Serrano language

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Uto-Aztecan language of southern California

title: "Serrano language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["serrano-people", "agglutinative-languages", "takic-languages", "native-american-language-revitalization"] description: "Uto-Aztecan language of southern California" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serrano_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Uto-Aztecan language of southern California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

Field	Value
name	Serrano
nativename	Maarrênga'twich
states	United States
region	Southern California
ethnicity	Serrano people
extinct	2002, with the death of Dorothy Ramon
revived	6 (2009–2013)
familycolor	Uto-Aztecan
fam1	Uto-Aztecan
fam2	Northern Uto-Aztecan
fam3	Takic
fam4	Serran
map	Serran_languages_map.svg
mapcaption	Historical extent of Serran languages
iso3	ser
glotto	serr1255
glottorefname	Serrano
dia1	Serrano
dia2	Vanyume
altname	Serrano–Vanyume
map2	Lang Status 01-EX.svg
mapcaption2
::

Serrano (Serrano: Maarrênga'twich) is a language in the Serran branch of the Uto-Aztecan family spoken by the Serrano people of Southern California. The language is closely related to Tongva, Tataviam, Kitanemuk and Vanyume, which may be a dialect of Serrano. Serrano has free word order with the only rule being that verbs usually come last.

Speakers

According to Ethnologue, there was 1 speaker in 1994. The last fully fluent speaker was Dorothy Ramon, who died in 2002.{{Cite news |last = Edwards |first = Andrew |title = Saving the Serrano tongue |work = San Bernardino County Sun |access-date = 2013-05-08 |date = 2006-12-05 |url = http://www.sbsun.com/ci_4780412 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130130004041/http://www.sbsun.com/ci_4780412 |archive-date = 2013-01-30

Traditionally referring to themselves as Maarrênga'yam meaning "people of Maarra" (Maarra' is considered to be modern day Twentynine Palms) or Yuhaviatam meaning "people of the pines", the Serrano people originally occupied the area near the Mojave River and San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. In 1891 the United States established the San Manuel Reservation for the Serrano people where many of its last speakers lived. In 1967, Researcher Kenneth Cushman Hill noted that about 6 people still spoke the now dormant language. As of today, the nephew of Dorothy Ramon is seen as the last person who is able to speak the language at a fluent level.

Language revitalization

The language was at a time considered to be extinct, but there are attempts at reviving it. Both at the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and Morongo Band of Mission Indians reservations there are efforts now underway to teach the language and the history and culture of the Serrano people. Language teacher Pauline Murillo helped develop an interactive CD ROM for learning Serrano.{{Cite news | last = David Olson | title = Pauline Murillo, 76, San Manuel tribal elder | work = PE.com - Press-Enterprise | access-date = 2012-08-10 | date = 2011-01-26 | url = http://www.pe.com/local-news/topics/topics-tribes-headlines/20110126-pauline-murillo-76-san-manuel-tribal-elder.ece | archive-date = 2013-11-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131102173215/http://www.pe.com/local-news/topics/topics-tribes-headlines/20110126-pauline-murillo-76-san-manuel-tribal-elder.ece | url-status = dead |title = San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians: Education |access-date = 2013-05-08 |url = http://www.sanmanuel-nsn.gov/education.php.html |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130415001630/http://www.sanmanuel-nsn.gov/education.php.html |archive-date = 2013-04-15 | last = David Olson | title = CAL STATE: University offers Serrano language class | work = Press-Enterprise | access-date = 2013-06-05 | date = 2013-05-31 | url = http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20130531-cal-state-university-offers-serrano-language-class.ece | archive-date = 2013-11-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131102173209/http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20130531-cal-state-university-offers-serrano-language-class.ece | url-status = dead

The Limu project offers online courses in Maarrênga' (Morongo Band "Serrano" dialect) and Yuhaviat (San Manuel Band "Serrano" dialect).{{cite web | title = iLearn Course Portal - iLearn. Serrano Dialects Maarrenga' (Morongo Band "Serrano" dialect); Yuhaviat (Santos Manuel Band "Serrano" dialect) | work = The Limu Project | access-date = 2013-05-08 | url = http://ilearn.limuproject.org/iLearn-Course-Portal | archive-date = 2018-04-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180406230403/http://ilearn.limuproject.org/iLearn-Course-Portal | url-status = dead

The Serrano language was traditionally a spoken language; an alphabet was not used until the 1990s. A new alphabet, with 47 letters, including the glottal stop, was developed starting in 2005.

The Endangered Languages Project lists Serrano as in the "awakening" stage, meaning that the language has lost its native and fluent speakers and can be considered "extinct" but has revitalization projects underway to preserve knowledge of the language and the Serrano people.

The University of California, Los Angeles provides a recording of a Serrano speaker reading a word list.

Phonology

The charts of consonants and vowels below indicate phonemes used in the Serrano language:

In 1967, the language of Serrano was described as having 33 consonants and 9 vowels in its phonetic form.

Consonants

::data[format=table]

Bilabial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	Nasal	Plosive	voiceless	voiced	affricate	Fricative	voiceless	voiced	Rhotic	Lateral	Sonorant






	~


::

Vowels

::data[format=table] | Front | Central | Back | oral || rhotic | oral || rhotic | High | Mid | Low | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Vowels /ɨ/, /a/, /o/, can be rhoticized as /ɨ˞/, /a˞/, /o˞/.

Morphology

Serrano is an agglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.

References

{{Cite journal |volume = 24 |issue = 1 |last = Smith |first = Marcus and Ixchel Keller |title = Speaking Serrano: Revitalizing a Native Language |journal = News from Native California |access-date = 2013-05-08 |date = 2010 |url = http://www.heydaybooks.com/news/issues/v24n1toc.html |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130202212244/http://www.heydaybooks.com/news/issues/v24n1toc.html |archive-date = 2013-02-02
Pritzker, Barry. "A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University Press. 2000.
.

References

"Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English". US Census Bureau.
(2010). "Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". UNESCO.
Pritzker, Barry. (2000). "A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples". Oxford University Press.
"Serrano".
Hill, Kenneth Cushman. "A Grammar of the Serrano Language". ''University of California''. 1967.
"About – Dorothy Ramon Learning Center".
"iLearn Course Portal - iLearn".
"Serrano {{!}} Endangered Languages Project".
(January 2026). "Endangered Languages Project - Serrano - ser_word-list_1980_01".
"Dorothy Ramon Learning Center Inc.".

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