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47 Karuk

  • Andrew Garrett , Susan Gehr , Erik Hans Maier , Line Mikkelsen , Crystal Richardson and Clare S. Sandy
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The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America
This chapter is in the book The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America

Abstract

Karuk is an isolate language of northern California with a rich history of academic and locally-based documentation for over 100 years and an active community of learners, teachers, and speakers today. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the language’s history, social contexts, and grammatical patterns through present-day language use and language reclamation. After an introduction to the language’s sociocultural and linguistic setting, we offer a grammatical profile of this polysynthetic, highly agglutinating language, whose phonological patterns cause extensive fusion at morpheme boundaries. Among other features of typological interest, we discuss the Karuk pitch-accent system, its elaborate system of directional suffixes, multiple pluractional categories, the absence of a copula, and pragmatically determined word order. We conclude with a history of documentation and revitalization work in the Karuk community.

Abstract

Karuk is an isolate language of northern California with a rich history of academic and locally-based documentation for over 100 years and an active community of learners, teachers, and speakers today. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the language’s history, social contexts, and grammatical patterns through present-day language use and language reclamation. After an introduction to the language’s sociocultural and linguistic setting, we offer a grammatical profile of this polysynthetic, highly agglutinating language, whose phonological patterns cause extensive fusion at morpheme boundaries. Among other features of typological interest, we discuss the Karuk pitch-accent system, its elaborate system of directional suffixes, multiple pluractional categories, the absence of a copula, and pragmatically determined word order. We conclude with a history of documentation and revitalization work in the Karuk community.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Table of contents VII
  4. VII Language revitalization
  5. 32 Reviving languages: Outcomes of a Mentor-Apprentice style learning study 717
  6. 33 Child and child-directed speech in North American languages 741
  7. 34 Decolonizing Indigenous language pedagogies: Additional language learning and teaching 767
  8. 35 Digital tools for language revitalization 789
  9. 36 Using archival materials for language reclamation 807
  10. 37 Changing notions of fieldwork 823
  11. VIII Language families and isolates
  12. 38 Inuit-Yupik-Unangan: An overview of the language family 843
  13. 39 Dene – Athabaskan 875
  14. 40 Algonquian 931
  15. 41 Michif 951
  16. 42 Tsimshianic 985
  17. 43 Wakashan Languages 1013
  18. 44 Salish 1053
  19. 45 Chinookan family, with special reference to Kiksht and notes on Chinuk Wawa 1115
  20. 46 Sahaptian 1139
  21. 47 Karuk 1169
  22. 48 Wáˑšiw 1201
  23. 49 Pomoan 1223
  24. 50 California languages: Isolates and other languages 1247
  25. 51 Chumashan 1275
  26. 52 Yuman 1303
  27. 53 Uto-Aztecan 1333
  28. 54 Kiowa-Tanoan 1361
  29. 55 Caddoan 1407
  30. 56 Sketch of the Siouan Language Family 1447
  31. 57 Chitimacha 1519
  32. 58 Tunica 1545
  33. 59 Muskogean 1577
  34. 60 Iroquoian 1601
  35. 61 Unclassified languages 1627
  36. List of Authors 1649
  37. Index of languages 1673
  38. Index of names 1685
  39. Index of subjects 1695
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110712742-047

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Table of contents VII
  4. VII Language revitalization
  5. 32 Reviving languages: Outcomes of a Mentor-Apprentice style learning study 717
  6. 33 Child and child-directed speech in North American languages 741
  7. 34 Decolonizing Indigenous language pedagogies: Additional language learning and teaching 767
  8. 35 Digital tools for language revitalization 789
  9. 36 Using archival materials for language reclamation 807
  10. 37 Changing notions of fieldwork 823
  11. VIII Language families and isolates
  12. 38 Inuit-Yupik-Unangan: An overview of the language family 843
  13. 39 Dene – Athabaskan 875
  14. 40 Algonquian 931
  15. 41 Michif 951
  16. 42 Tsimshianic 985
  17. 43 Wakashan Languages 1013
  18. 44 Salish 1053
  19. 45 Chinookan family, with special reference to Kiksht and notes on Chinuk Wawa 1115
  20. 46 Sahaptian 1139
  21. 47 Karuk 1169
  22. 48 Wáˑšiw 1201
  23. 49 Pomoan 1223
  24. 50 California languages: Isolates and other languages 1247
  25. 51 Chumashan 1275
  26. 52 Yuman 1303
  27. 53 Uto-Aztecan 1333
  28. 54 Kiowa-Tanoan 1361
  29. 55 Caddoan 1407
  30. 56 Sketch of the Siouan Language Family 1447
  31. 57 Chitimacha 1519
  32. 58 Tunica 1545
  33. 59 Muskogean 1577
  34. 60 Iroquoian 1601
  35. 61 Unclassified languages 1627
  36. List of Authors 1649
  37. Index of languages 1673
  38. Index of names 1685
  39. Index of subjects 1695
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