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Keres (/ˈkeɪreɪs/),[2] also Keresan (/ˈkɛrəsən/), is a Native American language, spoken by the KeresPueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. If it is considered a language isolate, it would be the most widely spoken language isolate within the borders of the United States. The varieties of each of the seven Keres pueblos are mutually intelligible with its closest neighbors. There are significant differences between the Western and Eastern groups, which are sometimes counted as separate languages.
Keresan has between 42 and 45 consonant sounds, and around 40 vowel sounds, adding up to a total of about 85 phonemes, depending on the analysis and the language variety. Based on the classification in the World Atlas of Language Structures, Keres is a language with a large consonant inventory.
The great number of consonants relates to the three-way distinction between voiceless, aspirated and ejective consonants (e.g. /t tʰ tʼ/), and to the larger than average[4] number of fricatives (i.e. /s sʼ ʂ ʂʼ ʃ ʃʼ h/) and affricates, the latter also showing the three-way distinction found in stops.
The large number of vowels derives from a distinction made between long and short vowels (e.g. /e eː/), as well as from the presence of tones and voicelessness. Thus, a single vowel quality may occur with seven distinct realizations: /é è e̥ éː èː êː ěː/, all of which are used to distinguish words in the language.
Consonants
The chart below contains the consonants of the proto-Keresan (or pre-Keresan) from Miller & Davis (1963) based on a comparison of Acoma, Santa Ana, and Santo Domingo, as well as other features of the dialects compiled from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987), and The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and the Grammar of Laguna Keres (2005).[5][6][7][8]
Keresan vowels have a phonemic distinction in duration: all vowels can be long or short. Additionally, short vowels can also be voiceless. The vowel chart below contains the vowel phonemes and allophones from the information of the Keresan languages combined from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964),[5]The Phonemes of Keresan (1946),[7] and Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987).[6]
Western Keres does not have phonemic /oː/ or /o/, though both vowels may occur phonetically.[8] Eastern Keres words containing /o/ show /au/ in Western Keres.[9] For instance, the first vowel in the word-sentence Sraúka̠cha̠ – “I see you”:
Kotyit Keres: [ʂóːkʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]
Kʼawaika Keres: [ʂɑ̌ukʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]
Voiceless vowels
All Keresan short vowels may be devoiced in certain positions. The phonemic status of these vowels is controversial.[8] Maring (1967) considers them to be phonemes of Áákʼu Keres, whereas other authors disagree. There are phonetic grounds for vowel devoicing based on the environment they occur, for instance word-finally, but there are also exceptions. Vowels in final position are nearly always voiceless and medial vowels occurring between voiced consonants, after nasals and ejectives are nearly always voiced.[10]
Word-final devoicing: [pɑ̌ːkʊ̥]because
Word-medial devoicing: [ʔìpʰi̥ʃɑ́]white paint
Tones
Acoma Keres has four lexical tones: high, low, falling and rising.[10] Falling and rising tones only occur in long vowels and voiceless vowels bear no tones:
Tones
examples
translation
High
[tɨ́j], [áwáʔáwá]
here, matrilineal uncle
Low
[mùːtètsá]
young boy
Rising
[pɑ̌ːkʊ̥]
because
Falling
[ʔêː], [hêːk'a]
and, whole part
Syllable structure
Most Keresan syllables take a CV(V) shape.[8] The maximal syllable structure is CCVVC and the minimal syllable is CV. In native Keresan words, only a glottal stop /ʔ/ ⟨ʼ⟩ can close a syllable, but some loanwords from Spanish have syllables that end in a consonant, mostly a nasal (i.e. /m n/ but words containing these sequences are rare in the language.[11]
Syllable type
examples
translation
CV
[sʼà], [ʔɪ]shv́v
I have it, left
CVV
[mùː]dedza, a[táù]shi
young boy, cooking pot
CCV
[ʃkʰí]srátsʼa
I'm not fat
CCVV
[ʃtùː]sra
bluejay
CVC
í[miʔ], [kùm]banêeru
expression of fear, workmate (Spanish "compañero")
Due to extensive vowel devoicing, several Keresan words may be perceived as ending in consonants or even containing consonant clusters.
