Mutsun
San Juan Bautista
Native toUnited States
RegionCalifornia
EthnicityOhlone
Extinct1930, with the death of Ascencion Solórzano de Cervantes[1]
Yok-Utian
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3(included in Southern Ohlone [css])
Glottologmuts1243
Area where the Utian languages were spoken

Mutsun (also known as San Juan Bautista Costanoan) is a Utian language spoken in Northern California. It was the primary language of a division of the Ohlone people living in the Mission San Juan Bautista area. The Tamien Nation and Amah Mutsun band is currently working to restore the use of the language, using a modern alphabet.[2][3][4]

Studies of the language

Maria Ascención Solórsano de Garcia y de Cervantes, the last known fluent speaker of Mutsun, amassed large amounts of language and cultural data specific to the Mutsun.[3] The Spanish Franciscan missionary and linguist Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta wrote extensively about the language's grammar, and linguist John Peabody Harrington made very extensive notes on the language from Solórsano. Harrington's field notes formed the basis of the grammar of Mutsun written by Marc Okrand as a University of California dissertation in 1977[1] which to this day remains the only grammar ever written of any Costanoan language. Scholars from the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands have discussed methods that could facilitate the revitalization of Mutsun.[5]

Phonology

Vowel and consonant phonemes are represented here with the descriptions and orthography of the English-Mutsun dictionary,[6] with additions from an earlier paper by Warner, Butler, and Luna-Costillas.[7]

Vowels

Front Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ii⟩ u ⟨u⟩ uː ⟨uu⟩
Mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɛː ⟨ee⟩ o ⟨o⟩ oː ⟨oo⟩
Open ɑ ⟨a⟩ ɑː ⟨aa⟩
  • /ɛ/ is open-mid, whereas /o/ is close-mid.[8]
  • Vowels and consonants are doubled to indicate longer pronunciation (ex: IPA for toolos 'knee' is [toːlos])

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
hard soft
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ nʲ ⟨N⟩
Stop p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ tʲ ⟨tY⟩ ʈ ⟨T⟩ k ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩
Affricate ts ⟨ts⟩ tʃ ⟨c⟩
Fricative s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨S⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ l ⟨l⟩ lʲ ⟨L⟩ j ⟨y⟩
Flap ɾ ⟨r⟩

Alphabet

Unlike many Latin-script alphabets, Mutsun uses capital letters as separate sounds.[9] The following alphabet is based on the alphabetization of the Mutsun-English dictionary and includes an example word.[10]

Mutsun alphabet
LetterExample wordGloss
a aacicpipe
c caahibarn owl
d diyosGod
e ecceriron (n)
h haaherun away (v)
i iccibite (v)
k kaadaughter
l laakerise (v)
L Luohuyearling calf
m maahiclose, cover (v)
n naaruturnip
N Notkobe short
o ocesend
p paakashell (v)
r raakatname (n)
s saakegather pinenuts
S Saanaynear, nearby (adv)
t taacinriver rat, kangaroo rat
T Taakampibring, carry to
ts tsaylalie face up
tY tYottYoniholly berry
u ucirminsmall needle
w waahascratch, sing slowly
y yaaseeat
ʼ -ʼaunknown meaning

References

  1. 1 2 Okrand 1977.
  2. ↑ Warner 2006.
  3. 1 2 Warner, Luna & Butler 2007.
  4. ↑ "Language". Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. Archived from the original on August 11, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  5. ↑ Warner et al. 2009.
  6. ↑ Warner, Butler & Geary 2016.
  7. ↑ Warner, Butler & Luna-Costillas 2006, p. 282.
  8. ↑ Okrand 1977, p. 23.
  9. ↑ Warner, Butler & Geary 2016, p. i.
  10. ↑ Warner, Butler & Geary 2016, contents.

Bibliography

  • Okrand, Marc (1977). Mutsun Grammar (Ph.D. dissertation). Berkeley: University of California.
  • Warner, N. (2006). "Making a Dictionary for Community Use in Language Revitalization: The Case of Mutsun". International Journal of Lexicography. 19 (3): 257-285. doi:10.1093/ijl/ecl014.
  • Warner, Natasha; Luna, Quirina; Butler, Lynnika (2007). "Ethics and revitalization of Dormant languages: The Mutsun language". Language Documentation & Conservation. 1 (1): 58–76. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024.
  • Warner, Natasha; Butler, Lynnika; Geary, Quirina (February 20, 2016). mutsun-inkiS inkiS-mutsun riica pappel [Mutsun-English English-Mutsun Dictionary]. University of Hawai'i Press. hdl:10125/24679. ISBN 978-0-9856211-8-6.
  • Warner, Natasha; Butler, Lynnika; Luna-Costillas, Quirina (September 2006). "Making a Dictionary for Community Use in Language Revitalization: The Case of Mutsun". International Journal of Lexicography. 19 (3): 257–285. doi:10.1093/ijl/ecl014.
  • Warner, Natasha; Luna, Quirina; Butler, Lynnika; van Volkinburg, Heather (July 2009). "Revitalization in a scattered language community: problems and methods from the perspective of Mutsun language revitalization". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (198): 135–148. doi:10.1515/IJSL.2009.031. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0012-CC69-A. ISSN 0165-2516.

Further reading

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