Maidu Language Analysis

Hinton glances at the fact that the Maidu language group is closely related to two other language groups, “Certain resemblances had also become apparent between Wintun and Maidu and Maidu and Yokuts. A systematic comparison revealed a unitary basis underlying all the languages” (Hinton 80). There is evidence that shows how these languages closely resemble one another. “The word for “two” in Wintun, Maidun, and Yokuts languages generally begins with p followed by some vowel followed by n (or sometimes l or m)” (Hinton 81). Hinton shows such examples:
Maidun: Konkow-pene Maidu-pene Nisenan-pen
Wintun: Wintu-pale-t Nomlaki-pale-t Patwin-pampa-ta
Yokuts: Main Valley-ponoi Palewyami-pungi Northern Valley-punoi
Kings River-punoi Tule-Kaweah-pongoi Buena Vista-pongoi
The Maidu language has one of the twelve California counties bearing their name. Hinton writes that the county of Yuba is a Maidu name. The history of the Maidun languages starts with an estimate of how many people there were, “Estimates of the entire Maiduan population in late prehistoric times vary between about 4,000
and 9,000 persons” (Simmons 3). The Maiduan most likely started during the prehistoric times and has lasted until today, unfortunately they started out with more speakers and are slowly ending with no speakers. Which is slowly changing, by having people practice and learn this language. “The Maidu wintered mainly in permanent villages, usually on the sloping hillsides where they could look out over the flat valley floors. In summers they moved around, living in temporary camps” (Simmons 4). The Maiduans are shown to have stayed in the Northern California regions, moving along the coast during the changing seasons.
Some Linguistic Characteristics The writing system is described by Golla by saying, “In all four languages there are two full sets of oral stops, plain (p,t,c,k) and glottalized )p’, t’, c’, k’), with the alveo-palatal series (c and c’) varying between stop and affricate articulation” (Golla 139). Golla shows that for the Maidun language there are a total of four sets of stop consonants, two full sets of oral stops and two fully voiced stops. The two fully voiced stops are, “In addition there are two fully voiced stops (b,d), which are often pronounced with a slight implosion” (Golla 139). A man by the name of William Shipley went to Northern California to visit the Maidu. There he found out what some words were in the Maidu language. “West Mountian (Táyyamanim) is the Maidu name for what is now called Mount Lassen” (250). “The Uoutzel, a bird that many people don’t know about, is often called a water ouzel or a dipper bird (mómpispistom)” (Luthin 250). Also, Hinton notes that the word for Pinus sabiniana is towáni.
Aside from meanings of words, the Maidu form of describing directions is shown as, “But it is possible that the Maidu have given a sun-determined meaning to original drainage terms under the ritualizing influence of the Kuksu cult” (Hinton 51). Religion was shown to have had an involvement among the Native Americans, “The Kuksu religion was, at least in historic times, restricted to a portion of North-Central California, involving in one form or another all the Pomo groups, as well as the Coast, Lake, and Plains Miwok, the Maidu, the Patwin, the Yuki, and several other groups distributed around the northern end of San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys” (Luthin 268). The Kuksu religion was more of a spirit, and had a role in the political actions of these tribes. “The Kuksu was a godlike spirit figure-the focus of secret societies, initiation rituals, curing ceremonies, and dance cycles where the Kuksu and other spirit figures would be impersonated by society members wearing sacred, highly elaborate costumes” (Luthin 268). As shown, this religion was of upmost importance to the natives at that time. The word Kuksu had different names among each language, “this creator figure goes by many different names, including K’ódoyapé (Earthmaker) among the Maidu” (Luthin 268).
Before do research on the Maidun language, I knew nothing about this language or for the matter of fact anything on California indigenous languages.
But, as my research went on, I learned that the Maidun were people who lived in Northern California, people who shared beautiful stories with one another, and people who are now trying to preserve their language. The Maidun or (Maiduan) language is a language that is part of the Penutian family and has three sub languages. These languages, live all across Northern California, more specifically near Sierra Nevada. Although, they do not have many speakers left, they are trying to preserve their language through documents of vocabulary, songs, and stories. Hopefully in the next 100 years, when looking back, we can see that the Native American languages were saved, with generations of new native
speakers.