GRAMMA& CONTACT AND TIME Marianne Mithun University of California, Santa Bar.bara l. Thc "drea: Callforrria North America is home to oonsiderable linguistio diversity, with 55-60 distinot language families and isolates in the traditional sense, that is, the largest genetic groups that can be established by the oomparative met&od. Of these, 22 are represented in California. Some Califomia languages are members of large families that extsnd ov€r wide areas of the continent, such as Uto-Azteoan, Algic (Athabaskan-Wiyot-Yurok), and Athabaskan-Eyak-T1ingit. Others belong to medium or snall families spoken mainly or wholly within California such as Utian (12 languages),Yuman (11), Pomoan (7), Chumashan(6), Shastan(4), Maidun (4), Wintun (4), Yokutsan (3), Palaihnihan (2), and Yuki-Wappo (2). Some are isolates: Karuh Chimariko, Yan4 Washo, Esselen, and Salinan. Most of the ourrently aooepted genetio classfioation was establishedover a century ago @owell 1891). Looations of the languagoscan be seenin Figure t. In 1903, Dixon and Kroeber noted skuctural resemblanoes among some ofthese families and isolates arld ascribsd them simply to oommon t'?ology. Tor years later, they hypothesized that the similarities might be due to distant gcnetio relatiorxhip and proposed" primarily on the basis of grammatioal skuoture" two possible 'stoclc' or groups of families, whioh they named Hokan and Penutian. The original Hokan hypotheis linted Karulq Chinariko, Yana, Shastaa, Palaihnihan, Pomoan, Esselen, and Yuman. Over the next half-oenhrry, various scholars added the Washo, Salinan, and Chumashan families from Califomia; the Tonkawa, Karankaw4 and Coahuilteoo languages from Texas; Seri, Tequistlatecan, and Tlappanec &om Mexioo; Subtiaba from Nioaragua; and Jioaque from Honduras- Some of the proposals remain promising, and others havo sinoe been abandoned. Evaluation of iheir validity remains difiioult, however. The proposed relatioaships would be remote, oomparable to those of Indo-European or deeper, and dooumentation of the languages, most of whioh are no longer spoken, is in many cases limited, Thsre has, fiirdremoro, been a long history of oontact. Tlte oigrnal Penutiaa hyyortefit gouped togetler the California families Maidun" Wintun, Utian (Miwok-Cortanoan), and Yokuts. Subsequent proposals added Takelma, Coos, Siuslaw, Alssa, Klamath-Modoo, Cayrse-Molala, Sahaptian, Takelnq Kalapuya" and Chinookan of Oregon; Tsimshianic of British Columbia; and Mixe-Zoquean and Huave of Mexioo. Ottgoing work continues to uncover promising lexioal resomblances among some of the families, but in goneral the difficulties are lhe same as for Hokan: the remoteness of the proposed relationships, in many oases limited documentatim, and the long history of oontaot. (More detailed histories of the Hokan and Penutian hypotheses can be found in Langdon 1990 on Hokan, Delancey and Journal of LanguageContaat - THEMA 1 (2007) www.jlc-joumal.otg 134 MarianneMithun Golla 1997on Penutiarqand Campbell(1997: 290-3O5,309-322) and Mthun (1999:303-304, 308-310)on thc two.) Yuro* Galifornialndian Ghlluls Tribal Groups Whllk|rt Northem Cfrlrnarlko Palute M6ttol,e Coaat Yull Huchno|n Lak6 tdtwgt Wappo Kltanemul California Indian LabraryColl€clions f igurel 2. Central Pomo prefhes Tho first part of the shared struchrre oonsists of sets of verbal prefixes tlat indicate m€ans or manner of motion, suoh as those visitrlo in (1) below fron Central Pomo. Central Pomo is one of ths seven languages of the Pomoan family, is indigenous to an rea of Northsrn Califomia extending from approximately 100 miles north of San Franoisoo northward, and from the ooast about 40 miles inland. Material oited hsre oomes from speaken Salome Aloantra, Alioc Elliott, Jcsse Fradg Frano€s Jaolq Eileen Oropeza, and Florenoe Paoli. (1) Cenhal Pom.overbs a. ya:q 'know' ds-ya:q' 'reoognizeby feeling around(with han&)' 'reoognizeby touohing (with fingers)' /-ri'n' 'recognizevisually (by sight)' gq-yd:q' 'recognizc (food) by tasting' Joumal of Languagecontact- THEMA I (2007) www.jlc-joumal.org Grammar,contact and time 135 E-Ya:q 'reoognize (a drink) by tarting' bs-ya:q' 'follow an order' 'stick together, be alongsidc of eaoh other' ds-d'e:i' 'push on something that sticks in your hand' 'atick on with fingets, as chewing gum under a table' u"-a'e,e' 'stqr on a nail or soolething that stioks in yor|r foot' !fu-ti'a:i' 'sit o1ra thorn, put a patoh on pants' 'rtiok up a pole, pitohfor! ehovel, eto. in the ground' i-a'e,;' 'oatoh fire' L-A e:c 'hammer a nail into the wall, nail something on' pls.a'e,A' 'something floating downriver gets stuok on the bark' t-tt'i: i' '\,l'hile one is &inking, something getr in0o the mouth that docsn't belong: bug, dirt' ia-d'd:i' 'stiok a support, as a box, ne>d to something long, Iike fenoeposts stored upright for use' a. h-k'*n 'olose a door' !