Cahuilla language

**Cahuilla**, or **Ivilyuat**, is an endangered Uto-Aztecan language, spoken by the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the Coachella Valley, San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Mountains region of southern California. The Cahuilla demonyms include Ɂívil̃uwenetem or Iviatam–speakers of Ivilyuat (Iviɂa)–or táxliswet meaning "person." A 1990 census revealed 35 speakers in an ethnic population of 800. With such a decline, Ivilyuat is classified as "critically endangered" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger as most speakers are middle-aged or older with limited transmission rates to children.

Three dialects are known to exist: Desert, Mountain and Pass, as well as some other sub-dialects.

## Phonology

Cahuilla has the following vowel and consonant phonemes (Bright 1965, Saubel and Munro 1980:1-6, Seiler and Hioki 1979: 8-9):

### Consonants

Consonants in parentheses only occur in loans.

### Vowels

1. /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are allophones of /i/ and /u/, respectively, when in an unstressed or secondary stress position. However, both /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ appear in the stressed position and are preceding any of the following consonants: /k/, /kʷ/, /q/, /p/, /ʔ/. Lengthened version of both result in their opened variant occurring. Finally, word final instances of /i/ and /u/ are always open (/i/ and /u/ are considered word final even when followed by /h/).
2. Both long /oː/ and short /o/ only appear in borrowings.
3. As an allophone of /e/, /ɛ/-distribution is unclear, conforming to the same rules of /i/ and /u/ sometimes. The word final variant of /e/ is always the open [æ].
4. Similar to the high and mid vowels, /a/ sees similar allophonic distribution where /ɒ/ occurs under stress and /a/ falls in unstressed positions. /a/ is found in monosyllabic and polysyllabic words containing only one instance of the /a/.
5. The semivowels, /j/ and /w/, are difficult to distinguish from their counterpart diphthongs: /i̯/ and /u̯/. When the semivowel is following an /i/ or /u/, it is realized as /ɪi̯/ or /ʊu̯/ (/ɪj/ or /ʊw/). When /i/, /u/ or /ɛ/ is followed by /a/, the /a/ usually becomes half-long.

#### Voiceless vowels

A salient feature found in Ivilyuat is the phenomenon of voiceless vowels which occur in word-final positions or around /ʔ/. Word-finally, voiceless vowels occur as -Vh (a vowel followed by /h/).

* [nétɛ̥h] = /nét/ 'ceremonial chief'
* [tùkumúluʔùkʊ̥h] = /tukumúluʔuk/ 'the day before yesterday'
* [hémuʔʊ̥h] = /hémuʔ/ 'his nose'
* [nesékḁʔa] = /nesékʔa/ 'my shoulder'

### Phonotactics

Words in Ivilyuat may never start with a vowel, and consonant clusters generally indicate the break between morphemic units. Whereas /ʔ/ is treated as a regular consonant in word-initial locations, it occurs in consonant clusters via infixation or insertion and is not representative of a morphemic break.

### Stress

There are three primary types of stress in Ivilyuat: primary, secondary and unstressed. Primary is distinguished from an unstressed syllable by loudness and elevation of pitch. Secondary stress carries less volume and the pitch is not as elevated as with primary stress. Generally, stress falls on the first syllable of the root, however there are numerous cases of doubt and ambiguity. The general pattern is: ... CV̀CVCV́CVCV̀CVCV̀ ..., where regular alternation occurs after the primary stress and secondary stress is added to the first syllable if followed by an additional -CV- group without stress. Long vowels function also as a distinct -CV- unit and take stress with the following syllable unit also taking stress: ... CV́VCV̀ ... This process can be seen here:

* CV́VCCV̀CVC : [qáankìčem] 'palo verde,' plur.
* CV́CVCV̀CVC : [tákalìčem] 'one-eyed ones'