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| Yurok | |
|---|---|
| Pueleekla’ | |
 Instructor teaching Yurok with the Yurok Language Program | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | NorthwesternCalifornia |
| Ethnicity | Yurok |
| Extinct | 2013, with the death ofArchie Thompson[1] |
| Revival | 1990s - 350 speakers with some knowledge, 35 fluentL2 speakers as of 2020[1] |
Algic
| |
| Latin,Unifon (historically) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | yur |
| Glottolog | yuro1248 |
| ELP | Yurok |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
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Yurok (alsoChillula,Mita,Pekwan,Rikwa,Sugon,Weitspek,Weitspekan) is anAlgic language.[2] It is the traditional language of theYurok people ofDel Norte County andHumboldt County on the far north coast ofCalifornia, most of whom now speakEnglish. The last known native speaker,Archie Thompson, died in 2013.[1] As of 2022,[3] Yurok language classes were taught to high school students, and otherrevitalization efforts were expected to increase the population of speakers.[4]
The standard reference on the Yurok language grammar is byR. H. Robins (1958).[5]
Concerning the etymology ofYurok (a.k.a.Weitspekan), this below is from Campbell (1997):
Yurok is fromKarukyúruk meaning literally 'downriver'. The Yurok traditional name for themselves isPuliklah (Hinton 1994:157), frompulik 'downstream' +-la 'people of', thus equivalent in meaning to the Karuk name by which they came to be known in English (Victor Golla, personal communication).(Campbell 1997:401, notes #131 & 132)
Decline of the language began during theCalifornia Gold Rush, due to the influx of new settlers andthe diseases they brought with them andNative American boarding schools initiated by the United States government with the intent ofincorporating the native populations of America into mainstream American society increased the rate of decline of the language.[6]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2025) |
The program to revive Yurok has been lauded as the most successful language revitalization program inCalifornia.[7] As of 2014, there are six schools in Northern California that teach Yurok - four high schools and two elementary schools. Rick Jordan, principal of Eureka High School, one of the schools with a Yurok Language Program, remarks on the impact that schools can have on the vitality of a language, "A hundred years ago, it was our organizations that were beating the language out of folks, and now we're trying to re-instill it – a little piece of something that is much larger than us".[8]
The last known native, active speaker of Yurok,Archie Thompson, died March 26, 2013. "He was also the last of about 20 elders who helped revitalize the language over the last few decades, after academics in the 1990s predicted it would be extinct by 2010. He made recordings of the language that were archived by UC Berkeley linguists and the tribe, spent hours helping to teach Yurok in community and school classrooms, and welcomed apprentice speakers to probe his knowledge."[1]
Linguists atUC Berkeley began the Yurok Language Project in 2001. Professor Andrew Garrett and Dr.Juliette Blevins collaborated with tribal elders on a Yurok dictionary that has been hailed as a national model.[7] The Yurok Language Project has gone much more in depth than just a printed lexicon, however. The dictionary is available online and fully searchable. It is also possible to search an audio dictionary – a repository of audio clips of words and short phrases. For a more in-depth study, there is a database of compiled texts where words and phrases can be viewed as part of a larger context.[9]
As of February 2013, there were over 300 basic Yurok speakers, 60 with intermediate skills, 37 who are advanced, and 17 who are considered conversationally fluent.[7] As of 2014, nine people were certified to teach Yurok in schools. Since Yurok, like many other Native American languages, uses a master-apprentice system to train up speakers in the language, having even nine certified teachers would not be possible without a piece of legislation passed in 2009 in the state of California that allows indigenous tribes the power to appoint their own language teachers.[8]
Vowels are as follows:[10][11]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e | ɚɚː | ɔ ɔː |
| Low | a aː |
Consonants are as follows:[12]
Notable is the lack of plain/s/.
