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Keresan
Native to United States
Region New Mexico
Ethnicity Keres
Native speakers 13,190  (2013)
Language family
Dialects
East Keres
West Keres
Keres langs.png
Pre-contact distribution of Keresan languages

Keres (/kəˈrs/), also Keresan (/ˈkɛrɪsən/), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of each of the seven Keres pueblos are mutually intelligible with its closest neighbors. There are significant differences between the Western and Eastern groups, which are sometimes counted as separate languages.

Family division

In 2007, there was an estimate total of 10,670 speakers.

  • Eastern Keres: total of 4,580 speakers (1990 census)
  • Western Keres: total of 3,391 speakers (1990 census)

Genetic relationships

Keres is now considered a language isolate. In the past, Edward Sapir grouped it together with a Hokan–Siouan stock. Morris Swadesh suggested a connection with Wichita. Joseph Greenberg grouped Keres with Siouan, Yuchi, Caddoan, and Iroquoian in a superstock called Keresiouan. None of these proposals has been validated by subsequent linguistic research.

Phonology

Keresan has between 42 and 45 consonant sounds, and around 40 vowel sounds, adding up to a total of about 85 phonemes, depending on the analysis and the language variety. Based on the classification in the World Atlas of Language Structures, Keres is a language with a large consonant inventory.

The great number of consonants relates to the three-way distinction between voiceless, aspirated and ejective consonants (e.g. /t tʰ tʼ/), and to the larger than average number of fricatives (i.e. /s sʼ ʂ ʂʼ ʃ ʃʼ h/) and affricates, the latter also showing the three-way distinction found in stops.

The large number of vowels derives from a distinction made between long and short vowels (e.g. /e eː/), as well as from the presence of tones and voicelessness. Thus, a single vowel quality may occur with seven distinct realizations: /é è e̥ éː èː êː ěː/, all of which are used to distinguish words in the language.

Consonants

The chart below contains the consonants of the proto-Keresan (or pre-Keresan) from Miller & Davis (1963) based on a comparison of Acoma, Santa Ana, and Santo Domingo, as well as other features of the dialects compiled from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987), and The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and the Grammar of Laguna Keres (2005).

Labial Alveolar Palatal Retroflex Velar Glottal
Nasal voiced m n ɲ
glottalized [[Error using : IPA symbol "mˀ" not found in list|mˀ]] [[Error using : IPA symbol "nˀ" not found in list|nˀ]] [[Error using : IPA symbol "ɲˀ" not found in list|ɲˀ]]
Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ
aspirated [[Error using : IPA symbol "cʰ" not found in list|cʰ]]
ejective
Affricate voiceless ts
aspirated tsʰ tʃʰ tʂʰ
ejective tsʼ tʃʼ tʂʼ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ ʂ h
ejective [[Error using : IPA symbol "ʃʼ" not found in list|ʃʼ]] [[Error using : IPA symbol "ʂʼ" not found in list|ʂʼ]]
Approximant voiced w ɾ j
glottalized [[Error using : IPA symbol "wˀ" not found in list|wˀ]] [[Error using : IPA symbol "ɾˀ" not found in list|ɾˀ]] [[Error using : IPA symbol "jˀ" not found in list|jˀ]]

Vowels

Keresan vowels have a phonemic distinction in duration: all vowels can be long or short. Additionally, short vowels can also be voiceless. The vowel chart below contains the vowel phonemes and allophones from the information of the Keresan languages combined from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987).

Long Short
Phonemic Phonetic Phonemic Phonetic Voiceless
Close /iː/ [i] /i/ [i ɪ] [ɪ̥]
Mid-front /eː/ [eː] /e/ [e ɛ æ] [e̥]
Mid-central /ɨː/ [əː ɨː] /ɨ/ [ə ɨ ɤ] [ɨ̥]
Open /ɑː/ [aː ɑː] /ɑ/ [a ɑ] [ḁ]
Back-close /oː/ [oː] /o/ [o] [o̥]
/uː/ [uː] /u/ [u ʊ o] [ʊ̥]

Notes:

  • Western Keres does not have phonemic /oː/ or /o/, though both vowels may occur phonetically. Eastern Keres words containing /o/ show /au/ in Western Keres. For instance, the first vowel in the word-sentence Sraúka̠cha̠ – “I see you”:
    • Kotyit Keres: [ʂóːkʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]
    • Kʼawaika Keres: [ʂɑ̌ukʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]

Voiceless vowels

All Keresan short vowels may be devoiced in certain positions. The phonemic status of these vowels is controversial. Maring (1967) considers them to be phonemes of Áákʼu Keres, whereas other authors disagree. There are phonetic grounds for vowel devoicing based on the environment they occur, for instance word-finally, but there are also exceptions. Vowels in final position are nearly always voiceless and medial vowels occurring between voiced consonants, after nasals and ejectives are nearly always voiced.

  • Word-final devoicing: [pɑ̌ːkʊ̥] because
  • Word-medial devoicing: [ʔìpʰi̥ʃɑ́] white paint

Tones

Acoma Keres has four lexical tones: high, low, falling and rising. Falling and rising tones only occur in long vowels and voiceless vowels bear no tones:

Tones examples translation
High [tɨ́j], [áwáʔáwá] here, matrilineal uncle
Low [mùːtètsá] young boy
Rising [pɑ̌ːkʊ̥] because
Falling [ʔêː], [hêːk'a] and, whole part

Syllable structure

Most Keresan syllables take a CV(V) shape. The maximal syllable structure is CCVVC and the minimal syllable is CV. In native Keresan words, only a glottal stop /ʔ/ ⟨ʼ⟩ can close a syllable, but some loanwords from Spanish have syllables that end in a consonant, mostly a nasal (i.e. /m n/ but words containing these sequences are rare in the language.

Syllable type examples translation
CV [sʼà], [ʔɪ]shv́v I have it, left
CVV [mùː]dedza, a[táù]shi young boy, cooking pot
CCV [ʃkʰí]srátsʼa I'm not fat
CCVV [ʃtùː]sra bluejay
CVC í[miʔ], [kùm]banêeru expression of fear, workmate (Spanish "compañero")

Due to extensive vowel devoicing, several Keresan words may be perceived as ending in consonants or even containing consonant clusters.

  • Word-internal cluster: yʼâakạ srûunị ‘stomach’ /jˀɑ̂ːkḁʂûːni/ > [jɑ̂ːkḁʂûːni] ~ [jɑ̂ːûːni]
  • Word-final coda: úwàakạ ‘baby’; /úwɑ̀ːkḁ/ > [úwɑ̀ːkʰḁ] ~ [úwɑ̀ː]

Phonotactics

The only sequence of consonants (i.e. consonant cluster) that occurs in native Keresan words is a sequence of a fricative /ʃ ʂ/ and a stop or affricate. Clusters are restricted to beginnings of syllables (i.e. the syllable onset). When the alveolo-palatal consonant /ʃ/ occurs as C1, it combines with alveolar and palatal C2, whereas the retroflex alveolar /ʂ/ precedes bilabial and velar C2s, which suggest a complementary distribution. Consonant clusters may occur both word-initially and word-medially.

C1/C2 Bilabial Alveolar Velar Postalveolar
/p/ /pʰ/ /pʼ/ /t/ /tʰ/ /tʼ/ /k/ /kʰ/ /kʼ/ /tʃ/ /tʃʰ/ /tʃʼ/
/ʃ/ /ʃtáʊ̯rákʊ̥/

shdáurákụ

'frog, toad'

/ʃtʰéràʃtʼíká/

shtérashtʼígá

'cricket'

/ʃtʼìcɑ̀ːtʰɪ̥ʃɪ̥/

shtʼidyàatịshị

'plot of land'

/ʃtʃɨ/

shjv

'upward'

/ʃtʃʰúmúná/

shchúmúmá

'wasp'

/ʃtʃʼísḁ/

shchʼísạ

'six'

/ʂ/ /ʂpúːná/

srbúuná

'water jug'

/ʂpʰɑ̀ːtʼi/

srpàat'i

'mockingbird'

/ʂpʼeruru/

srpʼeruru

'it's full'

/ʂkɑ́ʂkɑ́ʊ̯kʼa/

srgásrgáukʼa

'quail'

/ʂkʰɨ́tútsʰɪ̥/

srkv́dútsị

'mound, hill'

/ʂkʼàpɪ́hɪ́/

srkʼabíhí

'female in-law'

Orthography

Traditional Keresan beliefs postulate that Keres is a sacred language that must exist only in its spoken form. The language's religious connotation and years of persecution of Pueblo religion by European colonizers may also explain why no unified orthographic convention exists for Keresan. However, a practical spelling system has been developed for Laguna (Kʼawaika) and more recently for Acoma (Áakʼu) Keres, both of which are remarkably consistent.

