Yurok (language)
| Yurok | ||
|---|---|---|
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Spoken in |
California ( USA ) | |
| speaker | about 10 | |
| Linguistic classification |
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
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| ISO 639 -2 |
- |
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| ISO 639-3 |
yur |
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Yurok ( Karok : "downstream", own name: saa'agoch ) is the language of the tribe of the same name , which is spoken today (2008) by no more than 10 speakers as their mother tongue. This makes the language one of the threatened languages .
classification
The Yurok is combined with the Wiyot, which died out in the 1960s, to form the Ritwan language family. Together with the Algonquin languages , these in turn form the Algic language family . While the classification of the Algerian languages is widely recognized, the postulation of the Ritwan language family is controversial.
Geographical distribution
The language was originally spoken in the entire tribal area of the Yurok, which was located in the northwest of the US state of California and stretched from the mouth of the Trinity River along the Klamath River to its mouth in the Pacific Ocean. The few remaining speakers now live in the area around the town of Klamath at the mouth of the river of the same name.
Phonetics and Phonology
Consonants
| bilabial | alveolar | retroflex |
postalveolar or palatal |
velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | rounded | |||||||
|
Plosive or affricate |
normal | p | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | ʔ | |
| Glottalized | pʼ | tʼ | tʃʼ | k ' | kʼʷ | |||
| fricative | normal | ʂ | ʃ | x | H | |||
| lateral | ɬ | |||||||
| nasal | normal | m | n | |||||
| glottalized | ʼM | ʼN | ||||||
| Approximant | normal | l | ɻ | j | ɰ | w | ||
| glottalized | ʼL | ʼɻ | ʼJ | ʼɰ | ʼW | |||
The yurok does not distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants. However, it can be decisive whether a consonant is glottalized or not. When pronouncing the glottalized approximants / ʼl ʼɻ ʼj ʼɰ ʼw / , the vocal cords beat slightly against each other, creating a "creaking" noise. Glottalized plosives are usually realized phonetically as ejectives .
Vowels
| front | central | back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| closed | i iː | u uː | |
| medium | e | ɚ ɚː | o oː |
| open | a aː |
The r can occur both as a vowel (IPA: ɚ (ː) ) and as a consonant ( ɻ ). The non-closed vowels are subject to an optional vowel harmony .
font
The Yurok does not have a self-developed written form. In current linguistic research, transcription with Latin letters is used, where
- / ɬ / as <hl>,
- / x / as <g>,
- / ɚ / and / ɻ / as <r>,
- lengthened vowels twice (for example / e: / as <ee>, / ɚː / as <rr> etc.)
- / t͡ʃ / as <c> or <ch>
- Glottalizations as an apostrophe <'>
to be written. The other letters correspond to the European standard in their phonological realization.
Note: A character embedded in slashes (/ x /) symbolizes a phoneme , characters in brackets (<y>) correspond to graphemes . In addition, the conventionalized transcription is used according to the above model.
Phonological peculiarities
In the yurok, vowel harmony can optionally occur with certain vowels . In verbs, for example, the vowel of certain inflectional ending becomes a rhotic Schwa : The ending -ek 'marks the 1st person singular (see also unipersonal verb inflection , below). When attached to a verb stem that contains a rhotic vowel, it becomes -rk ':
- mrmryrw- ( 'look good' ) + -ek '( ' 1sg ' ) → mrmryrwrk' ( 'I look good' )
morphology
The Yurok has a very rich verb inflection morphology, while other parts of speech are hardly inflected.
noun
Nouns in Yurok are usually not inflected, neither according to case nor number . Only a very small number of nouns have separate plural forms , which are rarely used by the speakers themselves. The listener has to determine whether a noun is in the plural or singular form from the context or from the verb inflection.
Nouns, unlike pronouns , can also be specified with a pronominal clitic . These clitics have the function of possessors . There are four people, the fourth person meaning "any" and only being used with certain so-called " inalienable " nouns. These nouns include relatives such as “husband”, “grandparents”, “son” but also selected body parts such as “eye” or “arm”, but interestingly not cheek , the Yurok word for “face”. With these inalienable nouns the clitics are mandatory, with all others, the alienable class of nouns, the clitics are optional.
| person | Clitic | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 'ne- | 'netepo | My / our tree |
| 'nelin | My / our eye | ||
| 2. | k'e- | k'etepo | Your / your tree |
| k'elin | Your / your eye | ||
| 3. | 'we - /' u- | 'wetepo | His / her tree |
| 'welin | His / her eye | ||
| 4th | me- | melin | Someone's eye |
The two forms for 3rd person are distributed complementarily . If the noun begins with a labial or velar consonant (i.e. k, k ', kw, k'w, m, p, p', w, or 'w), ' u- is used, in all other cases ' we- .
