A Description of the Patwin Language PDF Download

Author: Lewis C. Lawyer
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ISBN: 9781339543604
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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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This dissertation is a descriptive grammar of the Patwin language. Patwin is a Native American language native to the southwestern drainage of the Sacramento River in California. It is a member of the Wintuan language family, along with Wintu and Nomlaki. Formerly spoken by a population of about 6,000-30,000 (Kroeber 1932; Cook 1976; Whistler 1976; Golla 2011), there are now only two people known to me who identify as first language speakers of Patwin. Additionally, some individuals are learning the language as adults or in school as part of community-based language revitalization programs (Dubin 2010). Prior to this dissertation, there have been three published articles on aspects of Patwin grammar (Whistler 1981, 1986; Lawyer 2015) and two published stories in Patwin (Whistler 1977a, 1978). A good characterization of Patwin kinship terminology can be found in Whistler's dissertation (Whistler 1980), and Whistler's Master's thesis (1976) contains a thorough characterization of Patwin plant and animal nomenclature. The rest of the record of the Patwin language has been scattered in archives throughout the country. There are extensive collections of archived field notes (Kroeber NB; Merriam NB; Bright NB; Ultan NB; Whistler NB; etc.) and a few important sound recordings (Barrett AU; Bright AU; Swadesh and Melton AU; Ultan AU[b],[a]; Whistler AU). In addition to these primary sources, some drafts of linguistic analyses are available in archives: de Angulo (GR), Radin (GR), Bright (GR), Morgan (1971), and Whistler (MS).This dissertation distills the unruly Patwin archive into a thorough and accurate description of the language, so that scholars in academia and in Native communities can have a detailed, organized, and reliable reference for this language. The description includes each of the areas traditionally described in grammars: phonetics (speech sounds), phonology (sound patterns), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure). Examples drawn directly from the archival record are used to illustrate every detail, creating a description firmly grounded in real data. To make the dissertation maximally useful as a reference grammar, the prose descriptions are complemented with quick-reference summaries set apart in text boxes. The dissertation also provides a comprehensive catalog of Patwin sources, including discussions of where documentation for each individual dialect of Patwin can be found. Following is a brief synopsis of each chapter of the dissertation, mentioning some of the more salient findings. Chapter 1: Introduction: The language is introduced, including its dialects, geography, and genetic affiliation. Brief biographical sketches are given for each of the speakers whose materials were consulted in the creation of the grammar, noting especially the dialect(s) they spoke. Each researcher whose work was consulted is also briefly discussed, noting especially any idiosyncrasies such as unusual phonetic transcription. Chapter 2: Phonemics and phonetics: The phonemic inventory is introduced, and the phonetic realization of each phonemic category is discussed. Patwin is notable for having 4 laryngeal series of oral stops, differentiated by a combination of voice onset time (aspirated /pÊʻ, tÊʻ, kÊʻ/, voiceless unaspirated /p, t, k/, voiced /b, d/) and airstream initiation (glottalized /pÊơ, tÊơ, kÊơ/ vs. non-glottalized). A mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodology is used in phonetic descriptions. This chapter serves as a demonstration of the level of detail that can be achieved in a phonetic study using exclusively archival materials. Chapter 3: Phonology: Segmental, metrical, and phrasal phonology is discussed here. Here and throughout the dissertation, unexpected irregularities are not glossed over, but are explicitly discussed. For example: Syllable structure is generally CV(C), though a few words (e.g. layuk 'good') have reduced forms with aberrant CVCC syllables (e.g. /layk/). Dialect variation in the realization of stress is also discussed. Chapters 4-6: Nominals and their modifiers: Nominals are inflected for case (subjective, objective, possessive, and a variety of semantic cases) and sometimes number. Modifiers (adjectives, numerals, etc.) are often not adjacent to the head noun, resulting in what could be described as discontinuous constituents. Kinship terms are a special category of nominals, characterized by unique possessive morphology, unique casemarking, and obligatory number marking. There are over 100 definite pronouns, and the paradigm shows an intricate pattern of variation across dialects. Chapter 8: The verb: The verb has complicated morphology, including mutation of the stem itself (stem ablaut and reduplication). Verbs also inflect for tense, aspect, mood, and interrogativity. Verbs may take one or more voice suffixes, such as passive, causative, or reciprocal. Verbs generally do not agree with the subject, but verbs in the hortative mood are an exception. Additionally, certain verb stems reflect the animacy of the object. Chapter 9: The clause: The clause consists of a predicate and its arguments and adjuncts. The predicate is typically a verb, though it may be a nominal. Inflectional information is expressed with suffixes on the verb, or on the auxiliary verb when present. Optional clausal particles also play a role in determining the grammatical mood of the clause (declarative, interrogative, irrealis, or reportative). A sentence may consist of more than one clause, in a clause chaining construction. Negation is expressed with a combination of bound morphology on the verb and often the presence of the negative auxiliary Ê4ele