Miwok languages
Utian language family of California
title: "Miwok languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["miwok-languages"] description: "Utian language family of California" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miwok_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Utian language family of California ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Miwok |
| altname | Miwokan |
| region | California, western slopes of Sierra Nevada |
| ethnicity | Miwok |
| familycolor | penutian |
| fam1 | Penutian ? |
| fam2 | Yok-Utian ? |
| fam3 | Utian |
| glotto | miwo1275 |
| glottorefname | Miwokan |
| map | Miwok map-01.svg |
| child1 | Eastern |
| child2 | Western |
| :: |
| name = Miwok | altname = Miwokan | region = California, western slopes of Sierra Nevada | ethnicity = Miwok | familycolor = penutian | fam1 = Penutian ? | fam2 = Yok-Utian ? | fam3 = Utian | glotto = miwo1275 | glottorefname = Miwokan | map = Miwok map-01.svg | child1 = Eastern | child2 = Western
The Miwok or Miwokan languages (; ), also known as Moquelumnan or Miwuk, are a group of endangered languages spoken in central California by the Miwok peoples, ranging from the Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada. There are seven Miwok languages, four of which have distinct regional dialects. There are a few dozen speakers of the three Sierra Miwok languages, and in 1994 there were two speakers of Lake Miwok. The best attested language is Southern Sierra Miwok, from which the name Yosemite originates. The name Miwok comes from the Northern Sierra Miwok word miw·yk meaning 'people.'
Languages
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Map_of_the_Plains_and_Sierra_Miwok_territories_(colored).png" caption="1925 map of the Plains and Sierra Miwok territories]]Language family by Mithun (1999):"] ::
- Eastern Miwok
- Plains Miwok
- Bay Miwok ( Saclan)
- Sierra Miwok
- Northern Sierra Miwok (Camanche, Fiddletown, Ione, and West Point dialects)
- Central Sierra Miwok (nearly extinct) (East Central and West Central dialects)
- Southern Sierra Miwok (nearly extinct) (Yosemite, Mariposa, and Southern dialects)
- Western Miwok
- Coast Miwok (Bodega and Marin dialects)
- Lake Miwok
Proto-language
Reconstructions of Proto-Miwok plant and animal names by Callaghan (2014):
:{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Proto-Miwok animal names ! Gloss !! Proto-Miwok |- | coyote || *ʔole |- | wolf || *hu·n, *hun·u- |- | antelope, bighorn || *ha·lu-ṣ |- | pocket gopher || *syw·yt |- | dog || *haju |- | chicken hawk || *suj·u |- | duck hawk || *wek-wek |- | fish hawk || *tuk-tuk |- | California condor || *mol·uk ? |- | great horned owl || *tuk·u-·li |- | barn owl || *wič·iki-ṣ |- | burrowing owl || *ṭok(·)ok... |- | valley quail || *hek... |- | roadrunner || *ʔuj(·)uj u, *ʔu·juju ? |- | kingfisher || *ča·ṭa·-ṭa- |- | pileated woodpecker || *pak-pak |- | California woodpecker || *palaṭ·ak |- | lesser snow goose || *wa·wo ? |- | goose spp. || *low·ot ? |- | lizard || *pit·e-·li ? |- | frog, sound of frog || *waṭa·k ? |- | grasshopper || *ko·ṭo ? |- | head louse || *ke·t, *ket·y- |- | flea || *ky(·)ky-ṣ |- | spider || *pok·um |- | body louse || *čypsi |- | scorpion || *ʔet·ym |}
:{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Proto-Miwok plant names ! Gloss !! Proto-Miwok |- | mountain pine and nuts || *san(·)ak |- | pine nuts, nuts || *ṣanak |- | gray pine and nuts || *sa·k, *sak·y |- | cedar, cypress || *mo·nuk ? |- | valley oak, tree || *ʔalwaṣ, ʔala·waṣ |- | live oak || *sa·ṭa |- | small oak tree || *su·k ? |- | white oak || *mol·a, *mo·la |- | maple || *ṣa·ji |- | buckeye (tree and fruit) || *ʔu·nu |- | tree alder || *sot·um ? |- | elderberry tree/fruit || *ʔantaj |- | manzanita (tree and berries) || *ʔe·je, *ʔej·e |- | Sierra gooseberry || *ki·li |- | poison oak || Proto-Utian *nykys |- | brush || *lim·e |- | wormwood (sage herb) || kičin |- | grapes || mut(·)e |- | black basket root || mul·a |- | root, basket root (Carex spp.) || su·li |- | Indian potato (Brodiaea spp.) || *wa·la |- | tea plant || *huk... |- | jimson weed || ? |}
References
References
- Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh
- Golla, Victor. (2011). "California Indian Languages". University of California Press.
- (2011-07-10). "Origin of the word Yosemite (and linked references)". Yosemite.ca.us.
- Mithun, Marianne. (1999). "The Languages of Native North America". Cambridge University Press.
- Callaghan, Catherine. (2014). ''[https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/123264 Proto-Utian Grammar and Dictionary: With Notes on Yokuts]''. Trends in Linguistics Documentation 31. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. {{Doi. 10.1515/9783110276770
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