Yaqui (Yoem Noki), or Yoeme, is a Native American language of the Uto-Aztecan family. It is spoken by about 15,000 people, mostly of the border Yaqui tribe, in the region around the Mexican state of Sonora, and Arizona in the United States. 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. ... 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. ... Official language(s) English 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. ... Cáhita is a group of North American Indians, mainly of the Mayo and Yaqui tribes, found chiefly in Mexico, belonging to the Piman family, and numbering some 40,000. ... 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). ... Because of 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. ... Brazilian Indian chiefs The scope of this indigenous peoples of the Americas article encompasses the definitions of indigenous peoples and the Americas as established in their respective articles. ... The Uto-Aztecan languages are a Native American language family. ... The Yoeme or Yaqui are a border Native American people who live in the Sonoran Desert region, comprising part of the northern Mexican state of Sonora and the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona. ... The United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico) comprises 31 states (estados) and one federal district (Distrito Federal), which contains the capital, Mexico City. ... 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. ... Official language(s) English 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. ...

Phonology

The remarks below use the orthography used by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in the United States. There are also several orthographic systems used in Mexico differing slightly from this, mainly in using Spanish language values for several consonants and Spanish language spelling rules [e.g., "rohikte" would be written "rojicte"]. There are minor differences between Mexican and US dialects in inclusion or exclusion of sounds, most notably the US dialects tend to exclude an intervocalic "r" and final "k". The orthography of a language is the set of symbols (glyphs and diacritics) used to write a language, as well as the set of rules describing how to write these glyphs correctly, including spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. ... The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is a tribe of Native Americans, given recognition by the United States government on September 18, 1978. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ...

Vowels

Yaqui vowels are pronounced very much like they are in standard Spanish:

"A" is pronounced similar to that in "father" (International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) /a/). 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. ...

"E" is pronounced similar to that in "get" (IPA /e/).

"I" is pronounced similar to that in "machine" (IPA /i/).

"O" is pronounced similar to that in "go" (IPA /o/).

"U" is pronounced similar to that in "rude" (IPA /u/).

Vowels may be either short or long in duration. Often, long vowels are reduced in length when the word they are used in is used constructively, e.g., 'maaso' ('deer') is shortened to 'maso' in 'maso bwikam' ('deer songs'). Long vowels are written by doubling the vowel. Long vowels may change tone, and this is not represented in the written language. Some writers have referred to Yaqui as being a tonal language, but the modern forms of the language do not show any wide-spead and significant use of tonemes. In linguistics, vowel length is the duration of a vowel sound. ... The word tone is used in several different fields with different meanings. ...

Consonants

The following consonantal sounds are present in Yaqui: b, ch, (d), (f), (g), h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, and y. Most of them are pronounced nearly the same as they are in English, although "p", "t", and "k" are not aspirated. In the IPA, they are respectively /b ʧ (d) (f) (ɡ) h k l m n p r s t β w j/. Many Yaqui speakers make no difference between b and v, pronouncing both as /β/, and this appears to be intrinsic to the language and not an influence of Spanish. Additionally, there are two consonants written as clusters: "bw" (IPA /bʷ/) and "kt" (IPA /͡kt/), "bw" being a rounded "b" ('bwikam') and "kt" a simultaneous articulation of "k" and "t" ('rohikte'). The latter consonant is found in many other Uto-Aztecan languages. Pronunciation of the rounded "b" as "b"+"w" and the "kt" as "k"+"t" is acceptable, but non-native. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ...

Note that "d", "f", and "g" are present only in English and Spanish loanwords. Often they are substituted with the native sounds "t"/"r"/"l", "p", and "w"/"k", respectively. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ...

In Mexico, many speakers will often substitute "g" for syllable-initial "w". This is largely because the phoneme /w/ is not present in northern Mexican Spanish as an independent consonantal phoneme, but rather as either a variant of the vowel /u/ or as an adjunct to /g/ and /k/. Use of "g" in place of "w" is considered by Yaqui speakers as a Mexicanism and not as standard Yaqui usage even in Mexico. In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

Glottal Stops

Yaqui also features glottal stops (IPA /ʔ/), as in the middle of the English interjection "uh-oh". These stops are represented by an apostrophe. The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For the prime symbol (′) used for feet and inches, see Prime (symbol). ...

