Keres (/ˈkeɪreɪs/),^[2] alsoKeresan (/ˈkɛrəsən/), is aNative American language, spoken by theKeresPueblo people inNew Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a smalllanguage family or alanguage isolate with severaldialects. If it is considered a language isolate, it would be the most widely spoken language isolate within the borders of theUnited States. The varieties of each of the seven Keres pueblos aremutually intelligible with its closest neighbors. There are significant differences between the Western and Eastern groups, which are sometimes counted as separate languages.

Keresan
Native to	United States
Region	New Mexico
Ethnicity	Keres
Native speakers	13,190 (2013)[1]
Language family	Language isolate orKeresan
Dialects	East Keres West Keres
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: kee – Eastern kjq – Western
Glottolog	kere1287
ELP	Acoma-Laguna Rio Grande Keresan
Pre-contact distribution of Keresan languages
Acoma-Laguna is classified as Definitely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Keres is now considered alanguage isolate. In the past,Edward Sapir grouped it together with aHokan–Siouan stock.Morris Swadesh suggested a connection withWichita.Joseph Greenberg grouped Keres withSiouan,Yuchi,Caddoan, andIroquoian in a superstock called Keresiouan. None of these proposals has been validated by subsequent linguistic research.

In 2007, there was an estimate total of 10,670 speakers.^[3]

Keresan has between 42 and 45 consonant sounds, and around 40 vowel sounds, adding up to a total of about 85phonemes, depending on the analysis and the language variety. Based on the classification in theWorld Atlas of Language Structures, Keres is a language with alarge consonant inventory.

The great number of consonants relates to the three-way distinction betweenvoiceless,aspirated andejective consonants (e.g. /t tʰ tʼ/), and to the larger than average^[4] number offricatives (i.e. /s sʼ ʂ ʂʼ ʃ ʃʼ h/) andaffricates, the latter also showing the three-way distinction found instops.

The large number of vowels derives from a distinction made betweenlong and short vowels (e.g. /e eː/), as well as from the presence oftones and voicelessness. Thus, a single vowel quality may occur with seven distinct realizations: /é è e̥ éː èː êː ěː/, all of which are used to distinguish words in the language.

The chart below contains the consonants of theproto-Keresan (or pre-Keresan) fromMiller & Davis (1963) based on a comparison of Acoma, Santa Ana, and Santo Domingo, as well as other features of the dialects compiled fromThe Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964),Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987), andThe Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and theGrammar of Laguna Keres (2005).^[5][6][7][8]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Retroflex	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiced	m	n	ɲ
	glottalized	mˀ	nˀ	ɲˀ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c		k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	cʰ		kʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	cʼ		kʼ
Affricate	voiceless		ts	tʃ	tʂ
	aspirated		tsʰ	tʃʰ	tʂʰ
	ejective		tsʼ	tʃʼ	tʂʼ
Fricative	voiceless		s	ʃ	ʂ		h
	ejective		sʼ	ʃʼ	ʂʼ
Approximant	voiced	w	ɾ	j
	glottalized	wˀ	ɾˀ	jˀ

Keresan vowels have aphonemic distinction induration: all vowels can be long or short. Additionally, short vowels can also be voiceless. The vowel chart below contains the vowel phonemes and allophones from the information of the Keresan languages combined fromThe Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964),^[5]The Phonemes of Keresan (1946),^[7] and Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987).^[6]

Notes:

• Western Keres does not have phonemic /oː/ or /o/, though both vowels may occur phonetically.^[8] Eastern Keres words containing /o/ show /au/ in Western Keres.^[9] For instance, the first vowel in the word-sentenceSraúka̠cha̠ – “I see you”:
  • Kotyit Keres: [ʂóːkʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]
  • Kʼawaika Keres: [ʂɑ̌ukʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]

All Keresan short vowels may bedevoiced in certain positions. The phonemic status of these vowels is controversial.^[8] Maring (1967) considers them to be phonemes of Áákʼu Keres, whereas other authors disagree. There are phonetic grounds for vowel devoicing based on the environment they occur, for instance word-finally, but there are also exceptions. Vowels in final position are nearly always voiceless and medial vowels occurring between voiced consonants, after nasals and ejectives are nearly always voiced.^[10]

