Yok-Utian languages
Encyclopedia
Yok-Utian is a hypothetical language family
of California
. It consists of the Yokutsan
and Utian
families.
The name Yok-Utian was coined by Geoffrey Gamble. Catherine Callaghan (who established the Utian family) is one of the major investigators of this hypothesis. Callaghan and Gamble's research on this family started in 1991. An early suggestion of similarities between these two families was made by Kenneth Whistler and Victor Golla in 1986.
Yok-Utian is a part of the larger Penutian
proposal.
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It consists of the Yokutsan
Yokutsan languages
Yokutsan is an endangered language family spoken in the interior of Northern and Central California in and around the San Joaquin Valley by the Yokut people. The speakers of Yokutsan languages were severely affected by disease, missionaries, and the Gold Rush...
and Utian
Utian languages
Utian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
families.
The name Yok-Utian was coined by Geoffrey Gamble. Catherine Callaghan (who established the Utian family) is one of the major investigators of this hypothesis. Callaghan and Gamble's research on this family started in 1991. An early suggestion of similarities between these two families was made by Kenneth Whistler and Victor Golla in 1986.
Yok-Utian is a part of the larger Penutian
Penutian languages
Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian stock or phylum has been the subject of debate among specialists. Even the...
proposal.