Region Arizona, United States Dialects Havasupai
Hualapai | Native speakers 1,500 (2007) ISO 639-3 yuf (includes Yavapai) | |
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Ethnicity 565 Havasupai, 1,870 Walapai (2007) Language family Yuman–Cochimí
Core Yuman
Pai
Havasupai–Hualapai | ||
Havasupai–Hualapai (Havasupai–Walapai) is the Native American language spoken by the Hualapai (Walapai) and Havasupai peoples of northwestern Arizona. It is closely related to the Yavapai language.
Contents
Havasupai–Hualapai belongs to the Pai branch of the Yuman–Cochimí language family, together with Yavapai and Paipai, which is spoken in northern Baja California. The two groups have separate sociopolitical identities, but a consensus among linguists is that the differences in speech among them lie only at the dialect level, rather than constituting separate languages (Campbell 1997:127; Goddard 1996:7; Kendall 1983:5-7; Mithun 1999:577-578). The Havasupai and Hualapai report that they speak the same language, and indeed the differences between their dialects have been reported as "negligible" (Kozlowski 1976:140).
For a bibliography of texts, grammars, and dictionaries that document the language, see Langdon 1996.
Havasupai dialect
This dialect is spoken by fewer than 450 people on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It is the only Native American language in the United States of America spoken by 100% of its indigenous population. As of 2005, Havasupai remained the first language of residents of Supai Village, the tribal government seat.
As of 2004, "a Wycliffe Bible Translators project ... under way to translate the Old and the New Testaments into the Havasupai language" was progressing slowly.
Sounds
Consonants in the Havasupai-Hualapai language
Vowels in the Havasupai-Hualapai language
Vowels can be lengthened as well. (*) -only occurs in the Havasupai dialect.