Chochenyo language

Chochenyo (also called Chocheño and East Bay Costanoan) was the spoken language of the Chochenyo people. Chochenyo is one of the Costanoan dialects in the Utian family. Linguistically, Chochenyo, Tamyen and Ramaytush are thought to have been dialects of a single language.

The speech of the last two native speakers of Chochenyo was documented in the 1920s in the unpublished fieldnotes of the Bureau of American Ethnology linguist John Peabody Harrington.

The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, which (as of 2007)^[2] is petitioning for U.S. federal recognition, has made efforts to revive the language. As of 2004, "the Chochenyo database being developed by the tribe ... [contained] from 1,000 to 2,000 basic words."^{[3] [4]} By 2009, many students were able to carry on conversations in the Chochenyo language. Through both successful word formation, as well as extending documented words, the Chochenyo dictionary has grown significantly throughout the early 21st Century.^[5] During the canonization of Saint Junípero Serra on September 23, 2015, the first reading at Mass was read in Chochenyo by Vincent Medina, a Muwekma Ohlone tribal member.

References

External links

• Chocheyno, California Language Archive
• Chochenyo language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• Chochenyo revitalization – language at UCB "Faith in Words" 2004 [archived version]
• Muwekma Ohlone Tribe website

Languages of California
Indigenous	Algic Wiyot Yurok Athabascan Tolowa Hupa Mattole Kato Wailaki Chumashan Obispeño Island Chumash Purisimeño Ineseño Barbareño Ventureño Ohlone Karkin Chochenyo Ramaytush Tamyen Awaswas Mutsun Rumsen Chalon Hokan Chimariko Karuk Achomawi Atsugewi Northeastern Pomo Eastern Pomo Southeastern Pomo Northern Pomo Central Pomo Southern Pomo Kashaya Washo Mojave Kumeyaay Yana Yahi Penutian Klamath-Mudoc Yokuts Wintu Bay Miwok Coast Miwok Lake Miwok Plains Miwok Central Sierra Miwok Northern Sierra Miwok Southern Sierra Miwok Valley Maidu Northeast Maidu Northwest Maidu Nisenan Shastan Konomihu New River Shasta Okwanuchu Shasta Uto Aztecan Cahuilla Cupeño Kawaiisu Kitanemuk Luiseño-Juaneño Mono Northern Paiute Panamint Serrano Tataviam Tongva Ute Wintuan Nomlaki Patwin Southern Patwin Wintu Yokutsan Buena Vista Yokuts, Chukchansi, Gashowu Yokuts, Kings River Yokuts, Palewyami, Tule-Kaweah Yokuts, Valley Yokuts Yukian Yuki, Wappo Language isolates and Unclassified Esselen, Chimariko, Karuk, Salinan, Takelma Plains Sign Talk
Non-Indigenous	Indo-European American English California English Chicano English Spanish Armenian Punjabi Russian Asian Chinese Korean Tagalog Vietnamese Francosign American Sign Language
Italics indicate extinct languages