Jump to content

Yavapai language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yavapai
Native toUnited States
RegionArizona
Ethnicity1,420 Yavapai people (2004)[1]
Native speakers
245 (2015 census)[2]
Yuman
  • Core Yuman
    • Pai
      • Yavapai
Dialects
  • Kwevkepaya
  • Tolkepaya
  • Wipukepa
  • Yavepe
Language codes
ISO 639-3yuf Havasupai‑Walapai‑Yavapai
Glottologhava1248  Havasupai‑Walapai‑Yavapai
yava1252  Yavapai

Yavapai is an Upland Yuman language, spoken by Yavapai people in central and western Arizona. There are four dialects: Kwevkepaya, Wipukpaya, Tolkepaya, and Yavepe. Linguistic studies of the Kwevkepaya (Southern), Tolkepaya (Western), Wipukepa (Verde Valley), and Yavepe (Prescott) dialects have been published.[3]

Geographic distribution

[edit]

Yavapai was once spoken across much of north-central and western Arizona, but is now mostly spoken on the Yavapai reservations at Fort McDowell, the Verde Valley and Prescott.

The rate of mutual comprehension between Yavapai and Havasupai–Hualapai is similar to that between Mohave and Maricopa.[4][page needed]

Warren Gazzam, a Tolkapaya speaker, reported that "you know they (Hualapais) speak the same language as we do, some words or accents are a little different".[5]

Due to extensive cultural interchange, many Yavapai were once bilingual in Apache, and some Apache were bilingual in Yavapai.[6]

Phonology

[edit]

Yavapai consonant phonemes are shown below.[7]

Consonants in Yavapai
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palato-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
nor. lab. nor. lab. nor. lab.
Plosive/
Affricate 		plain p t tʃ kʲ k kʷ q qʷ ʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ tʃʰ kʰ kʰʷ
Fricative β θ s (ʃ) h hʷ
Nasal m n ɲ
Trill r
Lateral l (ʎ)
Semivowel j w

Vowels occur short, mid and long in stressed syllables. The contrast is reduced to two lengths in unstressed syllables.

Front Central Back
Close i iˑ iː u uˑ uː
Mid e eˑ eː o oˑ oː
Open (æ) a aˑ aː

There are two tones on stressed syllables, high level and falling, which are neutralized to mid on unstressed syllables.

Unlike in Havasupai and Hualapai, postaspirated stops cannot appear in word-initial position.[8]

Syntax

[edit]

Yavapai is a subject-verb-object language.[9]

Examples

[edit]

Some sample words given in Yavapai translation:[10]

English Yavapai
Transliteration IPA transcription
Hello Mham jik'gah
Home Wah yoh woh
Land Mat[citation needed]
Rivers Aha gah hel’lah
Fire Oo /oʔo/
Grand Canyon Mahđ K'illa or Wika'ilaha
Thank you Honnii guhm

Preservation efforts

[edit]

There have been recordings of Yavapai (as well as other Yuman languages) done in 1974, relating to phonology, syntax, and grammar. This was meant to understand the three topics better and to hear them.[11]

There is an effort to revitalize the language. There is a Yavapai language program for adults to learn the language and pass on to future generations.[12]

There have been attempts to save the language in the Yavapai community.[13]

Poetry and stories have been published in Yavapai on several occasions. Yavapai poems are featured in Gigyayk Vo'jka,[what language is this?] the anthology of poetry in Yuman languages edited by Hualapai linguist Lucille Watahomigie. Yavapai stories also appear in Spirit Mountain: An Anthology of Yuman Story and Song. Both works are accompanied by English translations, and the poems in Gigyayk Vo'jka also feature a morphological analysis.

Alan Shaterian has published a dictionary of Northeastern Yavapai. Pamela Munro is working[when?] on a dictionary and grammar for Tolkepaya.[14]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Havasupai‑Walapai‑Yavapai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Yavapai at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed access icon
  3. ^ Mithun 1999, p. 578.
  4. ^ Biggs 1957.
  5. ^ Gazzam, Warren (August 1965). Elicitation of words and phrases related to nature. From pages 1-16 of Western Yavapai wordlist. Includes some discussion of Yavapai dialects. California Language Archive (in yuf and English). Alan Shaterian (researcher).{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ^ Mierau, Eric (January 1963). "Concerning Yavapai-Apache Bilingualism". International Journal of American Linguistics. 29 (1): 1–3. doi:10.1086/464706. S2CID 144439528.
  7. ^ Shaterian 1983, p. 24.
  8. ^ Shaterian 1983, p. 215.
  9. ^ Kendall, Martha (1974). "Relative Clause Formation and Topicalization in Yavapai". International Journal of American Linguistics. 40 (2): 89–101. doi:10.1086/465291. S2CID 143492840.
  10. ^ "Yavapai-Apache Language". Archived from the original (ppt) on March 3, 2017.
  11. ^ Kendall, Martha Oaks (Burnett); Sine, Harold (March 9, 2017). "Yavapai linguistic material". American Philosophical Society. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  12. ^ House, Deborah; Reyhner, Jon (2007). "Adult Education Session". In Cantoni, Gina (ed.). Stabilizing Indigenous Languages (PDF). Center for Excellence in Education Monograph (Revised ed.). Flagstaff: Northern Arizona University. pp. 131–132.
  13. ^ Tang, Terry (2009). "Museum honors Yavapai elder for language work". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  14. ^ "Pamela Munro". Department of Linguistics. UCLA. Retrieved March 26, 2025.

References

[edit]
  • Biggs, Bruce (April 1957). "Testing Intelligibility among Yuman Languages". International Journal of American Linguistics. 23 (2). University of Chicago Press: 57–62. doi:10.1086/464393.
  • Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press.
  • Shaterian, Alan (1983). Phonology and Dictionary of Yavapai (PhD thesis). Berkeley: University of California.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yavapai_language&oldid=1304126414"