-k'in 'close a gat€' f-tc'r:n 'nail somothing shul like a box, blow something shut like a window' d4-k'nh 'blool as a doorway' :-k'liLh 'olose something up with the fmgers' t-k'nn 'be blocked by vegetation, like a tunnol ovorgroun wifi brush' a-k'in 'be oonstipated' d. ds-kel 'h'rush away dirt' as-kll 'wipe feet' 'wipe off, as a baby's dirty faoe' _w 'wash off :-kit 'clean, as pebbles out ofbeans before oooking thcrn' !-k4t 'pull up weeds out oflawn' L-Ket 'hoe dirt to make it look nioe' e' '-q'al 'finish a tark' z'q'al 'finish sowiag something' de-q',;l 'finish peeling, as apples or potatoes' s9-s'dl 'finish eating something' tq'dl 'finish drinking something' bs-q',tt 'fmish a speeoh' oh-q'al 'finish reading a book' c_-q at 'win a game' {a-q'dl 'steal' (Coast and Yorlorille dialeots) A substantial proportion of the verbs in ths language contain prefixes of this B?e. The Central Pomo prefxes af,e alearly derivational. Over the oourse of developnent of the language, speaksrs have used thsm to or€ate new lexical items as needed for nameworthy eonoepts. Speakors know'arhich combinations exist in the language, which oould exist but do not, and which would not be well formed. The prefix y'r-,for example, s€€n above n h-k' n' 'olose a door', occurs in large numbers of Cantral Pomo verbs, contributing suoh mcanings as 'moving a long objeot lengthwise', 'poking', 'thrusting', labbing', and 'throwing'. The root q'al 'frnish, complete' forms the basis for a number of verbs, as seqr above: 'frnish a task', 'finish sewing something', 'finish peeling something', 'fiaish eating something', 'finish drinking something', 'frnish a speeoh', 'finish reading something', and more. There is, however, no verb h-q'al'oomplete poking'. Apparently spaakeishave not felt the need for such a terrn. The prefrx-root oombinations are not oonrtructed answ eaoh tirne they are used: they are formed onoe, then leamed stored and used as single lexical items. In fact the root q'dl- no longer occlrrs on its owrr in the language: it now appears only in the verbs with prefixes. The lexioalization of the prefrx-root oombinations is also apparent in the translations providcd by Journal ol LanguageContact - THEMA 1 (2007) www.jlc-joumal,org 136 MarianneMithun spoakers. The verb i-kel is lirerclly 'clean by pulling', but the speaker rendered it as weeding a lawn. The verb '-kdl is literally 'olean with fine finger aotion', but it was hanslated as pioking pebbles out of beans before oooking- Not surprisingly, many derived stems have somewhat idiomatic meanings, eitier beoause they were first ooincd for a speoifio purpose, or beoause their original meanings have shifted over time. The verb ba-yd:q'in (1)a is literally 'orally reoognize', but it is usually used to mean 'follow an order'. The verb da-q'dl n (1)e ir literally 'finish off by pulling', but in the Point-Arena,Manohester and Yorkville dialeats, it is used to mean 'swipe' or 'steal'. Such morphemes have sometimes been referred to as 'inskumental affixes', beoause tley often evoke an instrument: 'with the hands', 'with the feet', 'with a knifo', 'by firo', eto. They have also been temed 'lexioal affixes' beoauss tleir meanings seem quite eonorete, more like drose of roots or whole words. Their meanings are aotually more abstraot and difirse than those typical ofnouns donoting instruments like 'hand' or 'knife'. Even from the few examples above, we can see that lhe pref* da- oould be kanslated 'by hand', 'by touohing', 'with the paln', or 'by pushing'r fo-ya:q' 'reoognize by feeling around (with hands)', da-a'i:i' 'push on something that stioks in your hand', de-kel 'brush away dirt'. The prefix s-, secn above in {- ya:q' 'reaognhe (a drink) by tasting' wtd g-d'6:i' 'u'hile one is drinking, something gets into the mouth that doosn't belong, suoh as a bug or dirt', appears in vorbs of drinking, eating mushy food, sipping, suoking, smoking, swallowing, whistling, whispering rain, and more. The prefix ia-, n ia-k'{m 'bloolq as a doorway', ig-d'e;i' 'sit on a thorn, put a patah on pants' ard ia-q'al 'finish peeling, as apples or potatoes', is used in veib,s involving a massive objeot, espeoially the buttools- but also in verbs involving cutting. The prefix l-. seenabove in fkel'wipe off. as a baby's dirty faae', !-q'dl 'win a game'. and f-k'un 'be blooked by vegetation, like a tunnel overgrown with brush', has an espeoially wide range of meanings involving round masses like rooks and the head, shooting, gambling, flowing, and vegotative grotth. The ranges of meaning are due to several kinds offaotors, only somE of whioh oan be reoover€d.