Colorado River Numic language

{{Short description|Dialect chain of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family}} {{Infobox language | name = Colorado River Numic | altname = Southern Paiute | states = United States | region = Nevada, California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico | ethnicity = {{sigfig|6230|2}} Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute and Ute (2007)<ref name=e18/> | speakers = 920 | date = 2007 | ref = e18 | speakers2 = 20 monolinguals (1990 census)<ref name=e18/> | familycolor = Uto-Aztecan | fam1 = Uto-Aztecan | fam2 = Numic | fam3 = Southern Numic | iso3 = ute | glotto = utes1238 | glottorefname = Ute-Southern Paiute | dia1 = Chemehuevi | dia2 = Southern Paiute | dia3 = Ute | notice = IPA | map = Colorado River Numic map.svg | map2 = Lang Status 20-CR.svg | mapcaption2 = {{center|Chemehuevi is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''.}} }}

'''Colorado River Numic''' (also called '''Ute''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|juː|t}} {{respell|YOOT}}, '''Southern Paiute''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|aɪ|.|juː|t}} {{respell|PIE|yoot}}, '''Ute–Southern Paiute''', or '''Ute-Chemehuevi''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|tʃ|ɛ|.|m|ə|.|ˈ|w|eɪ|.|v|i}} {{respell|CHEH|mə|WAY|vee}}), of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, is a dialect chain that stretches from southeastern California to Colorado.{{sfn|Mithun|1999|p=542}} Individual dialects are Chemehuevi, which is in danger of extinction, Southern Paiute (Moapa, Cedar City, Kaibab, and San Juan subdialects), and Ute (Central Utah, Northern, White Mesa, Southern subdialects). According to the ''Ethnologue'', there were somewhat fewer than two thousand speakers of Colorado River Numic Language in 1990, or around 40% out of an ethnic population of 5,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ute|title=Ethnologue report for language code:ute|publisher=Ethnologue|access-date=2009-06-13}}</ref>

The Southern Paiute dialect has played a significant role in linguistics, as the background for a famous article by linguist Edward Sapir and his collaborator Tony Tillohash on the nature of the phoneme.<ref name="sapir1933">{{cite journal|language=fr|last=Sapir|first= Edward|year= 1933 |title=La réalité psychologique des phonèmes |trans-title=The psychological reality of phonemes |journal=Journal de Psychologie Normale et Pathologique |url=http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/MPIWG:4YN1MVRM}}</ref>

==Dialects== The three major dialect groups of Colorado River are Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute, and Ute, although there are no strong isoglosses. The threefold division is primarily one of culture rather than strictly linguistic. There are, however, three major phonological distinctions among the dialects:

:*In Southern Paiute and Ute, initial {{IPA|/h/}} has been lost: Chemehuevi {{IPA|/hivi/}} 'drink' is a verb, other dialects {{IPA|/ivi/}} 'drink'. :*In Ute, nasal-stop clusters have become voiceless geminate stops: Ute {{IPA|/pukku/}} 'horse, pet', other dialects {{IPA|/puŋku/}}. :*In Ute, the mid back round vowel {{IPA|/o/}} has been fronted to {{IPA|/ö/}}: Ute {{IPA|/söö-/}} 'lungs', other dialects {{IPA|/soo-/}}.

There are no strong isoglosses between Southern Paiute and Ute for the changes but an increasing level of change, as one moves from Kaibab Southern Paiute (0% of nasal-stop clusters have changed) to Southern Ute (100% of nasal-stop clusters have changed).

==Phonology== Consonant and vowel charts for the westernmost and easternmost dialects are given.{{sfn|Press|1979}}{{sfn|Givón|2011}}

=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Consonant phonemes in Chemehuevi dialect ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" | labial ! rowspan="2" | dental ! rowspan="2" | palatal ! colspan="2" | velar ! rowspan="2" | glottal |- ! {{small|plain}} ! {{small|labial}} |- ! colspan="2" | plosive | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|ts}} | {{IPA link|k}} | {{IPA link|kʷ}} | {{IPA link|ʔ}} |- ! colspan="2" | fricative | {{IPA link|β}} | {{IPA link|s}} | | {{IPA link|ɣ}} | {{IPA link|ɣʷ}} | {{IPA link|h}} |- ! colspan="2" | rhotic | | {{IPA link|ɾ}} | | | | |- ! rowspan="2" | nasal ! {{small|plain}} | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | {{IPA link|ŋʷ}} | |- ! {{small|glottalized}} | {{IPA link|mˀ}} | {{IPA link|nˀ}} | | {{IPA link|ŋˀ}} | | |- ! rowspan="2" | glide ! {{small|plain}} | {{IPA link|w}} | | {{IPA link|j}} | | | |- ! {{small|glottalized}} | {{IPA link|wˀ}} | | {{IPA link|jˀ}} | | | |}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Consonant phonemes in Southern Ute dialect ! rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" | labial ! rowspan="2" | dental ! rowspan="2" | palatal ! colspan="2" | velar ! rowspan="2" | glottal |- ! {{small|plain}} ! {{small|labial}} |- ! plosive | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|tʃ}} | {{IPA link|k}} | {{IPA link|kʷ}} | {{IPA link|ʔ}} |- ! fricative | {{IPA link|β}} | {{IPA link|s}} | | {{IPA link|ɣ}} | {{IPA link|ɣʷ}} | |- ! rhotic | | {{IPA link|ɾ}} | | | | |- ! nasal | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | | | |- ! glide | {{IPA link|w}} | | {{IPA link|j}} | | | |}

