Southern Sierra Miwok language
| Southern Sierra Miwok | |
|---|---|
| Yosemite | |
| Region | California, western slopes of Sierra Nevada |
| Ethnicity | Valley and Sierra Miwok |
|
Native speakers
|
7 (1994) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | sout2985 |
Pre-contact Utian language distribution
|
|
Southern Sierra Miwok is an Utian language spoken by the Native American people called the Southern Sierra Miwok of Northern California. Southern Sierra Miwok is a member of the Miwok language family along with Lake Miwok, Coast Miwok (extinct), Saclan (extinct), Plains Miwok (extinct), Northern Sierra Miwok and Central Sierra Miwok. The Miwok languages are a part of the larger Penutian language stock. The original territory of the Southern Sierra Miwok people is similar to modern day Mariposa County, California. The Southern Sierra Miwok language is nearly extinct with only a few speakers existing today. However, as of 2012, an active revitalization program is underway.
The name Miwok comes from the Sierra Miwok word miwwik meaning "people" or "Indians". It was originally used in 1877 for the Plains and Sierra Miwok people, but was later reassigned to its current usage in 1908 to describe the set of Utian languages distinct from the western Coastanoan (Ohlone) languages.
Below are the 15 consonants of the Southern Sierra Miwok written in IPA (the common orthography is noted within ⟨ ⟩ ):
There is considerable variation within the phonemes listed in the chart above. For example, the following allophones are in free variation with each other intervocalically and proceeding voiced consonants: /p/ ([p] ~ [b] ~ [β]), /t/ ([t̪] ~ [d̪] ~ [ɾ]), /tʃ/ ([tʃ] ~ [dʒ]), /k/ ([k] ~ [ɡ] ~ [ɣ]). Also, [s] is in free variation with [z] only in intervocalic environments. /k/ is slightly postvelar when it occurs before /a/ or /o/, and in these situations it is often written ⟨ḳ⟩. When positioned intervocalically or after voiced consonants there is free variation between the velar and slightly postvelar variants of the following sounds: ([k̺] ~ [ɣ] ~ [g]). Lastly, the following phonemes only occur in English loan words: /b, d, ɡ, f, dʒ, r/.
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