title: Wappo language
text: # Wappo language
  
  Wappo is an extinct language that was spoken by the Wappo tribe, Native Americans who lived in what is now known as the Alexander Valley north of San Francisco. The last fluent speaker, Laura Fish Somersal, died in 1990. The loss of this language is attributed to the general use of English in schools and workplaces.
  
  Wappo is generally believed to be distantly related to the Yuki language. It is distinguished by influence of Pomoan languages.
  
  According to Somersal, the English name for the people and language is derived from the Spanish word guapo, meaning "handsome" or "brave". The people called themselves Micewal. The Pomoan exonym, or name for them, was Ashochimi ("northerners").
  
  Paul Radin published the first texts on Wappo grammar in the 1920s. Jesse O. Sawyer published English-Wappo Vocabulary in 1965 and continued to study Wappo grammar throughout his life. Other linguists who have contributed to the study of Wappo include William E. Elmendorf, Alice Shepherd, Sandra Thompson, Joseph Sung-Yul Park, and Charles N. Li.
  
  ## Phonology
  
  ### Vowels
  
  Wappo has five vowel qualities, but the literature is inconsistent as to whether a length distinction exists. In his Wappo lexicon, Sawyer transcribes long vowels, but Thompson et al., who worked with the same speaker, report that they did not hear any long vowels.
  
  According to Radin, the following diphthongs occur in Wappo: /ao/, /ai/, /ɛo/, /ɛi/, /ɛu/, /ei/, /ɔi/, /iɛ/, and /ui/.
  
  | | Front | Back |
  | - | - | - |
  | High | i | u |
  | Mid | e | o |
  | Low | a | a |
  
  ### Consonants
  
  The transcription style (bolded symbols below) is based on Sawyer's work with Somersal, with further interpretation by Thompson, Park and Li. Thompson et al. propose that Wappo has three types of stops: plain, aspirated and glottalized. Stops plus /h/ are therefore treated as single aspirated stops. Sawyer notes that /f/, /d/, /g/, /r/ and /rʼ/ are used for Spanish borrowings.
  
  | | | Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Plosive | voiceless | p [p] | t [t̻] | ṭ [t̺] | | k [k] | ʔ [ʔ] |
  | Plosive | aspirated | pʰ [pʰ] | tʰ [t̻ʰ] | ṭʰ [t̺ʰ] | | kʰ [kʰ] | |
  | Plosive | glottalized | pʼ [pʼ] | tʼ [t̻ʼ] | ṭʼ [t̺ʼ] | | kʼ [kʼ] | |
  | Affricate | voiceless | | | c [t͡s] | č [t͡ʃ] | | |
  | Affricate | glottalized | | | cʼ [t͡sʼ] | čʼ [t͡ʃʼ] | | |
  | Fricative | voiceless | | | s [s] | š [ʃ] | | h [h] |
  | Nasal | plain | m [m] | | n [n] | | | |
  | Nasal | glottalized | mʼ [mʼ] | | nʼ [nʼ] | | | |
  | Approximant | plain | w [w] | | l [l] | y [j] | | |
  | Approximant | glottalized | wʼ [wʼ] | | lʼ [lʼ] | yʼ [jʼ] | | |
  
  The above table omits ⟨ch⟩ /cʰ/ [tsʰ] and ⟨čh⟩ /čʰ/ [tʃʰ].
  
  ### Stress and tone
  
  Wappo word stress is predictable, in that the first syllable of the word stem is stressed. In the examples below, the accent marks stress.
  
  * méhwa "wild grape vine"
  * kálkuʔ "greyhound"
  
  Wappo does not make distinctions in tone.
  
  ### Phonological processes
  
  * Glottal stops are inserted word-initially in words that would otherwise begin with a vowel.
  * If a word stem ends in a vowel and a suffix immediately following the stem begins with a vowel, one of those vowels is elided. In most cases, the vowel at the beginning of the suffix is deleted. For example, čoči-iʔ, which is the root "weave" plus the durative suffix, has the surface representation of čoči?.
  
