Cahto language

Last updated
Kato
Cahto
Native to United States
Region California (Eel River)
Ethnicity Cahto people
Extinct 1960s [1]
Revival 2010s [2]
Latin (proposed) [2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 ktw
Glottolog kato1244

Cahto (also spelled Kato) is an extinct Athabaskan language that was formerly spoken by the Kato people of the Laytonville and Branscomb area at the head of the South Fork of the Eel River. It is one of the four languages belonging to the California Athabaskan cluster of the Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages. Most Kato speakers were bilingual in Northern Pomo and some also spoke Yuki. It went extinct in the 1960s. [1] [3]

Contents

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
centrallateralplainlabial
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ñ⟩
Plosive/
Affricate 		unaspirated p ~ b ⟨b⟩ t ~ d ⟨d⟩ ts ⟨ts⟩ t͡ʃ ~ d͡ʒ ⟨dj⟩ c ~ ɟ ⟨g⟩ k ~ g ⟨g⟩ kʷ ⟨kw⟩ k ~ q ⟨q⟩ ʔ ⟨′⟩
ejective tʼ ⟨t'⟩ tsʼ ⟨ts'⟩ tɬʼ ⟨L⟩ t͡ʃʼ ⟨tc'⟩ cʼ ⟨k'⟩ kʼ ⟨k'⟩ kʷʼ ⟨kw'⟩
aspirated tʰ ⟨t⟩ t͡ʃʰ ⟨tc⟩ cʰ ⟨k⟩ kʰ ⟨k⟩
Fricative voiceless s ⟨s⟩ ɬ ⟨ʟ⟩ ʃ ⟨c⟩ h ⟨h⟩
voiced z ⟨z⟩ ʒ ɣ ⟨ɢ⟩
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩

Cahto has 26 consonant phonemes and 30 phones.

Vowels

Front Central Back Diphthong
High [ i (ː)] ī[ ɪ ]i ~ [ ʊ ]û[ u (ː)] ū[ai] ai
High-Mid [ e (ː)] ē[ e ]ɛ ~ [ ə ]ę[ o (ː)] ō
Low-Mid [ ɛ ]ɛ ~ [ ə ]ę[ ʌ ]ą ~ [ a ]a
Low [ a (ː)] ā, [ ʌ ]ą ~ [ a ]a

Cahto has 9 vowel phonemes (including the diphthong) and 12 phones.

References

  1. 1 2 Kato at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Anderson, Sally R. (1996-12-12). "Cahto Language Homepage". www.turtlenodes.com. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  3. ↑ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian languages. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-26667-4. OCLC   668191602.


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