Kiliwa language

Kiliwa, alternate Names: Kiliwi, Ko’lew or Quiligua (in Kiliwa: Koléew Ñaja') is a Yuman language spoken in Baja California, in the far northwest of Mexico, by the Kiliwa people.

Kiliwa
Koléew Ñaja, K'olew
Native to	Mexico
Region	Baja California
Ethnicity	Kiliwa
Native speakers	4 (2018)[1]
Language family	Yuman–Cochimí Kiliwa
Language codes
ISO 639-3	klb
Glottolog	kili1268
ELP	Kiliwa[2]

History

The Kiliwa language was extensively studied by Mauricio J. Mixco, who published Kiliwa texts as well as a dictionary and studies of syntax.

As recently as the mid-1900s, Mixco reported that members of the native community universally spoke Kiliwa as their first language, with many Kiliwas also bilingual in Paipai. At the start of the twenty-first century, Kiliwa is still spoken; a 2000 census reported 52 speakers. However, the language is considered to be in danger of extinction.

Kiliwa is a language of the Yuman Family Language Summit, held annually since 2001.[3]

Classification

Kiliwa is the southernmost representative of the Yuman family, and the one that is most distinct from the remaining languages, which constitute Core Yuman. The Kiliwa's neighbors to the south, the Cochimí, spoke a language or a family of languages that was probably closely related to but not within the Yuman family. Consequently, the Kiliwa lie at the historic "center of gravity" for the differentiation of Yuman from Cochimí and of the Yuman branches from each other.

Linguistic prehistorians are not in agreement as to whether the Kiliwa's linguistic ancestors are most likely to have migrated into the Baja California peninsula from the north separately from the ancestors of the Cochimí and the Core Yumans, or whether they became differentiated from those groups in place. The controversial technique of glottochronology suggests that the separation of Kiliwa from Core Yuman may have occurred about 2,000-3,000 years ago.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Uvular	Glottal
				plain	lab.		plain	lab.
Nasal	m	n	ɲ
Stop	p	t		k	kʷ	q	ʔ
Affricate			tʃ
Fricative		s		x	xʷ		h	hʷ
Rhotic		r
Approximant		l	j		w

Intervocalic allophones of /p, t, k, kʷ/ can occur as [β, ð, ɣ, ɣʷ]. An approximant sound such as a /j/ sound after a glottal /h/ can become devoiced as [j̊], as with a devoiced [ʍ] sound being an allophone of /hʷ/.

Vowels

There are three vowel quantities; /i, u, a/, that can also be distinguished with vowel length /iː, uː, aː/. Close vowel sounds /i, u/ can range to mid vowel sounds as [e, o], and with vowel length as [eː, oː]. An epenthetic schwa sound [ə] can occur within root-initial consonant clusters.

Pitch Accents

(1) High level, (2) High-falling level, (3) Low level.[4]

Orthography

Alphabet

The Kiliwa language is written using a modified Roman alphabet, as the language's culture has historically been unwritten and entirely oral. It consists of 15 consonants: ⟨b⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨g⟩, ⟨h⟩, ⟨j⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨ñ⟩, ⟨p⟩, ⟨s⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨w⟩, and ⟨y⟩.[5]

Alphabet [5]

Letter	Phoneme	Kiliwa Examples	English Translation
b	/β/	A bobuín Ábel	Which? Where?
ch *	/t͡ʃ/	Chiin Jcheet	Laugh Steal
g	/ɣ/	Mugau Msig	Flour One
h **	/h/	Ha’ ’haa	Mouth Yes
j	/x/	Ja Nmooj	Water Short
k	/k/	Jak Kujat	Bone Blood
l	/l/	Lepée Msiglpaayp	Liver Six
m	/m/	Meyaal Smak	Tortilla Leaf
n	/n/	Nay Mpáan	Boy Sister
ñ	/ɲ/	Ñieeg J ñieel	Black Lariat
p	/p/	Pa Gap	Stomach Pain
s	/s/	Smaa ‘Kiis	Sleep Large
t	/t/	Tmaa Mat	Eat No
w***	/w/	Kuwaa	Sit
y	/j/	Yiit Tay	Seed Big
'	/ʔ/	'maay Msí'	Very Star

* The digraph ⟨ch⟩ represents the affricate /tʃ/.

