Eyak language

Eyakwas aNa-Dené language,historically spoken by theEyak people,indigenous to south-centralAlaska,near the mouth of theCopper River.The name Eyak comes from aChugach Sugpiaqname (Igya'aq) for an Eyak village at the mouth of the Eyak River.

Eyak
Pronunciation	[ʔiːjaːq]
Native to	United States
Region	Cordova, Alaska
Ethnicity	Eyak
Extinct	January 21, 2008, with the death ofMarie Smith Jones
Revival	Unknown, estimated around late 2019
Language family	Dené–Yeniseian? Na-Dené Athabaskan–Eyak Eyak
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Alaska
Language codes
ISO 639-3	eya
Linguist List	eya.html
Glottolog	eyak1241
ELP	Eyak
Pre-contact distribution of Eyak

The closest relatives of Eyak are theAthabaskan languages.The Eyak–Athabaskan group forms a basic division of the Na-Dené language family, the other beingTlingit.

Numerous Tlingit place names along the Gulf Coast are derived from names in Eyak; they have obscure or even nonsensical meanings in Tlingit, but oral tradition has maintained many Eyak etymologies. The existence of Eyak-derived Tlingit names along most of the coast towards southeast Alaska is strong evidence that the prehistoric range of Eyak was once far greater than it was at the time of European contact. This confirms both Tlingit and Eyak oral histories of migration throughout the region.

Current status and revival

The last surviving native speaker wasMarie Smith Jones(May 14, 1918 – January 21, 2008)ofCordova.

The spread ofEnglishand suppression of aboriginal languages are not the only reasons for the decline of the Eyak language. The northward migration of theTlingit peoplearoundYakutatin precontact times encouraged the use ofTlingitrather than Eyak along much of thePacific Coastof Alaska. Eyak was also under pressure from its neighbors to the west, theAlutiiqpeople ofPrince William Sound,as well as some pressure from the people of the Copper River valley. Eyak and Tlingit culture began to merge along the Gulf Coast, and a number of Eyak-speaking groups were absorbed by the Gulf Coast Tlingit populations. This resulted in the replacement of Eyak by Tlingit among most of the mixed groups after a few generations, as reported in Tlingit oral histories of the area.

Revival

In June 2010, theAnchorage Daily Newspublished an article aboutGuillaume Leduey,a French college student with an unexpected connection to the Eyak language. Beginning at age 12, he had taught himself Eyak, utilizing print and audio instructional materials he obtained from theAlaska Native Language Center.During that time, he never traveled to Alaska or conversed with Marie Smith Jones, the last native speaker.

The month that the article was published, he traveled to Alaska and met with Dr.Michael Krauss,a noted linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Dr. Krauss assisted Leduey with proper Eyak phonological pronunciation and assigned further instruction in grammar and morphology—including morphemic analyses of traditional Eyak stories.

In June 2011, Leduey returned to Alaska to facilitate Eyak language workshops in Anchorage and Cordova. He is now regarded as a fluent speaker, translator, and instructor of Eyak.Despite his fluency, Eyak remains classified as "dormant" as there are no native speakers. On theExpanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale(EGIDS) Eyak is graded a 9 (dormant); the language serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community, but no one has more than symbolic proficiency.Currently, Leduey provides instruction and curriculum assistance to theEyak Language Projectfrom France.

The Eyak Preservation Council received an Alaska Humanities Forum Grant that enabled them to start a website devoted to the preservation of the Eyak Language. Other funding supports the annual Eyak Culture Camp every August in Cordova. The Project provides countless language resources including immersion workshops, an online dictionary with audio samples, and a set of eLearning lessons, among others.

In June 2014, the Eyak Language Revitalization Project announced an online program called "dAXunhyuuga'", which means "the words of the people."

Language family

Main article:Na-Dene languages

Eyak is a part of the Eyak-Athabaskan language family andNa-Denélarger grouping, which includes Eyak-Athabaskan andTlingitwith a controversial but possible inclusion ofHaida.TheAthabaskan familycovers three distinct geographic areas, forming three subgroups:Northern Athabaskanin Alaska and the Yukon;Pacific Coast Athabaskanin California and Oregon; andSouthern Athabaskan,also called Apache, spoken mainly in the American Southwest, which includesNavajo.There has been extensive comparative reconstruction of a Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak (PAE). A recent proposal of aDené–Yeniseianstock has been widely well received by linguists, linking the Dené languages to theYeniseian languagesof central Siberia. If it proves correct, it will be the first validated genetic link between Old and New World languages. Far less accepted is a possibleDené–Caucasianstock that has been pursued for decades.

