Spanish borrowings. Many of the first words borrowed from Spanish into Wappo referred to items that were traded. In some cases, words may have been borrowed from other American Indian languages in contact with Spanish, rather than directly from Spanish. Below are two examples of borrowings from Spanish.
- čičaloʔ "pea" was borrowed from chícharo
- háros "rice" was borrowed from arroz[4]
While contact with English has not greatly influenced Wappo's lexicon, it has influenced its syntax. Thompson et al. cite the sentences below as examples of an expanded use of the benefactive case that could have arisen from contact with English.
kaphe
coffee
-
-
ma
BENEF
ah
1SG:NOM
mey
water
k'o
boil
-
-
taʔ
PST
"I boiled water for coffee"
[he
DEM
takaʔ
basket
-i]
-NOM
i
1SG
-ma
-BENEF
eniya
very
c'iti
hard
-khi?
-STAT
[čoč
weave
-ukh]
-INF
"this basket was very hard for me to make"
While Wappo has a predicate-final structure, question words are clause-initial in most cases. This is unexpected, and possibly resulting from English influence.
may
who
miʔ
2SG:NOM
naw
see
-taʔ
-PST
"who did you see?"
In another potential example of English influence, the word neʔ-khiʔ "have" is used in deontic expressions, and its meaning is adapted as "have to".
Regional variation
editWappo had 5 varieties:
- Clear Lake Wappo
- Russian River Wappo (a.k.a. Western Wappo)
- Northern Wappo
- Central Wappo
- Southern Wappo
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Wappo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hinton, Leanne (1996). Flutes of fire: essays on California Indian languages (2nd print., rev ed.). Berkeley, California: Heyday Books. ISBN 978-0-930588-62-5.
- ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.
- ^ a b c Sawyer, Jesse O., "Wappo studies" (1984). Survey Reports. Report #7.
- ^ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian Languages. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26667-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thompson, Sandra A.; Park, Joseph Sung-Yul; Li, Charles N. (2006). A Reference Grammar of Wappo. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-09854-1.
- ^ Loeb, E. M. (1932). The Western Kuksu Cult (PDF). University of California Press. p. 106. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-12-06.
- ^ Kroeber, A. L. (1925). Handbook of the Indians of California. United States. Bureau of American Ethonology. Bulletin,78. Bureau of American Ethnology. p. 219. hdl:2027/mdp.39015006584174.
- ^ Powers, Stephen; Powell, John Wesley (1877). Tribes of California. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ a b Sawyer, Jesse O., "English-Wappo Vocabulary" (Aug 25, 1965). UC Publications in Linguistics. Paper vol_43.
- ^ Radin, Paul. 1929. A grammar of the Wappo language. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 27:1-194.
Bibliography
edit- Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509427-5.
- Sturtevant, William C.; Goddard, Ives (1996). Handbook of North American Indians Languages. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-048774-3.
- Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. New York : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-23228-9.
- Powers, Stephen; Powell, John Wesley (1877). Tribes of California. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- Radin, Paul. 1929. A grammar of the Wappo language. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 27:1-194.
- Sawyer, Jesse O., English-Wappo Vocabulary (Aug 25, 1965). UC Publications in Linguistics. Paper vol. 43.
- Sawyer, Jesse O., "Wappo studies" (1984). Survey Reports. Report #7.
- Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978–present). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 1-20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1–3, 16, 18-20 not yet published).
- Thompson, Sandra A.; Park, Joseph Sung-Yul; Li, Charles N. (2006). A Reference Grammar of Wappo. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-09854-1.
External links
edit- Wappo Language Project at the Western Institute for Endangered Language Documentation
- Wappo language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
- Wappo Texts
- OLAC resources in and about the Wappo language
- Wappo, California Language Archive Archived 2013-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Wappo Indians of Napa County: Language Archived 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
- A Reference Grammar of Wappo