** The use of letter ⟨h⟩ is only used in certain words such as mouth (boca) – ha’ and yes (si) – ’haa.

*** The phoneme /w/ is similarly pronounced as “gu."

There are also 5 short and 5 long vowels: /a/, /aː/, /e/, /eː/, /i/, /iː/, /o/, /oː/ , /u/, and /uː/. These are represented in the chart below.

Vowels [5]

Vowels		Kiliwa Examples	English Translation
a	/a/	Ábel Tay	Where Big
aa	/aː/	Jaa Maau Yaaywaa	To go Grandma scorpion
e	/e/	Eñoop Pelwat Miy pí jsé	Fight To return Quill
ee	/eː/	Eel Teey Juwee	Sore Night To give
i	/i/	Ipáa Kaichmaa Kemelootí	People Money/metal/iron
ii	/iː/	Yiit Chíin Tiinkíil	Seed Laughter mockingbird
o	/o/	Kotí p J silo	Heart Hole
oo	/oː/	Eñoop Kekoo	Fight/ To struggle Woman
u	/u/	Ujaa Tkuey	Look after/look out for Goat
uu	/uː/	Uusmaat Piyauup Kuu	Sleep To carry/load Grandpa (maternal)

Other digraphs used in the Kiliwa language include: gu, hu, ju, ku, and xu. They are shown in the chart below.

Digraphs	Phoneme	Kiliwa Examples	English Translation
gu	/ ɡʷ/ or /ɣʷ/	Págu J kuígu	Rabbit Hunt
hu	/hʷ/	Phuk’ ii ’Mphuh-mi	Thud This box/bag
ju	/xʷ/	Juwaa u Ju sawi	Seat Clean
ku	/kʷ/	Kujat Tukuipaay	Blood Animal
xu	/xʷ/	m-xumay čxu’paa	Your son To hurdle

The inclusion of / , / is used as a brief pause, such as that in Spanish.  

Numbers

Numbers in Kiliwa can be expressed up to several thousands without the use of Spanish loanwords. Counting is done using both fingers and toes. There is a resemblance of the Kiliwa word ‘sal’ which is the root for ‘finger/hand’. [6]

Number	Kiliwa [5][6][7]	English translation
1	Msíg	One
2	Juwak	Two
3	Jmi’k	Three
4	Mnak	Four
5	Salchipam	Five
6	Msígl paayp	Six
7	Juwakl paayp	Seven
8	Jmi kl paayp	Eight
9	Msíg tkmat	Nine
10	Chipam msíg	Ten

The following numbers are formed by using the form for the ten's place 'chipam' followed by its multiplier digit (the digits of those listed above from 1-9).

Number	Kiliwa [7]	English translation
10	chipam msig	Ten
20	chipam juwak	Twenty
30	chipam jmi’k	Thirty
40	chipam mnak	Forty
50	chipam salchipam	Fifty
60	chipam msigl paayp	Sixty
70	chipam juwakl paayb	Seventy
80	chipam jmi’kl paayp	Eighty
90	chipam msigl tmat	Ninety

The hundreds are formed by using the expression ‘chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam’ followed by the multiplier digits found in that of numbers 1-9.[7]

Number	Kiliwa [7]	English translation
100	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam msig	One hundred
200	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam juwak	Two hundred
300	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam jmi’k	Three hundred
400	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam mnak	Four hundred
500	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam Salchipam	Five hundred
600	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam msígl paayp	Six hundred
700	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam juwakl paayp	Seven hundred
800	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam jmi kl paayp	Eight hundred
900	chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam msíg tkmat	Nine hundred