Phonology

The following charts are based on the material in Krauss (1965);IPAequivalents are shown in square brackets. The orthography used by Krauss is also used by the Eyak people. An alternative version uses⟨ə ł x̣ g̣⟩instead of⟨A L X G⟩for/əɬχq/,and⟨j č š c cʼ⟩instead of⟨dj ch sh ts tsʼ⟩for/t͡ʃt͡ʃʱʃt͡st͡sʼ/respectively.

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar			Palato- alveolar	Velar		Uvular	Glottal
			plain	sibilant	lateral		plain	labial
Stop	unaspirated	b⟨b⟩	t⟨d⟩	ts⟨dz⟩	tɬ⟨dl⟩	tʃ⟨dj⟩	k⟨g⟩	kʷ⟨gw⟩	q⟨G⟩
	aspirated		tʰ⟨t⟩	tsʰ⟨ts⟩	tɬʰ⟨tl⟩	tʃʰ⟨ch⟩	kʰ⟨k⟩		qʰ⟨q⟩
	ejective		tʼ⟨t’⟩	tsʼ⟨ts’⟩	tɬʼ⟨tl’⟩	tʃʼ⟨ch’⟩	kʼ⟨k’⟩		qʼ⟨q’⟩	ʔ⟨'⟩
Fricative				s⟨s⟩	ɬ⟨L⟩	ʃ⟨sh⟩	x⟨x⟩	xʷ⟨xw⟩	χ⟨X⟩	h⟨h⟩
Sonorant		m⟨m⟩	n⟨n⟩		l⟨l⟩	j⟨y⟩	ŋ⟨ŋ⟩	w⟨w⟩

Aspirated stops contrast with unaspirated stops only before vowels.

All consonants may be found stem-initially, except /h/, which is interpreted as zero. /h/ has the allophone [h] only word-initially or directly following a vowel.

Vowels

Eyak has five vowel qualities /ɪ e a ə ʊ/, three of which also distinguish duration,nasalization,creaky voice(i.e. glottalization), andbreathy voice(‘aspiration’ in Krauss's terminology). The vowel/ə/only occurs as short and inmodal voice,without nasalization./a/can also vary between[a]or[ɔ],and/e/can vary between[e],[ɛ],or[æ].Breathy voice vowels are all short/ɪ̤e̤a̤ʊ̤/,although most of them can also be nasalized/ɪ̤̃ã̤ʊ̤̃/.

	Front		Central		Back
	Oral	Nasal	Oral	Nasal	Oral	Nasal
Close	ɪɪː ɪ̰ ɪ̰ː ɪ̤	ɪ̃ ɪ̃ː ɪ̰̃ ɪ̰̃ː ɪ̤̃			ʊʊː ʊ̰ ʊ̰ː ʊ̤	ʊ̃ ʊ̃ː ʊ̰̃ ʊ̰̃ː ʊ̤̃
Mid	eː ḛ ḛː e̤		ə
Open			aː a̰ a̰ː a̤	ã ãː ã̰ ã̰ː

Writing vowels in Eyak

In the system developed to represent Eyak in writing, long vowels are represented by characters following the basic vowel: a colon <:> for long vowels, an apostrophe < ’> for glottalized (or creaky voice) vowels, an <h> for breathy voiced ( “aspirated” ) vowels and an <n> for nasalized vowels.

‘Unmodified’ (modal, oral)	Glottal (creaky voice)	‘Aspirated’ (breathy voice)	Long	Glottal long	Glottal nasal	‘Aspirated’ nasal	Long nasalized	Long glottalized nasal
i	i’	ih	i:	i:’	in’	inh	i:n	i:n’
A	e’	eh	e:	e:’
	a’	ah	a:	a:’	an’	anh	a:n	a:n’
u	u’	uh	u:	u:’	un’	unh	u:n	u:n’

Suprasegmentals

Allsyllablesbegin with an onset, so that no two vowels may occur consecutively. Only vowels can be the nuclei of syllables. Stems areheavy syllables,whereas affixes tend to be light.

Unlike many of theAthabascan languagesto which it is related, Eyak is nottonal.It does not use variations in fundamental frequency (i.e. ‘pitch accents’) to convey contrast.Lexical stressusually falls on stems and/orheavy syllables.In sequences of heavy syllables, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, as inqʼahdiʼlah/qʼa̤ˈtɪ̰la̤/ “goodbye”.

Morphology

Eyak is anagglutinative,polysyntheticlanguage.

