Chukchansi dialect explained

Chukchansi
Region:San Joaquin Valley, California
Ethnicity:Chukchansi
Speakers:8
Date:2011
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Yok-Utian ?
Fam2:Yokutsan
Fam3:General Yokuts
Fam4:Nim
Fam5:Northern Yokuts
Fam6:Valley Yokuts
Fam7:Northern
Isoexception:dialect
Linglist:yok-chk
Glotto:none

Chukchansi (Chuk'chansi) is a dialect of Valley Yokuts spoken in and around the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, in the San Joaquin Valley of California, by the Chukchansi band of Yokuts. As of 2011, there were eight native semi-speakers.[1]

Preservation efforts

In May 2012, the Linguistics Department of Fresno State University received a $1 million grant to compile a Chuckchansi dictionary and grammar texts,[2] and to "provide support for scholarships, programs, and efforts to assemble native texts and create a curriculum for teaching the language so it can be brought back into social and ritual use."[3] The five-year grant was provided by the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians from funds generated by the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, and is expected to speed existing volunteer efforts by CSU Fresno faculty to document and teach the language.[4] [5] However, the grant has also been criticized in connection with recent disenrollments of Chuckchansi tribal members.[6] [7] [8] [9]

Recordings of the language were made by Sydney Lamb between 1953 and 1957.[10] Efforts at documentation of Chukchansi have also been attempted using the Phraselator, a handheld recording device developed for military purposes. "When a person speaks into the device in English, it responds with the Chukchansi translation." However, as of 2007, these devices were too expensive to be widely distributed.[11] [12]

Chukchansi classes have been taught at the elementary school in Coarsegold, CA since 2008.[13] As of 2012, Chukchansi classes are available for children and adults.[14] The Native American Coffee Company's first coffee shop, which opened in Coarsegold in 2012, plans to translate the names of its coffee drinks into Chukchansi.

Preservation of the language has evoked strong feelings. Tribal Chairman Reggie Lewis emphasized the need to "preserve, protect, and revitalize our cultural identity and traditions."[15] [16] One tribal member, who put it more directly, said, "When [the United States] began the genocide of Native American communities, the reason they allowed us to sign our treaties was because we had a language ... Generations of our elders went through drought and atrocities; the core of our language is our identity," adding that she was encouraged by the fact that "non-native speakers in the community come to learn the language."[4]

Phonology

The following tables are based on Collord's 1968 grammar.[17]

Consonants

BilabialDental/
Alveolar
Post-
alveolar
VelarGlottal
centrallateral
Nasalplainpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
glottalizedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Plosivevoicelesspronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
ejectivepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Affricatevoicelesspronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/
ejectivepronounced as /link/
Fricativepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Approximantplainpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
rhotic(pronounced as /link/)
glottalizedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
pronounced as //ɻ// sound is borrowed from other languages. pronounced as //l// is generally high-tongued pronounced as //l̪// after front vowels, and is slightly lowered elsewhere.

Vowels

FrontBack
Closepronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

Further reading

. Alfred L Kroeber. The Yokuts Language of South Central California. 2012-09-01. 1907.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Carmen George. Chukchansi issues disenrollment letters. Sierra Star. Oakhurst CA. 2012-09-01. 2011-09-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20120502190007/http://www.sierrastar.com/2011/09/28/56549/chukchansi-issues-disenrollment.html. 2012-05-02. dead.
  2. Web site: abc30.com. Chukchansi language to be preserved with grant. 2012-09-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131457/http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/video?id=8650667. 2014-04-13. dead.
  3. News: Fresno State Receives $1 Million to Preserve, Revitalize Chukchansi Language. Foundation Center Philanthropy News Digest. 2012-09-01. 2012-05-13.
  4. Web site: Native American Tribe Races to Preserve Endangered Language. New America Media - Indigenous. 2012-09-01. 2012-07-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20120731080817/http://newamericamedia.org/2012/07/native-american-tribe-races-to-preserve-endangered-language.php. 2012-07-31. dead.
  5. Web site: Chukchansi Pledges $1 Million for Language Study & Revitalization. KSEE 24 News. 2012-09-01. 2012-05-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20120712063005/http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Chukchansi-Pledges-1-Million-for-Language-Study--Revitalization-150494595.html. 2012-07-12. dead.
  6. News: Saving the language?. Sierra Star. Oakhurst CA. 2012-09-01. 2012-05-17. https://archive.today/20130202095418/http://www.sierrastar.com/2012/05/17/58244/saving-the-language.html. 2013-02-02. dead.
  7. News: James Dao. California Indian Tribes Eject Thousands of Members. The New York Times. 2012-09-01. 2011-12-12.
  8. News: Randye Payne. Picayune Rancheria tribal disenrollments 'disheartening'. Sierra Star. Oakhurst CA. 2012-09-01. 2011-10-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144337/http://www.sierrastar.com/2011/10/27/56812/picayune-rancheria-tribal-disenrollments.html. 2014-04-13. dead.
  9. News: Marc Benjamin. Chukchansi family files suit against U.S.. Fresno Bee. 2012-09-01. 2012-07-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20120817111557/http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/07/2902338/chukchansi-family-files-suit-against.html. 2012-08-17. dead.
  10. Web site: Chukchansi Yokuts audio recordings (1953-1957). California Language Archive. 2012-09-01.
  11. News: Charles McCarthy. Learning an almost lost language; The few Mono Indians remaining who speak their tongue are passing it down to children to preserve culture.. The Fresno Bee. 2012-09-01. 2007-10-14.
  12. Web site: Tribal Linguistic History using Digital Tools. Family Oral History Using Digital Tools. 2012-09-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20110614070301/http://familyoralhistory.us/news/view/tribal_linguistic_history_using_digital_tools/. 2011-06-14. dead.
  13. News: Carmen George. Saving a Language. Sierra Star. Oakhurst CA. 2012-09-01. 2011-09-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142136/http://www.sierrastar.com/2011/08/31/56292/saving-a-language.html. 2014-04-13. dead.
  14. News: Onishi. Norimitsu. With Casino Revenues, Tribes Push to Preserve Languages, and Cultures. The New York Times. 14. 17 June 2012.
  15. Web site: Tribe Donates $1 Million to Preserve Chukchansi Language. Indian Country Today Media Network. 2012-09-01. 2012-05-10. https://archive.today/20130126030631/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/10/tribe-donates-1-million-to-preserve-chukchansi-language-112217. 2013-01-26. dead.
  16. Web site: Chukchansi Nature Trail. Sierra Nevada Geotourism MapGuide. 2012-09-01.
  17. Collord. Thomas. 1968. Yokuts Grammar: Chukchansi. PhD. UC Berkeley.