O'odham (often referred to by the names of its two nearly-identical main dialect groupings, Papago (Tohono) and Pima (Akimel)) is an Uto-Aztecan language of Southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono O'odham and Pima reside. It is the second most widely-spoken Native American language in the United States of America, with over 12,000 speakers in the US, including over 180 monolinguals, and many more in Mexico. A reasonable estimate of the total number of O'odham speakers is 30,000, but if everybody with the most basic level of fluency were counted, the number would probably be over 45,000. Official language(s) None Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... Pre-contact distribution of Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the distribution in Mesoamerica) The Uto-Aztecan languages are a Native American language family. ... Piman (or Tepiman) refers a group of languages within the Uto-Aztecan family that are spoken by ethnic groups (including the Pima) spanning from Arizona in the north to Durango, Mexico in the south. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Pre-contact distribution of Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the distribution in Mesoamerica) The Uto-Aztecan languages are a Native American language family. ... Official language(s) None Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... Sonora is a state in northwestern Mexico, bordering the states of Chihuahua to the east, Sinaloa to the south, and Baja California to the northwest. ... The Tohono Oodham are a Native American tribe formerly known as the Papago who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico. ... The Akimel Oodham or Pima are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona (USA) and Sonora (Mexico). ...

O'odham ñiok (sometimes written O'odham ñeok) is the native name for the language, ñiok meaning speech or language.

See also: Common phrases in different languages Here is a list of common phrases in various languages. ...

Orthography

Consonants and semi-consonants:

Vowels: Oodham (often referred to by the names of its two nearly-identical main dialect groupings, Papago (Tohono) and Pima (Akimel)) is an Uto-Aztecan language of Southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono Oodham and Pima reside. ... Oodham (often referred to by the names of its two nearly-identical main dialect groupings, Papago (Tohono) and Pima (Akimel)) is an Uto-Aztecan language of Southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono Oodham and Pima reside. ...

: - vowel length mark In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. ...

Papago/Pima w/v

In Papago, the two sounds [v] and [w] have merged completely into [w], whereas in Pima, the distinction is still made. For example, Pima cu:vĭ /ʧʊːvʰ/ (jackrabbit) is written and pronounced cu:wĭ /ʧʊːw/ in Papago, but Pima wuai /wʊai/ (deer) is pronounced identically in Papago, although it is written huawĭ. Pima wiyoṣa (face) is written wuhioṣa in Papago; Pima wi (eye) is written wuhĭ in Papago. Thus, the letter "v" is not used to write Papago, but it is used to write Pima.

Etymological vs. Phonetic spelling

There is some disagreement among speakers as to whether the spelling of words should be only phonetic, or whether etymology should be concerned.

For example: oamajda vs. wuamajda ("frybread"; some people may also use a c instead of a j), oam means "yellow/brown/orange" and thus this is a compound word of sorts. Some people believe it should begin like any word that starts with a /ʊa/, wua, while others think its spelling should match that of the word oam (oam is in fact a form of s-oam, so while it could be spelt wuam itself, it is not because it is just a different declension of the same word) to reflect its etymology.

According to the regulatory bodies, "oamajda" is better, but they are always careful not to make any definitive rules on grammar, pronunciation, or minor orthographic issues because people are often very proud of their dialect or may feel very strongly about such issues.

See also

• Tohono O'odham

The Tohono Oodham are a Native American tribe formerly known as the Papago who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico. ...

External links

• Ethnologue Report for O'odham
• Papago - English Dictionary