Extinct Uto-Aztecan language formerly spoken in California, US
The
Tongva language
(also known as
Gabrielino or Gabrieleno
) is an extinct
[1]
Uto-Aztecan language
formerly spoken by the
Tongva
, a
Native American
people who have lived in and around modern day
Los Angeles
for centuries. It has not been a language of everyday conversation since the 1940s. The Gabrielino people now speak English but a few are attempting to revive their language by using it in everyday conversation and ceremonial contexts. Presently, Gabrielino is also being used in language revitalization classes and in some public discussion regarding religious and environmental issues.
[2]
Tongva is closely related to
Serrano
.
[3]
The names of several cities and neighborhoods in
Southern California
are of Tongva origin, and include
Pacoima
,
Tujunga
,
Topanga
,
Azusa
,
Cahuenga
in
Cahuenga Pass
and
Cucamonga
in
Rancho Cucamonga
.
The last fluent native speakers of Tongva lived in the early 20th century. The language is primarily documented in the unpublished field notes of
John Peabody Harrington
made during that time. The "J.P. Harrington Project", developed by
The Smithsonian
through
University of California, Davis
, approximately 6,000 pages of his notes on the Tongva language, were coded for documentation by a Tongva member, who took three years to accomplish the task. Alleged native speakers of Tongva who have died as late as in the 1970s have not been verified as having been fluent speakers.
The
minor planet
50000 Quaoar
was named after the
Tongva creator god
.
[4]
Language revitalization
[
edit
]
The Gabrielino language is a subgroup of Takic, a subfamily of Uto-Aztecan, which is usually divided into three subgoups: Serrano-Kitanemuk, Gabrielino (including the Fernandeno dialect) and Cupan.
[3]
As of 2012, members of the contemporary Tongva (Gabrieleno) tribal council are attempting to
revive the language
, by making use of written vocabularies, by comparison to better attested members of the
Takic
group to which Tongva belonged, and by offering classes.
[5]
In 2004, Pamela Munro, now UCLA emeritus professor of linguistics, was asked to serve as a linguistic mentor to Tongva people who wanted to learn about their language at the Breath of Life Workshop, a biennial event in Berkeley staged by the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival.
[6]
Since then, she has taught monthly Tongva language classes in which adults and children practice pronunciation, master the use of
grammatical particles
, sing songs and play word games. She calls her work "a reclamation effort" for the language.
[7]
Munro has compiled a Tongva dictionary of over 1,000 words, and also maintains a Tongva language Facebook page to which she posts Tongva words, phrases and songs.
[8]
Munro says there are no audio recordings of people speaking the Tongva language, but that there are a few scratched wax cylinder recordings of Tongva songs.
[6]
[9]
Phonology
[
edit
]
Consonants
[
edit
]
The following is a list of the consonants and vowels of the Tongva language as used by the Tongva Language Committee, based on linguist
Pamela Munro
's interpretation of the fieldnotes of
J. P. Harrington.
[11]
In parentheses is the spelling of the specific sound. There are multiple orthographies for the Tongva language.
Consonants
/b
d
f
?/
are used in loanwords.
[11]
Vowels
[
edit
]
Morphology
[
edit
]
Tongva is an
agglutinative
language, where words use suffixes and multiple morphemes for a variety of purposes.
Vocabulary
[
edit
]
The Lord's Prayer
[11]
[
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]
The
Lord's Prayer
is called
?Eyoonak
in Tongva. The following text was derived from old Mission records.
?Eyoonak
?Eyoonak, ?eyooken tokuupanga?e xaa;
hoyuuykoy motwaanyan;
moxariin mokiimen tokuupra;
maay mo?wiishme meyii ?ooxor ?eyaa tokuupar.
Hamaare, ?eyoone? maxaare? ?wee taamet,
koy ?oovonre? ?eyoomamaayntar momoohaysh, miyii ?eyaare
'oovonax 'eyoohiino 'eyooyha';
koy xaare? maayn ?iitam momoohaysh,
koy xaa mohuu?esh.
?Wee menee? xaa?e.
Collected by C. Hart Merriam (1903)
[12]
[
edit
]
(Merriam refers to them as the Tongv?)
- Numbers
- Po-koo
- W?h-h?
- Pah-h?
- Wah-chah
- Mah-har
- Pah-vah-h?
