Doctoral Dissertation Research: A description of the Patwin language

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this dissertation is to create a descriptive reference grammar of the Patwin language, using materials available in archives around the country. Patwin is a Native American language formerly spoken in the southwestern drainage of the Sacramento River in California. It is the southernmost member of the small, moribund, and under-documented Wintuan language family, a member of the proposed Penutian stock. Formerly spoken by a population of about 8,000-12,000, Patwin is now spoken as a first language by only one or two living people known to the linguistic research community. Enough language materials have been collected in various archives throughout the country that it should be possible to arrive at a reasonably complete description of the language. Yet there is no adequate grammatical description of the language available and since the important work of Kenneth Whistler in the 1970's and early 1980's no linguist has published on Patwin, whether descriptively or theoretically. This dissertation will therefore be an academic, descriptive grammar of the language with each of the areas traditionally described in grammars: phonetics (speech sounds), phonology (sound patterns), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure). It is moreover important that such a description be made at this time as there is currently considerable interest in Patwin language revitalization among various heritage Patwin communities. This project will also support the scientific training of a promising scholar.