Lastly, the thousands are formed by using the expression ‘chipam msig u’ kuetet’ before using the multiplier digits once again.[7]

Number	Kiliwa [7]	English Translation
1,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet msig	One thousand
2,000	chipam msíg u’ kuetet juwak	Two thousand
3,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet jmi’k	Three thousand
4,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet mnak	Four thousand
5,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet salchipam	Five thousand
6,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet msígl paayp	Six thousand
7,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet juwakl paayp	Seven thousand
8,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet jmi kl paayp	Eight thousand
9,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet msíg tkmat	Nine thousand
10,000	chipam msig u’ kuetet chipam msig	Ten thousand

Morphology

The morphology in the Kiliwa language consists of many affixes and clitics. More of these are available on the verb rather than the noun. These affixes are usually untouched and added on to a modified root.

Singular and Plurals

In Kiliwa there are multiple ways of pluralizing words. There are several to differentiate it from the singular form. The most common affixes are t, cháu,m, u y si’waa.[5]

Singular	Plural	Language
This Mí	These Mít	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Sit Kuwaa	All of you sit Kuwaat	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Come! Kiyee	All of you come Kitiyee	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Want Uñieey	We want Uñieey cháu	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Owl Ojóo	Owls Ojóos cháu	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Hill Weey	Hills Uweey	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Coyote Mlti’	Coyotes Mlti’ si’waa	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Eye Yuu	Eyes Yuum	1.English 2.Kiliwa

There are also some instances in which the plural form changes the vowels, for example: Kill! (kiñii); Kill them! (keñoot); Grab! (kiyuu); Grab them! (kiyeewi);  Stand! (ku’um); All of you stand! (ke’ewi).[5]

Adverbs

Used in adjectives or nouns to denote a superlative degree of meaning.[5]

Examples:

Good/better	Mgayy ‘maay
Dwarf	Nmooj ‘maay
Heavy	Mechaa ‘maay
Injured	Tgap ‘maay
Horrible	J’chool ‘maay

Other adverbs include: Mgaay(better), Mák(here), Paak(there), Psap mí(today), J’choom(yesterday), Kiis i’bem(later), Mat pi’im kún(never) [5]

Examples:

Is better	Mgaay gap
She is the best	Paa mgaay gap etó
He is better than me	Paa mgaay gap ñal ím mat

There is no one here	Mák ‘ma’ali umá
Get out of here	Mák kpáam
Come here	Mák kiyée

There it is	Paak kuwáa
The car passed by there	Owa’ kose’jin e’ míl pajkaay tómat
Stand right there	Paa ku’u’ kiyúu

I can’t today	Psáp mí ajáa mat semióo
My mom will come today	Psáp mí ñab ñ’oo pujaa
The part is today	Eñiaay yiima’ u’ eñiaay mí

It rained a lot yesterday	J’choom ju’jak ‘maay
My dad left yesterday	Ñab s’oot j’choom kupáa tómat
I went to the beach yesterday	J’choom ‘ja’ táyel ajaa

I’ll see you later

Kiis i’bm maat ‘psáawi

I’ll never visit you	Mat pi’im kún mil wáal ajaa mat
Why don’t you ever come?	Piyím mat pi’im miyee mat mí o’
Why don’t you ever visit me?	Mat pi’im kun piñee mí mat i’

Adjective

-Tay: something of a big/great size for animals and objects or someone obtains a higher power/status due to profession.[5]

Examples:

Someone with a large head	‘iy tay
Someone with a large nose	pi’ tay
Big/large  dog	‘tat tay

Attorney	Ha’ Kumaag tay
Architect	Uwa’ kosay tay
Painter	Tukujaay tay

Suffix P is used to signify something of a smaller degree for several adjectives.[5]

Examples:

Wet	‘ja’al
Somewhat wet	‘ja’alp

Dark	Teey
Somewhat dark	Teeyp

Black	Ñieeg
Somewhat black	Ñieegp

Skinny	Jo’on
Somewhat skinny	Jo’onp

Dry	S’aay
Somewhat dry	S’aayp

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are connect two or more ideas into a single sentence.There are also disjunctive conjunctions to separate two or more mutually exclusive options presented in a sentence.[5]

Examples: /and/ translates to in Kiliwa to é.