Sound Symbolism

Sound symbolism is present in Yaqui. For example, a word with the letter "l" in it may either be pronounced normally, to denote approval from the speaker, or with an "r" in place of the "l" to denote disapproval or disfavor on the part of the speaker. Either variant form is correct. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Devoicing

Devoicing occurs at the ends of phrases. This is especially notable with the sound "m" and with vowels. The speech often has a "breathy" sound to English speakers.

Gestures

One word, laute, has two contradictory meanings: "quickly" and "slowly". It is often accompanied with a quick or slow open-handed movement to indicate the meaning. (Alternatively, laute could be translated as "at a different rate of speed" which requires a hand gesture to indicate the nature of the difference when needed for clarification.)

Grammar

Syntax

Yaqui word order is generally Subject Object Verb. In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV) is the type of languages in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence appear (usually) in that order. ...

The object of a sentence is suffixed with "-t", or, if the word already ends in "t", with "-a".

Here is a simple sentence: "Inepo huuhit vichnu", or "I am looking at the woman."

Case

Yaqui is a "noun-heavy" agglutinative language. Nouns and pronouns are often declined in ways that do not seem reasonable to Western learners. An agglutinative language is a language in which the words are formed by joining morphemes together. ...

For example, the first person singular pronoun "in" or "ne" (which varies by dialect), is more often used in the form "inepo", which can be translated "within me". The "-(e)po" ending is quite common and seems to denote much more than simple physical inclusion.

Nouns

Plural nouns are formed by adding the suffix "-im", or "-m" if the noun ends in a vowel.

• Tekil - Job
• Tekilim - Jobs

If a plural noun is the object of a sentence, the suffixation of "-t" or "-ta" is not used.

Verbs

Usually, adding the suffix "-k" to a verb indicates past tense, though there are many exceptions. If a verb ends in a diphthong, "-kan" is added. If a verb ends in "-i", "-akan" is added. If a verb ends in "-o" or "-u", "-ekan" is added, and if a verb ends in "-a", "-ikan" is added. If a verb ends in "-k", "-an" is added.

Regularly, "-ne" indicates the future.

Adjectives

In Yaqui, adjectives very often act as verbs (in Oriental linguistics, they would be called stative verbs). For instance, "vemela" or "new", would most often be used to mean "is new". Adjectives have tenses, the same as verbs.

Reduplication

Reduplication is present in Yaqui. Reduplicating the first syllable of a verb indicates habitual action: Reduplication, in linguistics, is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word, or only part of it, is repeated. ...

• eta - shuts
• e'eta - usually shuts

Primary reduplication is also used to pluralize adjectives.

Reduplicating the second consonant of a verb is used to show that an action is performed rarely.

Sample Words and Phrases

• o'ow - man
• hamut - woman
• tu'i hiapsek - kind (lit. "good hearted")
• halla'i - friend
• maaso - deer
• aamu - to hunt

• aman ne tevote em yevihnewi - "I extend my greetings"

Greetings often are very formal. The following formula of four phrases is often used even among close friends:

• Lios em chania - "Greetings!" (to one person, to more than one: Lios em chaniavu) (lit. "God preserves you!", Lios [sometimes pronounced Lioh] is a very early borrowing of the Spanish "Dios")
• Lios em chiokoe - (the reply to the above, lit. "God pardons you!")
• Empo allea - "May you rejoice!" (lit. "In you happy", 'allea' is said to be from the Spanish 'alegre', meaning 'happy')
• Kettu'i - "How kind!"

Kinship Terminology

External links

• Report on Yaqui from the Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with native language biblical texts. ...

Bibliography

• Shaul, David L. (1999). Yoeme-English English-Yoeme Standard Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-7818-0633-X.

Bold text Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ...