Central Pomo is an extinct
Pomoan language spoken in
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
. Pre-contact speakers of all the Pomoan languages have been estimated at 8,000 all together. This estimation was from the American anthropologist Alfred Kroeber.
"The Central Pomo language was traditionally spoken from the
Russian River southwest of
Clear Lake to the Pacific coast. There were settlements along the Russian River (in the southern Ukiah Valley, in Hopland Valley, and further south near the Sonoma County line), in the coastal region (at Manchester, Point Arena, and at the mouth of the Gualala River), and in the region between the two (around Yorkville and in Anderson Valley)."
It has a consonant inventory that is identical to the related Southern Pomo language with the following exceptions:
Central Pomo distinguishes velar from uvular . It lacks a non-ejective alveolar affricate (i.e., it does not have /ts/ as a phoneme), and does not have length, in the form of geminate root consonants, as found in Southern Pomo.
As of 2013, a transcription project of Central Pomo materials collected by
J.P. Harrington is underway.
Phonology
/e/ may also be heard as
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References
External links
Central Pomo languageoverview at the
Survey of California and Other Indian LanguagesCentral Pomo basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical DatabaseOLAC resources in and about the Central Pomo languageCentral Pomo Lesson Plans - CIMCC
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{{Hokan languages
Pomoan languages
Indigenous languages of California
Endangered Pomoan languages
Pomo tribe