Cochimí Language
Cochimí was once the language of the greater part Baja California, as attested by Jesuit documents of the 18th century.
It seems to have become extinct around the beginning of the 20th century (Modern "Cochimi"-speakers are actually speakers of Kumiai.) There were two main dialects, northern and southern; the dividing line was approximately at the Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán, in the north of present-day Baja California Sur.
| Cochimí | |
|---|---|
| Laymón | |
| Native to | Mexico |
| Region | Baja California |
| Ethnicity | Cochimí people |
| Extinct | Beginning of 20th century |
Yuman–Cochimí
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | coj |
coj.html | |
| Glottolog | coch1272 |
| ELP | Laimón |
The Jesuit texts establish that the language was related to the Yuman languages of the Colorado River region. It is thought to be the most divergent language of the family, which is generally called Yuman–Cochimí to reflect this. Based on glottochronology studies, the separation between Cochimi and the Yuman languages is believed to have occurred about 1000 BC.
Cochimí text
Following is the Lord's Prayer in the dialect of San Ignacio Kadakaamán, recorded by Francisco Javier Clavijero from the work of the missionaries Barco and Ventura, which has been lost.
Va-bappa amma-bang miarnu,
rna-rnang-ajua huit maja tegem:
amat-mathadabajua ucuem:
kern-rnu-jua arnrna-bang vahi-mang amat-a-nang la-uahim.
Teguap ibang gual güieng-a.vit-a-jua ibang-a-nang packagit:
-mut-pagijua abadakegem, rnachi uayecgjua packabaya..guern:
kazet-aduangarnuegnit,pacurn:
guangrnayi-acg packadabanajarn.
Amén.
Phonology
The phonology of the Cochimí language is likely explained as follows:
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | ||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||||
| Fricative | s | ʃ | x | xʷ | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Approximant | w | j | |||||
Voiced consonants likely could have been either separate phonemes or phonetic alternates of voiceless sounds.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | (e) | (o) |
| Open | a | |
Mid vowels may be alternated with close vowel sounds.
References
This article uses material from the Wikipedia English article Cochimí language, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
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