Purisimeño was one of the Chumashan languages traditionally spoken along the coastal areas of Southern California near Lompoc. It was also spoken at the La Purisima Mission.
A vocabulary of "La Purrissima or Kagimuswas (Purismeno Chumash)" was collected by Henry Wetherbee Henshaw in 1884. John P. Harrington also documented the language, and wrote a sketch of the grammar.
Dr. Timothy Henry of the Western Institute for Endangered Language Documentation (WIELD) created a dictionary of the language.
Phonology +ConsonantsBilabialAlveolarPostalveolarPalatalVelarUvularPharyngealGlottalVoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicedPlosivePlainAspiratedEjectiveFricativePlainAspiratedEjectiveAffricatePlainAspiratedEjectiveApproximantPlainGlottalizedNasalPlainGlottalized +VowelsFrontCentralBackCloseiuMideǝoOpen The exact backness of is difficult to determine. It was either a central or back vowel.
Grammar
Nouns + Person/number prefixes1st 2nd3rdsingulardualpluralunspecified
Articles Like many Chumashan languages, Purisimeño contains articles which can and possibly must be used in combination with nouns. Their exact function is unclear but some inferences can be gained. The first article, the prefix seemingly was used a default in citation form and can tentatively be interpreted as a marker of indefiniteness or unidentifiability, while the second article, the prefix can in turn be interpreted as a marker of definiteness and/or identifiability. Though, due to a lack of surviving sources on the language it is difficult to say this with certainty.
Associative case The associative case in Purisimeño is marked by the prefixes , , , or ; and is used with nouns that usually have a strong association with a particular person such as the words for friend (), carrying net (), pinkie (), and thumb ().
Tense Purisimeño had three tense markers for future, immediate future, and past tense with the past tense being attested in nouns which had some relation to the past but where somehow still relevant in the present such as footprint ().
Orthography + Purisimeño alphabet ’ a e ǝ h i k l ~ ł l̓ m m̓ n n̓ o p pʰ p̓ q qʰ q̓ s sʰ s̓ š šʰ š̓ t tʰ t̓ ts tsʰ ts̓ tš tšʰ tš̓ u w w̓ x ~ x̂ x̓ y y̓
References
External links Wieldoc.org: Purisimeño Project at the Western Institute for Endangered Language Documentation Purisimeño language — overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages. Language-archives.org: OLAC resources in and about the Purisimeño language