The status of clitics has so far been disputed, while some authors analyze them as prefixes , other authors treat them as real clitics. The latter supports the fact that these can also be attached to verbs. One argument in favor of the affix hypothesis is that its presence in the verb has a significant influence on the inflection of the verb.
pronoun
Personal pronouns in Yurok identify the person and number of their speaker .
| person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | nek | nekah |
| 2. | ke'l | kelew |
| 3. | yo ', wo', yo'ot, wo'ot | yo'hlkoh, wo'hlkow |
These pronouns, like all nominal parts of speech, are not case- marked in Yurok , that is, the subject forms and the object forms are always identical. With one exception: If the object is in the first or second person singular, and the subject third person singular or plural, then instead of being NEK the shape nekac or instead ke'l the shape kelac used.
Verbs
In contrast to the other parts of speech, verbs in Yurok show rich inflected forms. The verbs are not inflected according to tense or aspect . In addition to the possibility of leaving verbs without inflection, a distinction is made between two types of inflection , the unipersonal and the bipersonal .
In the unipersonal inflection type, the verbs inflect only after the subject, in the bipersonal inflection after the subject and (direct) object. It should be noted that the type of inflection is not tied to the valence of the verb, i.e. (di-) transitive verbs can be inflected just as unipersonally as bipersonally. Intransitive verbs, on the other hand, always inflect unipersonally.
Furthermore, the Yurok distinguishes between three main classes of flexion, one of which can be divided into further subclasses. There are also a number of irregularly inflected verbs.
Verb classes
The three main classes of inflection in Yurok's verb inflection are called e, a and o classes according to the thematic vowels that characterize them. The a-class consists of five verb stems and forms the smallest regular class of verbs. The o-class verbs are divided into two subclasses, one of which is known as the o-class and the other as the oo-class. The oo-class verbs, for their part, are divided into three further classes, which in Juliett Blevins (2005) are called Transitive (Trns), Locative (Loc) and Others (Oth) in their semantic and morphosyntactic properties . Robins (1958) divides the two O-classes into type 1 (o-class) and type 2 (oo-class) without further differentiating the latter.
Unipersonal flexion
| Inflection class | 1st Sgl | 2nd Sgl | 3rd Sgl | 1st pl | 2nd pl | 3rd pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | -ak ' | -at the | -a ' | -Ah | -a'w | -ahl |
| e | -ek ' | -e'm | - ' | -Oh | -u ' | -ehl |
| O | -OK' | -o'm | - ' | -Oh | -o'w | - well |
| Trns | -OK' | -oo'm | -o'm | -Oh | -o'w | - well |
| Loc | -OK' | -oo'm | -okw ', o'l | -Oh | -o'w | - well |
| Oth | -OK' | -oo'm | -O' | -Oh | -o'w | - well |
The 3rd person singular forms of the e- and type 1-o-class verbs consist of only one characteristic glottalized and are realized as follows: If the verb stem ends on a plosive sound or an affricate , this is realized as an ejective . All other final consonants are realized with a preceding glottal plosive , with vowels the glottalization is realized as a glottal plosive after the vowel. Sounds already preglottalized in this position in the lexicon remain unchanged.
passive
The passive forms in Yurok only differentiate between e- and o-class verbs. The 5 a-class verb stems are only used intransitively and therefore cannot be passivated. The following table summarizes the flexion markers of the passive forms. The V stands for the theme vowel, the e-class verbs e in o-class verbs according o 's.
| Person / number | Passive marker |
|---|---|
| 1.Sgl | -V-yek ' |
| 2.Sgl | -V-ye'm |
| 3.Sgl | -i ' |
| 1st place | -V-yoh |
| 2nd place | -V-yu ' |
| 3rd place | -V-yehl |
Bipersonal flexion
In bipersonal inflection, the verb is inflected both after subject and after (direct) object. The possibility of bipersonal inflection is only available for verbs in the e and o classes. A-class verbs only occur unipersonally. Furthermore, with the bipersonal flexion type, there is no longer any distinction between the two types of the o-class.
The following table summarizes the inflected endings. As in the tables above, the V stands for a thematic vowel that is dependent on the verb class / e / (verbs of the e-class) or / o / (both o-classes). If the object is in the 2nd person, the / e / theme vowel of the e-class verbs is replaced by / i /.
| subject | 1sg | 2sg | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| object | ||||||
| 1.Sgl | V-pa ' | V-pe'n | V-pa ' | V-aahl | ||
| 2.Sgl | V-cek ' | 2sg.pass | V-coh | 2sg.pass | ||
| 3.Sgl | V-sec ' | V-se'm | 3rd uni | V-soh | V-se'm | 3rd June |
| 1st place | 1pl.pass | 1pl.pass | 1pl.pass | 1pl.pass | ||
| 2nd place | V-c'o ' | 2pl.pass | V-c'o ' | 2pl.pass | ||
| 3rd place | V-s'o ' | 2nd uni | 3rd uni | V-s'o ' | 2nd June | 3rd June |
Empty cells of the paradigm are replaced by shapes with reflective markers in spoken Yurok . Cells marked with X.uni express the respective proposition with a form of the unipersonal paradigm. The cells marked with X.pass in the table represent a special feature. Instead of a transparent ending, a form is used in these that is homophonic with the corresponding passive forms . Such phenomena are often analyzed as inverse systems in the descriptive literature .
