Kiliwa (also Kiliwi, KoâÂÂlew or Quiligua) (in Kiliwa: ) is a Yuman language spoken in Baja California, in the far northwest of Mexico, by the Kiliwa people.
Seventy-six people reported their language as Kiliwa in a 2020 census. However, a count in 2018 found only four speakers remaining.
The Kiliwa language was extensively studied by Mauricio J. Mixco, who published Kiliwa texts as well as a dictionary and studies of syntax.
As recently as the mid-1900s, Mixco reported that members of the native community universally spoke Kiliwa as their first language, with many Kiliwas also bilingual in Paipai. At the start of the twenty-first century, Kiliwa is still spoken; a 2000 census reported 52 speakers. However, the language is considered to be in danger of extinction.
Kiliwa is a language of the Yuman Family Language Summit, held annually since 2001.
Kiliwa is the southernmost representative of the Yuman family, and the one that is most distinct from the remaining languages, which constitute Core Yuman. The Kiliwa's neighbors to the south, the CochimÃÂ, spoke a language or a family of languages that was probably closely related to but not within the Yuman family. Consequently, the Kiliwa lie at the historic "center of gravity" for the differentiation of Yuman from CochimÃÂ and of the Yuman branches from each other.
Linguistic prehistorians are not in agreement as to whether the Kiliwa's linguistic ancestors are most likely to have migrated into the Baja California peninsula from the north separately from the ancestors of the Cochimàand the Core Yumans, or whether they became differentiated from those groups in place. The controversial technique of glottochronology suggests that the separation of Kiliwa from Core Yuman may have occurred about 2,000âÂÂ3,000 years ago.
Intervocalic allophones of /p, t, k, k÷/ can occur as [ò, ð, ã, ã÷]. An approximant sound such as /j/ after a glottal /h/ can become devoiced as [jÃÂ], as with a devoiced [ÃÂ] sound being an allophone of /h÷/.
There are three vowel quantities; /i, u, a/, that can also be distinguished with vowel length /iÃÂ, uÃÂ, aÃÂ/. Close vowel sounds /i, u/ can range to mid vowel sounds as [e, o], and with vowel length as [eÃÂ, oÃÂ]. An epenthetic schwa sound [ÃÂ] can occur within root-initial consonant clusters.
Kiliwa has three pitch accents, those being high-level, high-falling, and low level.
The Kiliwa language is written using a modified Roman alphabet, as the language's culture has historically been unwritten and entirely oral. It consists of 15 consonants which includes 3 digraphs: â¨bâ©, â¨châ©, â¨gâ©, â¨hâ©, â¨hhâ©, â¨kâ©, â¨lâ©, â¨mâ©, â¨nâ©, â¨nhâ©, â¨pâ©, â¨sâ©, â¨tâ©, â¨wâ©, and â¨yâ©.
There are also 5 short and 5 long vowels: /a/, /aÃÂ/, /e/, /eÃÂ/, /i/, /iÃÂ/, /o/, /oÃÂ/ , /u/, and /uÃÂ/. These are represented in the chart below.
Other digraphs used in the Kiliwa language include: gu, hu, and ku. They are shown in the chart below.
The inclusion of / , / is used as a brief pause, such as that in Spanish.
Numbers in Kiliwa can be expressed up to several thousands without the use of Spanish loanwords. Counting is done using both fingers and toes. There is a resemblance of the Kiliwa word âÂÂsalâ which is the root for âÂÂfinger/handâÂÂ.
The following numbers are formed by using the form for the ten's place 'chipam' followed by its multiplier digit (the digits of those listed above from 1-9).
The hundreds are formed by using the expression âÂÂchipam msig uâ kun yuu chipamâ followed by the multiplier digits found in that of numbers 1-9.
Lastly, the thousands are formed by using the expression âÂÂchipam msig uâ kuetetâ before using the multiplier digits once again.
The morphology in the Kiliwa language consists of many affixes and clitics. More of these are available on the verb rather than the noun. These affixes are usually untouched and added on to a modified root.
In Kiliwa there are multiple ways of pluralizing words. There are several to differentiate it from the singular form. The most common affixes are t, chau, m, u and siâÂÂwaa.
There are also some instances in which the plural form changes the vowels, for example: Kill! (Kinyii); Kill them! (Kenyoot); Grab! (Kiyuu); Grab them! (Kiyeewi);ÃÂ Stand! (Ku'um); All of you stand! (Ke'ewi).
Used in adjectives or nouns to denote a superlative degree of meaning.
Examples:
Other adverbs include: Mgaai (better), Mak (here), Paak (there), Psap mi (today), Hhchoom (yesterday), Kiis i'bm (later), Mat piâÂÂim kun (never)
Examples:
-Tay: something of a big/great size for animals and objects or someone obtains a higher power/status due to profession.
Examples:
Suffix P is used to signify something of a smaller degree for several adjectives.
Examples:
Conjunctions are connect two or more ideas into a single sentence.There are also disjunctive conjunctions to separate two or more mutually exclusive options presented in a sentence.
Examples: /and/ translates in Kiliwa to e.
The conjugation allows us to tell what the action is doing and taking place in the verb
Source:
Source:
Source:
In the Kiliwa language they are marked by the definite and indefinite
Kiliwa has 3 degrees of distance that appear in the third person pronoun
Examples:
Kiliwa language is also measured in the independent third-person pronoun in the demonstrative Np
Examples:
Mi-chau â âÂÂthese;theyâ â (near speaker)
paa-chau â âÂÂthose;they â (near hearer)
nyaa-chau â âÂÂthose;they â (far from both)
mi-t cham âÂÂThis/(s)he leaves (it)âÂÂ
mi-chau-t caam-u â âÂÂThese/they leave (it)âÂÂ
m '-saauààâÂÂI see this one/him/herâÂÂ
mi-chau=m=juak-m ÃÂ-cam â âÂÂI leave with these/themâÂÂ
mi-chau-l '-saau àâÂÂI looked into these one/themâÂÂ
When referring to a male human or animal one adds kumeei
When referring to a female human or animal one adds kökoo
Example: kumeei is male and kökoo is female
Kiliwa is a verb-final language that usually follows the order subject-object-verb. Dependent object clause should be found before the verb, whereas relative or adjectival clauses appear following the noun they modify. While behavioral context, negations, auxiliaries, etc. can alter the placement of certain aspects, the Object-Verb form remains true in most sentences.
Example of transitive sentence in which the structure is simply object-verb:
Sentences with a negation typically contain the object-verb format, however, basic structure would be subject - pre-verb negative - object - verb - final negative. Example:
The following Kiliwa toponyms are from the map given in Mixco (2000:70).