  ## Morphology
  
  ### Nouns
  
  Nouns can be divided into human and non-human classes, which is relevant for pluralization. Human nouns are consistently inflected for plurality, but non-human nouns do not have to be inflected for plurality, even when their reference is in fact plural. For example, onoʔšiʔ-te "Indians" has the plural suffix -te, but mansanaʔi "apples" lacks the suffix.
  
  ### Verbs
  
  Wappo also has rich inflectional and derivational morphology in its verb phrases. There are five categories of tense or aspect: habitual/progressive, stative, past, inchoative and future. Each verb root takes at least two forms to which suffixes are added. The form used depends on the tense. The forms themselves are determined by the verb's semantic class, which is basically determined by the habitual/progressive suffix used. Specific suffixes result in changes to the verb stem, for example, -lik- is added to the root of verbs occurring with the rare imperative suffix -laʔ. This occurs in the imperative for "sleep", in which the stem is changed from hinto- to hintolik-. Epenthesis also occurs in certain situations, depending on the form of the root and the suffix added.
  
  Thompson et al. provide the following examples of tense/aspect categories. The relevant forms are bolded, and all of the forms follow Sawyer's transcription style.
  
  | Category | Suffix(es) | Wappo example | English translation |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Habitual/progressive | 13 different forms exist | ah yekhe k'el-iʔ | "I eat acorn mush" |
  | Stative | -khiʔ | i-meʔ c'ic'-i čhoʔel-khiʔ | "my bird has died" |
  | Past | -taʔ | ah leʔa mey-ocow el-taʔ | "I dug many swamp-roots" |
  | Inchoative | -iš and -eš | ah yomtoʔ-iš-khiʔ | "I've become a doctor" |
  | Future | -ya:miʔ (more certain) and -siʔ (less certain) | miʔ may' ohk'eč'e-siʔ | "[be careful-] you'll cut yourself" |
  
  Negatives are marked by the suffix lahkhiʔ.
  
  paʔ
  
  eat
  
  -ta
  
  -PST
  
  -lahkhiʔ
  
  -NEG
  
  paʔ -ta -lahkhiʔ
  
  eat -PST -NEG
  
  "did not eat"
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  te
  
  3SG
  
  oyaʔ
  
  pot
  
  keʔ
  
  break
  
  tis
  
  CAUS
  
  ta
  
  PST
  
  lahkhiʔ
  
  NEG
  
  ah te oyaʔ keʔ - tis - ta - lahkhiʔ
  
  1SG:NOM 3SG pot break - CAUS - PST - NEG
  
  "I didn’t make him/her break the pot"
  
  Prefixes are also added to verb phrases. There are speaker-oriented directional prefixes which are grouped into two classes, depending on whether the motion of the verb is directed at or away from the speaker. In narrative contexts, the direction may refer to a character. For example, two directional prefixes are ma- "away from speaker" and te- "toward speaker". Non-speaker-oriented directional prefixes include ho-, meaning "around" and pi-, meaning "accidentally". Wappo also includes pre-verbal desiderative and optative mood particles. The desiderative particle, k'ah, is used to indicate that the speaker wishes something were true. The optative particle, keye, is translated as "could", "can", or "should".
  
  ## Syntax
  
  ### Word order
  
  Wappo has a predicate-final word order.
  
  cephi
  
  3SG:NOM
  
  onoʔšiʔ
  
  Indian
  
  okel
  
  language
  
  haṭel
  
  learn
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  cephi onoʔšiʔ okel haṭel - khiʔ
  
  3SG:NOM Indian language learn - STAT
  
  "s/he's learning Indian language"
  
  Patient-initial structures are acceptable, albeit less common.
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  ew
  
  fish
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  k'ew
  
  man
  
  i
  
  NOM
  
  t'um
  
  buy
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  ce ew ce k'ew - i t'um - taʔ
  
  DEM fish DEM man - NOM buy - PST
  
  "that fish, the man bought (it)"
  
