# Esselen language

Esselen is the now-extinct language of the Esselen (or self-designated Huelel) Nation, which aboriginally occupied the mountainous Central Coast of California, immediately south of Monterey (Shaul 1995). It was probably a language isolate, though has been included as a part of the hypothetical Hokan proposal.

## Names

The name Esselen was derived from a village name. The Esselen people referred to their own language as Huelel. The name was recorded by Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta on May 18, 1832, at Soledad Mission from his informant Eusebio (native name Sutasis) (cf. villel 'tongue' as recorded by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano) (Shaul 1995).

## Historical background

French explorer Lapérouse, who visited Monterey in 1786, reported:
   The country of the Ecclemachs [Esselen] extends above 20 leagues to the [south]eastward of Monterey. Their language is totally different from all those of their neighbors, and has even more resemblance to the languages of Europe than to those of the Americas. This grammatical phenomenon, the most curious in this respect ever observed on the continent, will, perhaps, be interesting to those of the learned, who seek, in the analogy of languages, the history and genealogy of transplanted nations.
Esselen may have been the first Californian language to become extinct. Although it was spoken by many of the early converts at Mission Carmel, its use rapidly declined during the Hispanic period. Very little information on the vocabulary and grammar of Esselen was preserved. About 350 words and phrases and a few complete sentences have been preserved in literature, including a short bilingual catechism (for a summary see Mithun 1999:411–413 and Golla 2011:114). By the beginning of the 20th century the only data on Esselen that investigators such as Kroeber and Harrington could collect were a few words remembered by speakers of other Indian languages in the area.

## Classification

H. W. Henshaw thought that Esselen represented a monotypic linguistic family. Others, such as Shaul (2019), have assigned the language to the proposed Hokan family.
Shaul (2019) also notes that Esselen has had extensive contact with the Chumashan languages, with Esselen and Chumashan sharing many common lexical items.

## Dialects

The Esselen language consisted of the Western and Eastern dialects. Documentation of Western Esselen was based on data collected at Mission Carmel. It was spoken by the Excelen local tribe, and likely also the Ecgeajan local tribes to the south along the Big Sur coast, although the Ecgeajan subdialect is unattested. Eastern Esselen was documented by Arroyo, and was based on data collected at Mission Soledad, which hosted Arroyo Seco local tribes. Eastern Esselen was spoken by the Eslenajan local tribe, and probably also by the Aspasniajan and Imunajan local tribes.
The Esselen language was spoken by five local tribes. Each of the five local tribes spoke a separate subdialect.
* Esselen
** Western
*** Excelen: upper Carmel Valley
*** Ecgeajan: along the Big Sur coast
** Eastern
*** Imunajan: along the Arroyo Seco, just south of Mission Soledad
*** Eslenajan (or Eslen): north of Mission Soledad
*** Aspasniajan: just south of the present day town of Greenfield
The Santa Lucia Mountains formed the heart of the Esselen homeland.
Each Esselen district consisted of a local tribe with their own patrilineal clans. Members of the clans were exogamous, marrying members of other clans but within the local tribe.
Local Esselen tribes and their demographics are surveyed in Milliken (1990: 59).
Breschini and Haversat (1994: 82–88) give the following numbers of villages and population estimates for each of the five Esselen tribes. Population estimates are calculated by multiplying the number of villages by either 30 or 40 (i.e., the presumed number of individuals per village).
| District | Villages | Population (with 30 persons per village) | Population (with 40 persons per village) |
| Excelen | 4 | 120 | 160 |
| Eslen/Eslenajan | 7 | 210 | 280 |
| Aspaniajan | 2 | 60 | 80 |
| Imunajan | 5 | 150 | 200 |
| Ecgeajan | 6 | 180 | 240 |
| Totals | 24 | 600 | 960 |

