The Tataviam language is an extinct
Uto-Aztecan language formerly spoken by the
Tataviam people of the upper
Santa Clara River basin,
Santa Susana Mountains, and
Sierra Pelona Mountains in southern
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. 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 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 language family, specifically the putative
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 and
Serrano (Munro and Johnson, 2001).
Chumashan
An earlier alternative suggestion by some scholars is that Tataviam was a
Chumashan language, from the
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 (Tataviam).
See also
*
Indigenous languages of California
*
Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
*
John Peabody Harrington
*
Native American history of California
Native may refer to:
People
* '' Jus sanguinis
( or , ), meaning 'right of blood', is a principle of nationality law by which nationality is determined or acquired by the nationality of one or both parents. Children at birth may be nation ...
*
Native Americans in California
*
Traditional narratives (Native California)
External links
Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, tribal government websiteTataviam language
overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
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, general editor, vol. 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Takic languages
Extinct languages of North America
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