  Wappo allows for more freedom in word order in complement clauses, especially when they have first person subjects. All three sentences below are acceptable translations of "I know that the man caught a fish".
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  k'ew
  
  man
  
  ew
  
  fish
  
  ṭ'oh
  
  catch
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  haṭis
  
  know
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  ah ce k'ew ew ṭ'oh - taʔ haṭis - khiʔ
  
  1SG:NOM DEM man fish catch - PST know - STAT
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  haṭis
  
  know
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  k'ew
  
  man
  
  ew
  
  fish
  
  ṭ'oh
  
  catch
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  ah haṭis - khiʔ ce k'ew ew ṭ'oh - taʔ
  
  1SG:NOM know - STAT DEM man fish catch - PST
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  k'ew
  
  man
  
  ew
  
  fish
  
  ṭ'oh
  
  catch
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  haṭis
  
  know
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  ce k'ew ew ṭ'oh - taʔ ah haṭis - khiʔ
  
  DEM man fish catch - PST 1SG:NOM know - STAT
  
  In noun phrases, demonstrative and genitive modifiers precede the noun, while numerals and adjectives follow the noun.
  
  he
  
  DEM
  
  tonči
  
  cat
  
  he tonči
  
  DEM cat
  
  "this cat"
  
  te
  
  3SG
  
  meʔ
  
  GEN
  
  č'ešma
  
  bed
  
  te - meʔ č'ešma
  
  3SG - GEN bed
  
  "his/her bed"
  
  hinta
  
  day
  
  hopoka
  
  three
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  k'ešu
  
  deer
  
  mehlahi
  
  hunt
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  hinta hopoka ah k'ešu mehlahi - khiʔ
  
  day three 1SG:NOM deer hunt - STAT
  
  "for three days, I was hunting"
  
  In verb phrases, oblique arguments and adverbs come before the verb.
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  kaphe
  
  coffee
  
  kawaču
  
  sugar
  
  k'a
  
  COM
  
  hak'
  
  want
  
  šeʔ
  
  DUR
  
  ah kaphe kawaču - k'a hak' - šeʔ
  
  1SG:NOM coffee sugar - COM want - DUR
  
  "I want coffee with sugar in it"
  
  ### Case system
  
  Wappo has a rich case system which uses suffixes to mark cases. In the examples below, the words relevant to the case being discussed are in boldface.
  
  The accusative case is unmarked. Patients, arguments of transitive verbs that are patient-like, all subjects in dependent clauses and single arguments in copulas take the accusative case.
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  k'ew
  
  man
  
  ceʔeʔ
  
  COP
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  ek'a
  
  son
  
  ce k'ew ceʔeʔ i ek'a
  
  DEM man COP 1SG son
  
  "that man is my son"
  
  The nominative case is marked with the suffix -i. Words functioning as initiators, agents, experiencers of transitive verbs and the single argument of an intransitive verb take the nominative case. If the noun stem to which this suffix is added happens to ends with a vowel, the stem-final vowel is dropped or changed. Otherwise, adding the nominative suffix does not change the stem. The examples below illustrate the contrast.
  
  * pol'eʔ "boy" → pol'eʔi "boys"
  * k'ešu "deer (singular)" → k'eši "deer (plural)"
  
  The dative case, which is used to indicate the recipient or direction, is marked with -thu.
  
  chic
  
  bear
  
  -i
  
  -NOM
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  -thu
  
  -DAT
  
  te-
  
  DIR-
  
  laha
  
  come
  
  -khiʔ
  
  -STAT
  
  chic -i i -thu te- laha -khiʔ
  
  bear -NOM 1SG -DAT DIR- come -STAT
  
  "the bear is coming toward me"
  
  The benefactive case is marked with -ma. It is used to mark whom the action benefits.
  
  may-
  
  who-
  
  ma
  
  BEN
  
  miʔ
  
  2SG:NOM
  
  ce
  
  DEM
  
  takaʔ
  
  basket
  
  mes-taʔ
  
  make-PST
  
  may- ma miʔ ce takaʔ mes-taʔ
  
  who- BEN 2SG:NOM DEM basket make-PST
  
  "who did you make that basket for?"
  
