Kawaiisu language
Uto-Aztecan language spoken in California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kawaiisu language[3] (English: /kəˈwaɪsuː/, Kawaiisu: Nuwä Abigip[4]) is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Kawaiisu people of California. As of 2025, only one native speaker remains, Lucille Girado.[2]
| Kawaiisu | |
|---|---|
| Nɨwɨ'abigidɨ, Nɨwɨ'abigipɨ, Nuwä Abigip | |
| Pronunciation | [nɨwɨʔabiɣidɨ], [nɨwɨʔabiɣipɨ] |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | California |
| Ethnicity | 60 Kawaiisu (2010)[1] |
Native speakers | 1 (2025) "more than a dozen" of varying proficiency (2021)[2] |
Uto-Aztecan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xaw |
| Glottolog | kawa1283 |
| ELP | Kawaiisu |
 Kawaiisu | |
 Kawaiisu is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Classification
Kawaiisu is a member of the Southern Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family.
Geographic distribution
The Kawaiisu homeland was bordered by speakers of non-Numic Uto-Aztecan languages: the Kitanemuk to the south spoke Takic, the Tubatulabal to the north spoke Tubatulabal, the Yokuts to the west were non-Uto-Aztecan. Because they shared the Southern Numic language, the Chemehuevi to the east are considered the closest relatives to Kawaiisu.
The remaining Kawaiisu speakers live in the Tehachapi area of California.
Revitalization
In 1994, the language was severely endangered, with perhaps fewer than 20 remaining speakers.[5][page needed]
In 2011, The Kawaiisu Project received the Governor's Historic Preservation Award for its efforts to document the Kaiwaiisu language and culture, including "the Handbook of the Kawaiisu, language teaching and the Kawaiisu Language and Cultural Center [and] the Kawaiisu exhibit at the Tehachapi Museum."[6][7] As of 2012[update], the Kawaiisu Language and Cultural Center offers language classes and DVDs for home learning, as well as training for other groups seeking to create language learning programs and materials.
Phonology
Vowels
Kawaiisu has a typical Numic vowel inventory of six vowels.
Consonants
Kawaiisu has an atypical Numic consonant inventory in that many of the predictable consonant alternations in other Numic languages are no longer predictable in Kawaiisu. The Kawaiisu consonant inventory, therefore is much larger than the typical Numic language.
- /l/ and /ŋ/ are found only in loanwords.
Morphology
Kawaiisu is an agglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.