Klamath language

Klamath (/ˈklæməθ/), also Klamath–Modoc (/ˈklæməθˈmoʊdɒk/) and historically Lutuamian (/ˌluːtuˈæmiən/), is a Plateau Penutian language spoken around Klamath Lake in what is now southern Oregon and northern California. It is the traditional language of the Klamath and Modoc peoples, each of whom spoke a dialect of the language. By 1998, only one native speaker remained, and by 2003, this last fluent Klamath speaker who was living in Chiloquin, Oregon, was 92 years old. As of 2006 there were no fluent native speakers of either the Klamath or Modoc dialects; however, as of 2019, revitalization efforts are underway with the goal of creating new speakers.

Klamath is a member of the Plateau Penutian language family, which is in turn a branch of the proposed Penutian language family. Like other proposed Penutian languages, Plateau Penutian languages are rich in ablaut, much like Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic languages. Further evidence for this classification includes some consonant correspondences between Klamath and other alleged Penutian languages. For example, the Proto-Yokuts retroflexes */ʈʈʼ/ correspond to Klamath /tʃtʃʼ/, and the Proto-Yokuts dentals */t̪t̪ʰt̪ʼ/ correspond to the Klamath alveolars /ttʰtʼ/.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Plosives in Klamath, aside from /ʔ/, come in triplets of unaspirated, aspirated, and ejective sounds. Sonorant triplets are voiced, voiceless, and glottalized sounds.

Most consonants can be geminated. The fricative /s/ is an exception, and there is evidence suggesting this is a consequence of a recent sound change. Albert Samuel Gatschet recorded geminated /sː/ in the late 19th century, but this sound was consistently recorded as degeminated /s/ by M. A. R. Barker in the 1960s. Sometime after Gatschet recorded the language and before Barker did the same, */sː/ may have degeminated into /s/.

Syntax

Klamath word order is conditioned by pragmatics. There is no clearly defined verb phrase or noun phrase. Alignment is nominative–accusative, with nominal case marking also distinguishing adjectives from nouns. Many verbs obligatorily classify an absolutive case. There are directive and applicative constructions.

See also

• List of extinct languages of North America

Notes

Bibliography

• Barker, M. A. R. (1963a). Klamath Texts. University of California Publications in Linguistics. Vol. 30. University of California Press.
• ————— (1963b). . University of California Publications in Linguistics. Vol. 31. University of California Press.
• ————— (1964). Klamath Grammar. University of California Publications in Linguistics. Vol. 32. University of California Press.
• Barker, Philip (1959). The Klamath language (Thesis). University of California, Berkeley.
• Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2758-5. OCLC .
• Blevins, Juliette (July 1993). "Klamath Laryngeal Phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics. 59 (3): 237–279. JSTOR .
• ————— (July 2004). . International Journal of American Linguistics. 70 (3). The University of Chicago Press: 279–289. doi:. JSTOR .
• Chen, David W. (April 5, 1998). . New York Times. Archived from on Jan 13, 2014.
• de Angulo, Jaime (1931). The Lutuami language (Klamath-Modoc). Société des Américanistes. OCLC .
• Dupris, Joseph (2019). "maqlaqsyalank hemyeega: Goals and expectations of Klamath-Modoc revitalization". Language Documentation & Conservation. 13: 155–196. hdl:. ISSN .
• Golla, Victor (2011). . Berkeley/Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26667-4.
• Haynes, Erin F. (2004). (PDF). Coyote Papers. 13: 87–102. hdl:. ISSN . Archived from (PDF) on 2010-07-09.
• Lane, Valeree (November 28, 2017). . Herald and News.
• Mauldin, William S. (April 17, 1998). . The Yale Herald. Archived from on Dec 3, 2008.
• Pease, Robert W. (1965). "Modoc County". University of California Publications in Geography. 17. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISSN . OCLC .
• Rude, Noel (1987). . Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 12: 67–83. doi:. hdl:.
• ————— (1988). . In William Shipley (ed.). In Honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival Conference on Native American Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 651–73. OCLC .
• ————— (1991). "Verbs to promotional suffixes in Sahaptian and Klamath". In Elizabeth C. Traugott; Bernd Heine (eds.). Approaches to Grammaticalization. Typological Studies in Language. Vol. 19. New York and Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 185–199. doi:.

Online texts

• Coville, Frederick Vernon (1897). . Includes Klamath language plant names.
• Gatschet, Albert S. (1890). . ISBN 9780665527449. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Gatschet, Albert S. (1880). . ISBN 9780665329326. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Gatschet, Albert S. (1878). . ISBN 9780665328503. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

External links

• , native-languages.org
• overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• , California Language Archive