### Phonological and lexical differences

Sound correspondences between the Western and Eastern dialects:
Sound correspondences in Esselen dialects :
| Western | Eastern |
| č ~ ts | ṭ |
| e | a |
| š | s |
Examples of Western č ~ ts : Eastern ṭ :
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| man | exe-noč | exe-noṭ |
| father | aya ~ a'ay | m-a'aṭ |
| earth | matsa | maṭa |
| we | leč | leṭ |
| you (pl.) | *nomeč | nomeṭ |
| they | lač | laṭ |
| it is finished | *amomuč | amo-muṭ |
| completive | -mutsu ~ -musu | -muṭ |
Examples of Western e : Eastern a :
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| you (sg.) | ném:e | name |
| your (sg.) | nemi-š- | nami-s- |
| you (pl.) | neme-x | nome- |
Examples of Western š : Eastern s :
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| my daughter | ni-š-ta | ni-s-ta |
| sun | aši | asi |
| cottontail rabbit | čiši | čis |
| girl | šoleta | soleta-sis |
| agentive marker | -piši | -pisi |
Lexical differences between the Western and Eastern dialects:
Lexical variation in Esselen dialects :
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| head | kxata-sax | xis:i |
| eyes | hikpa | ka |
| mouth | iši ~ iš:e | katus-nex |
| heart | tika-s | maša-nex |
| river | sana-x | asum |
| that one | hainihi | huiniki |
| I | eni | ne |

## Phonology

Consonants :
| | | Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Plosive | Plosive | p | t | ʈ | | k | ʔ |
| Affricate | Affricate | | ts | | | kx | |
| Fricative | Fricative | | s | | ʃ | x | h |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | | | |
| Rhotic | Rhotic | | r | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | w | l | | j | | |
/p/ has allophones of [f] and [pf]. /t/ has an allophone of [tʃ].
Vowels :
| | Front | Back |
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open | a | a |

## Pronouns

Subject pronouns in Western Esselen (Shaul 2019: 89):
    sgpl 1 ene ~ enileč-s; lex 2 nemi ~ niminemič; nemux 3 lallač; lax
Subject pronouns in Eastern Esselen (Shaul 2019: 89):
    sgpl 1 ene ~ neleṭ; lex 2 namenomeṭ; nomux 3 huinikilaṭ; lax

## Syntax

Word order is primarily SOV (Shaul 2019).

## Lexicon

Shaul (1995) reconstitutes Esselen vocabulary, synthesized from various historical sources, as follows. Forms from Alfred L. Kroeber are marked by (Kr).
| gloss | Esselen |
| adult | -nVč |
| all | komVnam |
| arrow | lóto-s |
| bear | koltála |
| bow | paxu-nax |
| child/son | pana |
| cry | siawa |
| dance | mepV, mef- |
| dark | tumas (Kr) |
| day | asátsa |
| die | moho |
| dog | šošo |
| drink | etse, eše |
| ear | tus-usp (Kr) |
| earth | maṭa, matsa |
| eyes | -ikxpa |
| father | haya |
| female | ta- |
| foot | kxéle |
| friend | -efe |
| girl | soléta |
| give | toxésa |
| good/well | sale- |
| grandfather | meči |
| ground squirrel | mexe |
| hair | haka |
| head | kxáta-sVx |
| large | putú-ki; yakí-s-ki |
| man | exe- |
| mother | atsia |
| mountain | polomo |
| mountain lion | xeke-s |
| mouth | iši |
| nails | uluxV |
| night | tomani-s |
| nose | xoši |
| person | efexe |
| pinole | amúxe |
| plain | yala-x |
| quail | kumul (Kr) |
| rabbit (cottontail) | čiši, čis- |
| salmon | kilí- |
| seal | opopa-pas |
| sky | imi- |
| small | ukxu-s-ki |
| speak | al-pa |
| sun | aši |
| teeth | awur |
| water | asa-nax |
| where | kéya- |
| who | kíni |
| wildcat | toloma |
| wood | i'i |
| yes | íke |

### Numbers

| gloss | Esselen |
| one | pek |
| two | kxulax |
| three | kxulep |
| four | kxamakxu-s |
| five | pemakxa-la |
| six | pek-walanai |
| seven | kxula-walanai |
| eight | kxulef-walanai |
| ten | tomóila |