Juan and Pedro	Juan é Pedro é
Water and salt	‘ja é ‘kuiiy é
Dog and cat	‘tat é nmi’ é
You and I	Ma’ap é ñaap
Chair and table	Juwáa u’ é ymaa tay u’

Verbs

• Verbs are more complicated than nouns in Kiliwa language
• There are more verb prefixes present, and fewer suffixes and infixes
• The prefixes demonstrate more structure within the grammar

Conjugation of the verbs

The conjugation allows us to tell what the action is doing and taking place in the verb [6]

• Example in Kiliwa: Conjugation of Verb Tmaa (eat)

Past & Present

Example: "I" presented [5]

I eat	Ñaap tmaa
You eat	Ma p tmamaa
He eats	Ñipaa tmaa
We eat	Páñaap tmaa
They eat	Ñipaat tmaat

Past [6]

I ate	Ñaap kuiil tmaa
You ate	Ma p kuiil tmamaa
He ate	Ñipaa kuiil tmaa
We ate	Páñaap kuiil tmaat cháu
They ate	Ñipaat kuiil tmaat cháu

Future [5]

I will eat	Ñaap tmaa seti uma
You will eat	Ma p tmamaa seti uma
He will eat	Ñipaa tmaa seti uma
We will eat	Páñaap tmaat cháut seti uma
They will eat	Ñipaat tmaat cháut seti uma

Nouns

In the Kiliwa language they are marked by the definite and indefinite [6]

Definite	Indefinite
-hi (singular)	-si(singular)

Determiner NP

The Kiliwa has 3 degree of distance that appear in the third person pronoun [6]

Examples:

-mi	“This” (near speaker)
-paa	“That” (near hearer)
-ñaa	“That” (far from both)

The demonstrative NP

Kiliwa language is also measured in the independent third-person pronoun in the demonstrative Np [6]

Examples:

Mi-čaw → ‘these;they’ → (near speaker)

paa-čaw → ‘those;they → (near hearer)

ñaa-čaw → “those;they → (far from both)

mi-t čam ‘This/(s)he leaves (it)’

mi-čaw-t čaam-u → ‘These/they leave (it)’

m ʔ-saaw   ‘I see this one/him/her’

mi-čaw=m=xwaq-m ʔ-čam → ‘I leave with these/them’

mi-čaw-l ʔ-saaw    ‘I looked into these one/them’

Gender Markers

When referring to a male human or animal one adds Kumeey [5]

When referring to a female human or animal one adds Kekoo [5]

Axis

Example: kumeey is male and kekoo is female

Dog	tat
(Female) dog	tat kekoo
(Male) dog	Tat kumeey
Cow	Jak
(Female) cow	Jak Kekoo
Bull	Jak Kumeey

Syntax

Kiliwa is a verb-final language that usually follows the order subject-object-verb. Dependent object clause should be found before the verb, whereas relative or adjectival clauses appear following the noun they modify. While behavioral context, negations, auxiliaries, etc. can alter the placement of certain aspects, the Object-Verb form remains true in most sentences.

Example of transitive sentence in which the structure is simply object-verb: [6]

This one/he/she eats/ate coyotes.

Kiliwa	Subject	Object	Verb
mit mltiʔčawm pahmaa	this one - mit	coyotes - mltiʔčawm	eats/ate - pahmaa

Sentences with a negation typically contain the object-verb format, however, basic structure would be subject - pre-verb negative - object - verb - final negative. Example: [6]

This man did not shoot that dog

Kiliwa	Subject	Pre-verb Neg.	Object-Verb	Final Neg.
kʷumiiymit kʷat ʔthatpaam hqhaa mat	This man - kʷumiiymit	did not - kʷat	shoot (that) dog - ʔthatpaam (that dog) hqhaa (shoot)	mat

Toponyms

The following Kiliwa toponyms are from the map given in Mixco (2000:70).

