Ute is a language spoken by the Ute people, ranging from Colorado, to New Mexico, to Utah.[1] It is an endangered language with only around 3,500 speakers left.[2]. Ute is a part of a language family called Uto-Aztecan languages and the subfamily, Numic languages. English is also widely spoken by the Ute community. The origin of the name "Ute" is unknown. [3]
Geographic distribution
editRegions spoken
editUnited States, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California. [2]
Dialects
editThe Numic languages subfamily has three branches: [3] The Shoshone cluster (North) The Northern Paiute cluster (Central) Chemehueve, Kawaisu, Southern Paiute, Ute (South) The differences between the branches of Numic is most difference in Pronunciation.
Phonology
editVowels
editUsually Vowels are open and resonant [3]. The Ute dialect uses regular vowels, as well as nasalized vowels, some examples are a and o [4]. Vowels at the ends of words are sometimes not articulated. Some vowels are whispered. [3] Some examples: /i/ (high front vowel) [3] Pronounced similarly to English, i.e."see", "please" /u/ (high back rounded vowel) [3] Pronounced similarly to English, i.e. "fool", "shoot". /a/ (low central vowel) [3] Pronounced similarly to English, i.e. "father", "car".
| front | front-rounded | central | back-unrounded | back | tongue height |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | i | ʉ | u | high | |
| [e] | ө | [o] | mid | ||
| [æ] | a | low |
Word examples
edit- ne-ara noѵintc
I am Ute
- pag' ina-g'a
It is cloudy
- üm-a kuk-vi-iñ
Did you shoot him?[4]
History and Culture of Ute
editThe Shoshone cluster and the Northern Paiute cluster migrated north and west, towards Oregon and Nevada, about 2,500 years ago. The southern branch of Numic migrated outwards from what is now southern California up the Colorado River about 1,000 years ago.[3] In the early 1800s, the Ute lived in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The Ute people lived in tipis, or brush and sod shelters. [5] Today many Ute people live on reservations in Colorado and Utah, where they partake in oil and gas leases, as well as livestock and farming.[5] The central and southern branches inherited cultural practices from the Spanish settlers of New Mexico around the year 1600. The Ute people began using the Spanish words for some crops and animals. Some of those words spread with the migration of the Nomadic Ute. The Ute also borrowed imported horses from Spanish settlers, making mobile activities like hunting and warfare easier. Even with Spanish settlement, the Ute's maintained their hunting and gathering culture until after the American Civil War with expansion into the west.[3]
Endangerment
editIn 1990 there were around 7,500 Ute in the United States.[5] There are currently about 3,500 native speakers worldwide.[2]
References
edit- ^ THE UTES. (1996). In Ellis R., Blair R., Casey T., Romme W., & Ellis R. (Eds.), The Western San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History (pp. 225-233). University Press of Colorado. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46nv90.23
- ^ a b c "Did you know Ute is endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Givón, T. (2011). Ute reference grammar. [electronic resource]. Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Pub. Co., 2011.
- ^ a b Kroeber, A. (1908). Notes on the Ute Language. American Anthropologist, 10(1), new series, 74-87. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/659779
- ^ a b c Ute. (2016). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.