Native speakers 100 (2007) Glottolog moha1256 | ISO 639-3 mov | |
Region California and Arizona, US Ethnicity 2,000 Mojave people (2007) Language family Yuman
Core Yuman
River Yuman
Mojave | ||
Mojave (also Mohave) is the native language of the Mohave people along the Colorado River in southeastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Nevada. Approximately 70% of the speakers reside in Arizona, while approximately 30% reside in California. Mojave belongs to the River branch of the Yuman language family, together with Quechan and Maricopa.
Contents
Mojave language became endangered during the 20th century when Mohave children were taken away from their parents to be raised in boarding schools, where they were prohibited to speak the language. They were prohibited from speaking it even with their parents when they occasionally visited home; while many parents did not speak English.
Phonology
All claims and examples in this section come from Munro (1974) unless otherwise noted. Mojave phonology is similar to that of Maricopa. One difference is that in the 19th century Mohave speakers shifted the sounds [s] and [ʂ] (similar to sh as in "shack") to [θ] (th as in "thick") and [s], respectively.
Consonants
The post-alveolar stops /ɳ/ and /ʈ/ only occur in very few words.
Vowels
Mohave has five vowel qualities, with length distinction and the weak vowel /ə/.
Revitalization
As of 2012, the Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University "has facilitated workshops for both learners and speakers at the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation in northwest Arizona, California and Nevada. Fort Mojave has about 22 elders who speak some Mojave." The project is also bringing elders together with younger people to teach the traditional Mojave "bird songs."
The language preservation work of poet Natalie Diaz on the reservation was featured on the PBS News Hour in March 2012.