• Word-final devoicing:[pɑ̌ːkʊ̥]because
• Word-medial devoicing:[ʔìpʰi̥ʃɑ́]white paint

Acoma Keres has fourlexical tones: high, low, falling and rising.^[10] Falling and rising tones only occur in long vowels and voiceless vowels bear no tones:

Most Keresan syllables take a CV(V) shape.^[8] The maximal syllable structure is CCVVC and the minimal syllable is CV. In native Keresan words, only a glottal stop /ʔ/ ⟨ʼ⟩ can close a syllable, but some loanwords from Spanish have syllables that end in a consonant, mostly a nasal (i.e. /m n/ but words containing these sequences are rare in the language.^[11]

Due to extensive vowel devoicing, several Keresan words may be perceived as ending in consonants or even containing consonant clusters.

• Word-internal cluster:yʼâakạ srûunị ‘stomach’ /jˀɑ̂ːkḁʂûːni/ > [jɑ̂ːkḁʂûːni] ~ [jɑ̂ːkʂûːni]
• Word-final coda:úwàakạ ‘baby’; /úwɑ̀ːkḁ/ > [úwɑ̀ːkʰḁ] ~ [úwɑ̀ːkʰ]

The only sequence of consonants (i.e.consonant cluster) that occurs in native Keresan words is a sequence of a fricative /ʃ ʂ/ and a stop or affricate. Clusters are restricted to beginnings of syllables (i.e. thesyllable onset). When the alveolo-palatal consonant /ʃ/ occurs as C₁, it combines with alveolar and palatal C₂, whereas the retroflex alveolar /ʂ/ precedes bilabial and velar C₂s, which suggest a complementary distribution. Consonant clusters may occur both word-initially and word-medially.^[9]

Traditional Keresan beliefs postulate that Keres is a sacred language that must exist only in its spoken form.^[12] The language's religious connotation and years of persecution of Pueblo religion by European colonizers may also explain why no unified orthographic convention exists for Keresan. However, a practical spelling system has been developed for Laguna (Kʼawaika)^[8] and more recently for Acoma (Áakʼu) Keres,^[13] both of which are remarkably consistent.

In the Keres spelling system, each symbol represents a single phoneme. The letters ⟨c q z f⟩ and sometimes also ⟨v⟩ are not used.Digraphs represent both palatal consonants (written using a sequence of C and ⟨y⟩), and retroflex consonants, which are represented using a sequence of C and the letter ⟨r⟩. Thesegraphemes used for writing Western Keres are shown between ⟨...⟩ below.

Signs at Acoma Pueblo sometimes use special diacritics for ejective consonants that differ from the symbols above, as shown in the table:

Vowel sounds are represented straightforwardly in the existing spellings for Keresan. Each vowel sound is written using a unique letter or digraph (for long vowels anddiphthongs). However, there are two competing representations for the vowel /ɨ/. Some versions simply use theIPA ⟨ɨ⟩ whereas others use the letter ⟨v⟩ (the sound /v/ as inveal does not occur in Keresan). Voiceless vowels have also been represented in two ways; either underlined or with a dot below (see table).

Tone may or may not be represented in the orthography of Keresan. When represented, four diacritics may be used above the vowel. Unlike the system used forNavajo, diacritics for tone are not repeated in long vowels.

Although Keresan is not normally written, there exists one dictionary of the language in which words are listed in any given order. In thisdictionary of Western Keres,digraphs count as single letters, although ejective consonants are not listed separately; occurring after their non-ejective counterparts. The symbol for the glottal stop ⟨ʼ⟩, for long vowels (e.g. ⟨aa ee ii⟩ etc.) are not treated as separate letters.

Letters〈f q x z〉are not used to write Keres, whereas the letters ⟨ɨ o v⟩ are only used in some dialects.

