Cocopah language
| Cocopah | |
|---|---|
| Kwikapa | |
| Native to | Mexico, United States |
| Region | Baja California, Arizona, Sonora |
| Ethnicity | Cocopah |
|
Native speakers
|
300 (2007–2010) |
|
Yuman
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | coco1261 |
Cocopah is a Delta language of the Yuman language family spoken by the Cocopah. In an effort to keep the language alive, which was spoken by fewer than 400 people at the turn of the 21st-century, the Cocopah Museum began offering Cocopah language classes to children in 1998.
The language had no alphabet until the 1970s when a scholar developed one for a university dissertation. It proved to be less than ideal, and a new alphabet was developed by the tribe in the early 2000s. As the revival of the language has progressed, it has been necessary to find words for modern objects that didn't exist in the ancient language. These issues are referred to the elders of the tribe for a decision. Cocopah in Mexico use a different orthography designed by the INALI.
Cocopah has 21 consonants:
Cocopah has 4 vowels.
Cocopah has both short and long vowels.
The Cocopah syllable:
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Wikipedia