Yurok has an anticipatory vowel harmony system where underlying non-high vowels/a/,/e/, and/ɔ/ are realized as[ɚ] if they precede an/ɚ/.[13]
Yurok has front-, central-, and back-closing diphthongs. The second element of the diphthongs is considered a consonant or semivowel. This is because Yurok diphthongs are falling diphthongs and behave similarly to nasal and approximates following a vowel and preceding a pause or voiceless non-glottalized consonant.[5]
All Yurok syllables begin with a consonant and contain at least one vowel. Here are some examples of the different kinds of syllable structure:[5]
| CV | ki | will, can |
| CV: | hoː | to go |
| CVC | kuʂ | when? how? |
| CV:C | kiːɬ | redwood tree |
| CVCC | mekʷt͜ʃ | snail |
| CVCCC | taʔanojʔɬ | it is hot (weather) |
| CV:CC | hoːkʷʼt͜ʃʼ | he gambles |
| CV:CCC | noːjt͜ʃʼkʷ | he eats as a guest |
| CCV | t͜ʃpi | only |
| CCV: | ploːlikin | wide |
| CCVC | ɬkeɬ | earth |
| CCV:C | t͜ʃpaːk | late |
| CCVCC | plaʔʂ | stick for measuring net meshes |
| CCV:CC | ɬkoːʔm | they take |
| CCVC | ɬkjoɻkʷekʼ | I look |
| CCVCCC | t͜ʃkʷaʔɻkʼ | near |
| CV:VC | ʂoːol | yew |
| CCV:V | knuːu | hawk |
V:V can only be/oːo/ or/uːu/ and is signaled by a change in pitch between the vowels.
As of 2020, Yurok is written in the New Yurok Alphabet, using Latin characters. Previously, Yurok was written in the YurokUnifon; some books cited in the Yurok Language Project contain Yurok written in the Unifon script, though due to practicality in writing, typing, and reading, the Latin characters are now preferred. Currently, there is a spelling reform occurring to streamline the spelling of words; thus, some letters may differ between spellings. Currently, this is the alphabet as taught at various schools.[citation needed][further explanation needed]
Some books have been written partially in Yurok. One such example is the graphic novelSoldiers Unknown,[14] written byChag Lowry.[15] The Yurok text inSoldiers Unknown was translated by Yurok language teacher James Gensaw, and the graphic novel was illustrated by Rahsan Ekedal.
Yurok morphological processes include prefixation, infixation, inflection, vowel harmony, ablaut, consonantal alternation,[clarification needed] and reduplication.[5]
Prefixation and infixation occur in nominals and verbals, and occasionally in other classes, although infixation occurs most frequently in verbals.
Vowel harmony occurs for prefixes, infixes, and inflections, depending on the vocalic and consonantal structure of the word stem. Internal vocalic alternation involves three alternating pairs:/e/~/i/,/e/~/iʔi/,/e/~/u/.
