| Washo | |
|---|---|
| Washoe | |
| wá꞉šiw ʔítlu | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | California–Nevada border |
| Ethnicity | Washoe people |
Native speakers | 20 (2011)[1] |
| Revival | 1994 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | was |
| ISO 639-3 | was |
| Glottolog | wash1253 |
| ELP | Washo |
 Pre-contact distribution of the Washo language | |
| Person | Wá:šiw |
|---|---|
| People | Waší:šiw |
| Language | Wá:šiw ʔítlu |
| Country | Waší:šiw Ɂítdeh |
Washo orWashoe (/ˈwɒ.ʃoʊ/;[2] endonymwá꞉šiw ʔítlu[3]) is anendangeredNative Americanlanguage isolate spoken by theWasho on theCalifornia–Nevada border in the drainages of theTruckee andCarson Rivers, especially aroundLake Tahoe. While there were only 20 elderly native speakers of Washo as of 2011,[1] since 1994 there had been a small immersion school that has produced a number of moderately fluent younger speakers. The immersion school has since closed its doors and the language program operates through the Cultural Resource Department for the Washoe Tribe. The language remains very endangered; however, there has been a renaissance in thelanguage revitalization movement as many of the students who attended the original immersion school have become teachers.
Ethnographic Washo speakers belonged to theGreat Basin culture area and they were the only non-Numic group of that area.[4] The language has borrowed from the neighboringUto-Aztecan,Maiduan andMiwokan languages and is connected to both theGreat Basin andNorthern Californiasprachbunds.
In 2012, Lakeview Commons Park inSouth Lake Tahoe was renamed in the Washo language. "TheWashoe Tribe has presented the nameTahnu Leweh (pronounced approx.[tanulewe]) which, in native language, means "all the people's place." It is a name the Tribe would like to gift to El Dorado County and South Lake Tahoe as a symbol of peace, prosperity and goodness."[5]
Washo is usually considered alanguage isolate.[6] That is, it shares no demonstrated link with any other language, including its three direct neighboring languages,Northern Paiute (aNumic language ofUto-Aztecan),Maidu (Maiduan), andSierra Miwok (Utian). It is sometimes classified as aHokan language, but this language family is not universally accepted among specialists, nor is Washo's connection to it.[7]
The language was first described inA Grammar of the Washo Language by William H. Jacobsen, Jr., in aUniversity of California, Berkeley, PhD dissertation and this remains the sole complete description of the language. There is no significant dialect variation. (Jacobsen's lifelong work with Washo is described at the University of Nevada Oral History Program.)[8]
Washo shows very little geographic variation. Jacobsen (1986:108) wrote, "When there are two variants of a feature, generally one is found in a more northerly area and the other in a more southerly one, but the lines separating the two areas for the different features do not always coincide."
There are six distinct vowel qualities found in the Washo language, each of which occurs long and short. The sound quality of a vowel is dependent upon their length and the consonant they precede, as well as the stress put on the vowel.[9]
| Orthography | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|
| á ora á꞉ ora꞉ | /a/ /aː/ | lakꞌaʔ 'one' dá꞉bal 'sagebrush' |
| é ore é꞉ ore꞉ | /e/ /eː/ | demémew 'his rib' mé꞉hu 'boy' |
| í ori í꞉ ori꞉ | /i/ /iː/ | dipúlul 'my car' sí꞉su 'bird' |
| ó oro ó꞉ oro꞉ | /o/ /oː/ | nanhólwa 'golden currant' ćidó꞉dokhu 'robin' |
| ú oru ú꞉ oru꞉ | /u/ /uː/ | gukú꞉ 'owl' šú꞉gil 'sunflower' |
| ɨ ɨ: | /ɨ/ /ɨː/ | ćɨkɨ (spider) |
| ay | máyŋa (fawn) | |
| ey | béyu (to pay;younger brother [used in context]) |
Vowels marked with theacute accent ( ´ ) are pronounced with stress, such as in the Washoćigábut (summer).
In Washo, vowels can have either long or short length qualities; the longer quality is noted by appending acolon⟨꞉⟩ to the vowel, as in the above examplemíši milí꞉giyi. Vowels with such a mark are usually pronounced for twice the normal length. This can be seen in the difference between the wordsmóko (shoes)mó꞉ko (knee). However, vowels pronounced this way may not always be followed by a colon.