The only sequence of consonants (i.e. consonant cluster) that occurs in native Keresan words is a sequence of a fricative /ʃ ʂ/ and a stop or affricate. Clusters are restricted to beginnings of syllables (i.e. the syllable onset). When the alveolo-palatal consonant /ʃ/ occurs as C1, it combines with alveolar and palatal C2, whereas the retroflex alveolar /ʂ/ precedes bilabial and velar C2s, which suggest a complementary distribution. Consonant clusters may occur both word-initially and word-medially.[9]
C1/C2
Bilabial
Alveolar
Velar
Postalveolar
/p/
/pʰ/
/pʼ/
/t/
/tʰ/
/tʼ/
/k/
/kʰ/
/kʼ/
/tʃ/
/tʃʰ/
/tʃʼ/
/ʃ/
/ʃtáʊ̯rákʊ̥/
shdáurákụ
'frog, toad'
/ʃtʰéràʃtʼíká/
shtérashtʼígá
'cricket'
/ʃtʼìcɑ̀ːtʰɪ̥ʃɪ̥/
shtʼidyàatịshị
'plot of land'
/ʃtʃɨ/
shjv
'upward'
/ʃtʃʰúmúná/
shchúmúmá
'wasp'
/ʃtʃʼísḁ/
shchʼísạ
'six'
/ʂ/
/ʂpúːná/
srbúuná
'water jug'
/ʂpʰɑ̀ːtʼi/
srpàat'i
'mockingbird'
/ʂpʼeruru/
srpʼeruru
'it's full'
/ʂkɑ́ʂkɑ́ʊ̯kʼa/
srgásrgáukʼa
'quail'
/ʂkʰɨ́tútsʰɪ̥/
srkv́dútsị
'mound, hill'
/ʂkʼàpɪ́hɪ́/
srkʼabíhí
'female in-law'
Orthography
Traditional Keresan beliefs postulate that Keres is a sacred language that must exist only in its spoken form.[12] The language's religious connotation and years of persecution of Pueblo religion by European colonizers may also explain why no unified orthographic convention exists for Keresan. However, a practical spelling system has been developed for Laguna (Kʼawaika)[8] and more recently for Acoma (Áakʼu) Keres,[13] both of which are remarkably consistent.
In the Keres spelling system, each symbol represents a single phoneme. The letters ⟨c q z f⟩ and sometimes also ⟨v⟩ are not used. Digraphs represent both palatal consonants (written using a sequence of C and ⟨y⟩), and retroflex consonants, which are represented using a sequence of C and the letter ⟨r⟩. These graphemes used for writing Western Keres are shown between ⟨...⟩ below.
Signs at Acoma Pueblo sometimes use special diacritics for ejective consonants that differ from the symbols above, as shown in the table:
Signage at Acoma Pueblo
Comparison between general orthpgraphy and the orthography used at Acoma
General
⟨pʼ⟩
⟨tʼ⟩
⟨kʼ⟩
⟨sʼ⟩
⟨tsʼ⟩
⟨mʼ⟩
⟨wʼ⟩
⟨yʼ⟩
⟨nʼ shʼ srʼ tyʼ⟩
Acoma signage
⟨ṕ⟩
⟨t́⟩
⟨ḱ⟩
⟨ś⟩
⟨tś⟩
⟨ḿ⟩
⟨ẃ⟩
⟨ý⟩
?
Vowel symbols
Vowel sounds are represented straightforwardly in the existing spellings for Keresan. Each vowel sound is written using a unique letter or digraph (for long vowels and diphthongs). However, there are two competing representations for the vowel /ɨ/. Some versions simply use the IPA ⟨ɨ⟩ whereas others use the letter ⟨v⟩ (the sound /v/ as in veal does not occur in Keresan). Voiceless vowels have also been represented in two ways; either underlined or with a dot below (see table).
Long vowels
Short vowels
Voiceless vowels
Phoneme
Grapheme
Phoneme
Grapheme
Phoneme
Grapheme
/ iː /
⟨ii⟩
/ i /
⟨i⟩
/ ɪ̥ /
⟨i̱⟩ or ⟨ị⟩
/ eː /
⟨ee⟩
/ e /
⟨e⟩
/ e̥ /
⟨e̱⟩ or ⟨ẹ⟩
/ ɨː /
⟨ɨɨ⟩ or ⟨vv⟩
/ ɨ /
⟨ɨ⟩ or ⟨v⟩
/ ɨ̥ /
⟨ɨ̱⟩ or ⟨ṿ⟩
/ ɑː /
⟨aa⟩
/ ɑ /
⟨a⟩
/ ḁ /
⟨a̱⟩ or ⟨ạ⟩
/ oː /
⟨oo⟩
/ o /
⟨o⟩
/ o̥ /
⟨o̱⟩ or ⟨ọ⟩
/ uː /
⟨uu⟩
/ u /
⟨u⟩
/ ʊ̥ /
⟨u̱⟩ or ⟨ụ⟩
Diacritics for tone
Tone may or may not be represented in the orthography of Keresan. When represented, four diacritics may be used above the vowel. Unlike the system used for Navajo, diacritics for tone are not repeated in long vowels.
