Cochimí was once the language of the greater part

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, as attested by Jesuit documents of the 18th century. It seems to have become extinct around the beginning of the 20th centuryGolla, Victor. 2011. ''California Indian Languages'', p. 125. University of California Press, Berkeley. (Modern "Cochimi"-speakers are actually speakers of Kumiai.) There were two main dialects, northern and southern; the dividing line was approximately at the Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán, in the north of present-day Baja California Sur. The Jesuit texts establish that the language was related to the

Yuman languages The Quechan (or Yuma) (Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite the ...

of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

region. It is thought to be the most divergent language of the family, which is generally called ''Yuman–Cochimí'' to reflect this. Based on

glottochronology Glottochronology (from Attic Greek γλῶττα ''tongue, language'' and χρόνος ''time'') is the part of lexicostatistics which involves comparative linguistics and deals with the chronological relationship between languages.Sheila Embleton ...

studies, the separation between Cochimi and the Yuman languages is believed to have occurred about 1000 BC.

Cochimí text

Following is the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

in the dialect of San Ignacio Kadakaamán, recorded by

Francisco Javier Clavijero Francisco Javier Clavijero Echegaray (sometimes ''Francesco Saverio Clavigero'') (September 9, 1731 – April 2, 1787), was a Mexican Jesuit teacher, scholar and historian. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish provinces (1767), he ...

from the work of the missionaries Barco and Ventura, which has been lost.

Phonology

The phonology of the Cochimí language is likely explained as follows:

Consonants

*- could have been disputed. Voiced consonants likely could have been either separate phonemes or phonetic alternates of voiceless sounds.

Vowels

Mid vowels may be alternated with close vowel sounds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochimi language Yuman–Cochimí languages Indigenous languages of Mexico Languages attested from the 18th century 18th-century establishments in Alta California Languages extinct in the 20th century 20th-century disestablishments in California