Uto-Aztec languages

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Uto-Aztec languages ​​in North America.
Uto-Aztec languages ​​in Mexico.

The Uto-Aztec language family is a North and Central American language family . It is one of the oldest as well as the largest Native American language families and today comprises around 1.8 million speakers. Their linguistic landscape includes areas from what is now the US state of Oregon in the north and extends to Panama in the south.

Some languages ​​and their distribution

The northernmost branch of the language family, the Numic languages , with the languages ​​of the Ute , Shoshone , Comanches and Paiute belongs to the northern uto-Aztec languages . Here the ethnonyms (names of the ethnic groups) do not always coincide with the individual languages. The traditional language of the northern Paiute is a Shoshoni dialect, while the southern Paiute speak a Colorado dialect . The Hopi language , which has the largest number of speakers of the Uto-Aztec languages ​​in the USA, forms a separate branch . Cahuilla and Luiseño , which were used by ethnic groups in California, are hardly spoken any more .

The southern Uto-Aztec languages ​​include the Pima - Pagago and Tepehuan languages native to Arizona and New Mexico, as well as neighboring areas of Mexico . In northern Mexico, the languages ​​of Yaqui , Mayo and Raramuri (Tarahumara) should be mentioned. The Nahuatl , whose central branch was also spoken by the Aztecs , has the most speakers with around 1.6 million people .

Word equations

List of cognates of some uto-Aztec languages
PROTO -UA Hopi Nahuatl Huichol Comanche Papago Pima Yaqui Mayo Raramuri Warijío
'Eye' * pusi pūsi iš- h i xie pui hehewo vuhi pūsim pūsi busí pusi
'Ear' * naka naqv i nakas- naka naki nahk naka nakam naka nalá nahka-
'Nose' * yaka yaqa yaka- thahk daka yeka yeka aká yahka-
'Mouth' * t i ni moʔa tēn- teni t ī pe chini teni tēni tēni riní
'Tooth' * tam i tama tlam- tame tama tahtami tatami tamim tami ramé tame-
'Louse' * ʔat i breath- ʔate aʔati ete ete ehte
'Fish' * mutsi me- musí
'Bird' * tsūtu tsiro tōtol- tosapiti ' churugí chuʔruki
'Moon' * mītsa mūyau mēts- metsa mïa mashath masadi mēcha mēcha micha mecha
'Water' * pāʔ pāhu - Ha pā waʔig bāʔam vāʔa bāʔwí paʔwi
'Fire' * tah i tle- tai taʔi taji tahi naʔi
'Ash' * nas i neš- naxi mahta naposa naposa napisó nahpiso
'Surname' * tek w a toka- te'ega team tewa riwá tewa
'sleep' * kotsi kochi- kutsi cohesive kosia cook cook kochí kochi
'know' * māti mati mātia machí machi
'see' *Pita itta bicha bicha
'see' * t i wa t i wa mātia ritiwá tewa
'give' * maka maqa maka makia maka māka
'burn' * taha tlala tai- taya taya rajá taha-
'I' * naʔa n i ʔ ni- / no- / na no n i ni āni / in inepo inapo nijé nē- / noʔo
'you' ʔ i m mo- en at the empo empo mujé amo / mū
'who' * ʔak w hook ak- hakar i hedai heri jabē have ābu
'one' * sɨm- sūkya sem xewi sïmï hemako hemak sēun
'two' *Where- loyom ōme huta waha gohk goka gōi wōyi okuá woka
'three' * pahayu pāyom ēyi haika pahi waik baih bikiyá

classification

The Uto-Aztec macro family belongs to the Mets'ha / Mesika tribe of the Central and South American phylum in the Ochostk-Old Indian language area.

  • Ochostkian-Old Indian language area
    • Central South American phylum
      • K'inago / Tewes tribe
      • Mets'ha / Mesika tribe
        • Mets'ha isolate (Keres)
        • Nuum / Mesika Macro Family (Uto-Aztec Macro Family)
          • North American family
          • Mexican family

Northern Branch (USA)

Southern branch (Mexico)

Hallmarks of the uto-aztec languages

The verbs are usually at the end of the sentences. Simple phoneme systems are decisive in the language family .

See also

literature

  • RW Langacker (Ed.): Studies in Uto-Aztecan Grammar . 4 vols. Arlington TX 1977 ff.
  • S. Steele, Uto-Aztecan: An Assessment for Historical and Comparative Linguistics .
  • L. Campbell, M. Mithun (Eds.): The Languages ​​of Native America . Austin TX 1979, pp. 444-544.
  • W. Miller: Sketch of Shoshone, a Uto-Aztecan Language . In: Handbook of North American Indians , vol. 17: I. Goddard (Ed.): Languages . Washington 1996, pp. 693-720.
  • J. Dayley, Tümpisa (Panamint): Shoshone Grammar . Berkeley 1990
  • Ernst Kausen: The language families of the world . Part 2: Africa - Indo-Pacific - Australia - America. Buske, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-87548-656-8 , pp. 858–862, 892–903.

Web links

Commons : Uto-Aztecan languages  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Britannica.com Uto-Aztecan languages in Encyclopedia Britannica
  2. ↑ a b Michael Dürr: North and Mesoamerican languages . Retrieved September 26, 2013