A N I NT RO D UCTO RY P A P E R ON TH E T IWA L A N A D AL A M X O 1 GU GE , I ECT O F T OS , N EW E I C
Y H N P H A R R G TO B JO . IN N
O fac t better ill ustrates the present fragmentary condition of o u r kn owledge of American aboriginal languages than that the tongues of th e Pueblo I ndians of the so uth western m United States have un ti l now re ained uni nvestigated . Powel l i n his L m Am I ndian inguisti c Fa ilies of eri ca , published in is forced to base the classification of these lan guages on a few man uscript vocabu laries c ollected in a h aphazard manne r by various persons a t m various ti es . These vocabu laries are at present deposited i n the ar chives o f the B u reau of American Ethnology at Washin gton . Th e un reliable ch aracter of these records and of any classifica tion based
m h a d on the is best appreciated by on e wh o , li ke th e writer, has
c m m c opportunity to o pare the dire tly with the spoken languages . M ore recently a few Puebl o texts have been published . We possess 3 c m c G a t s c h e t a spe i en of the language of I sleta pueblo re orded by , a rendering of some Ch ristian hymns and do c trines i n the L agu na “ m B e r c o v it z language by the issionaries an d Paisan o , an d a record 5 Z n m M r s of several u i songs ade by . Stevenson . No study of the phoneti c s or structu re of any of the Pueblo l an m k guages was however atte pted , as far as we now , previou s to th e investigation s whi c h have been c onducted d u ring the past two years by the School of A me ri c an A r c h a o lo g y u nder the A rc h aeological
1 P r e s e n te da t t h e B o s to n me e t in o f t h e A me r i c a n A s s o c i a ti o n fo r t h e A dva n c e me n t
o f c e n c e D e c e m e r 1 0 . S i , b , 9 9 ’ ' o w e In da n L n u F a m m M P s c e s o f A e r c a N o o f e x c o 111 A n n R e . ll , i i g i ti ili i rth i , 7 . p .
' Wa B . E . s n t o n 18 1 . A , hi g , 9 .
' s c a t s c h e t A M c T a le o f t h e Is a In da n s w M e x c o r o m /z e N e P c . A . P zlo s . , ythi l t i , i , — S o n D e c 18 1 . 2 0 8 2 18 . , . , 9 , p p 4 B e r c o v it z a n dP a s a n o H mn B o o a n dA e n dx in t h e L a u n a In da n L a n u a e [ i ], y k p p i g i g g ,
L a u n a N e w M e x c o g , i . 5 e e n s o n h Z u n In a n m n n W T e d s 2 A . R e B . E a s n o n 1 0 St v , i i , 3 p " A . hi gt , 9 4 , p p . — 6 8 - 2 8 8 1 6 8 6 8 7 , 73 , 5 , 4 , 5 3. i z M E I N GI N T H P T N . s . 12 1 10 A R CA A R O OL O S [ , , 9
m Institute of A erica . Under the auspices of this Sch ool the autho r 1 0 8 of the present paper has since July , 9 , been en gaged conti n u ously in a s tudy of the grou p of obviously related lan guages spoken i n th e Rio Grande drainage area of New M exico which Powe ll has l m T a n o a n ter ed the .
T H E TA N O A N L A N G U A G E S A N D TA O S PU E B L O
I n the area drained by th e Rio Grande whi c h is n o w known as northern and central Ne w M exico there are at present eighteen m m I ndian Pueblos . We fol l ow the I ndian custo i n en u erating these
: vil lages , beg inning with those farthest north or n orthwest Taos , m Pic u ris , San Juan , Santa Clara , San I ldefonso , Na be , Poj oaq ue , D m m Tes uque , Cochiti , Santo o i ngo , San Felipe , Je ez , Sia , San ta A A m L . n a, Sandia , Isleta , aguna , co a I n addition to these sho u ld
m R c be entioned Pecos p uebl o , located o n the io Pe os and aban
e 1 m do n din 8 37 . There are at Je ez a few aged persons wh o stil l k retain a nowledge of the dialect of Pecos . Fo ur vi llages whose i nhabitants migrated from this area in historic times shoul d also be
: u c i n cl u ded here . These are Senec , I sleta del S u r , and So orro , established at the ti me of the P ueblo In dian revolt of 16 8 0 so u th o f
n 1 0 0 t he prese t city of El Paso , Texas , an d Hano , fo un ded in 7
I - I o i A beside the p vil lages of n ortheastern rizona .
