Documentation:RelLex/Yokuts Dialect Survey

Yokuts Dialect Survey

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Language Name

General Yokuts: Buena Vista, Palewyami, Kings River, Gashowu, Tule-Kaweah, Valley Yokuts.

Alternate Language Names

Buena Vista: Buena Vista Yokuts, Tulamni, Hometwali/Humetwadi/Homtinin, Tuhohi/Tohohai/Tuhohayi

Palewyami: Altinin, Poso Creek Yokuts

Kings River: Wikchamni/Wukchumni, Yawdanchi/Nutaa, Bokninuwad

Gashowu: We are unaware of any other language names.

Tule-Kaweah: Wikchamni/Wukchumni, Yawdanchi/Nutaa, Bokninuwad

Valley Yokuts: Northern Valley Yokuts, Southern Valley Yokuts

Region

California, United States.

Who

A.L. Kroeber.

Others Involved

Bell H. Hymes (Preface); Bob Ogden, José María, Peter Christman, María, Marinacia, Mrs. Solto, Squaw Valley Jack, Jennie Tom, Kings River Bill, Mary, Guadalupe, Blind Bill, Mrs. Mathews, Molly, Jim Johnson, Dick Neale, Bill Wilson, Tip, Pascual, Mary, Bob Bautista, Bergen, Tom, Mrs. Bautista, Cross Creek Charlie, Jim Fisher, Frank Ryan (Speakers).

Publishing Information

Published 1963 in Anthropological Records, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 177–251 by the University of California Press, Berkeley.

How People are Cited

People are cited by name in the Preface and Sources of the Tribal Vocabularies in Order of Their Natural Groupings section. Speakers names included in 'Others Involved' (above) are as written in the resource itself, and some include problematic or offensive descriptors. Others are identified only by their first name or surname. Many of the speakers did not disclose their entire legal name to the author and are therefore identified by their communities, familial relations, and dialects.

How Information is Cited

Speakers are cited under Sources of the Tribal Vocabularies in Order of Their Natural Groupings on pp. 179–181. Previous publications are listed in the Works Referred to section on pp. 250–251.

Where is Information Coming from

Information in this resource comes mainly from speakers during the author's years of fieldwork (starting as early as 1900). There is a detailed account of the speakers and the author's fieldwork experience through the History and Procedure section at the start of this resource. Previous publications (many of which are authored by the author of this resource) used are listed in the Works Referred to section at the end of the resource.

Tools and Framework used

This resource is available in both physical and digital forms.

Access

The physical version is accessible through libraries. The digital version is open access online through the Berkeley Library.

Included Languages and Directionality

English to Buena Vista, Palewyami, Kings River, Gashowu, Tule-Kaweah, and Valley Yokuts.

Dialects Included

This resource includes information from several dialects of several languages within the Yokutsan language family.

Included dialects from the Buena Vista language: Tulamni and Hometwoli/Xometwoli/Khometwoli

Included dialects from the Tule-Kaweah language: Yawdanchi and Wükchamni

Included dialects from the Kings River language: Chukaimina, Michahay, Ayticha, and Choynimni

Included dialects from the Valley Yokuts language(s): Northern Valley Yokuts (including Chukchansi, Kechayi, Dumna, and Chawchila) and Southern Valley Yokuts (including Wechihit, Nutúnutu, Tachi, Chunut, Wo'lasi/Wowlasi, Choynuk, and Yawelmani)

For the following included languages, no dialect is specified: Palewyami and Gashowu.

These dialects are listed as they are in the resource, and may therefore be listed with outdated names.

Type of Dictionary

This comparative vocabulary word list is part of an academic article intended to compare the languages and dialects of the Yokutsan language family.

How are Entries Organised

This academic article was undertaken to compare Yokutsan languages and dialects. Prior to the vocabulary, the article covers the history of the project and a description of the dialects included.

The author had a 300-word list that he then systematically collected the varying Yokutsan terms for. This 300-word list is what constructs the main vocabulary section. The comparative vocabulary section (starting on p. 186) is organized so that the English headword runs along the x-axis (horizontal) of the page. The 21 included Yokutsan language and dialect names are listed in a column on the far left of the page to identify the terms to the language or dialect. The Yokutsan language terms are written below the English headword in a column, aligned with their language or dialect name as identification. Each column (i.e., entry) is numbered. There are some numbers missing from the columned entries. These are terms that were not gathered from all 21 included languages/dialects, and they can be found in the section following the main vocabulary that includes terms of nine or fewer forms.

Following the main comparative vocabulary, there is a section of Additional Lexical Materials, which includes topical word lists. The terms in this section were supplied by speakers and are words outside of the 300-word list the author used for the main vocabulary section. Topics included in this section are persons, body parts, artifacts, nature, plants, animals, adverbial, adjectives, verbs, interjections, language and tribal names, and ritual. Entries in these word lists include the English headword and any Yokutsan terms. The different languages and dialects are marked with abbreviated versions of the names as determined on pp. 179 and 182. Other included lexical materials are a Tachi vocabulary and dialectical comparison, a Wükchamni vocabulary, tribal names in eleven dialects, and a discussion of plurals.

The final sections of this article covers information such as sound shifts and cognates between dialects, classes of words, dialectical relations, revised classifications of Yokutsan languages, stem usage and stem cognates in Yokutsan languages, and a comparison of Yokutsan languages and Athabaskan languages of Northern California.

Other Features

Feature	Included	More Information
Guide to use and understand	✅	Various information throughout the first section, History and Procedure, related to entry setup
Audio	❌
Images	❌
Example phrases	❌
Speakers marked	❌
Dialects marked	✅	Listed in a column along the left-side of each page; abbreviated forms used in word lists identified on pp. 179 and 182

Other Notes

This resource is an academic article that compares Yokutsan languages and dialects. The included vocabulary used for the comparative study is only 300 words (however, there are several word lists of vocabulary collected beyond the scope of the 300-word list). This is, therefore, not a comprehensive documentation of any Yokutsan language vocabulary.

External Links

Reference on WorldCat: https://search.worldcat.org/title/2651357

The open access, digital version can be directly accessed here through Berkeley Library: https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/ucar011-004.pdf

A review by William W. Elmondorf (1965) of this resource in American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 67, No. 4 can be accessed on JSTOR through institutional login or a JSTOR subscription: https://www.jstor.org/stable/668787?saml_data=eyJzYW1sVG9rZW4iOiIyNmFlOTU5NC1lN2ZmLTRjMWQtYjBkNi1hYjYyMzVkODJjMWYiLCJpbnN0aXR1dGlvbklkcyI6WyIxMjJiMTFjOS00YWE5LTQzY2UtYWQzZS0xMmUyYTE4YmU3ZWUiXX0

Reference of William W. Elmondorf's 1965 review on WorldCat: https://search.worldcat.org/title/9970887080