The goal of this dissertation is to create a descriptive reference grammar of the Patwin language, using materials available in archives around the country. Patwin is a Native American language formerly spoken in the southwestern drainage of the Sacramento River in California. It is the southernmost member of the small, moribund, and under-documented Wintuan language family, a member of the proposed Penutian stock. Formerly spoken by a population of about 8,000-12,000, Patwin is now spoken as a first language by only one or two living people known to the linguistic research community. Enough language materials have been collected in various archives throughout the country that it should be possible to arrive at a reasonably complete description of the language. Yet there is no adequate grammatical description of the language available and since the important work of Kenneth Whistler in the 1970's and early 1980's no linguist has published on Patwin, whether descriptively or theoretically. This dissertation will therefore be an academic, descriptive grammar of the language with each of the areas traditionally described in grammars: phonetics (speech sounds), phonology (sound patterns), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure). It is moreover important that such a description be made at this time as there is currently considerable interest in Patwin language revitalization among various heritage Patwin communities. This project will also support the scientific training of a promising scholar.
The purpose of the project funded by BCS-1264305 was to shed light on the Patwin language, an under-documented Wintuan language of California (ISO code pwi). Although Patwin is represented fairly robustly in the archival record, little has been published about the language. Notably, there is no published dictionary or grammar of the Patwin language. Patwin's geographical and cultural centrality in aboriginal California make documentation of this language vital for advancing our understanding of California from a linguistic and anthropological perspective. Furthermore the high level of interest in language revitalization and reclamation among contemporary Patwin Tribes and people means that high-quality, reliable language description should be carried out quickly and ethically, in cooperation with Patwin communities. The specific goals for this project were: (1) to create informative and accurate descriptive accounts of the Patwin language in the form of a doctoral dissertation and associated papers, talks, and documents; and (2) ensure that the knowledge created in the course of this descriptive project be available not only to the academic community but also to any interested Patwin communities or individuals. The project has been a success. Some discussion of its outcomes follows. Gathering and sharing materials The funding from this award allowed the research team to gather archival Patwin documentation and sound recordings from multiple archives scattered across the country, including digital copies of archival materials which had not been previously digitized. Not only were these documents made available to the research team, but also to any Patwin group or individual who wanted this raw data for their own collections, or for Tribal language projects. Description, publication, and collaboration The research team made significant progress in distilling these archival materials into coherent descriptions of Patwin grammar. The project has generated two academic papers on specific aspects of Patwin grammar (speech sounds and pronouns), as well as presentations delivered in academic contexts. The project's extensive bibliography of published and unpublished Patwin sources has also been made publicly available. The general description of Patwin grammar (i.e. the doctoral candidate's dissertation) is in an advanced state, and will be completed by June of 2015. Prior to this project, no linguistics paper had been published on Patwin for almost three decades. The knowledge of Patwin grammar created in the course of this project is also being communicated to interested Patwin communities and individuals, and the research team is committed to ensuring that this process continues into the future. Far from being passive participants in this process, the Native community—especially the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation—has been instrumental in assisting the research team in acquiring archival documents, and in consulting with the team to ensure that any published material is culturally appropriate. Project database The project's text-searchable database of Patwin language material (>12,000 entries of Patwin words, phrases, and sentences) cannot be made public currently, due to privacy concerns in the Native community. However, the research team hopes to make this data privately available to Patwin communities in the future. Additionally, the database is structured in such a way that it could be used to generate a dictionary of the language once more data has been digitized. Such a dictionary, with extensive data from the archival record, would be of great utility for Patwin language research and revitalization.