Woodpecker and Coyote^[9]

⟨Ái dítʼîishu srbígà kʼánâaya dyáʼâʼu. Shʼée srbígà ái dyěitsị ái náyáa shdyɨ dyáʼa.⟩

/ ɑ́ì títʼîːʃù ʂpíkɑ̀ kʼɑ́nɑ̂ːjɑ̀ cɑ́ʔɑ̂ʔù | ʃʼéː ʂpíkɑ̀ ɑ́ì cěǐtsʰi̥ ɑ́ì nɑ́jɑ́ː ʃcɨ̀ cɑ́ʔɑ̀ /

Boas text^[8]

Baanaʼa, egu kauʼseeʼe, atsi sʼaama-ee srayutse.

Keresan is asplit-ergative language in which verbs denoting states (i.e.stative verbs) behave differently from those indexing actions, especially in terms of thepersonaffixes they take. This system ofargument marking is based on a split-intransitive pattern, in whichsubjects are marked differently if they are perceived as actors than from when they are perceived as undergoers of the action being described.

The morphology of Keresan is mostlyprefixing, althoughsuffixes andreduplication also occur.^[9] Keresan distinguishesnouns, verbs,numerals andparticles as word classes. Nouns in Keresan do not normally distinguishcase ornumber, but they can beinflected forpossession, with distinct constructions foralienable and inalienable possession. Other than possession, Keresan nouns show no comprehensivenoun classes.

Keresan is averb-final language, though word order is rather flexible.^[9][8]

Negation is doubly marked in Keresan. In addition to the adverbdzaadi, verbs index negation through a suffix (e.g.-u).

• Gukacha 'S/he saw her/him'
• Dzaadi gukachau 'S/he didn't see her/him'

Theverb is a centralgrammatical category in Keres, conveying the most information about events in communicative acts.^[8][9][10] Through itsmorphemes, Keresan verbs code not only person and number of the initiator of the action (e.g. “Tammy drinks decaf”) as is common inIndo-European languages, but also how the initiator is implicated in the action. For instance, the three verbs that describe Tammy's actions in “Tammy kicked the ball” vs. “Tammy jumped” vs. “Tammy sneezed” require different levels of effort from Tammy, that is whenkicking vs.jumping vs.sneezing.

Additionally, the person and number of the undergoer of the action are all coded on the verb (e.g. the wordgukacha means “S/he sees her/him”, a full sentence in English). The ways the speaker assesses the action (i.e.evidentiality, as in “I think Tammy arrived from class” vs. “Tammy arrived from class”). Finally, the internal temporal structure of the action (i.e.aspect, as in “Tammywas sneezing in class” vs. “Tammy sneezed in class”) is also coded in Keresan verbs.

According to Maring (1967), the Keresan verb is organized around the following grammatical categories (pp. 39–40)^[10]

• Subject/Object relations
  • Subject of intransitive verbs: marked by a prefix that distinguishes 3-4 persons in the singular (see below).
  • Subject of transitive verbs: marked by a prefix that distinguishes 3-4 persons in the singular (see below).
  • Object of transitive verbs: marked by a prefix that combines with the subject prefix, or by asuffix
• Number relations
  • Singular: usually marked by a prefix
  • Dual: can be marked by a prefix, partial reduplication or by suffixes
  • Plural: can be marked by a prefix, partial reduplication, by suffixes or bysuppletive stem forms (i.e. singular and plural forms are not relatedetymologically)
• Temporal relations
  • Future: is marked on the verb by a series of prefixes that also encode number
• Modality relations
  • Indicative
  • Dubitative
  • Hortative
    • Negative hortative
  • Negative
    • Future negative
• Voice relations
  • Active
  • Passive
  • Reflexive
  • Reciprocal
• Aspect
  • Imperfective
  • Inceptive
  • Repetitive
  • Continuative
  • Habitual
  • Inchoative
  • Perfective

In Keres, the verbal prefix carries information from five different grammatical categories:argument role,modality,polarity,^[8] person and number. That is, a single Keresan verb prefix codes who initiated the action and how implicated that entity is (the subject/case), whom underwent the effects of the action (the direct object), the speaker's assessment of the action (the modality)^[14] and whether it occurred or not (polarity). On the other hand, information about when the action took place (i.e.tense) is expressed elsewhere in a clause, mostly by adverbs.^[9]

Keresan verbs distinguish three numbers:singular,dual (two entities) andplural (more than two entities); and fourpersons:first (the speaker), second (the hearer), third (a known, definite or salient entity being talked about) andfourth (a non-salient, unknown or indefinite entity being talked about, also known as obviative) persons. The plural and dual forms are often marked by reduplication of part of the stem (gukacha ‘s/he saw it’ vsguʼukacha ‘the two of them saw it’).

