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'Yurok' (also 'Weitspekan') is a moribund Algic language. It is the traditional language of the Yurok tribe of northwestern California, USA, most of whom now speak English. As of 2000 among the speakers of the language were 75 individuals between the ages of 5 and 17, including 10 with limited English proficiency.
The standard reference on the Yurok language is the grammar by Robins (1958).

Contents

Name

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Bibliography

External links

Name

Concerning etymology of 'Yurok' (a.k.a. ''Weitspekan''), this below is from Campbell (1997):

Phonology

Vowels

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! High
|
|
|
|-
! Mid
|
|
| {{IPA|o oː
|-
! Low
|
|
|
|}

Consonants

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan="2" rowspan="2"|
!rowspan="2"| Bilabial
!rowspan="2"| Alveolar
!rowspan="2"| Retroflex
!rowspan="2"| Postalveolar
or palatal
!colspan="2"| Velar
!rowspan="2"| Glottal
|-
! Unrounded
! Rounded
|-
!rowspan="2"| Stop or
affricate
! Plain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! Glottalized
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan="2"| Fricative
! Central
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! Lateral
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan="2"| Nasal
! Plain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! Glottalized
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan="2"| Approximant
! Plain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! Glottalized
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|}
The glottalized approximants may be realized as creaky voice on the preceding vowel, a preceding glottal stop, or both. They are often devoiced when they occur at the end of a word.

Bibliography

★ The phonology of Yurok glottalized sonorants: Segmental fission under syllabification, , Juliette, Blevins, International Journal of American Linguistics, 2003

★ Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press.

★ Dixon, Roland; & Kroeber, Alfred L. (1913). New linguistic families in California. ''American Anthropologist'', ''5'', 1-26.

★ Goddard, Ives. (1975). Algonquian, Wiyot, and Yurok: Proving a distant genetic relationship. In M. D. Kinkade, K. L. Hale, & O. Werner (Eds.), ''Linguistics and anthropology in honor of C. F. Voegelin'' (pp. 249-262). Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press.

★ Goddard, Ives. (1979). Comparative Algonquian. In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), ''The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment'' (pp. 70-132). Austin: University of Texas Press.

★ Goddard, Ives. (1990). Algonquian linguistic change and reconstruction. In P. Baldi (Ed.), ''Linguistic change and reconstruction methodology'' (pp. 99-114). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

★ Haas, Mary R. (1958). Algonkian-Ritwan: The end of a controversy. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''24'', 159-173.

★ Hinton, Leanne (1994). ''Flutes of fire: Essays on Californian Indian languages''. Berkeley: Heyday Books.

★ Michelson, Truman. 1914. Two alleged Algonquian languages of California. ''American Anthropologist'', ''16'', 361-367.

★ Michelson, Truman. 1915. Rejoinder (to Edward Sapir). ''American Anthropologist'', ''17'', 4-8.

★ Mithun, Marianne. (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.

★ Robins, Robert H. 1958. ''The Yurok Language: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon''. University of California Publications in Linguistics 15.

★ Sapir, Edward. 1913. Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin languages of California. ''American Anthropologist'', ''15'', 617-646.

★ Sapir, Edward. (1915)a. Algonkin languages of California: A reply. ''American Anthropologist'', ''17'', 188-194.

★ Sapir, Edward. (1915)b. Epilogue. ''American Anthropologist'', ''17'', 198.

External links

★ Yurok Language Project at University of California, Berkeley