UC Merced The Journal of California Anthropology Title Kamia and Kumeyaay: A Linguistic Perspective Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/23x3t6dd Journal The Journal of California Anthropology, 2(1) Author Langdon, Margaret Publication Date 1975-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Kamia and Kumeyaay: A Linguistic Perspective MARGARET LANGDON HE term Kamia and its many ortho­ We may first note that two basic variants T graphic variants, among others Kamya, of the term exist: Kamia [kamya] or [kami- Comeya, Comaiyah, Co-mai-yah, Comedas, ya] and Kamiyai [kamiya'y] or [kumiya'y]. Comoyatz, Comoyee, Co-mo-yei, Quemaya, While at first sight they seem to be no more Quemaya, Camillares, Comoyalis, and Co-mo- than variants of each other, a review of the yah (Henshaw and Hodge 1907; Kroeber literature suggests that they are not inter­ 1925:723; Gifford 1931:2-3), have caused changeable. Note for example the puzzling much confusion in the ethnographic literature. statement of Gifford (1931:18): "The Kamia The spelling Kamia was made famous by Kroe­ names for various tribes are as follows: ber (1925:723ff) and institutionalized by Gif­ Kamiyai or Kamiyahi, Kamia, and Diegueno." ford's (1931) monograph The Kamia of Im­ What he means is that the Kamia called both perial Valley in which he described specifi­ themselves and the Diegueiio Kamiyai. One cally the native inhabitants of Imperial Valley might well ask why then Gifford called them whom he visited briefly in 1928-1929. Be­ Kamia. The answer seems to be that they are cause of the local focus of his monograph, called Kamia by the Yuma and Mojave (Har­ Gifford used the term Kamia to refer unique­ rington 1908:324; Kroeber 1925:724) and ly to the group under discussion, although Kamiyai by themselves. I will discuss the "... it is an open question whether the linguistic implications of this difference Eastern Diegueiio and the Kamia should be below. regarded as a single people or as separate But first, I would like to characterize as peoples" (Gifford 1931:2), and although a precisely as possible the language of Gifford's designation similar to Kamia is attested by Kamia, as it emerges from the native terms various authors to refer to part or all of the sprinkled throughout the monograph, which group also known as Dieguefio. The problem, remains the only available source of this stated in its simplest form, is that the two speech variety.' The following specific obser­ names—Diegueno and Kamia—overlap to some vations confirm Gifford's (1931:1) statement degree for various people, but are apparently that "Linguistically, the Kamia are probably not synonymous, least of all for the people only subdialectally distinguishable from the they are supposed to identify. At the risk of Diegueiio." increasing the existing confusion, but with the Among the Yuman languages, only excuse that the reason for it might become Diegueiio and Cocopa exhibit as common clearer, I would like to take a linguistic sounds the voiceless laterals [I] and [1^], al­ perspective based on comparative observa­ though they also occur, but rarely, in Yuma. tions of Yuman languages and dialects, and If we therefore assume that Gifford's fairly even suggest a plausible etymology. common symbols thl, tl, tL, and L stand for KAMIA AND KUMEYAAY 65 one or the other of these sounds, the likeli­ trait is the pronunciation ts for what is hood of the language being Mojave or even normally cV and some instances of it are duly Yuma—the other neighboring languages—is recorded by Gifford: iyats 'soft or flour corn', quite remote. Some examples: wikwiniL hatsot 'orange colored fruit that grows on 'black hill (placename)', hiLmiarp 'a lineage', shrubs', watsuts 'fish scoop', etskaiyau 'chief kwatL 'a lineage', tuhatl 'a song cycle', horLoi singer at mourning ceremony'. A Mojave trait 'a song cycle'. Furthermore, neither Diegueiio is a shift from s to s, and we find Espayau nor Cocopa have the sound v in word stems. 'eagle's place' and Wiespa 'eagle rock' (cf. SD. In terms known to have cognates with v in spa-, M. "^aspd 'eagle'), isa 'a song cycle', ht. Yuma and Mojave, Gifford's recordings show 'bird' (cf. SD. ?/sa-, and the non-cognate M. w: wi 'mountain, rock' (Yuma, Mojave "^avv), ciyer 'bird'), wasopet 'sweathouse' (cf. SD. uwd 'house' (Yuma, Mojave "^avd). The word wa-swpit, M. '^ava supet 'closed house'), sahuk for 'people' recorded by Gifford is tipai. This '10' (cf. SD. saxuk, but note non-cognate M. is the word used by many of the southern San rap havik or ^arap). A distinguishing feature of Diego County and Baja California Diegueno Cocopa is a shift from c to s and Gifford groups, but not by the Northern Dieguefio records maisbaup, probably [mayspap] '14' who say 'iipay.'^ It is also unlike Cocopa (cf. SD. cpap, C. spap '4'), yasbak, probably where the word is capay. This Cocopa word [(n)yaspak] 'sunrise' (cf. SD. cpak, C. spa illustrates a sound change which has affected 'emerge, come out'), isaslich 'invisible spirit, Cocopa, where t has become c.^ The absence ghost' (cf. SD. ncilic 'devil'). The word for of this shift in Gifford's material clearly 'one' is reported by Gifford as shit which fits excludes Cocopa. The speech of the Kamia is Cocopa exactly, the closest Diegueiio equiv­ therefore clearly a dialect of Dieguefio. alent being sm. There are, however, features which distin­ Two completely separate trends emerge guish it from other Diegueiio dialects. First of from the above. On the one hand, there are all, there are sporadic instances of features words that are probably direct borrowings not found in Diegueiio, but present in neigh­ from neighboring languages, i.e., yidut and boring Yuman languages. Thus, the sound d nyimet from Yuma, and shit from Cocopa. [d], common in Mojave, Maricopa, and On the other hand, and these are the more Yuma, is recorded by Gifford in yidut 'a numerous, there are words which can only be foot-high plant the black stems of which were interpreted as basic Diegueiio words which boiled and eaten', obviously the same word have undergone some sound shift normally recorded by Castetter and Bell 1951:203) as associated with another Yuman language, Y. / diit "... fungus which appears on the resulting in some cases in a blend of features mesa in spring . eaten by the Yuma.'"* An which cannot uniquely be ascribed to one of interesting word is nyimet 'mountain lion', the languages. Thus iyats 'soft or flour corn' attested as such in Yuma and Mojave, but as has the ts characteristic of Yuma, but has y nyemetaay in Diegueno. The borrowing of a characteristic of Diegueiio where Yuma Yuma word for a local plant is reasonable, should have d (note Y. tadic, SD. tiyac and it is probably noteworthy that the word 'corn'). While the borrowing of lexical items is for 'mountain hon' is recorded in connec­ unremarkable in a situation of geographic tion with the Creation Myth, since Colorado proximity and close kinship ties, the insights River influence on Diegueiio mythology has into the geographical spread of some Yuman been previously noted (DuBois 1906; Lawton sound changes which these words provide 1974:62 and Note 13). A specifically Yuma may be of considerable importance in the 66 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY detailed accounfing of the historical develop­ people do not think of themselves as Kume- ment of the several Yuman languages. yaay. The terms for 'Indian, people' which are When compared to the various dialects of sometimes used to designate the group are Diegueno itself, Gifford's Kamia is clearly 'lipay in the north and Tiipay or Metiipay in more hke Southern than hke Northern Die­ the south. What then, is the meaning of gueno, the latter dialect being distinct from Kumeyaay? I will propose that the statements all others by a shift of i to x in some of speakers of the language must be taken environments, and by the presence of a final quite Hterally and that they must reflect a -/^ in.some words (of relevance because they shared meaning. It seems likely then that have been discussed above are the words for Kumeyaay is not a tribal or national desig­ 'eagle' SD. spa, ND. ^ixpa-, and for 'rock' SD. nation, but a descriptive term which can ?avvr, ND. ^ewil^). apply to any group exhibiting the appropri­ Of some interest also are a few features ate characteristics. that emerge as idiosyncratic of the Kamia Additional information has come to light dialect, i.e., are unattested in Diegueno dia­ in the unpubHshed notes of J. P. Harrington, lects as well as in other Yuman languages. who visited Diegueiio territory at least once in Particularly noteworthy are a number of 1928 (the only date appearing in the notes), words which have k instead of the expected and probably earlier as well.* The relevant jc: kapcha 'muller' (D. xapeca), ka'tsuk 'dog' portions of these notes are quoted and com­ (SD. xatcukcuk), imkamuk '9' (SD. n^imxd- mented on below. muk), niaukap 'twilight' (D. n^a waxap). I During a visit at Mesa Grande, he inter­ also noted one instance each of 5 instead of c, viewed Isidro Nejo. We learn that he "... is t instead of s, s instead of f, and s instead of Kamjaj, lives near Mesa Grande school house, t: shi 'fish' (SD. ^aci-), tariip '5' (D. sarap), near Black Canyon Creek." Nejo identifies the xasha 'moon' (D. xal-^a), xaspa 'coyote' (D. Kumeyaay as "the people that live where the xatapa).