High tone
Low tone
Rising tone
Falling tone
Long Vowel
⟨áa⟩, ⟨úu⟩
⟨àa⟩, ⟨ùu⟩ or unmarked
⟨ǎa⟩, ⟨ǔu⟩ or ⟨aá⟩, ⟨uú⟩
⟨âa⟩, ⟨ûu⟩ or ⟨aà⟩, ⟨uù⟩
Short Vowel
⟨á⟩, ⟨ú⟩
⟨à⟩, ⟨ù⟩ or unmarked
-
Keres orthography and alphabetical order
Although Keresan is not normally written, there exists one dictionary of the language in which words are listed in any given order. In this dictionary of Western Keres, digraphs count as single letters, although ejective consonants are not listed separately; occurring after their non-ejective counterparts. The symbol for the glottal stop ⟨ʼ⟩, for long vowels (e.g. ⟨aa ee ii⟩ etc.) are not treated as separate letters.
Alphabetical order in the Acoma Keres Audio Dictionary
A a
B b
CH ch
CHʼ chʼ
D d
DR dr
DY dy
DZ dz
E e
G g
H h
I i
(Ɨ ɨ)
J j
K k
Kʼ kʼ
M m
Mʼ mʼ
N n
Nʼ nʼ
NY ny
NYʼ nyʼ
(O o)
P p
Pʼ pʼ
R r
Rʼ rʼ
S s
Sʼ sʼ
SH sh
SHʼ shʼ
SR sr
SRʼ srʼ
T tʼ
TR tr
TRʼ trʼ
TS ts
TSʼ tsʼ
TY ty
TYʼ tyʼ
U u
W w
(V v)
Wʼ wʼ
Y y
Yʼ yʼ
Letters〈f q x z〉are not used to write Keres, whereas the letters ⟨ɨ o v⟩ are only used in some dialects.
Keresan is a split-ergative language in which verbs denoting states (i.e. stative verbs) behave differently from those indexing actions, especially in terms of the personaffixes they take. This system of argument marking is based on a split-intransitive pattern, in which subjects are marked differently if they are perceived as actors than from when they are perceived as undergoers of the action being described.
Negation is doubly marked in Keresan. In addition to the adverb dzaadi, verbs index negation through a suffix (e.g. -u).
Gukacha 'S/he saw her/him'
Dzaadi gukachau 'S/he didn't see her/him'
Verbal morphology
The verb is a central grammatical category in Keres, conveying the most information about events in communicative acts.[8][9][10] Through its morphemes, Keresan verbs code not only person and number of the initiator of the action (e.g. “Tammy drinks decaf”) as is common in Indo-European languages, but also how the initiator is implicated in the action. For instance, the three verbs that describe Tammy's actions in “Tammy kicked the ball” vs. “Tammy jumped” vs. “Tammy sneezed” require different levels of effort from Tammy, that is when kicking vs. jumping vs. sneezing.
Additionally, the person and number of the undergoer of the action are all coded on the verb (e.g. the word gukacha means “S/he sees her/him”, a full sentence in English). The ways the speaker assesses the action (i.e. evidentiality, as in “I think Tammy arrived from class” vs. “Tammy arrived from class”). Finally, the internal temporal structure of the action (i.e. aspect, as in “Tammy was sneezing in class” vs. “Tammy sneezed in class”) is also coded in Keresan verbs.
According to Maring (1967), the Keresan verb is organized around the following grammatical categories (pp. 39–40)[10]
Subject/Object relations
Subject of intransitive verbs: marked by a prefix that distinguishes 3-4 persons in the singular (see below).
Subject of transitive verbs: marked by a prefix that distinguishes 3-4 persons in the singular (see below).
