Klamath-Modoc language

language
name=Klamath–Modoc
familycolor=American
states=United States
region=Southern Oregon and northern California
speakers=1
fam1=Penutian
fam2=Plateau Penutian
iso3=kla

Klamath–Modoc (also simply Klamath, historically Lutuamian) is a Native American language that was 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. As of 1998, it was spoken by only one person [Chen, 1998; Maudlin, 1998.] .

Klamath–Modoc is thought to be a member of the Plateau Penutian branch of the Penutian language family, a family in which ablaut is common, just like in Indo-European. Evidence for this classification includes some consonant correspondences between Klamath–Modoc and other alleged Penutian languages. For example, the Proto-Yokuts retroflexes IPA|*/ʈ ʈ’/ correspond to Klamath–Modoc IPA|/tʃ tʃ’/, and the Proto-Yokuts dentals IPA|*/t̪ t̪ʰ t̪’/ correspond to the Klamath–Modoc alveolars IPA|/t tʰ t’/.

Phonology

Consonants

Obstruents in Klamath–Modoc except for /IPA|s/ all come in triplets of unaspirated, aspirated, and ejective sounds [Blevins, 2004, p. 279.] . Sonorant triplets are voiced, voiceless, and "laryngealized" sounds, except for /IPA|h/ and /IPA|ʔ/ [Blevins, 2004, pp. 279–80.] .

Most consonants can be geminated. The fricative /IPA|s/ is an exception, and there is evidence suggesting this is a consequence of a recent sound change [Blevins, 2004] . Albert Samuel Gatschet recorded geminated /IPA|sː/ in the late 1800s, but this sound was consistently recorded as degeminated /IPA|s/ by M. A. R. Barker in the 1960s. Sometime after Gatschet recorded the language and before Barker did the same, */IPA|sː/ may have degeminated into /IPA|s/.

ee also

*List of extinct languages of North America

Notes

References

* Blevins, J. (2004, July). [http://dx.doi.org/10.1086%2F425602 Klamath sibilant degemination: Implications of a recent sound change.] "IJAL", "70", 279–289.
* Chen, D. W. (1998, April 5). Blackboard: Lost languages; Kuskokwim not spoken here. "New York Times".
* Maudlin, W. S. (1998, April 17). Yale linguists part of effort to save dying languages. "The Yale Herald". Retrieved May 6, 2008, from http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxv/4.17.98/news/language.html

External links

*
* [http://www.klamathtribes.org/language.htm The Klamath Tribes Language Project]
* [http://logos.uoregon.edu/explore/oregon/klamath.html Languages of Oregon: Klamath]