Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.
sequences.
Throughout California, much attention is paid to
the euphony of words; and if, in the inevitable manu
facturing process, a syllable does not sound well, or
does not exactly harmonize according to the native
ear, it ruthlessly sacrificed.
is In many languages
these elisions are made in accordance with fixed rules,
while others obey no other mandate but harmony.
Concerning the languages of northern California,
Judge Roseborough writes "In an ethnological view,
:
O D
tribes inhabiting
Huinboldt Bay, and along the Klamath as far up as
the mouth of the Trinity, speak a language very
regular in its structure; copious in its capacity for
expressing ideas and shades of thought, and not un-
pleasing to the ear, being free from harsh and guttural
sounds. Of all the languages spoken in this part, that
which prevails along the Klamath River as far up as
Happy Camp, and along the Salmon to its sources, is
by far the most regular and musical. In fact, for its
regular and musical accents it occupies among the
Indian tongues of the continent the same preeminence
that the Spanish does among the Caucasian languages.
For instance, their proper nouns for persons and places
are very euphonious; as, euphippa, escassasoo, names
of persons, and tahasoofca, cheenich, panumna, chimi-
canee, tooyook, savorum, names of noted localities along
the river.
As an example of the copiousness and richness of the
coast languages above Humboldt Bay, Judge Rose-
borough cites the following: for one, two, three, four,
they say, Jcor, nihhi, naxil, chohnah; so for to-morrow
they say kohchamol; for the day after to-morrow,
nahamohl; three days hence, naxamohl; four days
hence, chohnahamol. Nor do they stop here; mare,
being five, and marunimtcha, fifteen; the fifteenth day
from the present is marunimichdhamohl.
Mr George Bancroft in his Indianology erroneously
asserts that the sound of our letter r does not occur in
any of the aboriginal languages of America. A sim
ilar assertion has been made with regard to Asiatic
On
both sides of the Oregon
O and Californian boun-
dary line is
spoken the Klamath language; adjoining
it on the north is the Yakon, and on the south the
WINTOON.
Yes ummina Warm pela
Woman darcua Eyes toomb
House boss Nose sono
I, or me net Mouth all
Water mem Teeth see
Rain luhay Talk teeno
8un sash To kill kloma
Moon chamitta Larg? bohaina
Night kenavina, or peno To fight cluckapoc
Dog suco Dead meiiil
Deer nope North wy
Bear chilch, or weemer South nora
On
the lower Klamatli, the Euroc language pre
vails. As compared with the dialects of southern Cali
fornia, it is guttural there being apparently in some
;
8
Powers Porno, MS.
9 The junction of the rivers
Gibbs, in Sclioolcraft s Arch., vol. iii., p. 422.
Klarnath, or Trinity, gives us the locality of the Weitspek. Its dialects, the
Weyot and Wishosk, extend far into Humboldt County, where they are prob
ably the prevailing form of speech, being used on the Mad River, and the
parts about Cape Mendocino. From the Weitspek they differ much more than
they do from each other. Latham s Comp. Phil., vol. viii., p. 40. Weeyot und
Wish-osk, unter einanderverwandt. ^?^.srAmawn, Spnrender Aztck. Spr., p. 575.
10
Gibbs, in Schoolcraft s Arch., vol. iii., pp. 422-3.
THE POMO FAMILY AND ITS DIALECTS. 643
U. 8. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 342 et seq.; KeppeTs Exped., vol. i., appendix, pp.
14 et seq.; Martins Tonga IsL, vol. ii.
TRANSPACIFIC COMPARISONS. 647
Malay
Malay
Tonga
Tonga
Malay
Tonga
Tonga
Millanow
Tonga
Suntah
Polynesian
Malay
Polynesian
Malay
Polynesian
Polynesian
Malay
Polynesian
Malay
Polynesian
Tonga
Tonga
Tonga
Malay
Malay
Suntah
ist es aber zu sagen, dass die Sprache Tchokoyem mit dem Olamentke der
Bodega Bai und mit der Mission S. Raphael nahe gleich ist. JBuschmann,
Spuren der AzteL Spr., p. 575. The Kanimares speak a different dialect
from the Tamalos. The Sonoma Indians also speak different from Tamalos.
