Jicarilla () is an Eastern Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Jicarilla Apache.
History
The traditional homelands of the Jicarilla Apache (Tinde) were located in the northeast and eastern regions of New Mexico. The Jicarilla Apache expanded over the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and into the southeast section of Colorado and southwest corner of Kansas. The area supported the Jicarilla Apache with Plains Indian lifestyle. The tribe was divided among in this homeland by two clans: White Clan and Red Clan. The Jicarilla Apache went through multiple battles that led them to leave this homeland and were forced to relocate on a reservation in present day Dulce, NM.
Language revitalization
680 people reported their language as Jicarilla on the 2000 census. However, Golla (2007) reported that there were about 300 first-language speakers and an equal or greater number of semi-speakers (out of a total ethnic population of 3,100); the census figures therefore presumably include both fluent and semi-speakers. In 2003, the Jicarilla Apache Nation became the first Tribe in New Mexico to certify community members to teach a Native American language. By 2012, revitalization efforts had included the compilation of a dictionary, classes, and seasonal camps for young people.
Phonology
Consonants
Jicarilla has 34 consonants:
What has developed into in Jicarilla corresponds to and in other Southern Athabaskan languages (e.g. Navajo and Chiricahua).
Aspirated Stops
The consonant //, occurring in most other Athabaskan languages, only occurs alone in a few forms in Jicarilla and has mostly merged with //. This consequently has made most of the aspirated stops in Jicarilla velar.
Fricatives and Approximants
[w] and [] are allophones of //. [] is an allophone of //.
Nasals
/m/ is never found word-finally and its most frequent position is in prefixes. /n/: See section on Syllabic /n/.
Syllabic /n/ in Jicarilla
The consonant /n/ can appear as a syllable and bear a high or low tone, but not a falling tone. High-toned /ń/ actually represents an underlying syllable, /nÍ/. There are four possible contours for Vowel-/n/ and /n/-/n/ combinations: Low-high, High-low, High-high, and Low-low. The contours are illustrated in the following table:
{ | class= "wikitable" style="text-align: center" |- !Contour !Vowel-/n/ Combination !Gloss !/n/-/n/ Combination !Gloss |- !Low-High |héenkés'|'What time is it?' |Nńde |'stand up' |- !High-low |Ánł’íí |'You (sg.) are doing something, trying' |ńnshé |'You sheared it' |- !High-high |’igo’áń |'hole' |Ha’ńń |'whoever' |- !Low-low |‘ágonlaa |'You (sg.) made something' |Bił nnzíí |'You got sleepy' |}
(Modified from Tuttle & Sandoval 2002, p. 109)
/n/ may occur between /t/, //, or /n/ and any stem-initial consonant, but when /n/ occurs alone before a stem-initial consonant, it forms a syllable of its own. When preceded by another prefix consonant, /n/ may or may not be judged to form a syllable by native speakers of Jicarilla.
Vowels
Jicarilla has 16 vowels:
All vowels may be
oral or nasal
short or long
The long high front oral vowel is phonetically higher than its nasal and short counterparts ( vs. ). The short back vowel is higher than its long and nasal counterparts ( vs. ). The short low vowel is higher than its long and nasal counterparts ( vs. ).
Nasal vowels are indicated by underlining in the Jicarilla orthography.
There are oral and nasal versions of each vowel, but not all combinations of vowel quality, nasality, and tone are possible.
Tone
Jicarilla has three different tones: high, low, and falling.
High tone is indicated with an acute accent. Low tone is unmarked. Falling tone is indicated by a sequence of acute-accented vowel and an unmarked vowel.
high tone: tsé [tsʰé] (rock), dééh [téːx] (tea) low tone: ts’e [ts’è] 'sagebrush', jee [tʃèː] 'pitch' falling tone: zháal [ʒâːl] (money), ha’dáonáa''' [xàʔtáònâː] (how?)
Syllables in Jicarilla
Syllable Structure
Syllables may be constructed as CV, CVC, or CV:C (C – Consonant; V – Vowel) depending on the morphology of a sequence. Onset may be any consonant, but coda consonants are limited to //, /l/, //, //, /h/, /s/and /n/.