Maidu languages

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Spreading the Maidu languages ​​in California before contact with the Europeans

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

  1. ^ Marianne Mithun: The languages ​​of Native North America . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, ISBN 0-521-23228-7 .
  2. ^ 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