The Sonomas speak a similar dialect as the Suisuiis. The San Rafael Indians
speak the same as the Tamalos. Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, March 30, 18GO.
17
Mofras, Explor., torn, ii., p. 391.
18
Powers Porno, MS.
LANGUAGES OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 649
deed, it
probably is less
homogeneous and more
thronged with dialects than any other tongue in Cal
ifornia. Let an Indian go even from Georgetown to
American Flat, or from Bear River to Auburn, and,
with the exception of the numerals, he will not at first
understand above one word in four, or five, or six.
But with this small stock in common, and the same
laws of grammar to guide them, they pick up each
other s dialects with amazing rapidity. It is these
wide variations which have caused some pioneers to
believe that there is one tongue spoken on the plains
around Sacramento, and another in the mountains;
whereas they are as nearly identical as the mountain
dialects are. So long as the numerals remain the
same, I count it one
language; and so long as this is
the case, the Indians generally
c)
learn each other s dia-
*/
19
Hole s Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 222, G30; Wilkes Nar.,
in Id., vol. v., p. 201.
M Puzhune, Sekamne, Tsamak und Talatui .... Sekumne iind Tsamak
sind nahe verwandt, die iibrigen zeigen gemeinsames und fremdes. Bu^cJi-
mann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 571. Male s vocabulary of the Talatiu be
longs to the group for which the name of Moquelumne is proposed, a Moque-
lumne Hill and a Moquelumne River being found within the area over
which the languages belonging to it are spoken. Again the names of the
tribes that speak them end largely in nine, Chupumne, etc. As far south as
Tuolumne County the language belongs to this division; viz., 1, the Mumal-
tachi; 2, Mullateco; 3, Apaugasi; 4, Lapappu; 5, Siyante, or Typoxi band,
speak this language. Latham s Comp. Phil, vol. viii., p. 414.
21
Wilkes Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. v., p. 201.
22
Montgomery s Indlanolo<iy of Napa County, MS.
Mofras, Expior., torn, ii., p. 391.
SPECIMENS OF SOUTHERN LANGUAGES. 651
Not only do
these before-mentioned languages
all
show a relationship one with another, but there are
faint resemblances detected between them and the Ol-
hone language of San Francisco Bay. Furthermore,
between the latter and the language spoken at La
Soledad Mission, as well as that of the Olamentkes of
Russian River, which I have already classed with the
Porno family, there are faint traces of relationship. 31
ACHASTLIEN.
moukala
outis
capes
outiti
A further confirmation of
this relationship is found
in the statement of the first missionary Fathers who
travelled overland from Monterey to San Francisco,
and who, although at that time totally unacquainted
w ith these languages, recognized resemblances in cer
r
32
tain words. The dialect spoken at the Mission of
Santa Clara has been preserved to us only in the shape
of the Lord s Prayer which follows :
meaparn tu eres mi padre, que es la misma palabra que usan los de Mon
terey. Palou, Noticias, in Doc. Hist. Hex., serie iv., torn, vii., pp. 62-3, 59,
65, 67, 69.
^Mofras, Explor., torn, ii., p. 392.
MUTSUN GRAMMAR. C55
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Counsellor tayito tayilito
I lame me a che a liya me a che a liliya
Work tacato taqueleHo
My enemy zitcho f
n zitcho f ne a l
Brother citol cifcolancl
Grass ca*tz ca*tzanel
Man tama tamaten
Mouse e a
zzqui*lmog e a zzqui*lmoco*ten .
a a
The following are
prepositions by, zo; in, ne pe ; to, :
a a a v
zui, zitiyo, zo; from, ze pe ; on, zui; within, zine pa .
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
38
Hales Ethnoff., in U. S. Ex. EJC,, vol. vi., pp. 633-4; Taylor, in CaL
Farmer, May 4, 1860,