The speech of each pueblo i s practical ly a unit, variation s pre
m o r in div idu a l sen ted by division , c lan , fa ily , bein g here ignored ;
n m but o two of the pueblos have the sa e dialect , altho ugh the de gree of lin guistic diversity varies greatly . m D m A O itting Cochiti , Santo o in go , San Felipe , Sia , Santa n a ,
L A c m m agun a , an d o a , seven vil lages whose language for s a close K m u nit an d has been cal led eresan , ou r preli in ary s u rvey leads u s to s uggest the fol lowing classification of the diale c ts of the remai n i ng pueblos . A . Tiwa l anguage
c (1) Taos an d Picu ris diale ts .
2 . ( ) San dia, Isleta , an d I sleta del S u r dial ects
l r o n o u n c e T a n o a n a da e dfr o m T a n o t h e M e x ic a n iz e dfo r m o f a T e w a n a me P ; p t ,
dt o t h e s o u e n T e w a fo me s e e da o u a n ds o u o f t h e e s e n a n a F é a p p li e th r r rly ttl b t th p r t S t ,
N e w M e x i c o . O T IW N G GE D I E T O F T I HARRINGT N] A LA UA , AL C A OS 3
(3) Piro dialect: B . Towa language 1 m c ( ) Je ez diale t . 2 ( ) Pecos dialect .
C . Tewa language 1 a m ( ) San Ju n , Santa Clara , San I ldefonso , Na be , Poj oaque ,
Tesuque , an d Hano dialects .
The dialects of Sandia , Isleta , and Isleta del S u r have for three centu ries been known to the M exican popu lation of the region by m A m the n a e Tigua , obsc u re in origin . ore continen tal spel lin g is m m mm Tiwa . The ter Tigua o r Ti wa has al so beco e co only applied m to the closely related idio s of Taos an d Pic u ris . I n a recen t 1 m paper , the writer su ggested that the use of this na e be extended m sti l l ore widely to incl ude the Pi ro dialect . Th us al l the dialects of group A woul d be designated as Tiwa . It was also s uggested that the dialects of group B be known as
‘ m t o w a m constitutin g the Towa l an guage , since th e ter , eaning ” m native , is applied by the je ez and Pecos to their own language . The language of group C with its n umero us village dialects is k now n to both I ndian s and whites as Tewa , this being the word in th at la n g u a g e e qu iv a le n t to Jemez and Pecos t éw a an d likewise m eaning native .
w Thus we recognize th ree languages , Ti a , Towa , an d Tewa . The diagram on the followin g page sh ows the relative sizes an d position s of the areas occupied by these th ree lan guages at a period t m soon af er the co in g of the whites . R k oughly spea in g, the lan guages sti l l obtain i n the areas in k m which they were then spo en , the Pi ro dialect of Tiwa for ing a m k i notable exception . Piro was for erl y spo en in the country m mediately so uth of that held by the an cestors of t h e Sandia an d
I sleta . D u ring the eighteenth and nineteenth centu ries the dialect i n e i h b o r h o o do f was heard only in the g El Paso , and is probably now exti nct . The popul ation of Taos like that of the othe r pueblos is c o m
o s it m p e in origin . Tradition states that lon g ago a n u ber of
' ‘ c — H a r r n o n N o e s o n t h e P r o L a n u a e me r ic a n A n rlzr o o lo zs l O c t . D e c i gt , t i g g , A / g , . , — 1 0 6 . 9 9 , p p 5 3 59 4 I M N A N T f /R P N E I . O O L O G /S ? s . 12 1 10 4 A R CA [ , , 9 clans speaki ng vario us languages confederated to form the Taos
r people , and that this people th ro ugho u t its subsequent histo y in times of war and peace has grown by adoptin g in divid uals or groups k of in divid u als spea in g alien ton gues . Generations ago , it is said , very many Ute I n dian s were i ncorporated into the Taos tribe as the
n e res ult of a war . Probably s uch traditio faithful ly re ch oes the
D I A G R A M S h o w i n g T e n t a t i v e G r o u p i n g o f t h e T o n g u e s f t h e T a n o a n L n u s t c S t o c k o i g i i , R io G r a n de D r a i n a g e N e w M e x c o i ,
a b o u t 16 0 0 . A D .