In the Keres spelling system, each symbol represents a single phoneme. The letters ⟨c q z f⟩ and sometimes also ⟨v⟩ are not used. Digraphs represent both palatal consonants (written using a sequence of C and ⟨y⟩), and retroflex consonants, which are represented using a sequence of C and the letter ⟨r⟩. These graphemes used for writing Western Keres are shown between ⟨...⟩ below.

Consonant symbols

Labial Alveolar Palatal Retroflex Velar Glottal
Nasal voiced ⟨m⟩ ⟨n⟩ ⟨ny⟩
glottalized ⟨mʼ⟩ ⟨nʼ⟩ ⟨nyʼ⟩
Plosive voiceless ⟨b⟩ ⟨d⟩ ⟨dy⟩ ⟨g⟩ ⟨ʼ⟩
aspirated ⟨p⟩ ⟨t⟩ ⟨ty⟩ ⟨k⟩
ejective ⟨pʼ⟩ ⟨tʼ⟩ ⟨tyʼ⟩ ⟨kʼ⟩
Affricate voiceless ⟨dz⟩ ⟨j⟩ ⟨dr⟩
aspirated ⟨ts⟩ ⟨ch⟩ ⟨tr⟩
ejective ⟨tsʼ⟩ ⟨chʼ⟩ ⟨trʼ⟩
Fricative voiceless ⟨s⟩ ⟨sh⟩ ⟨sr⟩ ⟨h⟩
ejective ⟨sʼ⟩ ⟨shʼ⟩ ⟨srʼ⟩
Approximant voiced ⟨w⟩ ⟨r⟩ ⟨y⟩
glottalized ⟨wʼ⟩ ⟨rʼ⟩ ⟨yʼ⟩

Signage at Acoma Pueblo

Signs at Acoma Pueblo sometimes use special diacritics for ejective consonants that differ from the symbols above, as shown in the table:

Ts'ikum'a K'aiya museum
Signage at Acoma Pueblo
General ⟨pʼ⟩ ⟨tʼ⟩ ⟨kʼ⟩ ⟨sʼ⟩ ⟨tsʼ⟩ ⟨mʼ⟩ ⟨wʼ⟩ ⟨yʼ⟩ ⟨nʼ shʼ srʼ tyʼ⟩
Acoma signage ⟨ṕ⟩ ⟨t́⟩ ⟨ḱ⟩ ⟨ś⟩ ⟨tś⟩ ⟨ḿ⟩ ⟨ẃ⟩ ⟨ý⟩ ?

Vowel symbols

Vowel sounds are represented straightforwardly in the existing spellings for Keresan. Each vowel sound is written using a unique letter or digraph (for long vowels and diphthongs). However, there are two competing representations for the vowel /ɨ/. Some versions simply use the IPA ⟨ɨ⟩ whereas others use the letter ⟨v⟩ (the sound /v/ as in veal does not occur in Keresan). Voiceless vowels have also been represented in two ways; either underlined or with a dot below (see table).

