Gabrielino

Notes on the Shoshonean Dialects of Southern California, by A. L. Kroeber, [1909], at sacred-texts.com

p. 251

GABRIELINO.

The following Gabrielino vocabulary supplementary of that previously published was obtained from the same informant, Jose Sevaldeo. ¹³ He had however become so feeble that it was only possible to question him for a short time.

Among the new Gabrielino words given below two are particularly interesting. One is navakit, snow, which is from the Plateau and Pueblo stem nüva, for which Southern California vocabularies otherwise show yui-. The other is cuki, tobacco, which is the Yokuts cogon, found also in certain Mono and Kern River dialects. The usual Southern California stem for tobacco, used also in Hopi, is piva.

The sounds of Gabrielino are full and simple, in spite of the presence of ö and ü, and evidence a regular and easy phonetic system.

Old man, eraxbu; old woman, tuxu; hair, ni-pwan (= head); eye, ni-tsotcon; tongue, ni-noñin; beard, ne-pehan; nail, ni-tcur; arm, hand, ni-man; belly, panza, ni-xönan; foot, ni-nev; knee, ni-töñ; bone, ni-èèn; heart, ni-cun; blood, ni-xain; chief, tomiar (?); bow, baitoar; arrow, tcoar; pipe, ni-wiku; tobacco, cuki; road, pet; night, yauke; thunder, tauwaro; wind, ahikañ; rain, aqwakin (?); snow, navakit; ash, kocic; ocean, momati; stream, wenot, pa-xait (much water); lake, puini-par; mountain, xai; salt, añor; sand, piri; wood, kota; grass, mamar; dog, wuci; bear, hùnar; wolf, icauvut; coyote, itar or itarü; deer, cukat; antelope, tonar; panther, tukut; jackrabbit, cuit; bird, kakar; eagle, acawut; condor, pawicokot; buzzard, yuñavic; owl, mùhut; crow, aqaukutc; rattlesnake, cot; frog, qwarava; flea, mututci; louse, ni-ar; white, rawatai or rawatei; black, yumaxai; red, kwahoxa; large, yoòitc; small, tcinùhu; good, tihövkui; bad, tcaitc; thou, oma; ye (?), omoma; this, mine; that, piema; here, ikwa; there, muru; all, we; much, ayohin; who, hawo; yesterday, puana; to-morrow, hiamti; yes, èhe; no, xai; eat, kwa-a; drink, pa-a; run, yamimo; dance, yake-a; sing, tcee-a; sleep, yetamku-a; speak, sirawa; see, huta-a; kill, muka-a; sit, yatco; walk, nuñino; work, hoaixo-a; give, ua.

The following Fernandeño words were obtained in 1906 in addition to those already printed: ¹³

Young man, koti; young woman, taxai; my father, ne-na; my mother, ni-ok; forehead, mo-koya-n; eyebrow, a-aux; rib, mu-amu-n; skin, mu-tuk; name, a-tuano-n; medicine-man, pāhave; friend, nyèhie; dead, muyòkmuk; sweat-house, hoyātsu; earthquake, yavoyak oxer; night, yayauke; badger,

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cuyui; jackrabbit, cuit; raven, alwut; his, peem; where, hamiña; what, hita; up, hate’-k; down, buxtu-k; drink, pa-ismunaka par.

The possessive prefixes in the San Fernando dialect are, for the first person singular, ne- or occasionally ni-; for the second person, mu- or occasionally mo-; for the third person, a-. The vowel of the possessive prefix is little or not at all dependent on the vowels of the stem.

Most nouns obtained with a possessive prefix in both Fernandeño and Gabrielino show a suffixed -n. There are however a number of such nouns without the -n. His hand has been obtained as a-ma-n; his belly as a-to.

Both Gabrielino and Fernandeño show somewhat unusual demonstrative stems, this being mine, and that peem or piema. The latter stems recurs in Luiseño-Cahuilla po, pe. But the stem mi- as indicative of proximity is not known from other Shoshonean dialects. It probably occurs also in the Fernandeño word mitem, today. Contrary to most Shoshonean dialects, Gabrielino and Fernandeño agree also in showing different stems for their adverbial and nominal or adjectival demonstratives. Here and there are in both dialects respectively ikwa and muru. The principal interrogative stems are the usual Shoshonean ha, who and where, and hi, what.

A characteristic feature of the Gabrielino dialectic group is the frequency of reduplication, apparently to express the plural, a trait which has already been commented upon by Gatschet. It appears that inanimate as well as animate nouns are reduplicated, contrary to the usual Shoshonean custom, and that parts of the body which occur in pairs or greater numbers, such as the ears and the teeth, are normally reduplicated. The reduplication is of the usual Shoshonean type to indicate plurality, consisting of the prefixion of a syllable containing the initial part of the stem, as far as, but no farther, than the first vowel. The reduplicated syllable therefore never ends in a consonant, and accumulation of consonants does not take place. The following instances of reduplication have been observed in the Gabrielino and Fernandeño material collected by the author:

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The usual Shoshonean plural suffix -m is not altogether wanting, as is shown by Fernandeño daxat, person, darāx-am, people.

Verbal stems show reduplication of a different type from nouns:

While it is impossible to speak positively as to phonetic and lexical detail from vocabularies obtained each only from a single informant, it is clear that there is sufficient difference between Gabrielino proper and Fernandeño to necessitate the belief that this dialectic group is neither entirely homogeneous nor even uniform to all intents and purposes. The differences between the pronouns, where Gabrielino shows noma and Fernandeño nömü in the first person, are evidence of this. It is however clear that the two dialects are very much more closely related to each other than to any others.

Footnotes

251:13 Present series, IV, 70, 1907. See also VIII, 38, 1908.