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Vowel phonemes in Chemehuevi dialect !rowspan=2| !rowspan=2|front !rowspan=2|central !colspan=2|back |- ! {{small|unrounded}} || {{small|rounded}} |- !high |{{IPA link|i}} | |{{IPA link|ɯ}} |{{IPA link|u}} |- !mid | | | |{{IPA link|o}} |- !low | |{{IPA link|ɑ}} | | |}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Vowel phonemes in Southern Ute dialect !rowspan=2| !colspan=2|front !rowspan=2|central !colspan=2|back |- ! {{small|unrounded}} || {{small|rounded}} ! {{small|unrounded}} || {{small|rounded}} |- !high |{{IPA link|i}} | | |{{IPA link|ɯ}} |{{IPA link|u}} |- !mid | |{{IPA link|ø}} | | | |- !low | | |{{IPA link|ɑ}} | | |}

Vowels can be long or short. Short unstressed vowels can be devoiced.

==Morphology== The Colorado River Numic language is an agglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite thesis |last=Bunte |first=Pamela A. |year=1979 |title=Problems in Southern Paiute Syntax and Semantics |publisher=Indiana University |type=PhD dissertation}} * {{cite book |last=Charney |first=Jean O. |year=1996 |title=A Dictionary of the Southern Ute Language |location=Ignacio, CO |publisher=Ute Press}} * {{cite book |last=Givón |first=Talmy |year=2011 |title=Ute Reference Grammar |series=Culture and Language Use |volume=3 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing}} * {{cite book |last=Laird |first=Carobeth |year=1976 |title=The Chemehuevis |location=Banning, CA |publisher=Malki Museum Press}} * {{cite book |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |year=1999 |title=Languages of Native North America |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} * {{cite book |last=Press |first=Margaret L. |year=1979 |title=Chemehuevi, A Grammar and Lexicon |series=University of California Publications in Linguistics |volume=92 |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=University of California Press}} * {{cite book |last=Sapir |first=Edward |orig-date=1930 |chapter=Southern Paiute, a Shoshonean Language |date=1992 |title=The Collected Works of Edward Sapir |volume=X: Southern Paiute and Ute Linguistics and Ethnography |editor-first=William |editor-last=Bright |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783110886603 |isbn=978-3-11-013543-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/collectedworksof10sapi}} * {{cite book |last=Sapir |first=Edward |orig-date=1931 |chapter=Southern Paiute Dictionary |year=1992 |title=The Collected Works of Edward Sapir |volume=X: Southern Paiute and Ute Linguistics and Ethnography |editor-first=William |editor-last=Bright |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783110886603 |isbn=978-3-11-013543-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/collectedworksof10sapi}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070723140802/http://coyotepapers.sbs.arizona.edu/CPXIII/oberly.pdf A Preliminary Analysis of Southern Ute with a Special Focus on Noun Phrases] – also contains phonology information * [https://cla.berkeley.edu/languages/chemehuevi.html Chemehuevi language] overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages * [http://www.chemehuevilanguage.org/ A Chemehuevi Language Archive] – 1970s Fieldwork and Analysis by Margaret L. Press * [http://www.language-archives.org/language/ute OLAC resources in and about the Ute-Southern Paiute language] * [https://archive.org/details/collectedworksof10sapi Collected Works of Edward Sapir, Vol. X: Southern Paiute and Ute Linguistics and Ethnography] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=cKm8CwAAQBAJ&dq=ute+language+pronunciation&pg=PR11 Ute Dictionary]

Category:Numic languages Category:Agglutinative languages Category:Indigenous languages of Nevada Category:Indigenous languages of Arizona Category:Indigenous languages of California Category:Indigenous languages of the Southwestern United States Category:Paiute Category:Ute (ethnic group) Category:Chemehuevi Category:Endangered Indigenous languages of the Americas