Object of transitive verbs: marked by a prefix that combines with the subject prefix, or by a suffix
Number relations
Singular: usually marked by a prefix
Dual: can be marked by a prefix, partial reduplication or by suffixes
Plural: can be marked by a prefix, partial reduplication, by suffixes or by suppletive stem forms (i.e. singular and plural forms are not related etymologically)
Temporal relations
Future: is marked on the verb by a series of prefixes that also encode number
In Keres, the verbal prefix carries information from five different grammatical categories: argument role, modality, polarity,[8] person and number. That is, a single Keresan verb prefix codes who initiated the action and how implicated that entity is (the subject/case), whom underwent the effects of the action (the direct object), the speaker's assessment of the action (the modality)[14] and whether it occurred or not (polarity). On the other hand, information about when the action took place (i.e. tense) is expressed elsewhere in a clause, mostly by adverbs.[9]
Number
Keresan verbs distinguish three numbers: singular, dual (two entities) and plural (more than two entities); and four persons: first (the speaker), second (the hearer), third (a known, definite or salient entity being talked about) and fourth (a non-salient, unknown or indefinite entity being talked about, also known as obviative) persons. The plural and dual forms are often marked by reduplication of part of the stem (gukacha ‘s/he saw it’ vs guʼukacha ‘the two of them saw it’).
Argument role
Languages encode two main types of actions: those in which the main participant initiates an action that produces change in an object (e.g. kick a ball, buy a gift, cook a dish, read a book); and those in which the action produces no (perceived) change in the world or that have no object (sneezing, breathing, growing, diving, etc.).[15] Actions that take an object are encoded by transitive verbs, whereas those that take no object are expressed via intransitive verbs.
Intransitive verbs
In Indo-European languages like English, all intransitive verbs behave similarly (‘They sneeze/breathe/dive/think’/etc.). In Keresan, actions that take no object are conceptualized in two distinct ways depending on how the initiator of the action is implicated. More active-like intransitive verbs (e.g. ‘to sneeze’) are coded through one set of morphemes, whereas actions conceptualized as involving the initiator at a lesser degree (e.g. ‘to believe’) are coded using a separate set of prefixes.
Degrees of involvement of the initiator in Keres[8]
Actions
Intransitive verb type
More
to write (-dyàatra), to steal as a thief (-chʼáwʼa), to have diarrhea (-ushchʼi),
to leave (-mi), to whistle (-srbiitsa), to sweat (-shdyuwàan’i)
Active
Less
to believe (-hima), to be born (-dyá), to sleep (-bái),
to be afraid (-tyishu), to forget (-dyúmidruwi)
Inactive
Ideas expressed in Indo-European languages with adjectives are most often encoded by verbs in Keresan. That is, in Keresan one express the idea in the sentence ‘He is selfish’ by saying something along the lines of ‘He selfishes’. In such “actions”, the entity that is characterized by them is not implicated in the action directly (i.e. it's beyond their control), and thus belong in the Inactive intransitive category. The different sets of prefixes are shown below:
New words are coined through a number of roots that are combined to pre-existing ones. Compounding is a common strategy for word building, although derivation also occurs.
Numerals
The Keresan numeral system is a base 10 system. Numerals 11–19, as well as those between the multiple of tens, are formed by adding the word kʼátsi (/ kʼátsʰɪ / 'ten') followed by the word dzidra (/tsɪtʂa/ 'more'). Numerals 20 and above are formed by adding a multiplicative adverb (-wa or -ya) to the base number and the word kʼátsi.[8]
Western Keres
1
ísrkʼé
11
kʼátsi-írskʼá-dzidra
21
dyúya-kʼátsi-íisrkʼé-dzidra
2
dyúuwʼée
12
kʼátsi-dyú-dzidra
22
dyúya-kʼátsi-dyú-dzidra
3
chameʼée
13
kʼátsi-chami-dzidra
30
chamiya-kʼátsi
4
dyáana
14
kʼátsi-dyáana-dzidra
40
dyáanawa-kʼátsi
5
táam'a
15
kʼátsi-táamʼa-dzidra
50
táamʼawa-kʼátsi
6
shʼísa
16
kʼátsi-shchʼísa-dzidra
60
shchʼísawa-kʼátsi
7
mʼáiʼdyàana
17
kʼátsi-mʼáidyana-dzidra
70
mʼáidyanawa-kʼátsi
8
kukʼúmishu
18
kʼátsi-kukʼúmishu-dzidra
80
kukʼúmishuwa-kʼátsi
9
máyúkʼu
19
kʼátsi-máiyúkʼa-dzidra
90
máiyúkʼuwa-kʼátsi
10
kʼátsi
20
dyúwa-kʼátsi
100
kʼádzawa-kʼátsi
Loanwords from Spanish
European colonizers arriving in the Southwest US brought with them material culture and concepts that were unknown to the peoples living in the area. Words for the new ideas introduced by Spaniards were often borrowed into Keres directly from Early Modern Spanish, and a large number of these persists in Modern Keresan.[11]
Selected Proto-Keresan reconstructions of plants, animals, and toponyms by Miller and Davis (1963)[16] are given below. The IPA transcription is based on the authors' description. Underlined consonants in reconstructions refer to uncertainties by the authors regarding aspiration (p. 312); these are shown as capitalized consonants in the IPA.