5 T i w a L a n g u a g e
To w a L a n g u a g e
[HIM ] T e w a L a n g u a g e
prehistory of Taos . I t is certain that the vill age h as long been the mel ting pot of peoples and that these peoples spoke various lan
r i guages . The con q ue n g and s u rviving tongue is Tiwa , a Tanoan lan guage .
Taos Ti w a exh ibits conside r able divergence from the San dia - Is
- r l eta I sle ta del Su r va iety of the language , perhaps i ndicating long
A n ma n separation . I sleta who recently visited Taos preferred to M fl con du ct his conversation in exican jargon , uen t speech in the
h im A c o m dialect of Taos being q uite unintelligibl e to . n d yet O 7 1WA N G GE b l A L E C T O F T 1 HARRINGT N ] LA UA , A OS 5 p a r a t iv e study reveals the closest relationship between th e two dia
c k le ts . When Taos an d Picu ris people tal togeth er, Tiwa is used , these two dialects diffe ri ng as little from one another as do th e dia
c m le ts of the Tewa p ueblos . Piro possibly differed as widely fro m each of the othe r s ubgr o ups as these di ffered fro each other . A comparative study of th e three languages wi l l prove most m interesting . Tiwa , when co pared with the adj acent Tewa , appears to represent both ph oneti c al ly an d stru c turally a more archaic form
c m of Tanoan speech . I n fa t , th e relation of Tiwa to Tewa see s not un like that which Vo n der G a b e le n t z woul d have us believe
Tibetan bears to Chinese . Final consonants still retained in Ti wa ,
n a m have in Tewa decayed or disappeared . Th us Taos Tewa
" 7 m D m m , earth . iphthongs pro inent in Tiwa appear to have beco e
m S aid/2 ma n i n Tewa si ple vowel sou nds . Th us Taos 3 Tewa . Open vowels in Tiwa are generally represented in Tewa by c lose
a a — d vowels . Th us Taos p , Tewa p , thigh . The tongue raise
s vo w els of Tiwa exhibit in Tewa l ess raisin g of th e tongue . Th u
° t a M m m h Taos Tewa , to li ve . any for ative el e ents whic ma y not be omitted in Tiwa do not make their appearance in Tewa . " " ’ " ' " 73 an d12 2 2 42 u mci at all . Th us Taos , Tewa , yo u two are going ;
" s 5 ”ii ”a s e m n A c d a . Taos , Tewa , Tiwa senten e when transl ated into Tewa us ually contains fewer sou nds an d fewer syllabl es an d m i requires less stren uous ot ons of th e organs of speec h .
A m k m c ar ed usical ac ent has developed in Tewa , possibly as an accompaniment of some of the monosyl labic tendencies described
c t e above . This ac ent is as no iceabl an d , to the u nderstan ding of m o “ ” any w rds , is as indispensible as are the tones of Chi nese .
’ ‘ m a mo o n ld a For exa ple , the cognates of Taos p , , p , trail and p f , ’ ’ c o m o 0 water, are respe tively Tewa p , oon , p , trail , and f , water ,
m c distinguishable by their usical pit h only . The vowels of th e m th ree Tewa words see identical in quality , length , and stress . The ’ f m c o m dif erence lies in the usi al pitch , which in p , oon , is high ; in
' ' o o p , trai l , is lower ; i n p , rive r, is low and fal ling . S uch pitch ac cents of Tewa words are diffi c ult for the foreign ear to recogni ze ; it is al most i mpossible for adul t foreign organs to correctly repro
m. M d uce the usical accent i s present in Tiwa , as it is in all lan guages , bu t is not n oticeable an d i n no case appears essential to th e 16 M E I N N T H P GI 1 T N . s . 12 1 0 A R CA A R O OL O S [ , , 9
k A interpretation of a word . The writer n ows of no other merican lan guage in which featu res saliently characte ri stic of Chinese are m k developed to s uc h a re ar able exten t as in Tewa . There are m s mo n o s l any tenden cies i n language , and th o e which resu lt i n y la b is m m are as yet i perfectly understood . Th e Tan oan languages f m of er a pro ising field for the study of the growth of these tenden cies . Among va r ious other devel opments ch arac teristic of Tewa whic h have n ot been discovered in the other Tan oan lan guages , m A ablaut deserves ention here . blau t appears in Tewa no u n an d
" " m : u — e u — e a — z adjective ele ents . Th ree series occ u r , , .
