Achumawi language
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The Achumawi language (also Achomawi or Pit River language) is the indigenous language spoken by the Pit River people in the northeast corner of present-day California. The term Achumawi is an anglicization of the name of the Fall River band, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Gloss. Originally there were nine bands, with dialect differences primarily between upriver (Atwamwi, Astariwawi; Kosalektawi, Hammawi, Hewisedawi dialects) and downriver (Madesiwi, Itsatawi, Ilmawi, and Achumawi (proper) dialects), demarcated by the Big Valley mountains east of the Fall River valley.
Genetic relationships
Together, Achumawi and Atsugewi are said to comprise the Palaihnihan language family separate from the adjacent and related Shastan family. The basis of this grouping is weakened by poor quality of data. David Olmsted's data dictionary<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> depends almost entirely upon de Angulo, and carelessly includes Pomo vocabulary from a manuscript in which he (de Angulo) set out to demonstrate that Achumawi and Pomo are not related.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> William Bright<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and Shirley Silver<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> questioned Olmsted's results and methods of reconstruction. Kroeber (1925:279) acknowledged that
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there would have been almost as much justification for separating Atsugewi from Achomawi and erecting it into a separate family as for keeping Achomawi and Shasta apart, as ethnologists did for half a century. What lay at the bottom of this inconsistence was that the Atsugewi live in a region topographically tributary to the larger Achomawi habitat; that the two tribes were in close association and friendly; and that they followed very similar customs.{{#if:|
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— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }} The phenomenon of non-reciprocal intelligibility<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> is a matter of bilingualism in the smaller and more dependent of two exogamous communities; Kroeber (1925:308) estimated that the Achumawi were ten times more numerous than the Atsugewi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Phonology
Achumawi has 29 consonants. The stops and affricate (aside from the marginally contrastive glottal stop) are in three series, plain, aspirated, and laryngealized or glottalized. The aspirated series is contrastive only syllable-initially and probably derives historically from the voiceless-released first member of a consonant cluster, as in the neighboring Yana language. This is seen morphophonemically in e.g. it "I, me", itʰˑú "my, mine".<ref name="Nevin 1998">Template:Cite thesis</ref>
The plain-aspirated distinction is neutralized and realized with voiceless release in syllable-final position and before another consonant; the aspirates are much more fortis than this voiceless release. Syllable-initial plain stops are voiceless (without voiceless release) after long vowel or when geminate (long), and voiced elsewhere. The laryngealized stops are similar in articulation to the ejective glottalized stops of neighboring languages, but more lenis, that is, not "popped" unless an unusual effort is made at articulating the distinction.<ref name="Nevin 1998"/>
The language has a 5-vowel system /i e a o u/. Two degrees of length are contrastive for both vowels and consonants. Long vowels are typically more peripheral and short vowels more centralized, phonetically [ɪ ɛ ʌ ə ʊ]. The mid vowels /e o/ are probably of secondary origin historically, as in Yana and Atsugewi. A short centralized vowel [ə ɨ] appears epenthetically between the consonants of certain prefixes, as in lhúpta "let's go!". Vowel length assimilates the next successive laryngeal state, that is, the second mora of a long vowel is devoiced before a plain or aspirated consonant (preaspiration) and word finally before silence, and is laryngealized before a laryngealized consonant. In upriver dialects vowels and plain stops are more fully voiced. In downriver dialects, utterance-final syllables may be devoiced or whispered, especially under interrogative intonation.<ref name="Nevin 1998"/> A light syllable consists of a consonant and vowel (CV), and a heavy syllable either contains a long vowel (CVˑ) or is closed with a second consonant (CVC).
Unlike the neighboring and related language Atsugewi, Achumawi has contrastive high and low tones.<ref name="Nevin 1998"/><ref name="mithun2001">Template:Cite book</ref>
Morphology
The Achumawi language does not have gender but it has two forms of the copula ("to be") distinguishing animate and inanimate. The verb stem comprises one or more verb roots plus optional adverbial affixes. Inflectional affixes on verbs distinguish singular, dual, and plural number, and suffixes may optionally express severality and plurality of nouns. Many nouns and adjectives are derived from verb stems or participles, and some verb stems are formed by noun incorporation. The language has independent adjectives and numerals.<ref name="Nevin 1998"/><ref name="Angulo 1930">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Current status
Today, the Achumawi language is extinct.<ref name="UNESCO"> Template:Cite book</ref> Out of an estimated 1500 Achumawi people remaining in northeastern California, perhaps ten spoke the language in 1991, with only eight in 2000. The last speakerTemplate:Who died in 2013.
As of 2013, a mobile app was planned for the language.
Louise Davis, who lives in northern California, is almost tearful when she describes hearing people using the language of her Pit River tribe in conversation for the first time. It happened years ago when an older man from another part of the state met up with her grandmother.
It was such a powerful, emotional experience that Davis is driven to use flashcards at home with her children and do whatever it takes to preserve the language.
"You can say things in our language that you can't say in English," she said.
Testing out a language app in February [2013], she said she couldn't wait to see it being used among young people in the tribe.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
References
Bibliography
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Dictionaries
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External links
- Bruce Nevin (1998) Aspects of Pit River Phonology
- Jeff Good, Teresa McFarland & Mary Paster (2003) "Reconstructing Achumawi and Atsugewi"
- Achumawi language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
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- OLAC Resources in and about the Achumawi language
- Pit River (2022) ('A Treasury of Rare and Unusual Languages' podcast, episode 1). MLX (Minority Language eXperience).
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Template:Languages of California Template:Hokan languages Template:Authority control