Esselen language

Last updated
Esselen
Huelel
Native to United States
Region Big Sur (California)
Ethnicity Esselen
Extinct 19th century
Hokan  ?
  • Esselen
Language codes
ISO 639-3 esq
esq.html
Glottolog esse1238
Esselen lang.png

Esselen is the now-extinct language of the Esselen (or self-designated Huelel) Nation, which aboriginally occupied the mountainous Central Coast of California, immediately south of Monterey (Shaul 1995). It was probably a language isolate, though has been included as a part of the hypothetical Hokan proposal.

Contents

Names

The name Esselen was derived from a village name. The Esselen people referred to their own language as Huelel. The name was recorded by Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta on May 18, 1832 at Soledad Mission from his informant Eusebio (native name Sutasis) (cf. villel 'tongue' as recorded by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano) (Shaul 1995).

Historical background

French explorer Lapérouse, who visited Monterey in 1786, reported: [1]

The country of the Ecclemachs [Esselen] extends above 20 leagues to the [south]eastward of Monterey. Their language is totally different from all those of their neighbors, and has even more resemblance to the languages of Europe than to those of the Americas. This grammatical phenomenon, the most curious in this respect ever observed on the continent, will, perhaps, be interesting to those of the learned, who seek, in the analogy of languages, the history and genealogy of transplanted nations.

Esselen may have been the first Californian language to become extinct. Although it was spoken by many of the early converts at Mission Carmel, its use rapidly declined during the Hispanic period. Very little information on the vocabulary and grammar of Esselen was preserved. About 350 words and phrases and a few complete sentences have been preserved in literature, [1] including a short bilingual catechism (for a summary see Mithun 1999:411–413 and Golla 2011:114). By the beginning of the 20th century the only data on Esselen that investigators such as Kroeber and Harrington could collect were a few words remembered by speakers of other Indian languages in the area.[ citation needed ]

Classification

H. W. Henshaw thought that Esselen represented a monotypic linguistic family. Others, such as Shaul (2019), [2] have assigned the language to the proposed Hokan family.

Shaul (2019) also notes that Esselen has had extensive contact with the Chumashan languages, with Esselen and Chumashan sharing many common lexical items. [2]

Dialects

The Esselen language consisted of the Western and Eastern dialects. Documentation of Western Esselen was based on data collected at Mission Carmel. It was spoken by the Excelen local tribe, and likely also the Ecgeajan local tribes to the south along the Big Sur coast, although the Ecgeajan subdialect is unattested. Eastern Esselen was documented by Arroyo, and was based on data collected at Mission Soledad, which hosted Arroyo Seco local tribes. Eastern Esselen was spoken by the Eslenajan local tribe, and probably also by the Aspasniajan and Imunajan local tribes. [2]

The Esselen language was spoken by five local tribes. Each of the five local tribes spoke a separate subdialect. [2]

The Santa Lucia Mountains formed the heart of the Esselen homeland.

Each Esselen district consisted of a local tribe with their own patrilineal clans. Members of the clans were exogamous, marrying members of other clans but within the local tribe. [2]

Local Esselen tribes and their demographics are surveyed in Milliken (1990: 59). [3]

Breschini and Haversat (1994: 82-88) give the following numbers of villages and population estimates for each of the five Esselen tribes. Population estimates are calculated by multiplying the number of villages by either 30 or 40 (i.e., the presumed number of individuals per village). [4]

DistrictVillagesPopulation (with 30 persons
per village)
Population (with 40 persons
per village)
Excelen4120160
Eslen/Eslenajan7210280
Aspaniajan26080
Imunajan5150200
Ecgeajan6180240
Totals24600960

Phonological and lexical differences

Sound correspondences between the Western and Eastern dialects: [2]