Further morphological properties of verb inflection
Verbs in Yurok can be extended in certain syntactic contexts by a pronominal affix , which is appended to the left margin (i.e. the beginning) of the verb. This usually congruent with the subject, but in some subject / object constellations it can also congruent with the object. Such an affiliation also has an influence on the inflected endings of the verb.
In the unipersonal paradigm, when the subject is singular, all inflected endings become homonymous with the ending of the first person. In these cases, the congruence of the verb with the subject is only indicated by the pronominal prefix. This is not the case when the subject is plural.
In the bipersonal paradigm, if the subject is in the singular and the object is not in the first person, the inflected endings become homonymous with the corresponding 1sg subject forms. The form for the second person singular subject, third person singular object is then, for example, k'e- (stem) -Vsek ' instead of the expected * k'e- (stem) -Vse'm . This shift can also be observed in the forms where, in the non-pronominalized form, a passivated ending is added to the verb instead of a transparent ending. For example, the non-pronominalized form (stem) -Vye'm of a verb whose subject is in the 3rd person singular and the object in the 2nd person singular becomes 'ne- (stem) -Vcek' in the pronominalized form , corresponding to the 1sg: 2sg form. Again, the effect does not occur when the subject is in the plural or the object in the first person.
In recent years, this property of language has increasingly become the subject of morphological research, as it poses a challenge to many existing models of flexion and inverse systems.
It is controversial whether the pronouns that are attached to the verb are the same clitics that are also attached to nouns to indicate possession or whether they are independent affixes.
Pre-Verbal Particles
Tense , aspect and a number of other properties (for example negation , as well as that which is realized as adpositions in other languages ) are characterized in Yurok by pre-verbal particles , i.e. short words that are in the sentence before the main verb. Robins (1958, 96 ff.) Lists 49 basic particles that can be lined up and combined in certain groups. The table below shows some examples of pre-verbal particles:
| Particles | meaning | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ho | preterite | nek nehkasemi ho kweget | I visited her three times. |
| kiti | Future tense | kiti ta'anoy'hl | It will be hot |
| kito | Intension, desire | kito ckeyek ' | I would like to sleep. |
| nimi | negation | nimi tenoo pa'ah | There isn't much water there. |
| ni | locative | wish ni 'o'l | He is here. |
| niki | consequence | niki 'welo'omah | Then they ran away. |
| co | (inter alia) polite request | co hloykoo'm k'esaa'agocek ' | Try to speak Yurok! |
Many of these particles have different meanings depending on the semantic or syntactic context. So the meaning of co is “polite request” if the verb is in the indicative or not inflected, otherwise it underscores a temporal aspect. If it follows the question particle kus , it loses its own meaning.
syntax
Yurok is basically an SVO language , but it also allows relatively free word order patterns. Robins (1958) gives a few generalizations on this, with some exceptions:
- The position of the nominal subject and verb can vary, for example helome'y ku pegrk or ku pegrk helome'y , "The man is dancing"
- Pronominal subjects always precede the verb, for example Nek halomeyek. , "I dance",
- but can also be omitted ( pro-drop language ), for example Tmoolok '. , "I shoot".
- Objects follow the verb: ku pegrk no? P'e'n mewihl , "The man chased the elk" (lit. "-te man he.hunted elk").
- In each case the subject precedes the object.
Interrogative clauses
In Yurok there are basically two types of interrogative sentences: decision-making questions, which are usually answered with yes and no, and supplementary questions , which in the German translation are usually introduced with a question pronoun (who, how, why, whose, etc.). Decision-making questions are marked in Yurok by the particle hes , all other questions are marked by the particle kus . By combining it with other particles (see above), the question can be specified. So kus in front of the locative particle ni results in the interrogative word “where”. Usually these question particles come at the beginning of a sentence.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Juliette Blevins: The Morphological Status of Yurok Pronominal Prefixes . University of Cambridge, Cambridge 2001 (English, unpublished manuscript).
- ↑ a b Jochen Trommer: Clitic Agreement Doubling in Yurok . In: Jochen Trommer and Andreas Opitz (eds.): Linguistic work reports . tape 85 . University of Leipzig, 2007, ISSN 0138-4597 , p. 129–171 ( uni-leipzig.de [PDF; accessed on July 14, 2008]).
literature
- RH Robins: The Yurok language: Grammar, texts, lexicon . In: University of California Publications in Linguistics . tape 15 . University of California Press, Berkeley 1958.
- Juliette Blevins: Yurok verb classes . In: International Journal of American Linguistics . tape 71 , no. 3 , 2005, ISSN 0020-7071 , p. 327-349 , doi : 10.1086 / 497875 (English, uchicago.edu [accessed July 14, 2008]).
Web links
- Yurok Language Project Homepage of a field research project at the University of California Berkeley (English)