Languages encode two main types of actions: those in which the main participant initiates an action that produces change in an object (e.g.kicka ball, buya gift, cooka dish, reada book); and those in which the action produces no (perceived) change in the world or that have no object (sneezing, breathing, growing, diving, etc.).^[15] Actions that take an object are encoded bytransitive verbs, whereas those that take no object are expressed viaintransitive verbs.

InIndo-European languages like English, all intransitive verbs behave similarly (‘They sneeze/breathe/dive/think’/etc.). In Keresan, actions that take no object are conceptualized in two distinct ways depending on how the initiator of the action is implicated. More active-like intransitive verbs (e.g. ‘to sneeze’) are coded through one set of morphemes, whereas actions conceptualized as involving the initiator at a lesser degree (e.g. ‘to believe’) are coded using a separate set of prefixes.

Ideas expressed in Indo-European languages with adjectives are most often encoded by verbs in Keresan. That is, in Keresan one express the idea in the sentence ‘He is selfish’ by saying something along the lines of ‘Heselfishes’. In such “actions”, the entity that is characterized by them is not implicated in the action directly (i.e. it's beyond their control), and thus belong in the Inactive intransitive category. The different sets of prefixes are shown below:

Aspect in Keresan is signalled by suffixes.

The category of tense is expressed in Keresan via adverbs that indicate when the action about which one is speaking took place.

New words are coined through a number of roots that are combined to pre-existing ones. Compounding is a common strategy for word building, althoughderivation also occurs.

The Keresan numeral system is a base 10 system. Numerals 11–19, as well as those between the multiple of tens, are formed by adding the wordkʼátsi (/ kʼátsʰɪ / 'ten')followed by the worddzidra (/tsɪtʂa/ 'more'). Numerals 20 and above are formed by adding a multiplicative adverb (-wa or-ya) to the base number and the wordkʼátsi.^[8]

European colonizers arriving in theSouthwest US brought with themmaterial culture and concepts that were unknown to the peoples living in the area. Words for the new ideas introduced by Spaniards were oftenborrowed into Keres directly fromEarly Modern Spanish, and a large number of these persists in Modern Keresan.^[11]

Selected Proto-Keresan reconstructions of plants, animals, and toponyms by Miller and Davis (1963)^[16] are given below. The IPA transcription is based on the authors' description. Underlined consonants in reconstructions refer to uncertainties by the authors regarding aspiration (p. 312); these are shown as capitalized consonants in the IPA.

