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Plateau Penutian
Shahapwailutan, Lepitan
Geographic distribution	Pacific Northwest
Linguistic classification	Penutian? Plateau Penutian
Subdivisions	Klamath–Modoc† Molala† Sahaptian
Language codes
Glottolog	None
Pre-contact distribution of Plateau Penutian languages

Plateau Penutian (alsoShahapwailutan,Lepitan,Plateau) is a family of languages spoken in northernCalifornia, reaching through central-westernOregon to northernWashington and central-northernIdaho. The family is accepted by Campbell (2024).^[1]

Plateau Penutian is hypothesized to consist of four languages:

Plateau Penutian, as originally proposed, was one branch of the hypotheticalPenutian phylum as proposed byEdward Sapir. The original proposal also includedCayuse (which was grouped with Molala into aWaiilatpuan branch); however, this language has little documentation and that which is documented is inadequately recorded. Thus, the status of Cayuse within Penutian (or any other genealogical relation for that matter) may very well forever remainunclassified.

The Sahaptian grouping of Sahaptin and Nez Percé has long been uncontroversial. There is evidence in support of a connection between Klamath (a.k.a. Klamath-Modoc) and Sahaptian. Howard Berman^[2] also provides evidence that would include Molala within Plateau Penutian.

Appraisals of the Penutian hypothesis in the 1990s find Plateau Penutian to be "well supported" (DeLancey & Golla (1997: 181); Campbell 1997), with DeLancey & Golla (1997: 180) cautiously stating "while all subgroupings at this stage of Penutian research must be considered provisional, several linkages show considerable promise" (Campbell 1997 likewise mentions similar caveats). Other researchers have pointed out similarities between Plateau Penutian and theMaiduan family, although this proposal is still not completely demonstrated. A connection withUto-Aztecan has also been suggested (Rude 2000). TheGlottolog classification, favored by manylinguistic typologists but considered too conservative by some, disregards Plateau Penutian entirely.

A study published in 2013 using an automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) of 40 basic vocabulary items resulted in languages from Plateau Penutian showing similarities that could be interpreted as genealogical cohesion.^[3] However, when describing the method, the authors of the study also concede that similarities may be due toborrowings andareal diffusion.^[4] Moreover, the use of automated methods for establishing genealogical connections is controversial, with manyhistorical linguistics still favouring analyses using thecomparative method, which places high importance onmorphological similarities, especially when found in irregularities (e.g.Englishgood-better-best,Germangut-besser-best,Icelandicgóður-betri-bestur).

Below is a comparison of selected basic vocabulary items inProto-Sahaptian,Klamath, andMolala†.

Abbreviations

• S =Sahaptian
• N =Nez Percé

gloss	Proto-Sahaptian[5]	Klamath[6]	Molala[7]
head	S łamtɨ́x̣	nʼo	laʔwi
hair		lag̣	tałimt
eye		lolb	tuːns
ear		momʼoˑwč	taːps
nose	*núšnu	psi	piłs
tooth		dot	taʔnf
tongue		baˑwč	aʔpaːws
mouth	S ɨ́m	som	similq
hand		nʼep	teːs
foot		peč	taylaks
meat	S nɨkʷɨ́t	čʼoleˑk	neːwit
blood	N kikeʔt	ǰeg̣le	ałp
bone	*pípš	qaqʼo	pupt
person	*tenén	maqlag̣
name	N weʔnikt	seˑss	hastu(ː)qs
dog	N cq̓ám-qal	wač̓aˑkʼ	saka(ʔ)
fish		kyem
louse	N hasas 'nit, louse egg'	kʼoY
tree	N tewlikt	g̣oˑ
leaf		tʼapq
flower		leˑw
water	*kéweš; N kúus	ʔambo	uq-n-s
fire		lolog̣	teːc
stone		qday	tqaʔnt
earth		g̣eˑla	laŋs
road	*ʔɨškɨ́t	sdo
eat	N ké-		p’aʔst 's/he is eating'
die	*ƛaʔyáwi/*ƛʔayáwi	g̣leg (sg.); čʼoˑqʼ (pl.)
I		ni	ina
you		ʔi	kiː

• Campbell, Lyle. (1997).American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
• Campbell, Lyle; & Mithun, Marianne (Eds.). (1979).The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• DeLancey, Scott; & Golla, Victor. (1997). The Penutian hypothesis: Retrospect and prospect.International Journal of American Linguistics,63, 171–202.
• Goddard, Ives (Ed.). (1996).Languages. Handbook of North American Indians (W. C. Sturtevant, General Ed.) (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution.ISBN 0-16-048774-9.
• Goddard, Ives. (1999).Native languages and language families of North America (rev. and enlarged ed. with additions and corrections). [Map]. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press (Smithsonian Institution). (Updated version of the map in Goddard 1996).ISBN 0-8032-9271-6.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999).The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk);ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Rude, Noel. (1987)."Some Sahaptian-Klamath grammatical correspondences."Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, 12:67-83.
• Rude, Noel. (2000). Some Uto-Aztecan-Plateau Grammatical Comparisons. InUto-Aztecan: Structural, Temporal, and Geographic Perspectives: Papers in Memory of Wick R. Miller by the Friends of Uto-Aztecan, edited by Eugene H. Casad and Thomas L. Willet, pp. 309–318. Hermosillo, Sonora, México: Editorial UniSon.
• Sapir, Edward. (1929). Central and North American languages. InThe encyclopædia britannica: A new survey of universal knowledge (14 ed.) (Vol. 5, pp. 138–141). London: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, Ltd.

• Plateau Penutian languages
• Penutian languages
• Indigenous languages of California
• Indigenous languages of the North American Plateau
• Indigenous languages of North America
• Proposed language families

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