Shasta language

Extinct language of Shasta people in Western United States

Shasta

Native to| United States
Region| primarily northern California
Ethnicity| Shasta people
Extinct| 1980s

Language family

Hokan ?

* Shasta–Palaihnihan
* Shastan
* Shasta

Language codes
ISO 639-3| `sht`
Glottolog| `shas1239`
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Shasta language is an extinct Shastan language formerly spoken from northern California into southwestern Oregon. It was spoken in a number of dialects, possibly including Okwanuchu. By 1980, only two first language speakers, both elderly, were alive. Today, all ethnic Shasta people speak English as their first language. According to Golla, there were four distinct dialects of Shasta:[1]

* Ikirakácˑu (Oregon Shasta)
* Iruhikwáˑcˑu (Klamath River Shasta)
* Uwáˑtuhúcˑu (Scott Valley Shasta)
* Ahútˑireˀeˑcˑu (Shasta Valley Shasta)

## Phonology

[edit]

### Consonants

[edit]

| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal

|
|
|
|
|

plain | affricated
Stop | ejective | pʼ pʼː | tʼ tʼː | tsʼ t͡sʼː | t͡ʃʼ t͡ʃʼː | kʼ kʼː |
unaspirated | p pː | t tː | ts t͡sː | t͡ʃ t͡ʃː | k kː | ʔ ʔː
Fricative |  | s sː |  | x xː | h hː
Nasal | m mː | n nː |  |  |
Approximant |  | r | j | w |

The length of a consonant distinguishes meaning in Shasta words. All stops, fricatives and nasals can occur as long or short in Shasta, but approximants /r j w/ only occur as short consonants.[2] Minimal pairs and near minimal pairs are shown below:

* /t͡ʃákàráx/ a gnat vs. /t͡sàkːírʔ/ a board
* /ʔátʼùʔ/ nothing vs. /ʔátʼːùʔ/ wild sunflower
* /ʔìsíkʼːàʔ/ a person vs. /ʔìsːíkʼ/ cold

### Vowels

[edit]

Shasta has four vowels, /i e a u/, with contrastive length, and two tones: high and low.

| Front | Central | Back

|
|
|

short | long | short | long | short | long
Close | i | iː |  |  | u | uː
Mid | e | eː |  |  |  |
Open |  |  | a | aː |  |

### Orthography

[edit]

Silver (1966) devised a spelling system for distinguishing consonants and vowels in Shasta. Long phonemes are represented with the symbol ⟨ˑ⟩ following the character (e.g. ⟨cˑ⟩ and ⟨eˑ⟩ for/ t͡sː/ and /eː/, respectively); ejectives are indicated by an apostrophe written over the character (e.g. ⟨p̓⟩ for /pʼ/). The phoneme /j/ is represented by ⟨y⟩, and the glottal stop /ʔ/ is represented by the superscript IPA symbol ⟨ˀ⟩. The letters ⟨b d f g j l q v z⟩ are not used to represent Shasta sounds.

Shasta alphabet  A a  | Aˑ aˑ  | C c  | Cˑ cˑ  | C̓ c̓  | C̓ˑ c̓ˑ  | Č č  | Čˑ čˑ  | Č̓ č̓  | Č̓ˑ č̓ˑ  | E e  | Eˑ eˑ  | H h  | Hˑ hˑ  | I i  | Iˑ iˑ  | K k  | Kˑ kˑ  | K̓ k̓  | K̓ˑ k̓ˑ  | M m  | Mˑ mˑ

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

N n  | Nˑ nˑ  | P p  | Pˑ pˑ  | P̓ p̓  | P̓ˑ p̓ˑ  | R r  | S s  | Sˑ sˑ  | T t  | Tˑ tˑ  | T̓ t̓  | T̓ˑ t̓ˑ  | U u  | Uˑ uˑ  | W w  | X x  | Xˑ xˑ  | Y y  | ˀ  | ˀˑ  |

#### Tones

[edit]

Shasta vowels can have low or high tones. High tones are marked by an acute accent ⟨′⟩ in the orthography devised by Silver (1966), whereas low tones are left unmarked. Examples for the vowel /u/ are given below:

IPA  | Orthography

|

/ú/  | ú
/úː/  | úˑ
/ù/  | u
/ùː/  | uˑ

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian languages. University of California Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 9780520266674. OCLC 767533019.
2. ^ Silver, Shirley (1966). The Shasta Language (Ph.D. thesis). University of California. pp. 37–38.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Golla, Victor (2011), California Indian languages, Berkeley: University of California Press
* Mithun, Marianne (1999), The Languages of Native North America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

## External links

[edit]

* Shasta language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
* Shasta basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
* OLAC resources in and about the Shasta language

* v
* t
* e

Languages of California

Italics indicate extinct languages

Indigenous|

| Algic|

* Wiyot
* Yurok

|

Athabaskan|

* Tolowa
* Hupa
* Mattole
* Cahto
* Wailaki

Chumashan|

* Obispeño
* Cruzeño
* Purisimeño
* Ineseño
* Barbareño
* Ventureño

Ohlone|

* Karkin
* Chochenyo
* Ramaytush
* Tamyen
* Awaswas
* Mutsun
* Rumsen
* Chalon

Hokan|

* Chimariko
* Karuk
* Achomawi
* Atsugewi
* Northeastern Pomo
* Eastern Pomo
* Southeastern Pomo
* Northern Pomo
* Central Pomo
* Southern Pomo
* Kashaya
* Washo
* Mojave
* Kumeyaay
* Yana
* Yahi

Penutian|

* Klamath-Modoc
* Yokuts
* Buena Vista Yokuts
* Gashowu Yokuts
* Kings River Yokuts
* Palewyami
* Tule–Kaweah Yokuts
* Valley Yokuts
* Wintu
* Miwok
* Bay Miwok
* Coast Miwok
* Lake Miwok
* Plains Miwok
* Central Sierra Miwok
* Northern Sierra Miwok
* Southern Sierra Miwok
* Maiduan
* Chico
* Maidu
* Konkow
* Nisenan

Shastan|

* Konomihu
* New River Shasta
* Okwanuchu
* Shasta

Uto Aztecan|

* Cahuilla
* Cupeño
* Kawaiisu
* Kitanemuk
* Luiseño-Juaneño
* Mono
* Northern Paiute
* Panamint
* Serrano
* Tataviam
* Tongva
* Tübatulabal
* Ute

Wintuan|

* Nomlaki
* Patwin
* Southern Patwin
* Wintu

Yukian|

* Yuki, Wappo

Language isolates
and unclassified|

* Esselen, Chimariko, Karuk, Salinan, Takelma
Plains Sign Talk

Non-Indigenous|

| Indo-European|

* American English
* California English
* Chicano English
* Californian Spanish
* Armenian
* Persian
* Punjabi
* Russian

|

Asian|

* Chinese
* Korean
* Tagalog
* Vietnamese

Sign language|

* American Sign Language

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Hokan languages

Shastan|

* Konomihu
* New River Shasta
* Okwanuchu
* Shasta

Palaihnihan|

* Achumawi
* Atsugewi

Pomoan|

* Central Pomo
* Eastern Pomo
* Kashaya
* Northeastern Pomo
* Northern Pomo
* Southern Pomo
* Southeastern Pomo

Yuman|

* Cochimí
* Kiliwa

| Delta–California|

* Cocopah
* Ipai
* Kumeyaay
* Tipai

|

River|

* Maricopa
* Mojave
* Quechan

Pai|

* Paipai
* Upland Yuman
* Hualapai dialect
* Havasupai dialect
* Yavapai

Pakawan|

* Coahuilteco
* Cotoname
* Comecrudo
* Garza
* Mamulique

Tequistlatecan|

* Huamelultec
* Tequistlatec
* Highland Oaxaca Chontal

Other|

* Chimariko
* Esselen
* Jicaquean
* Tol
* Western Jicaque
* Karuk
* Salinan
* Seri
* Washo
* Yana/Yahi

Italics indicate extinct languages
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template