no.	gloss	Proto-Keresan	IPA
10	wheat	*ʔáṣánɪ	*/ʔáʂáni̥/
17	centipede	*ʔíʔìˑdʸawa	*/ʔíʔìːcàwà/
19	cholla cactus	*ʔiˑbánɪ	*/ʔiːpáni̥/
27	porcupine	*ʔiˑṣ̍á	*/ʔiːʂʼá/
45	toad	*bêˑrak̠ᴀ	*/pêːɾàKḁ/
63	turkey	*cinᴀ	*/tsʰinḁ/
64	fox	*cúsk̠ɪ	*/tsʰúsKi̥/
71	locust	*c̍íˑga	*/tsʼíːkà/
72	Zia Pueblo	*c̍íˑy̍á	*/tsʼíːjˀá/
78	kiva	*c̆ídʸá	*/tʃícá/
83	medicine man	*č̇áyâˑni	*/tʃʼájâːnì/
84	hawk	*č̇ɨ́ˑríga	*/tʃʼɨ́ːɾíka/
85	horned toad	*dabínᴜsk̠ᴀ	*/*tapínu̥sKḁ/
87	Santa Ana Pueblo	*dámáyá	*/támájá/
88	squash	*dâˑni	*/tâːnì/
91	corn husk	*díˑskámí	*/tíːskʰámí/
93	dog	*díyᴀ	/*tíjḁ/
98	bobcat	*dʸáˑdʸᴜ	*/cáːcu̥/
101	deer	*dʸán̍é	*/cánˀé/
104	gourd	*dʸáˑwí	*/cáːwí/
105	piñon pine	*dʸèic̠ɪ	*/cèiTSi̥
108	elk	*dʸɨ́ˑṣᴀ	*/cɨ́ːʂḁ/
110	badger	*dʸúˑbí	*/*cúːpí/
112	beans	*gánami	*/kánàmì/
114	seed	*gáwɪc̠ɪ	*/káwi̥TSi̥/
119	bear	*gúháyᴀ	*/kúhájḁ/
124	yucca	*háʔásc̐á	*/háʔástʃʼá/
127	oak	*ha̍ˑbánɪ
137	pine tree	*hâˑniˑ	*/hâːniː/
147	Jemez Pueblo	*héˑmíšíˑ-cɪ, *héˑmíšíˑ-zé	/*héːmíʃíː-tsʰi̥/, */*héːmíʃíː-tsé/
149	turtle	*héyᴀdʸɪ	*/héjḁci̥/
157	willow	*híẓᵻsk̍áwa	*/*híʂɨ̥skʼáwa/
158	dove	*húˑʔùˑga
161	yucca fruit	*hùˑsk̍ani
169	antelope	*kɨ́ˑc̠ɪ
175	wolf	*k̍ákana
176	spider	*k̍ámᴀsk̠ᵻ
198	mountain lion	*mûˑk̍aiẓᴀ
200	buffalo	*múšêiẓᴀ
201	soapweed	*múšɪ
213	hummingbird	*m̍îˑzᴀ
225	prairie dog	*nɨ́t̠ɪ
232	bedbug	*peséc̍uru
239	salamander	*p̍águra
241	rabbit	*rèˑdʸᴀ
246	woodpecker	*sbíga
247	chicken	*sbíˑná
251	meadowlark	*sc̐áˑná
254	grasshopper	*sc̐ár̍ɪ
260	crow	*sc̐ɨ́r̍á
262	wild honey	*sc̐úmᵻ
264	mosquito	*sc̐úy̍úˑná
274	ant	*síˑʔí
275	squirrel	*síˑdʸᴀ
279	mouse	*síyan̍ᵻ
282	bighorn sheep	*skàˑsk̠ᴜ
286	bullsnake	*sk̍áʔáˑdʸᴜ
287	fish	*sk̍àˑšᵻ
291	peas	*sk̍úrúˑná
293	dwarf corn	*spíníní
306	parrot	*šâˑwit̠ᴀ
307	flea, louse	*šínaˑ
309	goose	*šúˑdá
318	blue jay	*ṣúisɪ
319	snake	*ṣûˑwiˑ
342	abalone shell	*w̍a̍ˑbɨ́nɪ
347	duck	*w̍âˑyuṣᴀ
354	corn silk	*yábášɪ
355	corn	*yáˑčínɪ
356	mesquite	*yêˑt̠ᴜ
357	worm	*yúʔúbɨ́
369	corn cob	*y̍úˑskúm̍á

Keres was one of the seven languages sung in the Coca-Cola "It's Beautiful" commercial during the2014 Super Bowl featuring "America the Beautiful".^[17]

• Keresan Sign Language

• Nathan Romero, "Chochiti Keres: About Me and My Language: The politics of saving a vanishing language: The politics of writing", Language Documentation Training Center, University of Hawaii, Manoa (UHM)
• John Menaul (1880).Child's catechism in English and Laguna. Retrieved25 August 2012.
• Grammatical and Lexical Notes on the Keres Language (Acoma-Laguna Dialect) of the Keresan Stock
• English-Queres Language Vocabulary
• Keres Language Project –Keres Audio Dictionary