Takelma–Kalapuyan languages facts for kids

The Takelma–Kalapuyan languages (also Takelman) are a proposed small language family that comprises the Kalapuyan languages and Takelma, which were formerly spoken in the Willamette Valley and the Rogue Valley in Oregon.

Proposal

The idea of a special relation between Takelma and the Kalapuyan languages was first developed by Leo Frachtenberg (1918), who listed 55 lexical correspondences between Takelma and Central Kalapuya. Based on Frachtenberg's observations, Edward Sapir (1921) included both Takelma and Kalapuyan in his extended version of the Penutian "stock", listing them however as individual members without positing a special relationship between the two.

The first explicit proposal for a family comprising only Takelma and Kalapuyan (as member of the Penutian "stock") was made by Morris Swadesh (1965) in a lexicostatistic study, who found a lexical similarity of 48% between Takelma and Kalapuyan, although this figure was based on rather bold assumptions about lexical matches. Shipley (1969) made the first attempt towards establishing regular sound correspondences by strictly applying the comparative method, and listed sixty-five preliminary reconstructions for "Proto-Takelman". Further lexical cognate sets were given by Berman (1988), while Kendall (1997) presented phonological and morphological correspondences.

Prehistory

The Kalapuyan languages and Takelma were spoken in two discontiguous areas: while Kalapuyan speakers inhabited the Willamette Valley, Takelma speakers lived in the Rogue Valley in the southernmost part of Oregon. Inbetween, the Athabaskan Upper Umpqua language was spoken. This suggests that Takelma was initially spoken in the direct neighborhood of the Kalapuyan area, being separated from the Kalapuyans, and pushed southwards by intruding Athabaskan speakers. Golla (2011) suggests that Takelma replaced an earlier Karuk-like language in the Rogue Valley, based on aeral features shared by Takelma and Karuk. This event is possibly related to archaeological evidence of a transition in the material cultures of the Rogue Valley that occurred around 300 CE, from the "Glade Tradition" to the "Siskiyou Pattern".

Proto-language

Proto-Takelma–Kalapuyan ("Proto-Takelman") reconstructions by William Shipley (1969):

no.	gloss	Proto-Takelman
1	alder	*po·ph
2	ant	**tipusì·
3	arise	*te·p
4	arrive	*wok
5	aunt, paternal	*thàth
6	bite	*ye·kʷ
7	blood	*yó·m
8	blow	*pho·ł
9	camass	*ti·ph
10	cedar	*l- -m
11	chipmunk	*kʷis
12	climb	**hilu, huwil
13	cold	*thu·ku(n)
14	cry	*tha·k
15	cut	*(s)k- -p
16	daughter	**peyane
17	dirt	*pólo
18	dive	*yalk
19	drink	*ʔu·kʷit
20	dust	*(s)khò·p
21	elk	*thkám
22	father	*ham
23	father	*mà
24	fear	*ni·w
25	finish	*takh
26	flea	*te·wek
27	fly	*thkàn(ak)
28	go for	*wo·(t)
29	grass	**lu·kʷá·y
30	I	**kí·
31	know	**yokʷhoy
32	left	**(s)kày
33	liver	*páL
34	long	**páLs
35	marry	*yo·kʷ
36	mother	*ni
37	name	*kʷet(éy)
38	neck	*pò·kh(t)
39	new	*pa(n)lá(w)
40	otter	**kʷin
41	owl	*thukwal-
42	owl, screech	*(t)popó(ph)
43	panther	*huLikh
44	path	*kʷaL(i), kawL(i)
45	pierce	*t(w)al
46	push	*tuyk
47	rattlesnake	*tk- -m
48	red	*cil
49	river	*kel
50	rock	*tá(n)
51	say	*naka
52	seek	*ʔo·t
53	shout	*la(·)law
54	sit	*yo·
55	sleep	*way(a·)n
56	snail	*thpáLith
57	spider	*to·m
58	squirrel	*poyakh
59	sun	**pyan
60	tears	*yét
61	this	*ha·
62	thou	*ma·
63	three	**xùpsiní
64	tie	*takh(t)
65	two	*ka·m(i)
66	uncle, maternal	*has
67	wildcat	*ya·kʷh(a)
68	yellowjacket	**tyał