Phonology and Dictionary of Yavapai

UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics Title Phonology and Dictionary of Yavapai Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9671j4f8 Author Shaterian, Alan Publication Date 1983 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Phonology and Dictionary of Yavapai By Alan William Shaterian A.B. (Syracuse University) 1963 C.Phil. (University of California) 1973 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Linguistics in the GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Approved: Chairmai Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. YAVAPAI PHONOLOGY AND DICTIONARY Copyright @ 1983 by Alan Shaterian Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION For Jeanie Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. YAVAPAI PHONOLOGY AND DICTIONARY by Alan Shaterian ABSTRACT This work will preserve the fundamental facts about the Yavapai language, the most evanescent of the Pai group of Yuman languages, a linguistic family which in its vari ety of members and geographic distribution is analagous to the Germanic family as of five centuries ago. The dis sertation explores the relationship between the pattern of speech sounds and the shape of words in Yavapai. It de scribes the phonology, morphology, and a part of the lex icon in a format which is accessible to linguists of varied theoretical backgrounds. It is the speech of Chief Grace Jimulla Mitchell (1903-1976), a speaker of the Prescott subdialect of North eastern Yavapai, that forms the basis of the description. The research necessary for this undertaking was spon sored in part by the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages at the University of California at Berkeley. The Introduction surveys the field of Yavapai and Pai studies and places them within the deeper perspective of 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Yuman research. Chapter One discusses the Pai languages and elucidates the dialectal differences in Northeastern Yavapai, Tolkapaya (Western Yavapai), and Southeastern Yavapai on the one hand; and the broader linguistic dif ferences in Yavapai, Havasupai-Hualapai, and Paipai on the other. The principal problems of the phonology, stemming mainly from the accentual system, are discussed in Chapter Two. Chapter Three describes the inflectional and deriva tional morphology and conducts an examination of the dif ference between the root and the stem. This chapter also proposes an "archisynaestheme" as a descriptive device within the derivational morphology. Solutions to the problems described in Chapter Two are presented in Chapter Four, which proposes a rule of syllabic potential, the General Syllabicity Rule, and demonstrates that this rule can account for the major phenomena of Yavapai phonology. The Yavapai-English and English-Yavapai dictionaries are designed for both synchronic and diachronic applica tion. The several thousand lexical items are entered in their citation forms. The Yavapai entries are arranged according to a two-way articulatory progression of the sys tematic segmental phonemes: /p, ph, t, th, £, £h, kv, k, k h, k hw, q, qw, i, e, a, o, u, 0, «, s, (S), h, h«, m, n, p, 1, r, (A), y, w/. Both dictionaries mark the Yavapai suprasegmental phonemes as well: two degrees of stress, three degrees of vowel length, tyo pitch accents, and /• ' y . A ' syllable boundary. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not have written this dissertation without the help and support of many people who have contributed to my life and to the development of this work on Yavapai. The list of their names must of necessity be incomplete if the acknowledgments are not to find themselves relegated to a third appendix. I am very grateful to all the Indians who have wel comed me and worked with me. On my first trip to Arizona the late Warren Gazzam grasped at once what it was that I needed and took pains to collaborate with me as long as he was able to in an effort to preserve his language for future generations. I will long remember his hospitality and dedication. The late Grace Mitchell, Msi Ktnyi*va, chief of the Prescott Yavapais, was my primary linguistic consultant and provided the greatest part of the data in these pages. This work is to a large extent her legacy, the fulfillment of a pledge to let her language and her lore see the light of day. Other Yavapais and Pai language speakers have helped in many ways, and I would like to show my continuing appreciation for the contributions of Flora Evans, Molly Starr Fasthorse, Patricia McGee, Edwin Margo, Lucy Miller, Don Mitchell, the late Rufino Ochurte, ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Darlene Ogo, the late Mary Sine, and Clara and Effie Starr. A special thanks goes to Violet Mitchell. Over the past twenty years I have received valuable guidance from a number of linguists, including Robert Austerlitz, Madison Beeler, Mary Haas, the late Haakon Hamre, Yakov Malkiel, and Jesse Sawyer. Many Yumanist friends have steadfastly encouraged me, and I would like to single out Lynn Gordon, Heather Hardy, and Martha Kendall. Pamela Munro deserves much of the credit for bringing countless boxes of notes into a more conventional form: it was she, a dear friend and severe critic, who gently but firmly shoved me towards the typewriter on more than one occasion. I am especially grateful to my disser tation committee, consisting of Ronelle Alexander, Wallace Chafe, Margaret Langdon, and Leanne Hinton. Ronelle Alexander came to this dissertation rather late in the game but has made a significant contribution to its intelligibil ity, rendering it comprehensible to a broad range of lin guists, not just to those in my own narrow field. Wallace Chafe, the only member of my committee from whom I have taken courses, has shaped much of my thinking about lan guage and has been particularly influential in the way that I approach sound and meaning. It was Margaret Langdon, who, together with James Crawford, first aroused my interest in Yuman and Yavapai. She is the one person who has been directly involved in this project through out its long gestation. Her high standards have inspired iii with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. great awe and frenzied action. Finally, Leanne Hinton, with her low-keyed fervor, has managed to drag me through the past year, ever since assuming the great responsibility of chairing my dissertation committee. Her guidance, scholarship, and courage have won my deep respect and sincere admiration. The trip to the Paipai village of Santa Catarina was made possible through the assistance of Ralph Michaelsen, Dick Langdon, and Terry Kaufmann. Bertha Marston has pro vided both assistance and warm friendship for many years, and Trudy Bowen, Eileen Odegaard, and LaRue Seegmiller have acted far beyond the call of duty in smoothing the way through administrative snags. David Lemon was responsible for the finely crafted maps, and Arax Kizirian has typed this dissertation over and over. The fact that she was there waiting for more copy was sometimes the only reason that there was more copy. Sad Snorhagalutyun. I would like in addition to thank my family ~ my mother, my father, my sister Anahit, my stepfather Arnold Aargenius Rasmussen, and my parents-in-law Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin — for their encouragement and support. There are also many friends whose contributions are keenly felt. Michael Green, Sandra Shamis, and Sigvor Hamre Thornton were of great help through their not always wel come questions about the work in progress. Karl Zimmer was especially relentless in wondering when the end would be in sight, and I am very glad that he kept me focused. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Other friends — Bill King, Greg Hubit, Greg Nybo, and Wilm Pelters — chose to help by not asking when it would be finished (that was equally appreciated), and the late John Walker showed me that anything can be done one step at a time. Last but not least, my wife Jeanie provided the per fect atmosphere in which to work. Without her presence in my life during the last seven years, none of this, none of the happiness that I know today would be conceivable. It is to her that I dedicate this dissertation. Even as I close this section, I can think of many more people whose love and understanding sustained me in dark times. They also helped bring me here, and they are not forgotten. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OP CONTENTS gage INTRODUCTION.............. xxii 0.10 The Yavapai Language and Yavapai Dialects . xxii 0.20 Early Investigations ....................... xxiii 0.30 Recent Investigations ....................... xxiii 0.40 The.Word "Yavapai" ........ xxiv 0.50 The UCLA Group ................... xxv 0.60 Survey of Shaterian Fieldwork (1965-1980) . xxv 0.70 Pai Languages........................... xxvi 0.71 Havasupai............................... xxvi 0.72 Hualapai (Walapai) . ...................xxvii 0.73

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