^Brandt, Elizabeth (1981). "Native American Attitudes toward Literacy and Recording in the Southwest". Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. 4 (2): 185–195.
^L., Bybee, Joan (1994). The evolution of grammar : tense, aspect, and modality in the languages of the world. Perkins, Revere D. (Revere Dale), Pagliuca, William. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN0226086631. OCLC29387125.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Givón, Talmy (2001). Syntax : an introduction. Volume 1 (Rev. ed.). Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. ISBN1588110656. OCLC70727915.
Boas, Franz (1923). "A Keresan text". International Journal of American Linguistics. 2 (3–4): 171–180. doi:10.1086/463743. S2CID144375478.
Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. Vol. 4. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-509427-5.
Davis, Irvine (1963). "Bibliography of Keresan linguistic sources". International Journal of American Linguistics. 29 (3): 289–293. doi:10.1086/464745. S2CID145202838.
Davis, Irvine (1964). "The language of Santa Ana Pueblo". Anthropological Papers. Bulletin (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology). 191 (69). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press: 53–190. ISSN0082-8882 – via U.S. Government Printing Office.
Davis, Irvine (1968). "Acoma Grammar and Texts. By Wick R. Miller". Review. Language. 44 (1): 185–189. doi:10.2307/411485. JSTOR411485.
Davis, Irvine (1974). "Keresan–Caddoan comparisons". International Journal of American Linguistics. 40 (3): 265–267. doi:10.1086/465321. S2CID143862548.
Hawley, Florence (1950). "Keresan patterns of kinship and social organization". American Anthropologist. 52 (4): 499–512. doi:10.1525/aa.1950.52.4.02a00050.
Kroskrity, Paul V. (1983). "On male and female speech in the Pueblo Southwest". International Journal of American Linguistics. 49 (1): 88–91. doi:10.1086/465769. S2CID144870648.
Lachler, Jordan (2006). A grammar of Laguna Keres (PhD thesis). University of New Mexico. ISBN978-05-4273622-3.
Maring, Joel M. (1975). "Speech variation in Acoma Keresan". In Kinkade, M. Dale; Hale, Kenneth L.; Werner, Oswald (eds.). Linguistics and Anthropology: In Honor of C. F. Voegelin. Lisse, Netherlands: Peter de Ridder Press. pp. 473–485. ISBN978-90-316-0079-3.
Miller, Wick R. (1959). "Spanish loanwords in Acoma: I". International Journal of American Linguistics. 25 (3): 147–153. doi:10.1086/464521. S2CID222527399.
Miller, Wick R. (1960). "Spanish loanwords in Acoma: II". International Journal of American Linguistics. 26 (1): 41–49. doi:10.1086/464552. S2CID224808846.
Miller, Wick R. (1965). Acoma Grammar and Texts. University of California Publications in Linguistics. Vol. 40. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISSN0068-6484.
Miller, Wick R.; Davis, Irvine (1963). "Proto-Keresan phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics. 29 (4): 310–330. doi:10.1086/464748. S2CID143519987.
Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-29875-9.
Sims, Christine P.; Valiquette, Hilaire (1990). "More on male and female speech in (Acoma and Laguna) Keresan". International Journal of American Linguistics. 56 (1): 162–166. doi:10.1086/466144. S2CID143626730.
Spencer, Robert F. (1946). "The phonemes of Keresan". International Journal of American Linguistics. 12 (4): 229–236. doi:10.1086/463918. S2CID144257720.
Valiquette, Hilaire Paul (1990). A study for a lexicon of Laguna Keresan (PhD thesis). University of New Mexico.
Walker, Willard (1967). "Acoma Grammar and Texts. By Wick R. Miller". Review. International Journal of American Linguistics. 33 (3): 254–257. doi:10.1086/464971.
