Mono language (Native American)
Encyclopedia
Mono is a Native American
language of the Numic
group of Uto-Aztecan languages
, the ancestral language of the Mono people. Mono consists of two dialects, Eastern and Western. The name "Monachi" is commonly used in reference to Western Mono and "Owens Valley Paiute" in reference to Eastern Mono. In 1925, Alfred Kroeber estimated that Mono had 3000 to 4000 speakers. Today, only about 40 elderly people speak Mono as their first language. It is thus a moribund language. It is spoken in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains, the Mono Basin
, and the Owens Valley
of central-eastern California
. Mono is most closely related to Northern Paiute
; these two are classified as the Western group of the Numic
branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family
.
. The Big Sandy Rancheria
and Dunlap, California
have from 12 to 14 speakers. The Northfork Mono are developing a dictionary, and both they and the Big Sandy Rancheria provide language classes. While not all are completely fluent, about 100 members of Northfork have "some command of the language." In the late 1950s, Lamb compiled a dictionary and grammar of Northfork Mono.
studied this language in the 1950s and proposed the name Paviotso for this language, but that was not widely adopted.
s strung together.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
language of the Numic
Numic languages
Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for "person." For...
group of Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States , through western, central and southern Mexico Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family...
, the ancestral language of the Mono people. Mono consists of two dialects, Eastern and Western. The name "Monachi" is commonly used in reference to Western Mono and "Owens Valley Paiute" in reference to Eastern Mono. In 1925, Alfred Kroeber estimated that Mono had 3000 to 4000 speakers. Today, only about 40 elderly people speak Mono as their first language. It is thus a moribund language. It is spoken in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains, the Mono Basin
Mono Basin
The Mono Basin is an endorheic drainage basin located east of Yosemite National Park in California and Nevada. It is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada, to the east by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the north by the Bodie Hills, and to the south by the north ridge of the Long Valley...
, and the Owens Valley
Owens Valley
Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...
of central-eastern 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...
. Mono is most closely related to Northern Paiute
Northern Paiute language
Northern Paiute is a Western Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, which according to Marianne Mithun had around 500 fluent speakers in 1994. Ethnologue reported the number of speakers in 1999 as 1,631...
; these two are classified as the Western group of the Numic
Numic languages
Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for "person." For...
branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States , through western, central and southern Mexico Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family...
.
Western Mono
The number of Native speakers, as of 1994, ranged from 37 to 41. The majority of speakers are from the Northfork Rancheria and Auberry, CaliforniaAuberry, California
Auberry is a census-designated place in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 2,369 at the 2010 census, up from 2,053 at the 2000 census...
. The Big Sandy Rancheria
Big Sandy Rancheria
The Big Sandy Rancheria of Mono Indians of California is a ranchería and federally recognized tribe of Western Mono Indians is located in Fresno County, California.-Reservation:...
and Dunlap, California
Dunlap, California
Dunlap is an unincorporated community in Fresno County, California. It lies at an elevation of 1919 feet . It has a population of 131. It is located approximately east of Fresno. St. Nicholas Ranch , a retreat center run by the Greek Orthodox Church, is a major attraction...
have from 12 to 14 speakers. The Northfork Mono are developing a dictionary, and both they and the Big Sandy Rancheria provide language classes. While not all are completely fluent, about 100 members of Northfork have "some command of the language." In the late 1950s, Lamb compiled a dictionary and grammar of Northfork Mono.
Owens Valley Paiute
In the mid-1990s, an estimated 50 people spoke the Owens Valley Paiute language. Informal language classes exist and singers keep native language songs alive. Linguist Sydney LambSydney Lamb
Sydney MacDonald Lamb is an American linguist and professor at Rice University, whose stratificational grammar is a significant alternative theory to Chomsky's transformational grammar....
studied this language in the 1950s and proposed the name Paviotso for this language, but that was not widely adopted.
Morphology
Mono is an agglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemeMorpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
s strung together.
Further reading
- Rosalie Bethel, Paul V. Kroskrity, Christopher Loether, and Gregory A. Reinhardt. 1993. A Dictionary of Western Mono. 2nd edition.
- Sydney M. Lamb. 1957. Mono Grammar. University of California. Berkeley PhD dissertation.
- Evan J. Norris. 1986. A Grammar Sketch and Comparative Study of Eastern Mono. PhD dissertation, University of California, San Diego.
External links
- Ethnologue report for Mono
- Linguistic lineage for Mono
- Mono language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian LanguagesSurvey of California and Other Indian LanguagesThe Survey of California and Other Indian Languages at the University of California at Berkeley documents, catalogs, and archives the indigenous languages of the Americas...