Cochimí was once the language of the greater part

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

, as attested by

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

documents of the 18th century. It seems to have become extinct around the beginning of the 20th century.Golla, Victor. 2011. ''California Indian Languages'', p. 125. University of California Press, Berkeley. (Modern "Cochimi"-speakers are actually speakers of

Kumiai The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...

.) There were two main dialects, northern and southern; the dividing line was approximately at Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán, in the north of present-day

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

. The Jesuit texts establish that the language was related to the

Yuman languages The Quechan ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended'), or Yuma, are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite ...

of the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

region. It is thought to be the most divergent language of the family, which is generally called ''Yuman–Cochimí'' to reflect this. Based on

glottochronology Glottochronology (from Attic Greek γλῶττα ''tongue, language'' and χρόνος ''time'') is the part of lexicostatistics which involves comparative linguistics and deals with the chronological relationship between languages.Sheila Embleton ...

studies, the separation between Cochimi and the Yuman languages is believed to have occurred about 1000 BC. Cochimí is also known as Laimón, Cadegomeño, Cochimtee, Cochetimi, Cochima, Didiu, Laymonem, Laymon-Cochimi, San Javier, San Xavier, San Joaquín, San Francesco Saverio Mission, San Francisco Xavier de Viggé-Biaundo Mission, Peninsula Yuman, Cadegomeno and Laymon.

Phonology

The phonology of the Cochimí language is likely as follows:

Consonants

Voiced consonants likely could have been either separate phonemes or allophones of voiceless sounds.

Vowels

Mid vowels may be alternated with close vowel sounds.

Sample text

Following is the

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in the dialect of San Ignacio Kadakaamán, recorded by

Francisco Javier Clavijero Francisco Javier Clavijero Echegaray, SJ (sometimes Italianized as Francesco Saverio Clavigero; September 9, 1731 – April 2, 1787) was a Mexican Jesuit teacher, scholar and historian. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish provinces ...

from the work of the missionaries Barco and Ventura, which has been lost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochimi language Yuman–Cochimí languages Indigenous languages of Mexico Languages attested from the 18th century Languages extinct in the 20th century 20th-century disestablishments in California