Coast Oregon Penutian languages explained

Coast Oregon Penutian
Acceptance:	proposed
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Penutian?
Child1:	Alsean
Child2:	Siuslaw
Child3:	Coosan
Glotto:	none

The Coast Oregon Penutian languages are a proposed family of three small languages or language clusters on the Oregon Coast that has moderate support.^[1] Although much of their similarity is demonstrably due to language contact, linguists such as Scott DeLancey believe they may be genealogically related at a greater time depth. They are part of the much more hypothetical Penutian proposal.^[2]

Languages

The Coast Oregon Penutian languages are:

• Alsean
  • Yaquina, spoken on the central Oregon coast around Yaquina Bay & along the Yaquina River (central Oregon coast) by the Yaquina people
  • Alsea, spoken on the central Oregon coast around Alsea Bay and along the Alsea and Yachats rivers by the Alsea people
• Siuslaw
  • Siuslaw dialect spoken on the central Oregon coast along the Siuslaw River and around Siltcoos Lake
  • Kuitsh dialect spoken on the central Oregon coast around Winchester Bay and along the lower Umpqua and Smith rivers.
• Coosan
  • possibly several Hanis dialects spoken along the southern Oregon coast in the vicinity of Coos Bay and along the Coos River.
  • possibly one or two Miluk dialects spoken along the southern Oregon coast around South Slough of Coos Bay and along the lower Coquille River.

All Coast Oregon Penutian languages became extinct in the 20th century.

Vocabulary

Below is a comparison of selected basic vocabulary items in Alsea, Coos, and Lower Umpqua (a Coosan language variety). The lexical data is from Leo J. Frachtenberg's works.

gloss	Alsea^[3]	Coos^[4]	Lower Umpqua^[5]
head	kusiʼntsi, ʟōkˑ	Uncoded languages: xwî´l̄uxᵘ	xwā´ka
hair	pelūʽʼpᴇlū, ʟōʼsin	Uncoded languages: xˑne´kˑ; yı̂´akᵘ	hī´qūⁱ
eye	hayaʼnīyustǃ, kˑǃīkˑ	Uncoded languages: xwa´lxwal	kōpx
ear	tskwaīʼsalyustǃ	Uncoded languages: kᵘha´n̄as	qa´kwīx
nose	tᴇsiʼn	Uncoded languages: tcūɬ	ʟᵒwa´sî
tooth	tǃᴇliʼl	Uncoded languages: qtsä	tʼîx
tongue	stilaʼkˑayustǃ	Uncoded languages: he´ˡlta	tʽǃa´lˑtʽǃalˑ
mouth	kxai	Uncoded languages: ye´es	ʟaa´
hand	tāʼmtᴇm	Uncoded languages: kˑe´ɬa	tcīʟ; ʟpīkᵘ
foot	yūⁿʼsalyustǃ	Uncoded languages: kxla	tsı̄kᵘ
breast	ɫkwa᷇ⁿ	Uncoded languages: gā 'nipple'	ɬqū´wa (of man)
meat	hatsīʼlāl	Uncoded languages: tǃeˣt	nı̄ʟ
blood	puʼstᴇx	Uncoded languages: wı̂´tı̂n	qā´wī
bone	qēʼkus	Uncoded languages: lā´makˑ (pl.)	tsnā´wî
person	hīʼtsʟᴇm	Uncoded languages: ma	hītc
name	ʟān, ɫaʼni	Uncoded languages: ɬn̻´nas	ɬīn
dog	tsqax, tsqēⁿx	Uncoded languages: kwī´yos < Jargon	cqaxtc < Siuslaw
fish	tsūdaīʼs		ɬtʼī´aⁱ̄
louse		Uncoded languages: täts; mî´tcîɬ	ta´wî
tree	kōts, kōʼxᵘ		ɬqaⁱ´ʽtū
leaf	kˑ'ēʼpau	Uncoded languages: ɬⁱnēlˑ	ʟǃīp
flower	hālēʼtxaū		tcāᵃxānᵋ
water	kˑiʼlū	Uncoded languages: xāᵃp	tcī
fire	tkᴇlɫtsǃīʼs, ʟkˑilīʼtǃa	Uncoded languages: tc!waɬ	ʟīya´aᵘ
stone	kˑlīl	Uncoded languages: kᵘɬī´yex	qayū´ʷⁱnts
earth	leʽwīʼ	Uncoded languages: ʟǃtā	ʟǃa´ᵃⁱ
salt	qaʼlōs	Uncoded languages: mî´tsǃlîs	hîlˑa´xwa
road	yāʼxalīᵋtǃ, xˑūʼlamīt'	Uncoded languages: he´wı̂lts	txaⁱnᵋ
eat	nūns-	Uncoded languages: qǃm-; ʟōᵘ-	ɬītǃ-
die	hask-, qan-	Uncoded languages: e´qe	xaū-
I	qan	Uncoded languages: n̻; nᴇx	nà
you	nīx	Uncoded languages: eᵋ	nı̄xᵃts

Notes and References

1. Grant, A. (1997). Coast Oregon Penutian: Problems and Possibilities. International Journal of American Linguistics, 63(1), 144-156.
2. DeLancey, S., & Golla, V. (1997). The Penutian Hypothesis: Retrospect and Prospect. International Journal of American Linguistics, 63(1), 171-202.
3. Book: Frachtenberg, Leo J.. Alsea texts and myths. Washington. Government Printing Office. 1920.
4. Book: Frachtenberg, Leo J.. Coos texts. New York. Columbia University Press. 1913.
5. Frachtenberg, Leo J. (1914). Lower Umpqua texts and notes on the Kusan dialects. Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology (vol. 4, pp. 141–150). (Reprinted 1969, New York: AMS Press).