Sound correspondences in Esselen dialects
WesternEastern
č ~ ts
ea
šs
Examples of Western č ~ ts : Eastern ṭ
GlossWesternEastern
manexe-nočexe-noṭ
fatheraya ~ a'aym-a'aṭ
earthmatsamaṭa
welečleṭ
you (pl.)*nomečnomeṭ
theylačlaṭ
it is finished*amomučamo-muṭ
completive-mutsu ~ -musu-muṭ
Examples of Western e : Eastern a
GlossWesternEastern
you (sg.)ném:ename
your (sg.)nemi-š-nami-s-
you (pl.)neme-xnome-
Examples of Western š : Eastern s
GlossWesternEastern
my daughterni-š-tani-s-ta
sunašiasi
cottontail rabbitčišičis
girlšoletasoleta-sis
agentive marker-piši-pisi

Lexical differences between the Western and Eastern dialects: [2]

Lexical variation in Esselen dialects
GlossWesternEastern
headkxata-saxxis:i
eyeshikpaka
mouthiši ~ iš:ekatus-nex
hearttika-smaša-nex
riversana-xasum
that onehainihihuiniki
Ienine

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p t ʈ k ʔ
Affricate ts kx
Fricative s ʃ x h
Nasal m n
Rhotic r
Approximant w l j

/p/ has allophones of [f] and [pf]. /t/ has an allophone of [tʃ]. [5]

Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open a

Pronouns

Subject pronouns in Western Esselen (Shaul 2019: 89):

sgpl
1ene ~ enileč-s; lex
2nemi ~ niminemič; nemux
3lallač; lax


Subject pronouns in Eastern Esselen (Shaul 2019: 89):

sgpl
1ene ~ neleṭ; lex
2namenomeṭ; nomux
3huinikilaṭ; lax

Syntax

Word order is primarily SOV (Shaul 2019).

Lexicon

Shaul (1995) reconstitutes Esselen vocabulary, synthesized from various historical sources, as follows. [5] Forms from Alfred L. Kroeber are marked by (Kr).

glossEsselen
adult-nVč
allkomVnam
arrowlóto-s
bearkoltála
bowpaxu-nax
child/sonpana
crysiawa
dancemepV, mef-
darktumas (Kr)
dayasátsa
diemoho
dogšošo
drinketse, eše
eartus-usp (Kr)
earthmaṭa, matsa
eyes-ikxpa
fatherhaya
femaleta-
footkxéle
friend-efe
girlsoléta
givetoxésa
good/wellsale-
grandfathermeči
ground squirrel mexe
hairhaka
headkxáta-sVx
largeputú-ki; yakí-s-ki
manexe-
motheratsia
mountainpolomo
mountain lion xeke-s
mouthiši
nailsuluxV
nighttomani-s
nosexoši
personefexe
pinole amúxe
plainyala-x
quailkumul (Kr)
rabbit (cottontail)čiši, čis-
salmonkilí-
sealopopa-pas
skyimi-
smallukxu-s-ki
speakal-pa
sunaši
teethawur
waterasa-nax
wherekéya-
whokíni
wildcattoloma
woodi'i
yesíke

Numbers

glossEsselen
onepek
twokxulax
threekxulep
fourkxamakxu-s
fivepemakxa-la
sixpek-walanai
sevenkxula-walanai
eightkxulef-walanai
tentomóila

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References

  1. 1 2 "DCQ Fall Equinox 1999 -- The Caves Ranch". www.ventanawild.org. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Shaul, David (2019). Esselen studies: language, culture, and prehistory. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. ISBN   978-3-86288-986-0. OCLC   1132875180.
  3. Millikan, Randal. 1990. Ethnography and Ethnohistory of the Big Sur District, California State Park System, During the 1770-1780 Time Period. Submitted to Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento.
  4. Breschini, Gary and Trudy Haversat. 1994. An Overview of the Esselen Indians of Central Monterey County, California. Salinas, CA: Coyote Press.
  5. 1 2 Shaul, David L. 1995. "The Huelel (Esselen) Language." International Journal of American Linguistics 61:191-239.

Bibliography