Nouns

With few exceptions, Eyak nouns are morphophonemically invariable. Kinship and anatomical stems are the only noun stems that may take pronominal possessive prefixes, which are as follow:

• First person singular:si- (siya:q’e’,"my aunt [mother's sister]" )
• Second person singular:’i-(’ita:’,"your (sg.) father" )
• Third person singular and plural:’u-
• First person plural:qa:-
• Second person plural:lAX-
• Indefinite:k’u-
• Reciprocal:’Ad-

Preverbals

Preverbals in Eyak are the category of words made up ofpreverbalsandpostpositions.The two are grouped together because one morpheme may often be used as the stem in both categories. Preverbals are individual words that occur in conjunction with the verb. These combinations may almost be said to formlexemes,especially due to the fact that preverbals are rarely if ever used in isolation in natural speech. Preverbals are nearly alwaysunboundand are phonologically separate from the verb, contrasting with the corresponding class in Athabaskan which may beincorporatedor not. One preverbal is most common, but combinations of two are equally possible, as in’uya’ ’Adq’Ach’ k’udAdAGu’"hot water bottle" (in it onto self something/someone is kept warm). There are more than 100 Eyak basic preverbal morphemes.

Postpositions relate directly to an object outside of the verb. Current analysis by Krauss has been phonological rather than semantic, but there is at least one semantically grouped category of postpositions to consider, that of comparatives. This grouping includes P-ga’"like P", P-’u’X"less than P", and P-lAX"more than P" where P is any postpositional phrase. Eyak lacks conjunctions and many postpositions assume a similar function, creatingsubordinate clauses.These postpositions attach to the verb, the most common example being -da:X"and" or "if, when".

Verbs

Eyakverb stemstake many affixes: there are nineprefixpositions before the verb (many of which may be subdivided) and foursuffixpositions after. All positions may be filled with zero, except the stem, which can be filled by any of several hundred morphemes but not zero.

Affix position

1. Object
   1. Direct object:xu(1 sg.),’i(2 sg.), ø~A(3 sg. and pl.),lAXi:(2 pl.),’Ad(A)~’Ad(u) (reflexive),’i~’i(dA)(indeterminate)
   2. Indefinite subject or object:k’u’
      • The indeterminate is used where there is no specific object (such as in intransitive verbs), while the indefinite is used where there is a specific but unspecified subject or object.
   3. Mark ofsemitransitive:’~:
2. Tense/aspect/moodA (inceptive imperfect):qu’~qa’~qe’~qi’
3. ’i:lih~:lih
   • This position is filled only in a few verbs of thought or emotion, such asilih
4. Plurality emphasizer:qA(subjectandobject)
5. Classificatory (nominal) and thematic (verbal) qualifiers: the most variable and characteristically Eyak affix position.gu,XA,lAXA,dA,yA,andlAmay occur singly, the rest occur in combinations of two or three.
   1. GA, gu
   2. XA
   3. qi:,lAXA,ti:,ku:n,k’ush,tsin,tsi:
   4. dA,yA
   5. lA~:n
   • Only in position C. do the morphemes have specified meaning, and only nominally, for example:lAXA,"berry-like, ball-like, eye" orqi:+dA"foot". The other morphemes have unlimited, much broader meanings, but tend to concentrate in certain areas. They may be nominal classificatory or verbal thematic.
     • gu+lAis nominally classificatory and refers to liquid or viscous matter; whenguappears by itself it refers nominally to basket-roots, thread, or hair, (but not rope), as well as thematically with -L-qu,"chase".
     • XA+dAmay nominally refer to matches or logs (but not sticks) or to clouds, among others.dAalone thematically refers to an unusually broad selection including but not limited to hunger, sleds, arrows, noises (only certain types), and non-solid round objects (including eggs, severed heads, and hearts).
     • This is a very limited sampling of the breadth of the meanings of the possible morphemes in position 5.
6. Tense/aspect/mood B1:GA,ø ~A,:~A
7. Subject:xw(1 sg.), ø ~y(i) (2 sg.),lAX(2 pl.), ø (all else)
8. Tense/aspect/mood B2:sA ~ s(perfective), (y)i~ ø (inconclusive function)
9. Verb voiceclassifier: ø,dA~di,L,LA~Li
10. Verb stem

1. Derivational:g(habitual action),X~ ø (progressive)
2. Aspectival:L(perfective); Derivational:k’(customary)
3. Negative:G
4. Human subject or object of third person:inh(sg.),inu:(pl.); non-human object ofimperative:uh