" " u u a e e i The , , or grade in dicates large objects ; t he , , o r grade
m m : 1114 lze in dicates s al l obj ects . Exa ples are , arroyo , , arroyito ;
' " " ° mb u mb e a 7 fla t m , big bend , , little bend ; p g , large an d , s al l m an d flat . Prolon ged search has fai led to reveal an y si ilar phe n o me n o n r eithe in Ti wa or Towa . Th e German linguist Vo n der G a b e le n t z mention s an inven tion o f ablaut in the baby - tal k of his little n ephew which fo rms a strik in g parallel to the Tewa usage . This child expressed itself largely i n m k L a b el /Z m a language of its own a ing . was the n a e applied to a n I a b e l! m a r m- [2 732 71 ordinary chai r , z ean t great chai r, was used to ’ s A me m w a s ignify littl e dol l s chair . gain the word for watch or
mu m mi n : p l ate , referred to a large plate o r a roun d table , was ’ ' 1 m m mzm- mim- mim- mzm m t he na e for the oon , while ean t stars . m m The Towa language of je ez an d Pecos , as j udged by so e of m m its develop ents , appears to h ol d a position inter ediate between
a n d Tiwa Tewa . Inasmu ch as Tiwa i s apparen tly the most archaic of th e Tanoan m group as wel l as the si pl est ph onetically considered , an o utline of th at lan gu age is here presented , the dial ect of Taos havin g been m chosen . The Taos , as is u su al , consider the selves superior to al l other I ndian s . They have in finite disdain for thei r so uthern neigh
r m bors , the Tewa , who are regarded as having perve ted c usto s and m as speakin g a degene r ate for of the Taos language . They pride themselves especially on occupyin g the highest an d most n ortherly of al l the Pueblo vil lages , and the tradition that th e Pueblo I ndian s migrated original ly from the n orth is so impressed upon their minds
' ' d a m e a n l c C /nldN e w Y o r 1 0 . 1 u o e C . ! t by h b rl i , , k , 9 7, p 34 O T IW N G GE D I E T O F T 1 HARRINGT N ] A LA UA , AL C A OS 7 that this l ocation alone seems to them sufficient proof that they are the most pristine and unco rrupted of Pueblo vi l lagers .
° Taos Indians usually speak O f their pueblo as T o dt a when
T o?! b e? they are in or above it . When below the vil lage i s used .
‘ T a d O f r e ffi is the equivalent Tewa , ho uses , vil lage the a xes h ave ’ c i O ld m ]dla lo cative for e . I t is sa d that an na e of the village is
° ' o ° dl f t: l a la dl b ci m O f dl p or p , eaning the place the red (p ) will ows
o Va let O f c mm m 7 5dt a ( ) . The people Taos o only call the selves ’ " d7 m t z 16i a . , signifyin g literal ly th e people who live at the village ’ The form Taos is perhaps a M exi c an c orruption of t o d m m M M The Taos infor ants were th ree in n u ber an uel ondragon ,
é L M M m O b jos opez , and Santiago irabal . ost of the aterial was
° a in e d m m m T 5115 t from the infor ant fi rst na ed . His I ndian na e is ,
E lk r e S un . He is a patient fel low an d is deeply interested in th e cording of his language .