Long vowels Short vowels Voiceless vowels
Phoneme Grapheme Phoneme Grapheme Phoneme Grapheme
/ iː / ⟨ii⟩ / i / ⟨i⟩ / ɪ̥ / ⟨i̱⟩ or ⟨ị⟩
/ eː / ⟨ee⟩ / e / ⟨e⟩ / e̥ / ⟨e̱⟩ or ⟨ẹ⟩
/ ɨː / ⟨ɨɨ⟩ or ⟨vv⟩ / ɨ / ⟨ɨ⟩ or ⟨v⟩ / ɨ̥ / ⟨ɨ̱⟩ or ⟨ṿ⟩
/ ɑː / ⟨aa⟩ / ɑ / ⟨a⟩ / ḁ / ⟨a̱⟩ or ⟨ạ⟩
/ oː / ⟨oo⟩ / o / ⟨o⟩ / o̥ / ⟨o̱⟩ or ⟨ọ⟩
/ uː / ⟨uu⟩ / u / ⟨u⟩ / ʊ̥ / ⟨u̱⟩ or ⟨ụ⟩

Diacritics for tone

Tone may or may not be represented in the orthography of Keresan. When represented, four diacritics may be used above the vowel. Unlike the system used for Navajo, diacritics for tone are not repeated in long vowels.

High tone Low tone Rising tone Falling tone
Long Vowel ⟨áa⟩, ⟨úu⟩ ⟨àa⟩, ⟨ùu⟩ or unmarked ⟨ǎa⟩, ⟨ǔu⟩ or ⟨aá⟩, ⟨uú⟩ ⟨âa⟩, ⟨ûu⟩ or ⟨aà⟩, ⟨uù⟩
Short Vowel ⟨á⟩, ⟨ú⟩ ⟨à⟩, ⟨ù⟩ or unmarked -

Keres alphabet and alphabetical order

Although Keresan is not normally written, there exists only one dictionary of the language in which words are listed in any given order. In this dictionary of Western Keres, digraphs count as single letters, although ejective consonants are not listed separately; occurring after their non-ejective counterparts. The glottal stop ⟨ʼ⟩ and long vowels (e.g. ⟨aa ee ii⟩ etc.) are not treated as separate letters.

Alphabetical order in the Acoma Keres Audio Dictionary
A B CH CHʼ D DR DY DZ E G H I J K M N NY NYʼ P
R S SH SHʼ SR SRʼ T TR TRʼ TS TSʼ TY TYʼ U W Y

Sample texts

Orthography marking tone

Woodpecker and Coyote
Ái dítʼîishu srbígà kʼánâaya dyáʼâʼu. Shʼée srbígà ái dyěitsị ái náyáa shdyɨ dyáʼa.

Orthography without tone marking

Boas text
Baanaʼa, egu kauʼseeʼe, atsi sʼaama-ee srayutse.

Morphosyntax

Keresan is a split-ergative language in which verbs denoting states (i.e. stative verbs) behave differently from those indexing actions, especially in terms of the person affixes they take. This system of argument marking is based on a split-intransitive pattern, in which subjects are marked differently if they are perceived as actors than from when they are perceived as undergoers of the action being described.

The morphology of Keresan is mostly prefixing, although suffixes and reduplication also occur. Keresan distinguishes nouns, verbs, numerals and particles as word classes. Nouns in Keresan do not normally distinguish case or number, but they can be inflected for possession, with distinct constructions for alienable and inalienable possession. Other than possession, Keresan nouns show no comprehensive noun classes.

Word order

Keresan is a verb-final language, though word order is rather flexible.

Laguna Keres:

S O V
John Bill gukacha
J. B. g-Ø-ukacha
John Bill 3s-3s-see
'John saw Bill.'

Negation

Negation is doubly marked in Keresan. In addition to the adverb dzaadi, verbs index negation through a suffix (e.g. -u).

  • Gukacha 'S/he saw her/him'
  • Dzaadi gukachau 'S/he didn't see her/him'

Verbal morphology

The verb is a central grammatical category in Keres, conveying the most information about events in communicative acts. Through its morphemes, Keresan verbs code not only person and number of the initiator of the action (e.g. “Tammy drinks decaf”) as is common in Indo-European languages, but also how the initiator is implicated in the action. For instance, the three verbs that describe Tammy's actions in “Tammy kicked the ball” vs. “Tammy jumped” vs. “Tammy sneezed” require different levels of effort from Tammy, that is when kicking vs. jumping vs. sneezing.

