Maidu languages
The Maidu languages (also Maidun or Pujunan ) are a small endangered language family or genetic unit of languages in northeastern California .
classification
Maiduan consists of four languages:
- Maidu † (also known as Maidu proper, Northeastern Maidu, or Mountain Maidu)
- Chico † (also known as Valley Maidu)
- Konkow (also known as Northwestern Maidu)
- Nisenan (also known as Southern Maidu)
The languages have similar phonologies (i.e. sound systems) but are fundamentally different in terms of their grammar. They are not mutually understandable , although much research often refers to the speakers of these languages as maidu . Due to the sparse documentation, the Chico dialects are little known, so that their exact relationship to the other languages cannot be determined.
Chico is now extinct . The other languages are extremely endangered and approaching extinction: the northeastern Maidu has one or two speakers, Konkow has 1–2 speakers, and Nisenan only one.
relationship
Maiduan is often included in various proposals for a family tree of the Penuti languages . It was one of the original components of the California Penuti ("Penuti Core").
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Marianne Mithun: The languages of Native North America . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, ISBN 0-521-23228-7 .
- ^ Leanne Hinton: Flutes of Fire: Essays on California Indian Languages . Heyday Books, Berkeley, California 1994.
swell
- Callaghan, Catherine A. (1997). "Evidence for Yok-Utian", International Journal of American Linguistics , vol. 63, no. 1 (Jan. 1997), pp. 18-64.
- Heizer, Robert F. (1966). Languages, territories, and names of California Indian tribes .
- Shipley, William. (1961). "Maidu and Nisenan: A Binary Survey", International Journal of American Linguistics , Vol. 1 (Jan., 1961), pp. 46-51.
Web links
- Maidu, An Illustrative Sketch (in English)
- Maidu Bibliography (in English)