Quechan language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Quechan / Yuma Kwtsaan |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | USA | |
| Region: | California, Arizona | |
| Total speakers: | 150 (1994) | |
| Language family: | Hokan Esselen-Yuman Yuman River Yuman Quechan / Yuma |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | – | |
| ISO 639-3: | yum | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Quechan, also known as Yuma (and not to be confused with the unrelated Quechua language), is the native language of the Quechan people of southeastern California and southwestern Arizona.
In 1980, it was estimated that there were fewer than 700 speakers of the language, including both the elderly and young [1]. Hinton (1994:32) put a conservative estimate of the number of speakers at 150, and a liberal estimate at 400-500.
Quechan belongs to the River Yuman branch of the Yuman-Cochimí linguistic family, together with Mohave and Maricopa. Publications have documented Quechan grammar and texts [2].
Assistance is available for speakers of the language who wish to vote in elections in Imperial County, California and Yuma County, Arizona, under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act.
[edit] References
- Hinton, Leanne. 1994. Flutes of Fire: Essays on California Indian Languages. Heyday Books, Berkeley, California.
- Rosetta Project entry for Quechan
- Ethnologue entry for Quechan
- ^ Kendall, Martha B. 1983. "Yuman languages". In Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz, pp. 4-12. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, Vol. 10. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- ^ Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press.
