Mono
Native to	United States
Region	California
Ethnicity	Mono and Owens Valley Paiute
Native speakers	(40 cited 1994, Western Mono)[1] 50 (1994, Owens Valley Paiute)
Language family	Uto-Aztecan Northern Numic Western Mono
Dialects	Mono Owens Valley Paiute
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mnr
Glottolog	mono1275
ELP	Mono (United States)
Mono is classified as Critically Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Mono (/ˈmoʊnoʊ/MOH-noh) is aNative American language of theNumic group ofUto-Aztecan languages, the ancestral language of theMono people. Mono consists of two dialects,Eastern andWestern. The name "Monachi" is commonly used in reference to Western Mono and "Owens Valley Paiute" in reference to Eastern Mono.^[2] In 1925,Alfred Kroeber estimated that Mono had 3,000 to 4,000 speakers. Hinton (1994) reports only 90 elderly people spoke Mono as their first language.^[1] Mono is classified ascritically endangered byUNESCO.^[3] It is spoken in the southernSierra Nevada, theMono Basin, and theOwens Valley of central-easternCalifornia. Mono is most closely related toNorthern Paiute; these two are classified as the Western group of theNumic branch of theUto-Aztecan language family.^[2][4]

Hinton (1994), presenting undated figures, estimated the number of native speakers to be between 37 and 41. The majority of speakers were from theNorthfork Rancheria and the community ofAuberry. TheBig Sandy Rancheria andDunlap had from 12 to 14 speakers.^[1] Golla (2007), also with undated figures, estimated the number of Western Mono speakers to be over 20, with another 100 semi-speakers.

The Northfork Mono are developing a dictionary, and both they and the Big Sandy Rancheria provide language classes. While not all are completely fluent, about 100 members of Northfork have "some command of the language."^[5] In the late 1950s, Lamb compiled a dictionary and grammar of Northfork Mono.^[6] The Western Mono language has a number of Spanish loanwords dating to the period of Spanish colonization ofthe Californias,^[7] as well as loanwords fromYokuts andMiwok.^[8][9]

Hinton (1994) estimated that 50 people spoke the Owens Valley Paiute language, also known as Eastern Mono.^[1] Golla (2007) estimated the number to be under 30.

Informal language classes exist and singers keep native language songs alive.^[5] LinguistSydney Lamb studied this language in the 1950s and proposed the name Paviotso, but that was not widely adopted.^[10][11]

• Vowel length is also evenly distributed among the dialects.

Below is given the consonant phoneme inventory of Northfork Western Mono and Owens Valley Paiute as presented by Lamb (1958) and Liljeblad & Fowler (1986).

• Geminated sounds of plosives, nasals and fricatives are also evenly distributed.

Lamb (1958) also described foursuprasegmental features^[which?] that he ascribed phonemic status.

Mono is anagglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with severalmorphemes strung together.

• Mono traditional narratives

• Bethel, Rosalie; Kroskrity, Paul V.; Loether, Christopher; Reinhardt, Gregory A. (1993).A Dictionary of Western Mono. Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, University of California.
• Lamb, Sydney M.Monachi dictionary(PDF). Ms., Survey of California and Other Indian Languages. RetrievedJuly 9, 2012.
• Norris, Evan J. (1986).A Grammar Sketch and Comparative Study of Eastern Mono (PhD dissertation). University of California, San Diego.

• Onishi, Norimitsu (17 June 2012)."With Casino Revenues, Tribes Push to Preserve Languages, and Cultures".The New York Times. p. 14.
• McCarthy, Charles (2007-10-14)."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. Retrieved2012-07-09.
• May, James (2003-07-11)."Defying the Silence, Part 2: A Race Against Time".Indian Country Today. Archived fromthe original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved2012-07-09.

• "Mono Language and the Mono Indian Tribe (Monache, Monachi)". Retrieved2012-07-09.
• Mono language overview at theSurvey of California and Other Indian Languages
• Nuumu Yadoha Language Program: Lessons 1 thru 8 CD, Quick Pronunciation Guide: Lessons 9-16 CD, April 2002, retrieved2012-07-09
• OLAC resources in and about the Mono language

• Mono people
• Agglutinative languages
• Numic languages
• Indigenous languages of California
• Indigenous languages of the North American Great Basin
• Endangered Uto-Aztecan languages
• Native American language revitalization

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Language articles with old speaker data
• ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue
• All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
• Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from September 2024