An artificial but grammatical example presents near-maximum affixal positions filled:dik’ lAXi:qAqi’dAxsLXa’Xch’gLG"I did not tickle your (plural, emphatically) feet." This gives:

• dik’,negative particle
• Prefix position 1:lAXi:,direct object, you pl.
• Position 4:qA,emphasizing plurality
• Positions 5C & D:qi’+dA,pertaining to feet
• Position 6: ø, negative active perfective
• Position 7:x,1st pers. sg. subject
• Position 8:s,perfective
• Position 9:L
• Stem:Xa’Xch’,tickle
• Suffix position 1:g,repetitive
• Position 2:L,perfective
• Position 3:G,negative

Tense, mood, and aspect

There are two moods,optativeandimperative,and two aspects,perfectiveandimperfective.Verbs may beinceptive,'active,' or 'neuter', such that the possibilities are as follows:

	Inceptive	Active	Neuter
Perfective	is doing, is becoming	did, became	is
Imperfective	will do, will become	is doing	is
Optative	let it do, let it become	let it do	let it become
Imperative	let it do!, let it become!	let it do!	let it be!

Morphemes in prefix position 2 modify the inceptive imperfective; in position 6 the perfective, optative, and imperative in inceptive, active and neuter; in position 8 the inceptive optative, active perfective and optative, and neuter perfective, imperfective, optative, and imperative; in suffix position 2 the inceptive, active, and neuter perfective; and in suffix position 3, negativity.

There are also threederivationalmodes, a repetitive, a customary, and a progressive. The infinitive takes approximately the same form as the imperative, with some variation.

Syntax

The majority of the Eyak corpus is narrative, with very little spontaneous conversation (and that only when embedded in the narratives). There is a better understanding therefore of the syntax of Eyak narrative style and performance than of natural speech. The basic word order of Eyak issubject-object-verb,or SOV, as in "Johnny ’uyAqa’ts’ sALxut’L""Johnny shot his (own) hand. "Relatively few sentences, however, follow this exact pattern; it is far more common to find SV or OV. The full word order of a transitive sentence is I S O [[C P] V]:

• I, introductory sector: consists of two parts, a connective (e.g. 'and so,' 'then,' etc.) and one or more adverbs, especially temporal and spatial adverbs.
• S, subject
• O, object
• V, verb sector: includes two subsectors in addition to the verb.
  • C, complement subsector: in Eyak syntax a complement is a noun or noun phrase (e.g. not a demonstrative pronoun) and does not have the same meaning as the usual use of 'complement' in ordinary syntax. This is due to traditional classifications of Eyak.
  • P, preverbal subsector: includes preverbals (preverbs and postpositions) and pronouns.

The subject and object categories can consist of anoun,anoun phrase,or ademonstrativephrase. All constituents may be filled by zero, excepting the verb.

Bibliography

• Hund, Andrew (2004). "Eyak".Encyclopedia of the Arctic.Taylor and Francis.ISBN1-57958-436-5.
• Krauss, Michael E. (1965)."Eyak: a preliminary report".Alaska Native Language Archive.University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
• Krauss, Michael E., ed. (1982).In Honor of Eyak: The Art of Anna Nelson Harry.Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.ISBN0-933769-03-2.
• Krauss, Michael E. (2004). "Athabaskan tone". In Hargus, Sharon; Rice, Keren (eds.).Athabaskan Prosody.Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. Vol. 269. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 51–136.ISBN90-272-4783-8.Based on an unpublished manuscript dated 1979.
• Krauss, Michael E.; Leer, Jeff (1981).Athabaskan, Eyak, and Tlingit Sonorants.Alaska Native Language Center.ISBN0-933769-35-0.
• Kolbert, Elizabeth(June 6, 2005). "Last Words, A Language Dies".New Yorker.

External links

• dAXunhyuu Eyak Language Project
• Overview of Eyak Languageat the Alaska Native Language Archive
• Native Village of Eyak(official homepage of the Tribe)
• An Eyak speaker
• Alaska Native Language Center
• Wrangell's 1839 Comparative Word-List of Alaskan languagesArchived2012-11-19 at theWayback Machine(includes Eyak)
• Eyak basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• BBC News articleabout death of last native speaker, with her picture. (Article date January 24, 2008).
• Eyak Preservation Council
• From Stewards to Shareholders: Eyaks Face Extinction(interview).
• The Eyak Corporation(ANSCACorporation)
• Extinct Alaska Native language draws French student's interest
• "In Alaska, a Frenchman Fights to Revive the Eyak's Dead Tongue"Jim Carlton,The Wall Street Journal,10 August 2010