The Yana language (also Yanan) is an extinct language that was formerly spoken by the Yana people, who lived in north-central California between the Feather and Pit rivers in what is now the Shasta and Tehama counties. The last speaker of the southernmost dialect, which is called Yahi, was Ishi, who died in 1916. When the last fluent speaker(s) of the other dialects died is not recorded. Yana is fairly well documented, mostly by Edward Sapir.
The names Yana and Yahi are derived from ya "people" plus an obligatory suffix, -na in the northern two dialects and -hi or -xi in the southern two dialects.[2]
Northern Yana, Central Yana, and Yahi were well recorded by Edward Sapir through work with Betty Brown, Sam Batwi, and Ishi respectively. Only a small collection of words and phrases of Southern Yana (more properly, Northern Yahi)[3] were recorded by Sapir in his work with Sam Batwi, who spoke the dialect only in his childhood. Because Southern Yana is poorly attested, it is unclear how many additional subdialects there may have been.[citation needed]
Northern and Central Yana are close, differing mainly in phonology (mostly by innovations in Northern Yana), and Southern Yana and Yahi are similarly close. The two pairs differ from each other in phonological, lexical, and grammatical elements, and can only be understood by the other side with difficulty.
The use of bipartite verb stem formation in Yana is not a Hokan characteristic, but is used in other non-Hokan languages in the area, suggesting that Yana has stayed geographically stable.[citation needed]
Characteristicsedit
Yana employs 22 consonants and 5 vowels. It is polysynthetic and agglutinative, with a subject-verb-object word order. Verbs contain much meaning through affixation. Like some other California languages, direction is very important: All verbs of motion must contain a different directional affix.
Unlike other languages of the region, Yana has different word forms used by male and female speakers.[6]
The body of linguistic work on Yana is fortunate to include a number of texts and stories. Linguist Jean Perry writes that
"Stylistically, the emphasis on direction and location, plus the frequent use of repetition, are traditional and integral to the style and structure of the text and are a necessary part of it ... . There are also many references to things and people that may seem vague. The level of presumed knowledge in a Yahi story is much higher than in English narration, because these people lived in a small, face-to-face society, and stories were told over and over. A native audience would be familiar with the characters and plot, and therefore much of the emphasis is on detail and technique rather than plot."(p 277)[full citation needed]
Yana has five vowels, /i, ɛ, a, ɔ, u/; Sapir's (1910) comparanda with vowels of English, French and German clearly indicate that the mid vowels are lower mid. Each vowel occurs with phonemic vowel length.
Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-509427-1.
Goddard, Ives (Ed.). (1996). Languages. Handbook of North American Indians (W. C. Sturtevant, General Ed.) (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN0-16-048774-9.
Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN0-521-29875-X.
Sapir, Edward. (1922). The Fundamental Elements of Northern Yana. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 13. 215-234. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Sapir, Edward. 1910. Yana Texts. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 1, no. 9. Berkeley: University Press. (Online version at the Internet Archive).
Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978–present). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 1–20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1–3, 16, 18–20 not yet published).
Referencesedit
^Parkvall, Mikael (2006). Limits of Language. London: Battlebridge. p. 51.
^Sapir, Edward; Morris Swadesh (1960). Yana Dictionary. UCPL 22. Berkeley: University of California Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^Nevin, Bruce E. 1976. Transformational analysis of some 'grammatical morphemes' in Yana. In Margaret Langdon and Shirley Silver (eds.) Hokan studies: Papers from the first conference on Hokan languages held in San Diego, California, April 23–25, 1970, the Hague, Mouton, pp. 237–250.
Sapir's names (N. Yana, C. Yana, S. Yana and southernmost Yana or Yahi) reflects [sic] the general ignorance of Yahi at the time of his first work on Yanan in 1907. He later (e.g. 1917, 2n) shifted his S. Yana to denote S. Yahi, presumably because N.Yahi is so slightly documented (but cf. also Waterman as quoted in T. Kroeber, 1967, 207) . The present terminology reflects the conclusion reached in Sapir and Spier (1943) 244 concerning the probable interrelations in Yanan.
(pg. 207)
^Marianne Mithun, The Languages of Native North America (1999, Cambridge)
^Lyle Campbell, American Indian Languages, The Historical Linguistics of Native America (1997, Oxford)
^"American Indian languages: Yana Indian Language (Yahi)". Native Languages of the Americas. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
"Yana – California Language Archive". Retrieved 2012-07-30.
"OLAC resources in and about the Yana language". Retrieved 2012-07-30.
Yana basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
April 12, 2024
yana, language, also, yanan, extinct, language, that, formerly, spoken, yana, people, lived, north, central, california, between, feather, rivers, what, shasta, tehama, counties, last, speaker, southernmost, dialect, which, called, yahi, ishi, died, 1916, when. The Yana language also Yanan is an extinct language that was formerly spoken by the Yana people who lived in north central California between the Feather and Pit rivers in what is now the Shasta and Tehama counties The last speaker of the southernmost dialect which is called Yahi was Ishi who died in 1916 When the last fluent speaker s of the other dialects died is not recorded Yana is fairly well documented mostly by Edward Sapir YanaNative toUnited StatesRegionCaliforniaEthnicityYanaExtinct1916 with the death of Ishi 1 Language familyLanguage isolate or Hokan YanaDialectsYahiLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code ynn class extiw title iso639 3 ynn ynn a Linguist ListGlottologyana1271Pre contact distribution of the Yana languageThe names Yana and Yahi are derived from ya people plus an obligatory suffix na in the northern two dialects and hi or xi in the southern two dialects 2 Contents 1 Regional variation 2 Classification 3 Characteristics 4 Phonology 4 1 Consonants 4 2 Vowels 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External linksRegional variation editThere are four known dialects Northern Yana Central Yana Southern Yana YahiNorthern Yana Central Yana and Yahi were well recorded by Edward Sapir through work with Betty Brown Sam Batwi and Ishi respectively Only a small collection of words and phrases of Southern Yana more properly Northern Yahi 3 were recorded by Sapir in his work with Sam Batwi who spoke the dialect only in his childhood Because Southern Yana is poorly attested it is unclear how many additional subdialects there may have been citation needed Northern and Central Yana are close differing mainly in phonology mostly by innovations in Northern Yana and Southern Yana and Yahi are similarly close The two pairs differ from each other in phonological lexical and grammatical elements and can only be understood by the other side with difficulty Classification editYana is often classified in the Hokan superstock Sapir suggested a grouping of Yana within a Northern Hokan sub family with Karuk Chimariko Shastan Palaihnihan and Pomoan Contemporary linguists generally consider Yana to be a language isolate 4 5 The use of bipartite verb stem formation in Yana is not a Hokan characteristic but is used in other non Hokan languages in the area suggesting that Yana has stayed geographically stable citation needed Characteristics editYana employs 22 consonants and 5 vowels It is polysynthetic and agglutinative with a subject verb object word order Verbs contain much meaning through affixation Like some other California languages direction is very important All verbs of motion must contain a different directional affix Unlike other languages of the region Yana has different word forms used by male and female speakers 6 The body of linguistic work on Yana is fortunate to include a number of texts and stories Linguist Jean Perry writes that Stylistically the emphasis on direction and location plus the frequent use of repetition are traditional and integral to the style and structure of the text and are a necessary part of it There are also many references to things and people that may seem vague The level of presumed knowledge in a Yahi story is much higher than in English narration because these people lived in a small face to face society and stories were told over and over A native audience would be familiar with the characters and plot and therefore much of the emphasis is on detail and technique rather than plot p 277 full citation needed Phonology editConsonants edit Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottalcentral sibilent lateralPlosive voiceless p t t s k ʔaspirated pʰ tʰ t sʰ kʰejective pʼ tʼ t sʼ kʼFricative s x hRhotic rSonorant plain m n l j wglottalized ˀm ˀn ˀl ˀj ˀwVowels edit Yana has five vowels i ɛ a ɔ u Sapir s 1910 comparanda with vowels of English French and German clearly indicate that the mid vowels are lower mid Each vowel occurs with phonemic vowel length Front BackClose i uMid ɛ ɔOpen aBibliography editCampbell Lyle 1997 American Indian languages The historical linguistics of Native America New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 509427 1 Goddard Ives Ed 1996 Languages Handbook of North American Indians W C Sturtevant General Ed Vol 17 Washington D C Smithsonian Institution ISBN 0 16 048774 9 Mithun Marianne 1999 The languages of Native North America Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 23228 7 hbk ISBN 0 521 29875 X Sapir Edward 1922 The Fundamental Elements of Northern Yana University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 13 215 234 Berkeley Univ of California Press Sapir Edward 1910 Yana Texts University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology vol 1 no 9 Berkeley University Press Online version at the Internet Archive Sturtevant William C Ed 1978 present Handbook of North American Indians Vol 1 20 Washington D C Smithsonian Institution Vols 1 3 16 18 20 not yet published References edit Parkvall Mikael 2006 Limits of Language London Battlebridge p 51 Sapir Edward Morris Swadesh 1960 Yana Dictionary UCPL 22 Berkeley University of California Press a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link Nevin Bruce E 1976 Transformational analysis of some grammatical morphemes in Yana In Margaret Langdon and Shirley Silver eds Hokan studies Papers from the first conference on Hokan languages held in San Diego California April 23 25 1970 the Hague Mouton pp 237 250 Sapir s names N Yana C Yana S Yana and southernmost Yana or Yahi reflects sic the general ignorance of Yahi at the time of his first work on Yanan in 1907 He later e g 1917 2n shifted his S Yana to denote S Yahi presumably because N Yahi is so slightly documented but cf also Waterman as quoted in T Kroeber 1967 207 The present terminology reflects the conclusion reached in Sapir and Spier 1943 244 concerning the probable interrelations in Yanan pg 207 Marianne Mithun The Languages of Native North America 1999 Cambridge Lyle Campbell American Indian Languages The Historical Linguistics of Native America 1997 Oxford American Indian languages Yana Indian Language Yahi Native Languages of the Americas Retrieved 9 September 2017 External links edit nbsp Wiktionary has a Swadesh list at Appendix Yana Swadesh list Yana language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Yana California Language Archive Retrieved 2012 07 30 OLAC resources in and about the Yana language Retrieved 2012 07 30 Yana basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yana language amp oldid 1185050323, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