Settlements

• xaʔ kwpan - Agua Caliente
• xpiʔ kwnaan - San Isidro
• mxwaa - Los Coches
• pnyil - Santo Domingo
• kwʔiy yuwuʔ - San Quintin
• xwiym xaʔ - San Felipe
• ʔipaʔ cʔaa - Tijuana
• xwa nymat - Mexicali
• xaʔtay hwatuʔ - Ensenada
• yuwl ʔmat - Santa Catarina

Natural features

• kwʔiy yaquʔ - Salinas
• xyil - Cañón de la Esperanza
• xyaaw - San Matías Pass
• kwmsalp - Colnett Point

Mountains

• ʔmuw wiiy - Cerro Borrego
• nyaay wiiy - peak just to the south of Cerro Borrego
• muw waʔ wiiy - Cerro Salvatierra
• ʔqhaay spkwin - peak just to the south of Cerro Salvatierra
• mt waay walu wiiy - Picacho de Diablo
• ʔxaal haq - Sierra de San Pedro Martir
• kwnyiil wiiy - Cerro Colorado

Bodies of water

• xaʔ tay - Pacific Ocean
• cwilu tay - Arroyo Grande
• ʔmat pcux - San José Creek
• mswan - San Telmo Creek
• xmir - San Rafael River
• xaʔ hyil - Colorado River

References

1. "Kiliwa language in danger of extinction in Baja California". Veraz Informa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-11.
2. Endangered Languages Project data for Kiliwa.
3. "Yuman Language Family Summit Home Page". Retrieved 2012-09-22.
4. Mixco, Mauricio J. (2013). Introduction to the Kiliwa Language. Department of Linguistics, University of Utah.
5. Estrada Ramírez, Arnulfo. (2007). Diccionario Práctico de la Lengua Kiliwa. ISBN 978-970-54-0026-1. OCLC 615605767.
6. Mixco, Mauricio J. (2013). Introduction to the Kiliwa Language. Department of Linguistics, University of Utah.
7. Ulrich, Alexis. "Kiliwa numbers". Of Languages and Numbers. Retrieved 2019-12-10.

• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 1971. Kiliwa Grammar. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 1976. "Kiliwa Texts". International Journal of American Linguistics Native American Text Series 1:92-101.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 1977. "The Linguistic Affiliation of the Ñakipa and Yakakwal of Lower California". International Journal of American Linguistics 43:189-200.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 1983. Kiliwa Texts: "When I Have Donned My Crest of Stars" University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 107. (Myths and legends narrated by Rufino Ochurte and Braulio Espinosa after 1966.). Salt Lake City.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 1985. Kiliwa Dictionary. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 109. Salt Lake City.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 1996. Kiliwa de Arroyo León, Baja California. Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México No. 18. Mexico City: Colegio de México.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 2000. Kiliwa. Munich, Germany: Lincom.
• Mixco, Mauricio J.. 2006. "The Indigenous Languages". In The Prehistory of Baja California: Advances in the Archaeology of the Forgotten Peninsula, edited by Don Laylander and Jerry D. Moore, pp. 24–41. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
• Moore, Jerry D.. 2006. "The San Quintín-El Rosario Region". In The Prehistory of Baja California: Advances in the Archaeology of the Forgotten Peninsula, edited by Don Laylander and Jerry D. Moore, pp. 179–195. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
• Ochoa Zazueta, Jesús Ángel. 1978. Los kiliwa y el mundo se hizo así. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional Indigenista,

External links

• Kiliwa Swadesh vocabulary list (from Wiktionary)
• AULEX Spanish-Kiliwa dictionary