Jacobsen described in detail various vowel alternations that distinguished the Washo speech communities.[11]
Sequences not represented by a single letter in Washo almost always tend to occur in borrowed English words, such as thend inkꞌindí (candy).[12][13]
| Orthography | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | /p/ | paćil 'pus';lapɨš 'my body';dawmaʔgá꞉p 'wet place' |
| t | /t/ | taniw 'miwak';[clarification needed]data꞉gil 'his knife';tꞌá꞉tꞌat 'magpie' |
| k | /k/ | kaŋa 'cave';maku 'decayed tooth';bá꞉ćuk 'ammunition' |
| ʔ | /ʔ/ | daʔaw 'lake';dá꞉daʔ |
| pꞌ orpʼ | /pʼ/ | pꞌá꞉wa 'in the valley';dá꞉pꞌá꞉pɨš 'his lungs' |
| tꞌ ortʼ | /tʼ/ | tꞌá꞉gim 'pinenut';tꞌá꞉tꞌat 'magpie' |
| ć orcʼ | /t͡sʼ/ | ćámduʔ 'chokecherry';dićáćaʔ 'my chin' |
| kꞌ orkʼ | /kʼ/ | kꞌá꞉ŋi 'it's roaring';kꞌá꞉kꞌaʔ 'heron' |
| b | /b/ | bá꞉ćuk 'ammunition';dá꞉bal 'sagebrush' |
| d | /d/ | da꞉bal 'sagebrush';dá꞉daʔ 'bed' |
| z | /d͡z/ | gá꞉zagaza 'a type of bird' |
| g | /ɡ/ | gá꞉zagaza 'a type of bird';tꞌá꞉gim 'pinenut' |
| s | /s/ | súkuʔ 'dog';ya꞉saʔ 'again';ʔayɨs 'antelope' |
| š | /ʃ/ | šáwaʔ 'white fir';dišášaʔ 'my mother's sister';wá꞉laš 'bread' |
| h | /h/ | hélmeʔ 'three';ʔa꞉huyi 'they are standing' |
| m | /m/ | má꞉mayʔ 'conical burden basket, used for pine nuts';bá꞉muš 'muskrat';tꞌá꞉gim 'pinenut' |
| n | /n/ | nanholwa 'golden currant';á꞉ni 'ant' |
| ŋ | /ŋ/ | ŋáwŋaŋ 'child' |
| l | /l/ | lakꞌaʔ 'one';wá꞉laš 'bread';paćil 'pus' |
| w | /w/ | wá꞉laš 'bread';pꞌa꞉wa 'in the valley';daʔaw 'lake' |
| y | /j/ | ya꞉saʔ 'again';dayáʔ 'leaf' |
| M | /m̥/ | Mášdɨmmi 'he's hiding' |
| Ŋ | /ŋ̊/ | dewŊétiʔ 'hillside sloping down' |
| L | /l̥/ | madukwáwLu 'sunflower' |
| W | /ʍ/ | Wáʔi 'he's the one who's doing it' |
| Y | /j̊/ | tꞌá꞉Yaŋi 'he's hunting' |
In the area around Woodfords, California, the local Washo dialect substituted[θ] for/s/, thus,sí꞉su 'bird' was pronouncedthithu.[14]
Washo has a complex tense system.
Washo uses partial or totalreduplication of verbs or nouns to indicate repetitiveaspect or pluralnumber. Washo uses bothprefixation andsuffixation onnouns andverbs.
Verbalinflection is rich with a large number oftenses. Tense is usually carried by a suffix that attaches to the verb. The tense suffix may signal recent past, intermediate past, the long-ago-but-remembered past, the distant past, the intermediate future, or the distant future. For example, the suffix-leg indicates that the verb describes an event that took place in the recent past, usually earlier the previous day as seen in the Washo sentence,dabóʔo lew búʔlegi ('the white man fed us').[citation needed]
| Suffix Letter | Meaning | Used | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ayʔ | intermediate past | earlier than the current day, but not the distant past | di hulúyay ('I fell over') |
| -gul | long ago, remembered past | within the lifetime of the speaker | gedí yeyemi ʔúšgulaygi ('They used to call him that') |
| -lul | distant past | before the lifetime of the speaker | ga móŋil halúliya ('They planted it here long ago') |
| -a | recent past | action just finished | lépꞌamaʔ ('I got there') |
| -i | present | actions currently in progress | míši milí꞉giyi ('I see you') |
| -aša | near future | soon | dimú sek hayášaʔi ('I will choke him') |
| -tiʔ | intermediate future | within the day | ʔilćáćimiʔ etiʔi ('It's getting green.' It will be green) |
| -gab | distant future | the following day or later | milí꞉gigabigi ('I will see you.' 'See you later') |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(May 2008) |
Possession in Washo is shown by prefixes added to the object. There are two sets of prefixes added: the first set if the object begins with a vowel and the second set if the object begins with a consonant.[citation needed]
| Vowel-initial Prefix | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| l- | first-person possessive | láŋal ('my/our house') |
| m- | second-person possessive | máŋal ('your house') |
| tꞌ- | third-person possessive | tꞌáŋal ('his/her/its/their house') |
| d- | unidentified possessive | dáŋal ('somebody's house') |
| Consonant-initial Prefix | Usage | Example |
| di- | first-person possessive | diháŋa ('my/our mouth') |
| ʔum- | second-person possessive | ʔumháŋa ('your mouth') |
| da- | third-person possessive (when first vowel of the object isa oro) | daháŋa ('his/her/its/their mouth') dakꞌómol ('his/her/its/their ball') |
| de- | third person possessive (when first vowel of the object ise,i,ɨ, oru') | deMélɨw ('his/her/its/their belt') dedí꞉geš ('his/her/its/their net') debɨkꞌɨ ('his/her/its/their grandmother's sister') degúšuʔ ('his/her/its/their pet') |
| unidentified possessive | háŋa ('somebody's mouth') |
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