Kiliwa language

Kiliwa is a Yuman language spoken in Baja California, in the far northwest of Mexico, by the Kiliwa people.
Seventy-six people reported their language as Kiliwa in a 2020 census.
However, a count in 2018 found only four speakers remaining.

History

The Kiliwa language was extensively studied by Mauricio J. Mixco, who published Kiliwa texts as well as a dictionary and studies of syntax.
As recently as the mid-1900s, Mixco reported that members of the native community universally spoke Kiliwa as their first language, with many Kiliwas also bilingual in Paipai. At the start of the twenty-first century, Kiliwa is still spoken; a 2000 census reported 52 speakers. However, the language is considered to be in danger of extinction.
Kiliwa is a language of the Yuman Family Language Summit, held annually since 2001.

Classification

Kiliwa is the southernmost representative of the Yuman family, and the one that is most distinct from the remaining languages, which constitute Core Yuman. The Kiliwa's neighbors to the south, the Cochimí, spoke a language or a family of languages that was probably closely related to but not within the Yuman family. Consequently, the Kiliwa lie at the historic "center of gravity" for the differentiation of Yuman from Cochimí and of the Yuman branches from each other.
Linguistic prehistorians are not in agreement as to whether the Kiliwa's linguistic ancestors are most likely to have migrated into the Baja California peninsula from the north separately from the ancestors of the Cochimí and the Core Yumans, or whether they became differentiated from those groups in place. The controversial technique of glottochronology suggests that the separation of Kiliwa from Core Yuman may have occurred about 2,000–3,000 years ago.

Phonology

Consonants

Intervocalic allophones of /p, t, k, kʷ/ can occur as . An approximant sound such as /j/ after a glottal /h/ can become devoiced as, as with a devoiced sound being an allophone of /hʷ/.

Vowels

There are three vowel quantities; /i, u, a/, that can also be distinguished with vowel length /iː, uː, aː/. Close vowel sounds /i, u/ can range to mid vowel sounds as, and with vowel length as . An epenthetic schwa sound can occur within root-initial consonant clusters.

Pitch accent

Kiliwa has three pitch accents, those being high-level, high-falling, and low level.

Orthography

Alphabet

The Kiliwa language is written using a modified Roman alphabet, as the language's culture has historically been unwritten and entirely oral. It consists of 15 consonants which includes 3 digraphs: ⟨b⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨g⟩, ⟨h⟩, ⟨hh⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨nh⟩, ⟨p⟩, ⟨s⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨w⟩, and ⟨y⟩.

Letter	Phoneme	Kiliwa examples	English translation
b	/b/	A'bobuin Ábel	Which? Where?
ch	/t͡ʃ/	Chiin Jcheet	Laugh Steal
g	/g/	Mugaw Msig	Flour One
h	/h/	Ha' Haa	Mouth Yes
k	/k/	Jaq Kujat	Bone Blood
l	/l/	Lepee Msigl paayp	Liver Six
m	/m/	Meyaal Smak	Tortilla Leaf
n	/n/	Nay Mpaan	Kid Sister
ny	/ɲ/	Nhieeg Jnhieel	Black Lariat
p	/p/	Pa Gap	Stomach Pain
s	/s/	Smaa Kiis	Sleep Large
t	/t/	Tmaa Mat	Eat No
w	/w/	Kuwaa	Sit
y	/j/	Yiit Tay	Seed Big
'	/ʔ/	Jo’on Msi'	Very Star

There are also 5 short and 5 long vowels: /a/, /aː/, /e/, /eː/, /i/, /iː/, /o/, /oː/, /u/, and /uː/. These are represented in the chart below.

Vowels	IPA	Kiliwa Examples	English Translation
a	/a/	Ábel Tay	Where Big
aa	/aː/	Jaa Maaw Yaaywaa	To go Grandma scorpion
e	/e/	Enhoop Pel wat Miy pi jse	Fight To return Quill
ee	/eː/	Eel Teey Juwee	Sore Night To give
i	/i/	Ipaa Kaichmaa Kemelootí	People Money/metal/iron
ii	/iː/	Yiit Chiin Tiingkiil	Seed Laughter mockingbird
o	/o/	Kotip Jsilo	Heart Hole
oo	/oː/	Enhoop Kekoo	Fight/ To struggle Woman
u	/u/	Ujaa Ku'nip	Look after/look out for Poor
uu	/uː/	Uusmaat Piyauup Kuu	Sleep To carry/load Grandpa

Other digraphs used in the Kiliwa language include: gu, hu, and ku. They are shown in the chart below.

Digraphs	Phoneme	Kiliwa Examples	English Translation
gu	/ɡʷ/	Pagu Hkuigu	Rabbit Hunt
hu	/hʷ/	P’huhk’ ii Mphuh-mi	Thud This box/bag
hu	/hʷ/	Huwaa u Ju sawi	Seat Clean
ku	/kʷ/	Hkuigu Tuku'ipaai	To hunt Animal

The inclusion of /, / is used as a brief pause, such as that in Spanish.

Numbers

Numbers in Kiliwa can be expressed up to several thousands without the use of Spanish loanwords. Counting is done using both fingers and toes. There is a resemblance of the Kiliwa word ‘sal’ which is the root for ‘finger/hand’.

Number	Kiliwa	English translation
1	Msig	One
2	Juwak	Two
3	Jmi'k	Three
4	Mnak	Four
5	Salchipam	Five
6	Msigl paayp	Six
7	Juwakl paayp	Seven
8	Jmi'kl paayp	Eight
9	Msig tkmat	Nine
10	Chipam msig	Ten

The following numbers are formed by using the form for the ten's place 'chipam' followed by its multiplier digit.

Number	Kiliwa	English translation
10	Chipam msig	Ten
20	Chipam juwak	Twenty
30	Chipam jmi'k	Thirty
40	Chipam mnak	Forty
50	Chipam salchipam	Fifty
60	Chipam msigl paayp	Sixty
70	Chipam juwakl paayp	Seventy
80	Chipam jmi'kl paayp	Eighty
90	Chipam msig tkmat	Ninety

The hundreds are formed by using the expression ‘chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam’ followed by the multiplier digits found in that of numbers 1-9.

Number	Kiliwa	English translation
100	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam msig	One hundred
200	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam juwak	Two hundred
300	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam jmi'k	Three hundred
400	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam mnak	Four hundred
500	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam salchipam	Five hundred
600	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam msigl paayp	Six hundred
700	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam juwakl paayp	Seven hundred
800	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam jmi'kl paayp	Eight hundred
900	Chipam msig u’ kun yuu chipam msig tkmat	Nine hundred

Lastly, the thousands are formed by using the expression ‘chipam msig u’ kuetet’ before using the multiplier digits once again.

Number	Kiliwa	English Translation
1,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet msig	One thousand
2,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet juwak	Two thousand
3,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet hmi'k	Three thousand
4,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet mnak	Four thousand
5,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet salchipam	Five thousand
6,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet msigl paayp	Six thousand
7,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet juwakl paayp	Seven thousand
8,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet jmi'kl paayp	Eight thousand
9,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet msig tkmat	Nine thousand
10,000	Chipam msig u’ kuetet cipam msig	Ten thousand

Morphology

The morphology in the Kiliwa language consists of many affixes and clitics. More of these are available on the verb rather than the noun. These affixes are usually untouched and added on to a modified root.

Singular and plurals

In Kiliwa there are multiple ways of pluralizing words. There are several to differentiate it from the singular form. The most common affixes are t, chau, m, u and si’waa.

Singular	Plural	Language
This Mi	These Mit	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Sit Kuwaa	All of you sit Kuwaat	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Come! Kiyee	All of you come Kitiyee	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Want Unyieey	We want Unyieey chau	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Owl Ojoo	Owls Ojoo chau	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Hill Weey	Hills Uweey	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Coyote Mlti’	Coyotes Mlti’ si’waa	1.English 2.Kiliwa
Eye Yuu	Eyes Yuum	1.English 2.Kiliwa

There are also some instances in which the plural form changes the vowels, for example: Kill! ; Kill them! ; Grab! ; Grab them! ; Stand! ; All of you stand!.

Adverbs

Used in adjectives or nouns to denote a superlative degree of meaning.
Examples:

Good/better	Mgaai maai
Dwarf	Nmoohh maai
Heavy	Mechaa maai
Injured	Tgap maai
Horrible	Hhchool maai

Other adverbs include: Mgaai, Mak, Paak, Psap mi, Hhchoom, Kiis i'bm, Mat pi’im kun
Examples:

Is better	Mgaai gap
She is the best	Paa mgaai gap eto
He is better than me	Paa mgaai gap nhal im mat

There it is	Paak kuwaa
The car passed by there	Owa' kose'hhin e' mil pahhkaai tomat
Stand right there	Paa ku'u' kiyuu

It rained a lot yesterday	Hhchoom hhu'hhak maai
My dad left yesterday	Nhab s’oot hhchoom kupaa tomat
I went to the beach yesterday	Hhchoom hha' tayel ahhaa

I’ll never visit you	Mat pi’im kun mil waal ahhaa mat
Why don’t you ever come?	Piyim mat pi’im miyee mat mi o'
Why don’t you ever visit me?	Mat pi’im kun pinhee mi mat i'

Adjectives

-Tay: something of a big/great size for animals and objects or someone obtains a higher power/status due to profession.
Examples:
Suffix P is used to signify something of a smaller degree for several adjectives.
Examples:

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are connect two or more ideas into a single sentence.There are also disjunctive conjunctions to separate two or more mutually exclusive options presented in a sentence.
Examples: /and/ translates in Kiliwa to e.

