Klamath language

Klamath
Klamath–Modoc, Lutuamian
Maqlaqsyals
Native to	United States
Region	Southern Oregon and northern California
Ethnicity	170 Klamath and Modoc (2000 census)
Extinct	2003, with the death of Neva Eggsman
Revival	2019
Language family	Penutian? Plateau (Penutian) Klamath
Dialects	Klamath Modoc
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kla
Glottolog	klam1254
ELP

Klamath (/ˈklæməθ/), also Klamath–Modoc (/ˈklæməθ ˈmoʊdɒk/) and historically Lutuamian (/ˌluːtuˈæmiən/), is a Plateau Penutian language spoken around Klamath Lake in what is now southern Oregon and northern California. It is the traditional language of the Klamath and Modoc peoples, each of whom spoke a dialect of the language. By 1998, only one native speaker remained, and by 2003, this last fluent Klamath speaker who was living in Chiloquin, Oregon, was 92 years old. As of 2006 there were no fluent native speakers of either the Klamath or Modoc dialects; however, as of 2019, revitalization efforts are underway with the goal of creating new speakers.

Klamath is a member of the Plateau Penutian language family, which is in turn a branch of the proposed Penutian language family. Like other proposed Penutian languages, Plateau Penutian languages are rich in ablaut, much like Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic languages. Further evidence for this classification includes some consonant correspondences between Klamath and other alleged Penutian languages. For example, the Proto-Yokuts retroflexes */ʈ ʈʼ/ correspond to Klamath /tʃ tʃʼ/, and the Proto-Yokuts dentals */t̪ t̪ʰ t̪ʼ/ correspond to the Klamath alveolars /t tʰ tʼ/.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front		Back
	short	long	short	long
Close	i ~ ɪ	iː
Open-mid	æ ~ ɛ	æː	ɔ ~ u	oː
Open			ə ~ ɑ	ɑː

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palato- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
			plain	lateral
Plosive	unaspirated	p	t		tʃ		k	q	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		tʃʰ		kʰ	qʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ		tʃʼ		kʼ	qʼ
Fricative			s						h
Sonorant	voiced	m	n	l		j	w
	voiceless	m̥	n̥	l̥		ȷ̊	w̥
	glottalized	mʼ	nʼ	lʼ		jʼ	wʼ

Klamath alphabet

Spelling	a	aa	b	c	cʼ	d	e	ee	g	ɢ	h	i	ii	j	k	kʼ	l	L	lʼ	m	M	mʼ	n	N	nʼ	o	oo	p	pʼ	q	qʼ	s	s?	t	t’	w	W	w’	y	Y	yʼ	?
Phoneme	ə	ɑː	p	tʃʰ	tʃʼ	t	ɛ	æː	k	q	h	ɪ	iː	tʃ	kʰ	kʼ	l	l̥	lˀ	m	m̥	mˀ	n	n̥	nˀ	ɔ	oː	pʰ	pʼ	qʰ	qʼ	s	sˀ	tʰ	t’	w	w̥	wˀ	j	ȷ̊	jˀ	ʔ

Plosives in Klamath, aside from /ʔ/, come in triplets of unaspirated, aspirated, and ejective sounds. Sonorant triplets are voiced, voiceless, and glottalized sounds.

Most consonants can be geminated. The fricative /s/ is an exception, and there is evidence suggesting this is a consequence of a recent sound change. Albert Samuel Gatschet recorded geminated /sː/ in the late 19th century, but this sound was consistently recorded as degeminated /s/ by M. A. R. Barker in the 1960s. Sometime after Gatschet recorded the language and before Barker did the same, */sː/ may have degeminated into /s/.

Syntax

Klamath word order is conditioned by pragmatics. There is no clearly defined verb phrase or noun phrase. Alignment is nominative–accusative, with nominal case marking also distinguishing adjectives from nouns. Many verbs obligatorily classify an absolutive case. There are directive and applicative constructions.

See also

• List of extinct languages of North America

Bibliography

Online texts

• Includes Klamath language plant names.

External links

• The Klamath Tribes Language Project
• Languages of Oregon: Klamath
• Klamath-Modoc language, native-languages.org
• Modoc language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• Klamath language, California Language Archive
• OLAC resources in and about the Klamath-Modoc language
• Klamath Bibliography
• Microfilm copy of seven Klamath notebooks (1955–1959)