The Tataviam language was spoken by the
Tataviam people of the upper
Santa Clara River basin,
Santa Susana Mountains, and
Sierra Pelona Mountains in southern
California. It had become extinct by 1916 and is known only from a few early records, notably a few words recorded by
Alfred L. Kroeber and
John P. Harrington
John Peabody Harrington (April 29, 1884 – October 21, 1961) was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the indigenous peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of which h ...
in the early decades of the 20th century. These word lists were not from native speakers, but from the children of the last speakers who remembered a few words and phrases.
Language family
Uto-Aztecan
Scholars have recognized Tataviam as belonging to the
Uto-Aztecan
Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...
language family, specifically the
Takic
The Takic languages are a putative group of Uto-Aztecan languages historically spoken by a number of Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous peoples of Southern California. Takic is grouped with the Tübatulabal language, Tubatulabal, Hopi la ...
branch. Based on the most thorough and most recent analysis, it is part of the Serran group along with
Kitanemuk
The Kitanemuk are an indigenous people of California. They traditionally lived in the Tehachapi Mountains and the Antelope Valley area of the western Mojave Desert of southern California, United States. Today some Kitanemuk people are enrolled in ...
and
Serrano (Munro and Johnson, 2001).
Chumashan
An earlier alternative suggestion by some scholars is that Tataviam was a
Chumashan language, from a
Ventureño language and others, of the
Chumash-Ventureño and other Chumash groups, that had been influenced by the neighboring Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples (Beeler and Klar 1977). However, the Beeler and Klar proposal is based on a word-list collected by C. Hart Merriam while the Takic proposals are based on different word lists collected by Alfred Kroeber and John P. Harrington. The current opinion is that the Merriam word lists represent a dialect of Ventureño (called Alliklik or Castac Chumash) and the Kroeber and Harrington word list represents a divergent Takic language (called Tataviam).
See also
*
Indigenous languages of California
*
Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
The Survey of California and Other Indian Languages (originally the Survey of California Indian Languages) at the University of California at Berkeley documents, catalogs, and archives the indigenous languages of the Americas. The survey also hosts ...
*
John Peabody Harrington
John Peabody Harrington (April 29, 1884 – October 21, 1961) was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the indigenous peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of which h ...
*
Native American history of California
*
Native Americans in California
*
Traditional narratives (Native California)
The traditional narratives of Native California are the folklore and mythology of the native people of California.
For many historic nations of California, there is only a fragmentary record of their traditions.
Spanish missions in California f ...
External links
Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, tribal government websiteTataviam language
overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
The Survey of California and Other Indian Languages (originally the Survey of California Indian Languages) at the University of California at Berkeley documents, catalogs, and archives the indigenous languages of the Americas. The survey also hosts ...
References
* Beeler, Madison, and Kathryn A. Klar. 1977. "Interior Chumash". ''Journal of California Anthropology'' 4:287-305.
* Bright, William. 1975. "The Alliklik Mystery". ''Journal of California Anthropology'', 2:228-230.
* Goddard, Ives. 1996. "Introduction". In ''Languages'', edited by Ives Goddard, pp. 1–16. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 17. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
* Hinton, Leanne. 1994. ''Flutes of Fire: Essays on California Indian Languages''. Heyday Books, Berkeley, California.
* Hudson, Travis. 1982. "The Alliklik-Tataviam Problem". ''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology'' 4:222-232.
* Johnson, John R., and David D. Earle. 1990. "Tataviam Geography and Ethnohistory". ''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology'' 12:191-214.
* Pamela Munro with John Johnson. 2001. "What Do We Know about Tataviam? Comparisons with Kitanemuk, Gabrielino, Kawaiisu, and Tübatulabal," paper presented to the Friends of Uto-Aztecan Conference, Santa Barbara, California, July 9, 2001.
* King, Chester, and Thomas C. Blackburn. 1978. "Tataviam". In ''California'', edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 535–537. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant William Curtis Sturtevant (1926 Morristown, New Jersey – March 2, 2007) was an anthropologist and ethnologist. He is best known as the general editor of the 20-volume ''Handbook of North American Indians''. Renowned anthropologist Claude Lévi-S ...
, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tataviam Language
Takic languages
Extinct languages of North America