KMCPA

Hover over the words above to reveal the meaning of each word.
In the following sentence each morpheme (segment or component) is identified.

They came together from all the mountains around.

Konkow is a poly-synthetic language.

This means it has many different parts that when put together form a new meaning.

The dispersed community that shares interest in this language has many parts with differing connections to it.

A coming together of these many parts would create new meaning for the language.

using this website

THE DATA PRESENTED ON THIS SITE IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE.

Several common website elements are used through out the site. The basic navigation takes you to the topic landing pages; Lessons, Stories, Charts, etc. From there you are directed to a specific lesson - or story. JavaScript is used to make things work, like the little +/- symbol which opens or closes a section containing more information on that particular topic. This allows you to navigate through multiple sections without scrolling endlessly.

understanding the documentation

understanding Ultan's writing system

An example of the text of Ultan's Orthograpy

California Language Archive is an online catalog of indigenous language materials housed in archives at the University of California, Berkeley. It includes physical and digital materials held by the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and the Bancroft Library. KMCPA has been working with the CLA for years with training and exchange of information and materials.

sounds of konkow

sounds not in english

b (imploded)

salt

bá

d (imploded)

man or person

májdy

p' (glottalized)

feather

p’ó:t’i

t' (glottalized)

bring something

t’óje

c' (glottalized)

rib

c’íc’i

k' (glottalized)

roundhouse

k’úmi

consonants

p 'pet'

food, anything you eat

péky

t 'tent'

child or son

tútu

k 'kept'

garden, meadow

kójo:

s 'said'

sing

solim

h 'help'

above, up above

hípindi

m 'make'

water

mómi

n 'need'

all by myself

nímwete

l 'lay'

boy

kóleh

w 'when'

It’s medicine.

wénnem

j 'yay'

young man

jémpo:

vowels

i 'key'

all by yourself

mínwete

y ' '

and

ʔàkym

u 'bamboo'

acorn

ʔú:ti

e 'hay'

black

ʔémuli

ǝ 'alone'

pine burr, pine cone

kə́lkəli

o 'snow'

coyote

héno

a 'rah'

fire

sá

sound modifiers

: 'slope'

snow

kó:

ʔ 'uh-oh'

rale, lung TB sound

hoʔoli

é 'primary'

river

séwi

è 'secondary'

cricket

c’ýk’è:ti

glossary of terms

component

: any part of a word - the root or a suffix

deletion

: object case -i object - suffix disappears when it follows a vowel.

imperative

: commands; telling someone to do something

noun

: a word referring to a “person, place, or thing” - the person or item that is doing the action of the verb or has the action of the verb done to them.

object

: sentence part that identifies who/what the action is effecting

reduplication

: repeating part of a root or suffix twice in a row, usually to show that an action is occurring over and over.

postfix

: a word component that comes after other suffixes

prefix

: a word component that comes before the root or stem

preposition

: a class of words forming a phrase that modifies verbs, nouns or adjectives, which expresses a spatial, temporal or other relationship to the term it modifies.

root

: the part of the word containing the main meaning - like ‘person,’ ‘help,’, ‘big’.

subject

: the actor in a sentence

suffix

: endings that get put on the end of a word. Also called verb endings, noun endings, etc.

verb

: a word referring to an action or behavior

Konkow Maidu Language Resource

utilizing linguistic documentation for research and revitalization