Information about the Yokutsan languages

Where are the Yokutsan languages spoken?

These languages are spoken in North America in the State of California, USA.

Who speaks these languages?

The Yokutsan language speakers are members of the Yokuts “First Nation” of North America who inhabited the region long before Europeans arrived and before the creation of the United States.

Total number of speakers (estimated):

46 according to UNESCO

70 according to the site ethnologue.com

Classification

The Yokutsan language family currently has 2 living languages.

Valley Yokuts (dialect group)

Foothill Yokuts (dialect group)

Extinct language:

Palewyami (alternate names: Altinin; Poso Creek)

Comments on the classification of Yokutsan languages:

There is little consensus on the internal classification of Yokutsan languages. This is due to the large number of dialects and the fact that speakers often use several dialects. In addition, many dialects have been poorly documented and therefore not studied. Both dialect groups proposed here come from Mithun (1999), and also Whistler & Golla (1986).

There is also a lack of consensus on whether or not the Yokutsan languages should belong to a phylum (a group of several families of languages) called “Penutian” along with other families such as Chinookan, Tsimshian, Utian, etc. Some relationships within this phylum appear valid, but the exact contours of this “macro-family” remain uncertain. Here we follow the classification of Mithun (1999) who chooses to present this family independently, at least temporarily, although this classification is likely to change.

Are Yokutsan languages in danger?

Yes, but it is currently extremely difficult to obtain information about the precise number of speakers of Yokutsan languages.

The site ethnologue.com recognizes only one language (Valley Yokuts), for which the number of speakers is estimated at 70. UNESCO has estimated 16 speakers for two dialects of Foothill Yokuts and 30 speakers for each dialect of Valley Yokuts: Chuckchanski, Yowlumne, and Tachi. Furthermore, these are not all native speakers and some have only a basic familiarity with the language. It is quite possible that these languages do not actually have any remaining speakers and could therefore be considered extinct or near extinction. Palewyami is considered to be extinct.

Sources:

Mithun, Marianne The languages of Native North America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (1999).

Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1997)

Site devoted to American Indian languages:

http://www.native-languages.org/