P H O N O L O G Y
G e n e r a l F lam e /[c C h a r a c t e r
The i mpression whi c h the Tiwa l an guage mak es on th e ear i s
m c o m s ooth an d pleasing . There are no hars h consonan ts an d no b in a t io n s of consonants except those cau sed by elision . Th e stops are
1 m n . gently exploded . Th e so unds , , and are freq uent The oral vowel s are clear and sono ro us . The orinasal vowels h ave little of the u npleasant nasal resonance which res ul ts when th e vel um is d rawn far
m O f forward . There is little in the pron unciation which re in ds one
m O f k e x c e s the tense , i pu re vowels of Towa ; the cho ing sou nds ,
m k m m c c sive n asalization , and re ar abl e devel op ent of usical a en t
c e O c c k whi h ch aracteriz Tewa ; f the coarse , ra ling , h alf voiced quality of Keresan ; o r of the voiced and u nvoiced mixed vow els promi m nent in Ute and in so e other Nah uatlan dialects .
T b e I n di v idu a l S o u n ds
I t a p p p e a r s that the Taos distinguish i n their speech eleven — - fiv e m k e t mo lo vowels and twenty consonants , a ing in al l thi rty six y g ic a ll y distinct individual sou nds . These soun ds vary considerably
Y e t c according to their settin g . with a little practi e they can be rec ognized by the speaker O f a European language even when ru n m together in rapid speech , an d can be readily i itated . — M A s . 12 1 A . N T H N . , . M E I N A R o z 0 0 1 N s 12 1 10 18 N T H o p 57 . . A R CA [ , , 9
The vowels are presented in the customary form of the vowel
c triangle . The conta t position s of the consonants are given in the B order in which these are visited b y the exhaled breath . eside each sou nd stands i n parenthesis an I ndo - G ermanic word con ta ini n g a nearly equivalent sou n d . Vowels O rinasal vowels “ a n le a (Fr . g , angle)
’ n n k a din do zz k a dzzzdo n . (Fr . , tu r ey) (Fr , tu r ey)
“ “ ’ k m i kt s fin zzizr S . S t . r a i zr i ( c , rays) u ( , sons) Oral vowels
a a (Eng . f ther) 1d 5 1a b a s 5 . (Fr . bas , down there) (Fr , down there)
m i . u i (Eng . ach ne) u (Eng r le) 6 o (Ger . sch n) Consonan ts
Semi - vowels
j (Eng . hallel uj ah) w w (Eng . a ay) L aryn x consonants
ma O ( y pen Eng . vowels begi nning le h (Eng . ow) B ack of tongue consonants k k (South Ger . atze , cat) k’ k O ff (En g . too ) a c /z x (Ger . ) E n 0 g ( g . £ ) “ k u r (Eng . qa ter) “ r ef/t a t x (North Eng . ) Front O f tongue conso nants
fa t (South Ger . g , day) ’ h a t O ff t (Eng . )
° t - I c o u s e t (Eng . swea ) do (1(En g . ) ’ z t (South Ger . ah n , tooth) " l s t (En g . ha off)
s o 5 (Eng . ) O T IW N G GE D I E T O F T 1 HARRINGT N] A LA UA , AL C A OS 9
ll i t /z/e s s 1 a . a (Welsh , clay ; En g p ) 1 l (Eng . ove)
n o w n (Eng . ) L ip consonan ts
p (South Ger . p oet , poet) ’ c a O ff p (En g . p )
° - 110 m p (En g . sheep )
b o b (Eng . y ) m ma n (Eng . ) Voiced and voi c eless sounds are not as clearly distin guished as in English .
e m - The ori nasal , i . . , o uth n ose , vowels are pronounced with the vel um han gin g freely as when one breath es through mouth an d t e nose simultaneously . I n heir production the voiced breath scapes m m mm th rou gh both outh and nose . Th e cal ls of the lower a als
r - O f m a e is are most frequently o r inas al . Th e bi th c ry the h u an b b
m O f and a si ilar sou n d is heard in the groaning the adult . m Vowel s of this class are very n u ero us in Tanoan . The oral vowels are produ ced with the vel u m drawn toward the rear wal l of the pharyn x so as to allow little or none O f the voiced 5 air to escape through the nose . The sou nd has n o co unterpart m k m among the orinasal vowels . I t rese bles wea ly roun ded Ger an k m 5. It soun ds li e the i pu re vowel of Shoshonean dialects
c r a 5 ii u whi h h as been variou sly w itten , , , . V m m owels are acco panied by uch breath , especial ly at the close .
