Picuris language

Picuris (also Picurís) is a language of the Northern Tiwa branch of Tanoan spoken in Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico.

Picuris
Picurís
Native to	United States
Region	Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico
Ethnicity	230[1]
Native speakers	225 (2007)[2]
Language family	Tanoan Tiwa Northern Tiwa Picuris
Language codes
ISO 639-3	twf (Northern Tiwa)
Glottolog	picu1248
ELP	Picuris
Linguasphere	64-CAA-ab
Picuris is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Classification

Picuris is partially mutually intelligible with Taos dialect, spoken at Taos Pueblo.^[3] It is slightly more distantly related to Southern Tiwa (spoken at Isleta Pueblo and Sandia Pueblo).

Phonology

		Bilabial	Dental		Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
			central	lateral			central	labial
Stop	voiced	(b)	(d)				(ɡ)
	voiceless	p	t			tʃ	k	kʷ	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ			tʃʼ	kʼ	(kʼʷ)
Fricative				ɬ	s		x	xʷ	h
Nasal		m	n
Approximant		w		l		j
Flap					(ɾ)

• The consonants /b, d, ɡ, ɾ/ are only found in recent Spanish loanwords.
• G. Trager (1942, 1943) analyzed Picuris as also having aspirated stops /pʰ, tʰ/, ejective stops /pʼ, tʼ, tʃʼ, kʼ/, and labialized /kʷ, kʼʷ, xʷ/. These are considered by F. Trager (1971) to be sequences of /ph, th/, /pʔ, tʔ, tʃʔ, kʔ/, and /kw, kʔw, xw/.^[4]
• Velar /x/ has strong frication.^[5]
• Stops /p, t, ʔ/ are unaspirated while /k/ may be slightly aspirated.
• The affricate /tʃ/ freely varies with a more forward articulation [tʃ~ts]: for example, F. Trager recorded the word /ˈtʃāˈxʌ̀nē/ "witch" with an initial [tʃ] but the related word /ˈtʃāˈxʌ́ˈɬāwēnē/ "witch chief" with initial [tsʲ].^[6]
• The sequence /kʔw/ is only found in a single word /kʔwìatʃéne/.
• Alveolar /n/ has an assimilated velar variant [ŋ] when it precedes labio-velar /w/.
• Nasal /m/ in a low-toned syllable is partially devoiced and denasalized [mp] before a glottal stop /ʔ/, as in /ˈʔʌ̀mʔēnē/ "chokecherry" which is phonetically [ˈʌ̀mpʔɛ̄nɛ̄].
• Fricative /ɬ/ freely varies between a lateral fricative and a central-lateral fricative sequence [ɬ~sɬ]
• Lateral /l/ is palatalized [lʲ] before the high front vowel /i/.
• Only the sonorants /m, n, l, w, j/ can occur in syllable coda position.

Vowels

Picuris has 6 vowels. Picuris also has nasalized counterparts for each vowel.

Oral Vowels Front Back High i u Upper Mid e o Lower Mid ʌ Low a

Nasal Vowels Front Back High ĩ ũ Upper Mid ẽ õ Lower Mid ʌ̃ Low ã

Picuris has three degrees of stress: primary, secondary, and unstressed. Stress affects the phonetic length of syllable rimes (lengthening the vowel or the syllable-final sonorant consonant).

Additionally, there are three tones: high, mid, and low — the mid tone being the most frequent.

Text

Two sentences with interlinear glosses:

ˌʔìˈʔīˌnẽ́

corn

ˌpāˈʔāˌnẽ́

pumpkins

ˌtāˈʔāˌnẽ́

beans

ʔã̄nnã̄ˈpīaˌtʃí

we.two.will.make

ˈmẽˌwíathā-ˌpʔīnˈwēlthā-ʔīˈkʔòˌthʌ̀

at.going.being-at.Picuris-we.good.dwell

ˌʔìˈʔīˌnẽ́ ˌpāˈʔāˌnẽ́ ˌtāˈʔāˌnẽ́ ʔã̄nnã̄ˈpīaˌtʃí ˈmẽˌwíathā-ˌpʔīnˈwēlthā-ʔīˈkʔòˌthʌ̀

corn pumpkins beans we.two.will.make at.going.being-at.Picuris-we.good.dwell

"Corn, pumpkins, beans, we live happily at Picuris by raising an abundant crop."

ˈʔẽ́

you

kãˈxwẽ́ˌkì

you.have.the.tail

ˈʔẽ́ kãˈxwẽ́ˌkì

you you.have.the.tail

"It's your turn."^[7]

See also

• Picuris Pueblo
• Tiwa languages