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Patwin language

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Patwin
Southern Wintun
Native toUnited States
RegionColusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, and Yolo Counties, northern California
EthnicityPatwin
Native speakers
1 (2021)[1] [2]
RevivalBeing taught in schools and learned by adults[3]
Wintuan
  • Southern
    • Patwin
Dialects
  • Hill Patwin
  • River Patwin
  • ?Southern Patwin
Language codes
ISO 639-3pwi
Glottologpatw1250
ELPPatwin
Map of Patwin people and language
Patwin is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Patwin (Patween) is a critically endangered Wintuan language of Northern California. As of 2021, there was one documented first language speaker of Patwin.[1][4] As of 2010, Patwin language classes were taught at the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation (formerly Rumsey Rancheria) tribal school (Dubin 2010).

Patwin has two (excl. Southern Patwin) or three (incl. Southern Patwin) dialects: "River Patwin (or Valley Patwin) was traditionally spoken along the Sacramento River in Colusa County ... Hill Patwin, was spoken in the plains and foothills to the west."[4][5]

Southern Patwin became extinct shortly after contact. It is very poorly attested, and may be a separate Southern Wintuan language (Mithun 1999).

As of 2012, the Tewe Kewe Cultural Center of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has "a California Indian Library Collection and an extensive Patwin language and history research section."[6]

Phonemes

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Consonants

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Patwin has 25 consonant phonemes.[1] In the table below, the IPA form(s) of each consonant are given. This is followed by the form commonly used in Lawyer (2021)'s grammar, if this is different from the IPA form.

Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Glottal
central lateral
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
glottalized pʼ tʼ kʼ
voiced b d
Nasal m n
Fricative s ɬ ⟨ƚ⟩ h
Affricate voiceless t͡ɬ ⟨ƛ⟩ t͡ʃ ⟨č⟩
glottalized t͡ɬʼ ⟨ƛʼ⟩ t͡ʃʼ ⟨čʼ⟩
Trill/Flap r̥ ~ ɾ ⟨r⟩
Approximant w l j ⟨y⟩ w
  • /ʔ/ is a marginal phoneme, occurring exclusively at morpheme boundaries. Its distribution is not entirely predictable, however.
  • Glottalized and aspirated consonants occur only syllable-initially.
  • Some or all of the "alveolar" consonants (both central and lateral) would be more accurately described as being retracted alveolar consonants.

Vowels

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Patwin has 10 vowels:[1]

Short Long
Front Back Front Back
High (close) i u iː ⟨i·⟩ uː ⟨u·⟩
Mid e o eː ⟨e·⟩ oː ⟨o·⟩
Low (open) a aː ⟨a·⟩
  • Patwin vowels have a simple length distinction (short vs. long).
  • All vowels are voiced and oral.

Orthography

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Patwin Alphabet
a a· b č č’ d e e· h i i· k kʰ k’ l ɬ ƛ ƛ’ m n o o· p pʰ p’ r s t tʰ t’ u u· w y ʔ

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lawyer, Lewis. A Grammar of Patwin. Bloomington: University of Nebraska Press, 2021.
  2. ^ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian languages. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26667-4.
  3. ^ Lawyer, Lewis C. (25 June 2012). "Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF). ISO 639-3 Registration Authority. p. 2.
  4. ^ a b "Patwin – Survey of California and Other Indian Languages". Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Quail Ridge Reserve - Human History Patwin". Archived from the original on 16 November 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Cultural Resources – Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.

Further reading

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  • Dubin, Margaret. "'Pass me that squirrel, toss me my iPod': Language learning at the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation." News From Native California 23 (3), 2010.
  • Lawyer, Lewis. 2015. "Patwin Phonemics, Phonetics, and Phonotactics". International Journal of American Linguistics. 81 (2). 221—260
  • Lawyer, Lewis. 2015. "A Description of the Patwin Language". Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Davis.
  • Lawyer, Lewis. A Grammar of Patwin. Bloomington: University of Nebraska Press, 2021.
  • Mithun, Marianne, ed. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
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