" ° V h x t 9 m A owels following , , an d 7 are ore breathy than others . i special ser es of aspirated vowels has n ot been detected .
" " A voi c eless vowel of the quality of a res ults when a is most c m o pletely elided within a sentence . j an d t o differ from i and 11 respec tively only in bein g much
m c i shorter . They have n o ore fri at ve quality than do the vowels m which they rese bl e . The explosion produced by closin g an d then sudden ly openin g the glottis is one of the commonest sou nds in the lan guages of the world . This sound is heard in coughing an d grun ting . I n English
ma O O e O f mm u n it y ccur as an p ner vowels co encing a word . I t is naturally audible between the words at an d al l in a cu rrent affected 2 0 A A I E R I C A N N GI T P T N . s . 12 1 10 A H R O OL O S L , , 9 p r on u nciation of the ph rase at al l which distin guishes at al l from a
ma tal l . This soun d y be cal led the glottal catch or the glott al stop . I n Taos it is slightly audible before all syl lables which do not begin ’ c m . k t t with any other onsonan t I t also co bines with , , p , an d to ’ ' ’ ” m é t I r a v o w l c for , , p , , desc ibed below . I t is not heard as e loser .
la a , k The con sonant is wea whisper cau sed by glottal narrowin g . im i I t h as th e t ber of a cont guous vowel or vowel s .
‘ r r m 1 k c k t t The e are five se ies of outh stops ( ) wea ly voi ed , , , , " ' 2 m c O f t p ; ( ) with si ul taneou s losu re the gl ottis , , p ; (3) with
° " “ t m u k fol lowin g aspi ration , , p ; (4 ) with si u ltaneou s position , ; (5)
k fir m d5 wea ly voiced with lon g and contact , g , , . There is pe rhaps
— fir m k t ) O b sti ll another series , lon g an d , , j , which have been
" " " a O f a da b a served only as resu lt of th e elision the syllables g , , r i x espectively . There are indications that the fricative cont n uants “ x k m m and , now lac in g co plete closu re , are respectively derived fro
" earlier k and th u s making series (3) an d (4 ) more complete ; ” el m m 4 71 see below . H owever , g occasionally ass u es the for , sug
e s t in c x g g a onn ection between an d g . k t t ‘ The stops , , , p are very gently exploded as in South 1 German ; voice apparently does not c ease a n dis prominent sooner
O f k t after th e explosion than i n the case English , , . The spel l d p k i é O f . ings g , , p wou l d suggest th e character the sou nds ’ ' " ’ k t t c t m o c I n prono uncin g , , , p a losu re of the glot is see s to cu r simu ltaneously with the ass umin g o f the stop position by th e
O f m r m organs the o uth . The laryn x is then slightly aised , co press m A ing th e ai r between the glottis clos ure an d th e outh closu re . s a r esu lt of the for mation O f this smal l chamber of compressed air the mou th explosio n when it occu rs has sligh t force an d di ffers in a c o u s t ic effect from a mo uth explosion the air pressu re of which is
c A produ ed directly by the l u ngs . slight explosion in the laryn x r esemblin g the ordinary glottal stop desc ribed above follows i mmed
l m m m k O f ia t e y after the o uth explosion . So e of the a ers Tiwa m L” ' ' t . vocabu laries have o itted to write initial , , p They probably
o r heard on ly the laryn x explosion glottal stop , which as elsewh ere
1 T hi s p r o n u n c i a tio n is ill u s tr a te dby t h e mu c h qu o te ds a yi n g th a t K i n g G e o r ge I o f ” r E n gl a n dw a s fo n do f b o e t r y a n da t . O T IW N G GE D I E T O F T 2 1 HARRINGT N] A LA UA , AL C A OS
(2 a A c . . they neglected to re ord Th us , water , instead of p similar series O f stops existin g in th e M ayan languages O f M exico Am m ” and Central erica have been ter ed letras heridas , wounded
O f m Am letters . Perhaps the fortes an d velars so e other eri can languages are in realit y such sounds . The Georgian language O f the Cau c asus possesses stops which sou n d exac tly like these O f
m c Tiwa . The nearest English approxi ates are contained in su h
m k O