Mono language (California)

Mono ( ) is a Native American language of the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, the ancestral language of the Mono people. Mono consists of two dialects, Eastern and Western. The name "Monachi" is commonly used in reference to Western Mono and "Owens Valley Paiute" in reference to Eastern Mono. In 1925, Alfred Kroeber estimated that Mono had 3,000 to 4,000 speakers. Hinton (1994) reports only 90 elderly people spoke Mono as their first language. Mono is classified as critically endangered by UNESCO. It is spoken in the southern Sierra Nevada, the Mono Basin, and the Owens Valley of central-eastern California. Mono is most closely related to Northern Paiute; these two are classified as the Western group of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family."Mono." Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley. 2009-2010 (retrieved 6 May 2010)

Western Mono

Hinton (1994), presenting undated figures, estimated the number of native speakers to be between 37 and 41. The majority of speakers were from the Northfork Rancheria and the community of Auberry. The Big Sandy Rancheria and Dunlap had from 12 to 14 speakers. Golla (2007), also with undated figures, estimated the number of Western Mono speakers to be over 20, with another 100 semi-speakers.

The Northfork Mono are developing a dictionary, and both they and the Big Sandy Rancheria provide language classes. While not all are completely fluent, about 100 members of Northfork have "some command of the language." In the late 1950s, Lamb compiled a dictionary and grammar of Northfork Mono. The Western Mono language has a number of Spanish loanwords dating to the period of Spanish colonization of the Californias, as well as loanwords from Yokuts and Miwok.

Owens Valley Paiute Hinton (1994) estimated that 50 people spoke the Owens Valley Paiute language, also known as Eastern Mono. Golla (2007) estimated the number to be under 30.

Informal language classes exist and singers keep native language songs alive. Linguist Sydney Lamb studied this language in the 1950s and proposed the name Paviotso, but that was not widely adopted.The Handbook of Indians of California, by A. L. Kroeber (1919) says that the Owens Valley Paiutes are Northern Paiute or Mono/Bannock.

Phonemes

Vowels front centralback High Non-High

Vowel length is also evenly distributed among the dialects.

Consonants Below is given the consonant phoneme inventory of Northfork Western Mono and Owens Valley Paiute as presented by Lamb (1958) and Liljeblad & Fowler (1986).

+Consonants of Western Mono Bilabial Coronal Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal plain lab. plain lab. Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative Semivowel

+Consonants of Eastern Mono Bilabial Coronal Palatal Velar Glottal plain lab. Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative Semivowel

Geminated sounds of plosives, nasals and fricatives are also evenly distributed.

Suprasegmental Lamb (1958) also described four suprasegmental features that he ascribed phonemic status.

Morphology Mono is an agglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.

Mono language (California)

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