Juan and Pedro	Juan e Pedro e
Water and salt	Ja' e kuii e
Dog and cat	Tat e nmi’ e
You and I	Ma’p e nyaap
Chair and table	Juwaa u’ e tmaa tay u’

Verbs

Verbs are more complicated than nouns in Kiliwa language
There are more verb prefixes present, and fewer suffixes and infixes
The prefixes demonstrate more structure within the grammar

Conjugation

The conjugation allows us to tell what the action is doing and taking place in the verb

Example in Kiliwa: Conjugation of Verb Tmaa

Past and present

Present

Source:

I eat	Nhaap tmaa
You eat	Ma'p tma-maa
He/She eats	Nhipaa tmaa
We eat	Panhaap tmaa
They eat	Nhipaat tmaa-t

Past

Source:

I ate	Nhaap kuiil tmaa
You ate	Ma'p kuiil tmamaa
He/She ate	Nhipaa kuiil tmaa
We ate	Panhaap kuiil tmaat chau
They ate	Nhipaat kuiil tmaat chau

Future

Source:

I will eat	Nhaap tmaa seti' uma'
You will eat	Ma'p tmamaa seti' uma'
He/She will eat	Nhipaa tmaa seti' uma'
We will eat	Panhaap tmaat chaut seti' uma'
They will eat	Nhipaat tmaat chaut seti' uma'

Nouns

In the Kiliwa language they are marked by the definite and indefinite

Determiner NP

Kiliwa has 3 degrees of distance that appear in the third person pronoun
Examples:

-mi	“This”
-paa	“That”
-nyaa	“That”

Demonstrative NP

Kiliwa language is also measured in the independent third-person pronoun in the demonstrative Np
Examples:
Mi-chau → ‘these;they’ →
paa-chau → ‘those;they →
nyaa-chau → “those;they →
mi-t cham ‘This/he leaves ’
mi-chau-t caam-u → ‘These/they leave ’
m '-saau ‘I see this one/him/her’
mi-chau=m=juak-m ʔ-cam → ‘I leave with these/them’
mi-chau-l '-saau ‘I looked into these one/them’

Gender markers

When referring to a male human or animal one adds kumeei
When referring to a female human or animal one adds ''kökoo''

Axis

Example: kumeei is male and kökoo is female

Dog	Tat
dog	Tat kökoo
dog	Tat kumeei
Cow / Bull	Hhak
Cow	Hhak kökoo
Bull	Hhak kumeei

Syntax

Kiliwa is a verb-final language that usually follows the order subject-object-verb. Dependent object clause should be found before the verb, whereas relative or adjectival clauses appear following the noun they modify. While behavioral context, negations, auxiliaries, etc. can alter the placement of certain aspects, the Object-Verb form remains true in most sentences.
Example of transitive sentence in which the structure is simply object-verb:

Kiliwa	Subject	Object	Verb
mit melti’caum pahmaa	this one - mit	coyotes - melti’caum	eats/ate - pahmaa

Sentences with a negation typically contain the object-verb format, however, basic structure would be subject - pre-verb negative - object - verb - final negative. Example:

Kiliwa	Subject	Pre-verb Neg.	Object-Verb	Final Neg.
kuumiimit kuat tatpaam hkkaa mat	This man - kuumiimit	did not - kuat	shoot dog - tatpaam *hkkaa*	mat

Toponyms

The following Kiliwa toponyms are from the map given in Mixco.
;Settlements

Ja' Kupan /xaʔ kupan/ – Agua Caliente
Jpi' Kunaan /xpiʔ kuna:n/ – San Isidro
Mjuaa /mxʷa:/ – Los Coches
Pnyil /pɲil/ – Santo Domingo
Ku'ii Yuwu /kuʔi: yuwuʔ/ – San Quintin
Juiim Ja' /xʷi:m haʔ/ – San Felipe
Ipaa Cha'amui /ipa: t͡ʃaʔamʷi/ – Tijuana
Jua Nyimaat /xʷa: ɲima:t/ – Mexicali
Ja'Tay Juatu' /xaʔtaj xʷatuʔ/ – Ensenada
Yuul Mat /ju:l mat/ – Santa Catarina

;Natural features

Ku'ii Yaku' /kuʔiː yakuʔ/ – Salinas
Hiil /hi:l/ – Cañón de la Esperanza
Hyaau /hʲa:w/ – San Matías Pass
Kumsalp /kumsalp/ – Colnett Point

;Mountains

Mou Weey /mow we:j/ – Cerro Borrego
Nyaay Weey /ɲa:j we:j/ – peak just to the south of Cerro Borrego
Mou Wa' Weey /mow waʔ we:j/ – Cerro Salvatierra
Kaay Spkuin /ka:j spkʷin/ – peak just to the south of Cerro Salvatierra
Mt Waay Walu Weey /mt wa:j walu we:j/ – Picacho de Diablo
Jaal Jak /xa:l xak/ – Sierra de San Pedro Martir
Kunyil Weey /kuɲil we:j/ – Cerro Colorado

;Bodies of water

Ja'tay /xaʔtaj/ – Pacific Ocean
Chuwílo Tay /t͡ʃuwilo taj/ – Arroyo Grande
Mat Pchuj /mat pt͡ʃux/ – San José Creek
Msuan /msʷan/ – San Telmo Creek
Jmil /xmil/ – San Rafael River
Ja' Hiil /xaʔ hi:l/ – Colorado River