  The instrumental case, used with intensive reflexives and instruments, is marked with -thiʔ.
  
  cephi
  
  3SG:NOM
  
  kuči:ya
  
  knife
  
  thiʔ
  
  INST
  
  chica
  
  bear
  
  ṭ'oh
  
  kill
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  cephi kuči:ya - thiʔ chica ṭ'oh - taʔ
  
  3SG:NOM knife - INST bear kill - PST
  
  "s/he killed the bear with a knife"
  
  The comitative case is marked with -k'a and is used to indicate accompaniment.
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  mi
  
  2SG
  
  -k'a
  
  -COM
  
  čo:
  
  go
  
  -siʔ
  
  -FUT
  
  ah mi -k'a čo: -siʔ
  
  1SG:NOM 2SG -COM go -FUT
  
  "I’ll go with you"
  
  The genitive case is marked with -meʔ. It can only be used in constructions with alienable possession. (Inalienable possession is expressed through the juxtaposition of the two relevant nouns.)
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  meʔ
  
  GEN
  
  luč
  
  tobacco
  
  i
  
  NOM
  
  lakhiʔ
  
  missing
  
  i - meʔ luč - i lakhiʔ
  
  1SG - GEN tobacco - NOM missing
  
  "I don’t have any cigarettes"
  
  Wappo also has a locative case, which is marked with suffixes such as -pi "away from" and -cawoh "on top of".
  
  thal
  
  what
  
  -i
  
  -NOM
  
  čhuya
  
  house
  
  -cawoh
  
  -on:top
  
  te-
  
  DIR-
  
  cewte
  
  fall
  
  -khiʔ
  
  -STAT
  
  thal -i čhuya -cawoh te- cewte -khiʔ
  
  what -NOM house -on:top DIR- fall -STAT
  
  "what fell on the roof?"
  
  ## Questions
  
  ### Yes–no questions
  
  To mark yes–no questions, a question particle, /hVʔ/, is added after the verb. It does not have to directly follow the verb. The particle's vowel harmonizes with the vowel that precedes it. In all of the examples blow, the question word is glossed as "Q" and is also in boldface.
  
  uh
  
  already
  
  miʔ
  
  2SG:NOM
  
  c'ey
  
  finish
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  haʔ
  
  Q
  
  uh miʔ c'ey - taʔ haʔ
  
  already 2SG:NOM finish - PST Q
  
  "have you finished already?
  
  miʔ
  
  2SG:NOM
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  hak'
  
  like
  
  -šeʔ
  
  -DUR
  
  heʔ
  
  Q
  
  miʔ i hak' -šeʔ heʔ
  
  2SG:NOM 1SG like -DUR Q
  
  "do you like me?"
  
  te
  
  3SG
  
  ceʔ
  
  COP
  
  mi
  
  2SG
  
  ek'a
  
  son
  
  haʔ
  
  Q
  
  te ceʔ mi ek'a haʔ
  
  3SG COP 2SG son Q
  
  "is he your son?"
  
  The particle is usually at the end of the sentence, but as the example below demonstrates, it is not always sentence-final. Its location depends on the composition of the verb phrase.
  
  luče
  
  tobacco
  
  neʔ
  
  have
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  hiʔ
  
  Q
  
  miʔ
  
  2SG:NOM
  
  luče neʔ - khiʔ hiʔ miʔ
  
  tobacco have - STAT Q 2SG:NOM
  
  "do you have any cigarettes?"
  
  ### Question-word questions
  
  Question words are usually located clause-initially.
  
  iṭa
  
  where
  
  miʔ
  
  2SG:NOM
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  yok'
  
  sit
  
  -okh
  
  -INF
  
  hak'
  
  want
  
  -šeʔ
  
  -DUR
  
  iṭa miʔ i yok' -okh hak' -šeʔ
  
  where 2SG:NOM 1SG sit -INF want -DUR
  
  "where do you want me to sit?"
  
