Yaqui (or Hiaki), locally known as Yoeme or Yoem Noki, is a
Native American language of the
Uto-Aztecan
The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...
family. It is spoken by about 20,000
Yaqui people in the
Mexican state
A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...
of
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
and across the border in
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is partially intelligible with the
Mayo language, also spoken in Sonora, and together they are called
Cahitan languages.
Phonology
The remarks below use the
orthography
An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis.
Most national ...
used by the
Pascua Yaqui Tribe in the United States. There are also several orthographic systems used in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
differing slightly, mainly in using
Spanish values for several consonants and Spanish spelling rules: "rohikte" would be written "rojicte". There are minor differences in the sounds of Mexican and American dialects, the latter tending to exclude an intervocalic "r" and final "k".
Vowels
Yaqui vowel sounds are similar to those of Spanish:
Vowels may be either short or
long
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
in duration. Often, long vowels are shortened when the word they are used in is used constructively: 'maaso' ('deer') is shortened to 'maso' in 'maso bwikam' ('deer songs'). Long vowels are written by doubling the vowel. Long vowels may change
tone
Tone may refer to:
Visual arts and color-related
* Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory
* Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color
* Toning (coin), color change in coins
* ...
, but that is not represented in the written language. Yaqui has often been described as being a tonal or "pitch accent" language, but the modern forms of the language do not show any widespread and significant use of
tonemes.
Consonants
The following consonantal sounds are present in Yaqui: b, ch, (d), (f), (g), h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, and one or two
glottal stop
The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...
s (IPA ), represented by an
apostrophe
The apostrophe (, ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes:
* The marking of the omission of one o ...
. Except for the glottal stops, most of them are pronounced nearly the same as they are in
English, but "p", "t", and "k" are not
aspirated. In the IPA, they are respectively .
Many Yaqui speakers pronounce b and v exactly the same, as . That appears to be intrinsic to Yaqui, rather than from the influence of Spanish, which has a similar feature. Additionally, there are two consonants written as clusters: "bw" (IPA ) and "kt" (IPA ), "bw" being a rounded "b" ('bwikam') and "kt" a simultaneous articulation of "k" and "t" ('rohikte'). The "kt" sound is found in many other Uto-Aztecan languages. Pronunciation of the rounded "b" as "b"+"w" and the "kt" as "k"+"t" is acceptable but non-native.
Also, "d", "f", and "g" are present only in
English and
Spanish loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
s and are substituted with the native sounds "t"/"r"/"l", "p", and "w"/"k", respectively.
In
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, many speakers substitute "g" for syllable-initial "w". That is largely because Spanish lacks a /w/
phoneme
A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...
. The
phone is present in Spanish not as an independent consonantal phoneme but as a variant of the vowel /u/ and the consonant /g/ when it is before a /u/ or /o/. The use of "g" in place of "w" is considered by Yaqui speakers as an influence from
Spanish and not standard Yaqui usage, even in Mexico.
Glottal stops
There is at least one glottal stop, which is
phonemic
A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...
. There also appears to be a "fainter" glottal stop that is sometimes used between vowels but with apparently little predictability. Whether it is phonemic or not is still unclear.
Sound symbolism
Sound symbolism
In linguistics, sound symbolism is the perceptual similarity between speech sounds and concept meanings. It is a form of linguistic iconicity. For example, the English word ''ding'' may sound similar to the actual sound of a bell.
Linguistic ...
is present in Yaqui. For example, a word with the phoneme /l/ in it may be pronounced normally, to denote approval from the speaker, or with /r/ replacing the /l/, to denote disapproval or disfavor on the part of the speaker. Either form is correct.
Devoicing
Devoicing
In phonology, voicing (or sonorization) is a sound change where a voiceless consonant becomes voiced due to the influence of its phonological environment; shift in the opposite direction is referred to as devoicing or surdization. Most commonl ...
occurs at the ends of phrases. That is especially notable with the phoneme /m/ and with vowels. Yaqui speech often sounds "breathy" to English speakers.
Gestures
One word, ''laute'', has two contradictory meanings in translation into English: "quickly" and "slowly". (Incidentally, English has similar words of contrasting meanings: ''mercurial'', which can mean either "unhesitating" or "scatter-brained", and ''quite'' which can mean "very" or "a little".)
''Laute'' is often accompanied with a quick or slow open-handed movement to indicate the meaning, or it could be translated as "at a different speed" and requires a hand gesture to indicate the nature of the difference when that is needed for clarification.)
Grammar
Syntax
Yaqui word order is generally
subject–object–verb.
The object of a sentence is suffixed with "-ta".
Word order structures
Subject object
The following sentences display a variation of the language's structure and the forms allowed. In the following example, we can see an S and an O. This structure of SO is allowable due to a common feature among languages— the verb/ copula to be. 'He' is the subject in this example and since 'he' shows no variation in positioning in the sentence, there will not be further explanation for it. The object in this example 'child' has the possessor 'him' preceding to show ownership, but what is being possessed by 'him' is the child. Therefore, 'child' has a nominalizer for being the object of the sentence and a possession marker on it for being possessed. Having the nominalizer on the 'child' allows the subject 'he' to imply a state of being on the 'child'. This structure SO uses the ''to be'' verb/ copula, when information is being stated that x is y.
Subject verb object
In the following example, we can see an example of where the primary word order SOV, deviates to become SVO. Note the pronoun 'I' doesn't have any case marking active and is in pronoun form (see Cases on Pronouns). Next, on the first or main verb 'able', there isn't any specification for the type of verb. When the main verb is followed by another verb, it seems the second verb becomes intransitivized. On the object of the sentence 'axe', there are multiple cases active: accusative case (the direct object of the verb), a plural suffix, and an instrumental case (the means by how or with what something gets done) on the noun.
Object subject verb
The following is an additional example that shows variant in word order than previously seen— OSV. In this structure, a suffix called connective is used to show that two constituents are being connected; simply, they function as a conjunction. Although this is a simple function, it is worth mentioning in understanding the way Yaqui functions as a system. The subject comes after the object in the correct subject pronoun form. Following is the verb 'remember', which may be a trigger to the word order. Perhaps this word order implies the topic should be ''who/what'' is being remembered.
Case
Yaqui is a "
noun-heavy"
agglutinative
In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes (word parts), each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglu ...
language.
For example, the first person singular pronoun "in" or "ne" (which varies by dialect), is more often used in the form "inepo", which can be translated "within me". The "-(e)po" ending is quite common and seems to denote much more than simple physical inclusion.
Cases are marked on the nouns with suffixes. The following is a list of all the cases that are marked in the language.
Nouns
Plural nouns are formed by adding the suffix "-im", or "-m" if the noun ends in a vowel. If the noun ends in a "t", it changes to "ch" when "-im" is added.
:* ''Tekil'' - Job
:* ''Tekilim'' - Jobs
If a plural noun is the object of a sentence, the suffixation of "-t" or "-ta" is not used.
Verbs
Usually, adding the suffix "-k" to a verb indicates past tense, though there are many exceptions. If a verb ends in a diphthong, "-kan" is added. If a verb ends in "-i", "-akan" is added. If a verb ends in "-o" or "-u", "-ekan" is added, and if a verb ends in "-a", "-ikan" is added. If a verb ends in "-k", "-an" is added.
Regularly, "-ne" indicates the future.
Tense and aspect
Yaqui possess a "prior state" or 'used to be, now deceased' suffix. It is -tu-káꞋu. This specific suffix attaches to a nominal noun to indicate a prior existence, but can also attach as a verb to reflect the state of a human noun (not only animate). For example, (suffixed as a verb) to the right.
The following is a table on the various tense markers that act more as aspectual values and epistemic states.
Adjectives
In Yaqui, adjectives very often act as verbs (in
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...
linguistics, they would be called ''
stative verbs''). For instance, "''vemela''" or "new", would most often be used to mean "is new". Adjectives have tenses, the same as verbs.
Reduplication
Reduplication
In linguistics, reduplication is a Morphology (linguistics), morphological process in which the Root (linguistics), root or Stem (linguistics), stem of a word, part of that, or the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change.
The cla ...
is present in Yaqui.
Reduplicating the first syllable of a verb indicates habitual action:
:* ''eta'' - shuts
:* ''e'eta'' - usually shuts
Primary reduplication is also used to pluralize adjectives.
Reduplicating the second consonant of a verb is used to show that an action is performed rarely.
Sample words and phrases
:* ''o'ow'' - man
:* ''hamut'' - woman
:* ''tu'i hiapsek'' - kind (lit. "good hearted")
:* ''yantela -'' peace
:* ''halla'i'' - friend
:* ''maaso'' - deer
:* ''aamu'' - to hunt
:* ''totoi'' (plural. ''totoim) -'' chicken
:* ''aman ne tevote em yevihnewi'' - "I extend my greetings"
Greetings often are very formal. The following formula of four phrases is often used even among close friends:
:* ''Lios em chania'' - "Greetings!" (to one person, to more than one: ''Lios em chaniavu'') (lit. "God preserves you!", ''Lios''
ometimes pronounced ''Lioh''is a very early borrowing of the Spanish "Dios")
:* ''Lios em chiokoe'' - (the reply to the above, lit. "God pardons you!")
:* ''Empo allea'' - "May you rejoice!" (lit. "In you happy", 'allea' is said to be from the Spanish 'alegre', meaning 'happy')
:* ''Kettu'i'' - "How kind!"
Kinship terminology
Language revitalization and teaching
In 2009, the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council and the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
collaborated on a program in which tribal elders teach the Yaqui language to families. As of 2010, a revitalization project was underway at the university, "using 30 year old audio tapes recorded by tribal member Maria Leyva."
As of 2012, "Any teaching materials, tools, lessons, audio lessons, etc.," on the website of the
Pascua Yaqui Tribe were "restricted to 'Tribally enrolled Members' only."
References
Bibliography
*
*
* (published posthumously)
*
*
External links
Yaqui Vocabulary List from the World Loanword Database
Yaqui Swadesh vocabulary listfrom Wiktionary
OLAC resources in and about the Yaqui languageConstitution of Mexico in YaquiA PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE YAQUI LANGUAGE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaqui Language
Agglutinative languages
Southern Uto-Aztecan languages
Indigenous languages of Mexico
Languages of the United States
Native American language revitalization
Indigenous languages of Arizona
Indigenous languages of the Southwestern United States
Indigenous languages of the North American Southwest
Yaqui culture
Subject–object–verb languages