Yuki language

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Not to be confused with Yuki language (Bolivia).
Yuki
Ukomno'm
Region Eel River area (formerly)
Ethnicity Yuki people
Extinct 20th century
Language codes
ISO 639-3 yuk (Yuki proper)
Linguist list
yuk Yuki proper
  qdw Coast Yuki
  qiq Huchnom
Glottolog yuki1243[1]

The Yuki language, also spelled Ukiah and also known as Ukomno'm, was a language of California, spoken by the indigenous American Yuki people, formerly in the Eel River area, the Round Valley Reservation, northern California.[2] It became extinct some time in the 20th century. Yuki is generally thought to be distantly related to the Wappo language.

Yuki consisted of three dialects: Northern Yuki (Round Valley Yuki), Coast Yuki, and Huchnom (Clear Lake Yuki). These were at least partially mutually intelligible, but are sometimes counted as distinct languages.[3]

Yuki had an octal (base-8) counting system, as the Yuki keep count by using the four spaces between their fingers rather than the fingers themselves.[4] Yuki also had an extensive vocabulary for the plants of Mendocino County, California.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Yuki". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 
  2. ^ Ethnologue report for language code:yuk
  3. ^ Campbell 1997:132
  4. ^ Ascher, Marcia (1994), Ethnomathematics: A Multicultural View of Mathematical Ideas, Chapman & Hall, ISBN 0-412-98941-7 
  5. ^ Chestnut, Victor King (1902). Plants used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 24 August 2012. 

External links[edit]