  Question words can also get case inflection, except in cases of inalienable possession, where no suffix is added.
  
  may
  
  who
  
  -i
  
  -NOM
  
  oyok'
  
  win
  
  -eʔ
  
  -DUR
  
  may -i oyok' -eʔ
  
  who -NOM win -DUR
  
  "who’s winning?"
  
  thal
  
  what
  
  -i
  
  -NOM
  
  čhuya
  
  house
  
  -cawote-
  
  -on:top-DIR-
  
  cewte
  
  fall
  
  -khiʔ
  
  -STAT
  
  thal -i čhuya -cawote- cewte -khiʔ
  
  what -NOM house -on:top-DIR- fall -STAT
  
  "what fell on the roof?"
  
  Question words can also be used as indefinite pronouns.
  
  cephi
  
  3SG:NOM
  
  thal
  
  what
  
  t'um'i
  
  go:buy
  
  khiʔ
  
  STAT
  
  cephi thal t'um'i - khiʔ
  
  3SG:NOM what go:buy - STAT
  
  "s/he went to buy something"
  
  may
  
  who
  
  -i
  
  -NOM
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  naw-
  
  see
  
  ta
  
  -PST-
  
  -lahkhiʔ
  
  NEG
  
  may -i i naw- ta -lahkhiʔ
  
  who -NOM 1SG see -PST- NEG
  
  "nobody saw me"
  
  ## Language contact and influence
  
  Language contact with Spanish has influenced Wappo's sound structure and vocabulary. As listed above in the consonant section, /f/, /d/, /g/, /r/ and /rʼ/ are used for Spanish borrowings. Many of the first words borrowed from Spanish into Wappo referred to items that were traded. In some cases, words may have been borrowed from other American Indian languages in contact with Spanish, rather than directly from Spanish. Below are two examples of borrowings from Spanish.
  
  * čičaloʔ "pea" was borrowed from chícharo
  * háros "rice" was borrowed from arroz
  
  While contact with English has not greatly influenced Wappo's lexicon, it has influenced its syntax. Thompson et al. cite the sentences below as examples of an expanded use of the benefactive case that could have arisen from contact with English.
  
  kaphe
  
  coffee
  
  ma
  
  BENEF
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  mey
  
  water
  
  k'o
  
  boil
  
  taʔ
  
  PST
  
  kaphe - ma ah mey k'o - taʔ
  
  coffee - BENEF 1SG:NOM water boil - PST
  
  "I boiled water for coffee"
  
  [he
  
  DEM
  
  takaʔ
  
  basket
  
  -i]
  
  -NOM
  
  i
  
  1SG
  
  -ma
  
  -BENEF
  
  eniya
  
  very
  
  c'iti
  
  hard
  
  -khi?
  
  -STAT
  
  [čoč
  
  weave
  
  -ukh]
  
  -INF
  
  [he takaʔ -i] i -ma eniya c'iti -khi? [čoč -ukh]
  
  DEM basket -NOM 1SG -BENEF very hard -STAT weave -INF
  
  "this basket was very hard for me to make"
  
  While Wappo has a predicate-final structure, question words are clause-initial in most cases. This is unexpected, and possibly resulting from English influence.
  
  may
  
  who
  
  miʔ
  
  2SG:NOM
  
  naw
  
  see
  
  -taʔ
  
  -PST
  
  may miʔ naw -taʔ
  
  who 2SG:NOM see -PST
  
  "who did you see?"
  
  In another potential example of English influence, the word neʔ-khiʔ "have" is used in deontic expressions, and its meaning is adapted as "have to".
  
  ah
  
  1SG:NOM
  
  čoh
  
  go
  
  -ukh
  
  -INF
  
  neʔ
  
  have
  
  -khiʔ
  
  -STAT
  
  maʔa
  
  just
  
  heʔ
  
  now
  
  ah čoh -ukh neʔ -khiʔ maʔa heʔ
  
  1SG:NOM go -INF have -STAT just now
  
  "I have to go right now"
  
  ## Regional variation
  
  Wappo had 5 varieties:
  
  * Clear Lake Wappo
  * Russian River Wappo (a.k.a. Western Wappo)
  * Northern Wappo
  * Central Wappo
  * Southern Wappo
  