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Tribes of California by Stephen Powers (1877)

Appendix: Linguistics

U.S. GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION.
J. W. POWELL, in Charge.

APPENDIX.

LINGUISTICS

EDITED BY

J. W. POWELL.

CONTENTS.

COMPARATIVE VOCABULARIES.

In a majority of the following vocabularies, the Smithsonian alphabet has been used; and where it has not, the fact has been noted. For convenience of reference, the following is inserted from Smithsonian Publications, No. 160, "Instructions for Research relative to the Ethnology and Philogy of America, by Geo. Gibbs".

ORTHOGRAPHY.

It is, of course, essential to the proper understanding by others of the words collected, especially in view of general comparisons, that a precise and fixed system of spelling should be used, and this is more so where the usual language of the collector is English than where French or Spanish, as there is far less certainty in the pronunciation of the first than of these last. In English, for instance, four different sounds are given as belonging to the letter a, vis, those in far, fall, fat, fate. As regards the simple vowels, the difficulty can be partly remedied by employing the Spanish or Italian sounds, as given below, and a further advantage will be found in separating the words into syllables, and marking the principal one with an accent, thus: Da-ko'-ta. There are, however, in every language, sounds peculiar to itself, and the different Indian tongues abound in them, many being almost beyond our capacity to imitate and certainly to write, without some addition to the ordinary alphabet. Various systems, contemplating a universal alphabet, or one applicable to all languages, have been devised, each having its peculiar merits; but the great difficulty, never fully overcome, has been to represent intelligibly such unfamiliar sounds without confusing the inquirer with new characters or numerous marks, or, again, by employing several letters to represent a single sound. The alphabet here recommended for adoption, without pretending to remedy these defects, will at least prove an assistance to the collector in the field. Should it be necessary to represent other sounds, not include below, it will be better for him to adopt some arbitrary mark of his own, describing fully its value or meaning.

VOWELS.

The distinction of long and short vowels to be noted, as far as possible, by the division into syllables, joining a following consonant to a short vowel, and leaving the vowel open if long. Where this is insufficient, or where greater distinctness is desirable, a horizontal mark above, to indicate a long vowel, a curved mark a short one, thus: ā, a^u, ē, e^u, &c. A nasal syllable, like those found so commonly in French, to be marked by an index, n, at the upper right-hand corner of the vowel; thus oⁿ, âⁿ, aⁿ, uⁿ, will represent the sounds of the French on, an or en, in, and un, respectively.

CONSONANTS.

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MŪT'-SUN FAMILY.

1.—Mi'-wok.

Collected by Mr. Stephen Powers on Calaveras River, California, from an Indian of the tribe and his wife. The Smithsonian alphabet was used.

2.—Tuolumne.

Obtained by Mr. Adam Johnson, and published in Schoolcraft, Part IV, p. 408. He says it is spoken by several tribes on the Tuolumne River, California. It was copied for comparison by Mr. George Gibbs in Nos. 523 and 526 of the Smithsonian Collections. The original spelling is here given.

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