# Chumashan languages

Chumashan is an extinct and revitalizing family of languages that were spoken on the southern California coast by Native American Chumash people, from the Coastal plains and valleys of San Luis Obispo to Malibu, neighboring inland and Transverse Ranges valleys and canyons east to bordering the San Joaquin Valley, to three adjacent Channel Islands: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz.
The Chumashan languages may be, along with Yukian and perhaps languages of southern Baja California such as Waikuri, one of the oldest language families established in California, before the arrival of speakers of Penutian, Uto-Aztecan, and perhaps even Hokan languages. Chumashan, Yukian, and southern Baja languages are spoken in areas with long-established populations of a distinct physical type. The population in the core Chumashan area has been stable for the past 10,000 years. However, the attested range of Chumashan is recent (within a couple thousand years). There is internal evidence that Obispeño replaced a Hokan language and that Island Chumash mixed with a language very different from Chumashan; the islands were not in contact with the mainland until the introduction of plank canoes in the first millennium AD.
Although some say the Chumashan languages are now extinct or dormant, language revitalization programs are underway with four of these Chumashan languages. These languages are well-documented in the unpublished fieldnotes of linguist John Peabody Harrington. Especially well documented are Barbareño, Ineseño, and Ventureño. The last native speaker of a Chumashan language was Barbareño speaker Mary Yee, who died in 1965.

## Family division
### Languages

Six Chumashan languages are attested, all now extinct. However, most of them are in the process of revitalization, with language programs and classes. Contemporary Chumash people now prefer to refer to their languages by native names rather than the older names based on the local missions.
* Chumashan
** Northern Chumash
*** Obispeño (also known as Northern Chumash) † Also known as Tilhini by students of the language, after the name of the major village near which the mission was founded.
** Southern Chumash
*** Island Chumash (mixed with non-Chumash)
**** Island Chumash (also known as Ysleño, Isleño, Cruzeño) † Was spoken on the three inhabited islands in the Santa Barbara Channel Islands: Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Cruz.
*** Central Chumash
**** Purisimeño †
**** Sʰamala (Ineseño) † Also spelled Samala, spoken by the Santa Ynez Band. Currently being revived.
**** Šmuwič (Barbareño) † Also spelled Shmuwich by students of the language and community members. This is the name for the language and the people; it means "coastal." Currently being revived.
**** Mitsqanaqa'n (Ventureño) † Students of the language and community members renamed the language after the name of a major village near which the mission was founded.
Obispeño was the most divergent Chumashan language. The Central Chumash languages include Purisimeño, Ineseño, Barbareño and Ventureño. There was a dialect continuum across this area, but the form of the language spoken in the vicinity of each mission was distinct enough to qualify as a different language.
There is very little documentation of Purisimeño. Ineseño, Barbareño and Ventureño each had several dialects, although documentation usually focused on just one. Island Chumash had different dialects on Santa Cruz Island and Santa Rosa Island, but all speakers were relocated to the mainland in the early 19th century. John Peabody Harrington conducted fieldwork on all the above Chumashan languages, but obtained the least data on Island Chumash, Purisimeño, and Obispeño. There is no linguistic data on Cuyama, though ethnographic data suggests that it was likely Chumash (Interior Chumash).

#### Post-contact

The languages are named after the local Franciscan Spanish missions in California where Chumashan speakers were relocated and aggregated between the 1770s and 1830s:
* Obispeño—Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
* Purisimeño—Mission La Purísima Concepción
* Ineseño—Mission Santa Inés
* Barbareño—Mission Santa Barbara
* Ventureño—Mission San Buenaventura

#### Genetic relations

Roland Dixon and Alfred L. Kroeber suggested that the Chumashan languages might be related to the neighboring Salinan in a Iskoman grouping. Edward Sapir accepted this speculation and included Iskoman in his classification of Hokan. More recently it has been noted that Salinan and Chumashan shared only one word, which the Chumashan languages probably borrowed from Salinan (the word for 'white clam shell', which was used as currency). As a result, the inclusion of Chumashan into Hokan is now disfavored by most specialists, and the consensus is that Chumashan has no identified linguistic relatives.

## Characteristics

The Chumashan languages are well known for their consonant harmony (regressive sibilant harmony). Mithun presents a scholarly synopsis of Chumashan linguistic structures.

### Vowels

The Central Chumash languages all have a symmetrical six-vowel system. The distinctive high central vowel is written various ways, including <ɨ> "barred I," <ə> "schwa" and <ï> "I umlaut." Contemporary users of the languages favor /ɨ/ or /ə/.
Vowels of Central Chumash :
| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | i | ɨ/ə | u |
| Low | e | a | o |
Striking features of this system include
* Low-vowel harmony within morphemes: Within a single morpheme, adjacent low vowels match: they are both or all front /e/, central /a/ or back /o/. Pan-Central examples:
       expeč "to sing" — I/B/V
       ʼosos "heel" — I/B/V
       ʼasas "chin" — I/B/V
* Low-vowel harmony as a process: Many prefixes include a low vowel which shows up as /a/ when the vowel of the following syllable is high. When the vowel of the following syllable is low, the vowel of the prefix assimilates to (or "harmonizes" with) the front-central-back quality of the following vowel. The verb prefix kal- "of cutting" illustrates this process in the following Barbareño examples, where the /l/ may drop out:
       kamasix "to cut into three pieces" — kal- + masix "three"
       keseqen "to cut out" — kal- + seqen "to remove"
       qoloq " to make or bore a hole, cut a hole in — kal- + loq "to be perforated"
       katun "to cut into two pieces" — kal- + =tun "of two, being two"

### Consonants

The Central Chumash languages have a complex inventory of consonants. All of the consonants except /h/ can be glottalized; all of the consonants except /h/, /x/ and the liquids can be aspirated.