Additionally, the person and number of the undergoer of the action are all coded on the verb (e.g. the word gukacha means “S/he sees her/him”, a full sentence in English). The ways the speaker assesses the action (i.e. evidentiality, as in “I think Tammy arrived from class” vs. “Tammy arrived from class”). Finally, the internal temporal structure of the action (i.e. aspect, as in “Tammy was sneezing in class” vs. “Tammy sneezed in class”) is also coded in Keresan verbs.

According to Maring (1967), the Keresan verb is organized around the following grammatical categories (pp. 39–40)

  • Subject/Object relations
    • Subject of intransitive verbs: marked by a prefix that distinguishes 3-4 persons in the singular (see below).
    • Subject of transitive verbs: marked by a prefix that distinguishes 3-4 persons in the singular (see below).
    • Object of transitive verbs: marked by a prefix that combines with the subject prefix, or by a suffix
  • Number relations
    • Singular: usually marked by a prefix
    • Dual: can be marked by a prefix, partial reduplication or by suffixes
    • Plural: can be marked by a prefix, partial reduplication, by suffixes or by suppletive stem forms (i.e. singular and plural forms are not related etymologically)
  • Temporal relations
    • Future: is marked on the verb by a series of prefixes that also encode number
  • Modality relations
    • Indicative
    • Dubitative
    • Hortative
      • Negative hortative
    • Negative
      • Future negative
  • Voice relations
    • Active
    • Passive
    • Reflexive
    • Reciprocal
  • Aspect
    • Imperfective
    • Inceptive
    • Repetitive
    • Continuative
    • Habitual
    • Inchoative
    • Perfective

The verbal prefix

In Keres, the verbal prefix carries information from five different grammatical categories: argument role, modality, polarity, person and number. That is, a single Keresan verb prefix codes who initiated the action and how implicated that entity is (the subject/case), whom underwent the effects of the action (the direct object), the speaker's assessment of the action (the modality) and whether it occurred or not (polarity). On the other hand, information about when the action took place (i.e. tense) is expressed elsewhere in a clause, mostly by adverbs.

Number

Keresan verbs distinguish three numbers: singular, dual (two entities) and plural (more than two entities); and four persons: first (the speaker), second (the hearer), third (a known, definite or salient entity being talked about) and fourth (a non-salient, unknown or indefinite entity being talked about, also known as obviative) persons. The plural and dual forms are often marked by reduplication of part of the stem (gukacha ‘s/he saw it’ vs guʼukacha ‘the two of them saw it’).

Argument role

Languages encode two main types of actions: those in which the main participant initiates an action that produces change in an object (e.g. kick a ball, buy a gift, cook a dish, read a book); and those in which the action produces no (perceived) change in the world or that have no object (sneezing, breathing, growing, diving, etc.). Actions that take an object are encoded by transitive verbs, whereas those that take no object are expressed via intransitive verbs.

Intransitive verbs

In Indo-European languages like English, all intransitive verbs behave similarly (‘They sneeze/breathe/dive/think’/etc.). In Keresan, actions that take no object are conceptualized in two distinct ways depending on how the initiator of the action is implicated. More active-like intransitive verbs (e.g. ‘to sneeze’) are coded through one set of morphemes, whereas actions conceptualized as involving the initiator at a lesser degree (e.g. ‘to believe’) are coded using a separate set of prefixes.

Degrees of involvement of the initiator in Keres
Actions Intransitive verb type
More to write (-dyàatra), to steal as a thief (-chʼáwʼa), to have diarrhea (-ushchʼi),

to leave (-mi), to whistle (-srbiitsa), to sweat (-shdyuwàan’i)

Active
Less to believe (-hima), to be born (-dyá), to sleep (-bái),

to be afraid (-tyishu), to forget (-dyúmidruwi)

Inactive

Ideas expressed in Indo-European languages with adjectives are most often encoded by verbs in Keresan. That is, in Keresan one express the idea in the sentence ‘He is selfish’ by saying something along the lines of ‘He selfishes’. In such “actions”, the entity that is characterized by them is not implicated in the action directly (i.e. it's beyond their control), and thus belong in the Inactive intransitive category. The different sets of prefixes are shown below:

Intransitive Prefixes by Verb Type
Active intransive Inactive intransitive
Prefix Example Prefix Example
First s(i)- sudyàatra I write srk- srkuhima I believe
Second sr- srúuchʼáwʼa you steal kɨdr- kɨdrâidyá you were born
Third k- kashdyuwàanʼi s/he sweats dz- dzíibái he is sleeping
Transitive verbs
Transitive verb - Indicative mood (-ukạchạ 'to see')
Direct object
Singular
Subject First ('me’) Second (‘you’) Third (‘her’/‘him’) Fourth
First

(‘I’)

- srà-ukạchạ sì-ukạchạ -
I see you I see her/him
Second

(‘you’)

dyù-ukạchạ - srù-ukạchạ
you see me you see her/him
Third

(‘she’/‘he’)

srgù-ukạchạ kudrù -ukạchạ g-ukạchạ gù-ukạchạ
s/he sees me s/he sees you s/he sees her/him s/he sees something
Fourth

(‘one’)

- dzì-ukạchạ -
one sees it

Aspect

Aspect in Keresan is signalled by suffixes.

-ajanu 'to rain'
kájáni it rains
káajáni it is raining
kájásɨ it keeps raining
káajatú it rained

Time (tense) adverbials

The category of tense is expressed in Keresan via adverbs that indicate when the action about which one is speaking took place.

Time adverbials in Acoma Keres
Past Future
tsikʼínuma long ago kúsra tonight
háma once, formerly nacháma tomorrow
súwa yesterday naháayashi day after tomorrow

Lexicon

New words are coined through a number of roots that are combined to pre-existing ones. Compounding is a common strategy for word building, although derivation also occurs.

Numerals

The Keresan numeral system is a base 10 system. Numerals 11–19, as well as those between the multiple of tens, are formed by adding the word kʼátsi (/ kʼátsʰɪ / 'ten') followed by the word dzidra (/tsɪtʂa/ 'more'). Numerals 20 and above are formed by adding a multiplicative adverb (-wa or -ya) to the base number and the word kʼátsi.

Western Keres
1 ísrkʼé 11 kʼátsi-írskʼá-dzidra 21 dyúya-kʼátsi-íisrkʼé-dzidra
2 dyúuwʼée 12 kʼátsi-dyú-dzidra 22 dyúya-kʼátsi-dyú-dzidra
3 chameʼée 13 kʼátsi-chami-dzidra 30 chamiya-kʼátsi
4 dyáana 14 kʼátsi-dyáana-dzidra 40 dyáanawa-kʼátsi
5 táam'a 15 kʼátsi-táamʼa-dzidra 50 táamʼawa-kʼátsi
6 shʼísa 16 kʼátsi-shchʼísa-dzidra 60 shchʼísawa-kʼátsi
7 mʼáiʼdyàana 17 kʼátsi-mʼáidyana-dzidra 70 mʼáidyanawa-kʼátsi
8 kukʼúmishu 18 kʼátsi-kukʼúmishu-dzidra 80 kukʼúmishuwa-kʼátsi
9 máyúkʼu 19 kʼátsi-máiyúkʼa-dzidra 90 máiyúkʼuwa-kʼátsi
10 kʼátsi 20 dyúwa-kʼátsi 100 kʼádzawa-kʼátsi

Loanwords from Spanish

European colonizers arriving in the Southwest US brought with them material culture and concepts that were unknown to the peoples living in the area. Words for the new ideas introduced by Spaniards were often borrowed into Keres directly from Early Modern Spanish, and a large number of these persists in Modern Keresan.

Semantic domain Modern Western Keres Modern Spanish English translation
Household items kamárîita, kuchâaru, kujûuna, méesa, mendâan, kuwêeta camarita, cuchara, colchón, mesa, ventana, cubeta (Mexico) bed, spoon, mattress, table, window (glass), bucket
Social structure gumbanêerụ, rái, murâatụ, merigâanạ, kumanirá, ninêeru compañero, rey, mulato, americano(a), comunidad, dinero workmate, king, black person, white person, community house, money
Food géesu, arûusị, kawé, kurántụ, mantạgîiyụ, mandêegạ queso, arroz, café, cilantro, mantequilla, manteca cheese, rice, coffee, cilantro, butter, lard/butter
Animal husbandry kawâayu, kanêeru, kujíinu, kurá, dûura, wáakạshị caballo, carnero, cochino, corral, toro, vaca horse, sheep, pen/corral, bull, cow
Religious concepts míisa, Háasus Kuríistị, nachạwêena, guréesima misa, Jesús Cristo, Noche Buena, Cuaresma mass, Jesus Christ, Christmas, Lent
Days of the week tamîikụ, rûunishị, mâatịsị, mérikụsị, sruwêewesị, yêenịsị, sâawaru domingo, lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Proto-language

