The Tamyen language (also spelled as ''Tamien'', ''Thamien'') is one of eight
Ohlone languages
The Ohlone languages, also known as Costanoan, are a small family of indigenous languages spoken by the Ohlone people. The pre-contact distribution of these languages ranged from the southern San Francisco Bay Area to northern Monterey County. ...
, once spoken by
Tamyen people
The Tamien people (also spelled as ''Tamyen'', ''Thamien'') are one of eight linguistic divisions of the Ohlone (Costanoan) people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. The Tamien traditionally lived throughout the Santa ...
in
Northern California.
''Tamyen'' (also called ''Santa Clara Costanoan'') has been extended to mean the
Santa Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east ...
Indians, as well as for the language they spoke. Tamyen is listed as one of the Costanoan language dialects in the
Utian family. It was the primary language that Natives spoke at the first and second
Mission Santa Clara
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
(both founded in 1777). Linguistically, it is thought that
Chochenyo, Tamyen and
Ramaytush
The Ramaytush or Rammay-tuš people are a linguistic subdivision of the Ohlone people of Northern California. The term Ramaytush was first applied to them in the 1970s, but the modern Ohlone people of the peninsula have claimed it as their ethn ...
were close dialects of a single language.
See also
*
Ohlone tribes and villages in Santa Clara Valley
*
Tamien Station
Tamien station is an intermodal passenger transportation station in the Tamien neighborhood of central San Jose, California, served by the VTA light rail and the Caltrain commuter rail line, along with bus connections. The station has two elevat ...
Notes
Further reading
* Levy, Richard. 1978. ''Costanoan'', in ''Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 8 (California)''. William C. Sturtevant, and Robert F. Heizer, eds. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978. / 0160045754, pages 485-495.
* Milliken, Randall. ''A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1910'' Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press Publication, 1995. (alk. paper)
* Teixeira, Lauren. ''The Costanoan/Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area, A Research Guide''. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press Publication, 1997. .
External links
Tamyen Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Comparative vocabulary, TamyenTamyen, California Language ArchiveTamyen, Papers of John P. Harrington, Part 2, Northern and Central CaliforniaTamien Nation, language, and culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamyen Language
Ohlone languages
Extinct languages of North America
History of the San Francisco Bay Area
Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area
hr:Tamyen