Native to Mexico, United States Native speakers 300 (2007–2010) | Ethnicity Cocopah ISO 639-3 coc | |
Region Baja California, Arizona, Sonora Language family Yuman
Delta–Californian
Cocopah | ||
Cocopah is a Delta language of the Yuman language family spoken by the Cocopah. In an effort to keep the language alive, which was spoken by fewer than 400 people at the turn of the 21st-century, the Cocopah Museum began offering Cocopah language classes to children in 1998.
Contents
The language had no alphabet until the 1970s when a scholar developed one for a university dissertation. It proved to be less than ideal, and a new alphabet was developed by the tribe in the early 2000s. As the revival of the language has progressed, it has been necessary to find words for modern objects that didn't exist in the ancient language. These issues are referred to the elders of the tribe for a decision. Cocopah in Mexico use a different orthography designed by the INALI.
Consonants
Cocopah has 21 consonants:
Vowels
Cocopah has 4 vowels.
Cocopah has both short and long vowels.
Syllable & phonotactics
The Cocopah syllable:
(C)(C)(C)V(ː)(C)(C)