- Wah-chah-kav-e-ah
- Wa-ha's-wah-chah
- Mah-ha'hr-kav-e-ah
- Wa-h?s-mah-hah'r
- Wa-h?'s-mah-hah'r-koi-po-koo
- Wa-h?'s-mah-hah'r-koi-w?h-h?
- grizzly bear
- hoo-nahr
- hoon-nah (subject)
- hoon-rah (object)
- black bear
- pi-yah-ho-naht
Collected by Alexander Taylor (1860)
[12]
[
edit
]
- Numbers
- po-koo
- wa-hay
- pa-hey
- wat-sa
- mahar
- pawahe
- wat-sa-kabiya
- wa-hish-watchsa
- mahar-cabearka
- wa-hish-mar
Taylor claims "they do not count farther than ten"
Collected by Dr. Oscar Loew (1875)
[12]
[
edit
]
- Numbers
- pu-gu?
- ve-he?
- pa?-hi
- va-tcha?
- maha?r
- pa-va?he
- vatcha?-kabya?
- vehesh-vatcha?
- mahar-kabya?
- vehes-mahar
- puku-hurura
- vehe-hurura
- bear
- unar
Collected by Charles Wilkes, USN (1838-1842)
[12]
[
edit
]
- Numbers
- puk?
- weh?
- p?he
- wats?
- bear
- hundr
Other sources
[
edit
]
- desert fox:
erow
[13]
- Pacoima = from the root word
Pako
enter
, meaning the entrance
[
citation needed
]
- Tujunga = from the root word
old woman
tux'uu
[
citation needed
]
Tujunga means
Mountains of Health
according to long-time residents.
- Azusa = from the word -
shuuk 'Ashuuksanga
=
his grandmother
[
citation needed
]
Toponymy
[
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]
The table below gives the names of various missions in the Tongva language.
[14]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Glottolog 4.4 ? Tongva
- ^
Fortier, Jana (December 2008).
Native American Consultation And Ethnographic Study, Ventura County, California
(Report). La Jolla, California: California Department of Transportation. pp. 13?14
. Retrieved
June 17,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Golla, Victor (2011).
California Indian Languages
. University of California Press.
ISBN
978-0-520-26667-4
.
- ^
Byrd, Deborah (February 19, 2013).
"Quaoar, a rocky world orbiting beyond Neptune"
. EarthSky
. Retrieved
August 31,
2014
.
- ^
Plesset, R. (June 2, 2012).
"San Pedro: Science Center Endangered/Tongva Village Site Revitalization : LA IMC"
.
la.indymedia.org
. Archived from
the original
on June 28, 2012
. Retrieved
September 26,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Munro, Pamela (October 28, 2014).
"This is how to revive a Native American language spoken before white people came"
.
Washington Post
. Archived from
the original
on October 29, 2014
. Retrieved
September 26,
2021
.
- ^
Curwen, Thomas (May 12, 2019).
"Tongva, Los Angeles' first language, opens the door to a forgotten time and place"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
May 12,
2019
.
- ^
Marquez, Letisia (June 27, 2014).
"UCLA linguist, Gabrielino-Tongva Indians use social media to revive extinct language"
.
UCLA Newsroom
. Retrieved
September 26,
2021
.
- ^
Rosemeyer (Rosemyre), J. V. (1916).
"Tongva wax cylinder recordings|Hearst Museum of Anthropology"
.
hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu
. Archived from
the original
on September 26, 2021
. Retrieved
September 26,
2021
.
- ^
Lepowsky, M. (2004).
"Indian revolts and cargo cults: Ritual violence and revitalization in California and New Guinea"
. In
Harkin, M. E.
(ed.).
Reassessing revitalization movements: Perspectives from North America and the Pacific Island
. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 1?61.
ISBN
9780803224063
. Retrieved
August 19,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
Munro, Pamela; The Gabrielino/Tongva Language Committee (2008). "Lesson One: Pronouncing and Writing the Tongva Language".
Hyaare Shiraaw'ax 'Eyooshiraaw'a
: Now You're Speaking Our Language (An Introduction to the Gabrielino/Tongva/Fernandeno Language)
. P. Munro and the Gabrielino/Tongva Language Committee.
OL
25610961M
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
McCawley, William. The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles. Malki Museum Press, 1996
- ^
Native Languages of the Americas
[
year needed
]
- ^
Munro, Pamela
, et al.
Yaara' Shiraaw'ax 'Eyooshiraaw'a. Now You're Speaking Our Language: Gabrielino/Tongva/Fernandeno
. Lulu.com: 2008.
External links
[
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]
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Italics
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