## Proto-language

Proto-Chumash reconstructions by Klar (1977):
    no.glossProto-ChumashProto-Southern Chumashnotes 1advise, to*si/umun 2all*yimlaʔ 3alone*l-ho 4already*kVla- 5ant*tkaya’plus sound symbolism 6armpit*ti/uq’olo(lo)stem: *q'olo(lo) 7arrive*ki/um 8arrow*ya' 9arroyo*l’VmV 10ascend*-nVpa 11ashamed, to be*-nos- 12ashes*qSa 13ask, to*-VsqVnV 14back (body part)*mVtV’ 15ball*-apapareduplicated stem 16bat (animal)*mVkala 17bathe, to*k-ep’ 18bear (animal)*qus 19bee*oloplus sound symbolism 20begin, to*-nVna’reduplicated stem? 21blow, to*aq-(tV)-p-; *-kVt*-wu- 22boil, to*-wi- 23bone*Se 24bow (noun)*aqa 25break, to*k’oto; *eqe 26breast*kVtet 27breathe; breath*kal-haS; *-haS 28bring, to*kVlhi 29burn, to*qi/ut 30cost, to*piw’ 31carry, to*kum 32carry on back, to*sVpV 33cheek*po' 34chest (body part)*kVwV 35chia*’epV- 36canoe*tomolo 37clitoris*Cele ~ *C’ele 38cold, to feel*toqom ~ *qotom 39comb, to*ti/ukikS 40come, to*yit-i; *VlhVw 41concerned with, to be*tak 42cooked*pSel 43cough, to*oqoqo-reduplicated stem; onomatopoetic 44cover, to*Vqmay 45crack, split, to*-eqe 46cut, to*’iwaplus reduplication 47dark-colored, to be*Soy 48day*qSi; *-iSa- 49deaf*tu’ 50deep*l-hiy 51die, to*qSa 52dirt*uyu 53drink; thirsty, to be*aq-mihi-l-ha; *o- 54ear*tu’ 55earth*šup 56eat, to*uw 57eye, face*tVq 58eyes, face, having to do with*weqe 59far, to be*mVkV 60fat*qilhi 61fight, to*aqi/u 62fire*ne 63flower*pey’ 64flea*-tep (Proto-Central Chumash) 65fly (insect)*axulpes 66follow, to*pey 67food (cf. eat)*uw-*uw- 'eat' plus *-mu (nominalizing suffix) 68foot*teme’ 69forget, to*may 70full from eating, to be*qti’ 71get up, to*kVta’ 72gopher snake*pSoSoreduplicated stem 73grasshopper*ti/uquroot: *-qu 74gull sp.*miyV 75hair, fur*SuSVreduplicated stem? 76hand*pu 77hang, to*wayan ~ *waya 78hear, to*taq 79heel*’ososoreduplicated stem 80hello (greeting)*haku 81hole*loq 82hole, cave, den*Si ~ *SiSV 83homosexual, to be*’aqi’ 84jimson weed*mom’oyfrom *moy 85knee*pVm’V 86knife*’iw 87lie down, to*toy’ ~ *ton’ 88liver*c-al’a 89look, to*kuti ~ *kuti’ 90louse*Seke 91low tide*qVw 92many, much*equ 93meat, body*’Vmin’ 94moist, to be*so’ 95money; clam sp.*’ala-qu-Cum ~ *’ana-qu-Cum*Cum is the root 96mosquito*pewe(we)’ 97mother-in-law*mVSV 98mountain lion*tVkem’ 99mouse*qloplus reduplication 100mouth*’Vk 101name*ti 102neck*ni’ 103necklace*el’ 104nerve*pilhil 105nest*patV ~ *patV’ 106new, to be*VmVn 107now*kipV(’) 108oak spp.*kuwu(’) 109one-eyed, to be*ta’ 110open, to*kal 111overcast, to be*iqVmay 112pelican*sew 113person*ku 114pet*qo’ 115pick up, lift, raise*lay 116prickly pear*qV’ 117quail*takakaonomatopoetic 118rabbit/jackrabbit*ma’; *kuni’ 119rain, to*tuhuy ~ *tuy 120red*qupe 121roadrunner*pu’ 122rub, to*muy 123salt*tepu(’) ~ *tipu(’) 124save (rescue), to*apay 125seed*’VmVn’ 126skunk*tVqema 127smoke*tuwo’ 128snail, sea*q’VmV’ 129speak, say, to*’ipi(’) 130split-stick rattle*wanS-aq’a ~ *wacs-aq’a 131spread open*kek-an 132squirrel, ground*emet’ ~ *em’et’ 133steps*tVyV- 134stick to, to*pey ~ *pey’ 135sticky, to be*pilhiy 136stone, rock*qVpV 137straight*tyiyeme ? 138swordfish*’eleyewun’ 139tadpole*qlo ~ *qyoroot: 'small creature' (cf. mouse) 140tail*telheq’ 141take off, to*qe 142tears*tinik’ 143tongue*’elhew’ 144tooth*Sa 145urinate, to*Sol’ 146vomit*paS(V) 147walk, to- 148warm self, to*mol 149water*’o’ 150whale*paqat(V) 151wood, tree, stick*pono’ 152woodpecker*pVlak’a(k’) 153wrinkled*Sok’plus reduplication 154yawn*Sanplus reduplication 155yellow jacket*ɨyɨ ~ *ɨyɨ’