Proto-Keresan
Reconstruction of Keresan languages

Selected Proto-Keresan reconstructions of plants, animals, and toponyms by Miller and Davis (1963):

no. gloss Proto-Keresan
10 wheat *ʔáṣánɪ
17 centipede *ʔíʔìˑdʸawa
19 cholla cactus *ʔiˑbánɪ
27 porcupine *ʔiˑṣ̍á
45 toad *bêˑrak̠ᴀ
63 turkey *cinᴀ
64 fox *cúsk̠ɪ
71 locust *c̍íˑga
72 Zia Pueblo *c̍íˑy̍á
78 kiva *c̆ídʸá
83 medicine man *č̇áyâˑni
84 hawk *č̇ɨ́ˑríga
85 horned toad *dabínᴜsk̠ᴀ
87 Santa Ana Pueblo *dámáyá
88 squash *dâˑni
91 corn husk *díˑskámí
93 dog *díyᴀ
98 bobcat *dʸáˑdʸᴜ
101 deer *dʸán̍é
104 gourd *dʸáˑwí
105 piñon pine *dʸèic̠ɪ
108 elk *dʸɨ́ˑṣᴀ
110 badger *dʸúˑbí
112 beans *gánami
114 seed *gáwɪc̠ɪ
119 bear *gúháyᴀ
124 yucca *háʔásc̐á
127 oak *ha̍ˑbánɪ
137 pine tree *hâˑniˑ
147 Jemez Pueblo *héˑmíšíˑ-cɪ, *héˑmíšíˑ-zé
149 turtle *héyᴀdʸɪ
157 willow *híẓᵻsk̍áwa
158 dove *húˑʔùˑga
161 yucca fruit *hùˑsk̍ani
169 antelope *kɨ́ˑc̠ɪ
175 wolf *k̍ákana
176 spider *k̍ámᴀsk̠ᵻ
198 mountain lion *mûˑk̍aiẓᴀ
200 buffalo *múšêiẓᴀ
201 soapweed *múšɪ
213 hummingbird *m̍îˑzᴀ
225 prairie dog *nɨ́t̠ɪ
232 bedbug *peséc̍uru
239 salamander *p̍águra
241 rabbit *rèˑdʸᴀ
246 woodpecker *sbíga
247 chicken *sbíˑná
251 meadowlark *sc̐áˑná
254 grasshopper *sc̐ár̍ɪ
260 crow *sc̐ɨ́r̍á
262 wild honey *sc̐úmᵻ
264 mosquito *sc̐úy̍úˑná
274 ant *síˑʔí
275 squirrel *síˑdʸᴀ
279 mouse *síyan̍ᵻ
282 bighorn sheep *skàˑsk̠ᴜ
286 bullsnake *sk̍áʔáˑdʸᴜ
287 fish *sk̍àˑšᵻ
291 peas *sk̍úrúˑná
293 dwarf corn *spíníní
306 parrot *šâˑwit̠ᴀ
307 flea, louse *šínaˑ
309 goose *šúˑdá
318 blue jay *ṣúisɪ
319 snake *ṣûˑwiˑ
342 abalone shell *w̍a̍ˑbɨ́nɪ
347 duck *w̍âˑyuṣᴀ
354 corn silk *yábášɪ
355 corn *yáˑčínɪ
356 mesquite *yêˑt̠ᴜ
357 worm *yúʔúbɨ́
369 corn cob *y̍úˑskúm̍á

In popular media

Keres was one of the seven languages sung in the Coca-Cola "It's Beautiful" commercial during the 2014 Super Bowl featuring "America the Beautiful".

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Lenguas keresanas para niños

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Keres language Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.