Reduplication occurs mostly on verb stems but occasionally for nouns and can connote repetition, plurality, etc. Reduplication occurs on the first syllable, and sometimes a part of the second syllable:
| Stem | Reduplicated form | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbs | |||
| kelomen | to turn (trans.) | kekelomen | to turn several things |
| ketʼul | there is a lake | ketʼketʼul | there is a series of lakes |
| kneweʔlon | to be long | kokoneweʔlon | to be long (of things) |
| ɬkɻʔmɻkɬkin | to tie a knot. | ɬkɻʔmɬkɻʔmɻkɻɬkin | to tie up in knots |
| ʂjaːɬk | to kick | ʂjaʔʂjaːɬk | to kick repeatedly |
| tekʷʂ | to cut | tekʷtekʷʂ | to cut up |
| tikʷohʂ | to break (trans.) | tikʷtikʷohʂ | to break in pieces |
| Nouns | |||
| mɻkʷɻɬ | peak | mɻkʷɻmɻkʷɻɬ | series of peaks |
| ʂlekʷoh | shirt | ʂlekʷʂlekʷ | clothes |
Numerals and adjectives can be classified according to the noun grammatically associated with them.[16]
| Numerals | Common root frame: /n - hks-/ |
|---|---|
| Human beings | /nahkseyl/ |
| Animals and birds | /nrhksrʔrʔy/ |
| Round things | /nrhksrʔrʔy/ |
| Tools | /nahksoh/ |
| Plants other than trees | /nahksek'woʔn/ |
| Trees and sticks | /nahkseʔr/ |
| Body parts and clothes | /nahkseʔn/ |
| Long things | /nahksek'/ |
| Flat things | /nahksok's/ |
| Houses | /nahkseʔli/ |
| Boats | /nahksey/ |
| Days | /nahksemoyt/ |
| Arm's lengths (depth measurements) | /nahksemrys/ |
| Finger joint lengths (length measurement of dentalium shells) | /nahksepir/ |
| Times | /nahksemi/ |
| Adjectives | (to be) red | (to be) big |
|---|---|---|
| Human beings | /prkaryrʔry(-)/ | /peloy-/ |
| Animals and birds | /prkryrʔry(-)/ | /plrʔry-/ |
| Round things | /prkryrh/ | /ploh/,/plohkeloy-/ |
| Tools | /pekoyoh/ | /peloy-/ |
| Plants other than trees | /pekoyoh/ | /ploh/,/plohkeloy-/ |
| Trees and sticks | /pekoyeʔr/ | /peloy-/,/plep-/ |
| Body parts and clothes | /pekoyoh/ | /plep-/,/plohkeloy-/ |
| Long things | /pekoyoh/ | /plep-/ |
| Flat things | /pekoyoks-/ | /ploks-/ |
| Houses | /pekoyoh/ | /pleʔloy-/ |
| Boats | /pekoyoh/ | /pleyteloy-/ |
| Water | /pekoyop-/ | --- |
As in many indigenous languages of the Americas, Yurok verbs do not codetense through inflection. The time when an action takes place is inferred through both linguistic and nonlinguistic context.
On the other hand,aspect is prevalent in Yurok verbs, being indicated by preverbal particles. These occur either directly or indirectly before a verb. These can combine with verbs and other particles to indicate time and many other aspects.
Some preverbal particles include:ho (completed action in the past);kic (past but with ongoing effects);wo (past after a negative, or in "unreal conditions");?ap (past with the implication of starting some action).[17]
The most common form of sentence structure consists of a Nominal + Verbal. Indeed, most other, seemingly more complex sentence structures can be viewed as expanding on this fundamental type.[18]
pu:k
deer
roʔop'
run
pu:k roʔop'
deer run
"The deer is running."
Sentences can also be equational, consisting of two nominals or nominal groups:
Sentences can also be composed of one or more verbals without nominals as explicit arguments.
The same is true for nominals and nominal groups, which can stand alone as complete sentences, following a similar pattern to the equational sentences already mentioned.
Complex sentences are formed along similar principles to these, but with expanded verbals or nominals, or verbals and/or nominals connected by coordinators.
Word order is sometimes used to distinguish between the categories of subject and object.
ku
the
pegək
man
noʔp'eʔn
to chase
mewiɬ
elk
ku pegək noʔp'eʔn mewiɬ
the man {to chase} elk
"The man chased the elk."
However, if the morphological inflections are sufficiently unambiguous, it is not necessary to maintain a strict word order.
new
to see
ku
wencokws
woman
nekac new -ohpeʔn ku wencokws
1SG.OBJ {to see} -3SG.INFL ART woman
"The woman saw me."
In the sentences composed of a subject and a verb, the two are often interchangeable.
helom
to dance
ku
pegək
man
helom -eʔy ku pegək
{to dance} -3SG.INFL ART man
"The man dances."
ku
pegək
man
helom
to dance
ku pegək helom -eʔy
ART man {to dance} -3SG.INFL
"The man dances."
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