Plains Miwok language

Plains Miwok
Native to	United States
Ethnicity	Plains and Sierra Miwok
Extinct	1 speaker in 1962; last speaker died late 1990s
Language family	Yok-Utian Utian Miwokan Eastern Plains Miwok
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pmw
Glottolog	plai1259
ELP	Plains Miwok

Plains Miwok, also known as Valley Miwok, was one of the Miwok languages spoken in central California by the Plains Miwok people. It was spoken in the deltas of the San Joaquin and Cosumnes Rivers. Plains Miwok was once one of the most populous Miwok languages. All of the population has shifted to English.

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	plain	p	t	tʃ ⟨c⟩		k	ʔ ⟨'⟩
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Nasal		m	n			ŋ
Fricative			s				h
Tap			ɾ ⟨r⟩
Approximant		w	l		j ⟨j⟩

Allophones of /b tʃ ɡ n s/ include [β ts ɣ ŋ ʂ].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ ⟨y⟩	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open		a

References

• Callaghan, Catherine A. (1984). Plains Miwok Dictionary. University of California Publications in Linguistics. Vol. 105. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Plains Miwok Indians. "Rodriguez-Nieto Guide" Sound Recordings (California Indian Library Collections), LA008. Berkeley: California Indian Library Collections, 1993. "Sound recordings reproduced from the Language Archive sound recordings at the Language Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley".

External links

• Plains Miwok at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• Plains Miwok, California Language Archive
• Plains Miwok basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• OLAC resources in and about the Plains Miwok language