Long before freeways, fast foods, and friends and followers on social media, the Native American words spoken and sung in Southern California told who the people are, their own history of where they came from, and defined with clear rules where they are going. Today these Native American words from an older world still give vital information for living. They still give history, identity, and power. The pulse of cultural identity stays strong in Native American languages wherever they are spoken.
Yet languages, like people, adapt and change. In today’s News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano) shares some interesting and fun ways that local Native American languages keep up.
Converting English and Spanish:
“And Pogo' was his name, oh' …”
“In Serrano it is very easy to borrow a word from another language and ‘Serrano-ize’ it,” Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano), president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, says. 1 “This is done simply by adding a glottal stop or an ending to the word. we had a dog named Pogo. His name became Pogo'.”
That could be how we got karru' in Serrano for buggy or car.2
Kaffae' (Toshihiro Oimatsu Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Kaffae', Tea, or Mih'?
California history — Spanish missions, land grants, the Mexican-American War, and more — explains why we find many Native American words borrowed from Spanish. “Many words, in the early days, were borrowed from Spanish,” Ernest Siva continued. “Usually, these were introduced items not found in traditional culture. Estufa (stove) became stufa', café became kaffae'. Easy enough. And just as easy, English words were incorporated with nary a thought, so it seems. I once heard my late Aunt Julia, nuc, say, ‘Kwac pinay neyhka' pat qaxon (box in Spanish, caja), ap wallika' eye'ek.’ (‘Please bring me that box leaning up against the wall.’) Here we have both English- and Spanish-derived words used in the same sentence.
“My maternal grandfather, Pete Ramon, spoke Serrano, Cahuilla, and dialects of same fluently, as was usual for his generation. My mother and her sisters remember Grandma Nancy teaching Pete some English and how to do math. She had been taught … [at the government day school] at Morongo Reservation.
“We had words for places, such as Herqaniv (Palm Springs), or Sexii (in Cahuilla), but Palm Springs, the present name in English, became common. The pronunciation Pete used was: ‘Palm Pring.’ Incidentally, both Serrano and Cahuilla refer to the hot (about-to-boil) water, whereas, in English one doesn’t necessarily know whether it is a cold or hot springs.
Art by a Morongo School student at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s Native Voices Poetry Festival uses a slightly different orthography for “fire.”
“It isn’t always clear whether a word is borrowed or just coincidentally close. The word for ‘to cut’ is qutk: Qutuk — it is cut; Ne'aya'tii qutkinaqayn — I am going to cut my hair.
“However, in early times, before scissors, hair was cut by burning it with hot coals. A wooden stick would be placed in the coals and before it ignited, one could easily cut one’s hair (through practice, of course). The word for coal or fire is qut. The question becomes: is qutk from qut (fire) or from the word “cut” in English? I think it derives from qut, fire.
A Different Kind of ‘Fat Duck’
“Happy Duck,” Jim Bain photo via Wikimedia Commons
“Another interesting example is partupek, to be shaped like a duck (domesticated duck; the word for wild duck is mahat). Partu' clearly comes from Spanish, pato — domesticated duck. Further, the word putupek means ‘having a round shape.’
I suppose it is a little more colorful, after a Thanksgiving feast, to say: ‘Men hakupin partupek, shevek!’ (‘Indeed, I am just shaped like a duck!’) rather than merely: ‘Men hakupin putupek, shevek!’ (‘Indeed, I am just round!’)
“Word borrowing was a natural and practical thing to do. But I think a lot of the old language slipped away through neglect. Eventually, English and Spanish became the dominant languages.”
Serrano-izing
Ernest Siva shares two fun memories about borrowed words.
Nachich Mih'! (Let’s go!)
Thanks for reading! Speak the words, sing the songs, tell the stories. Watch for our upcoming storytelling events!
Since 2003, the 501(c)3 nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, led by Dorothy Ramon’s nephew Ernest Siva, has worked to save and share Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. The Center actively supports tribal language revitalization work. Dorothy Ramon Learning Center welcomes your tax-deductible donations.
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What would you like to tell everyone about being Native American? What would you like to read about? News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center loves to hear from our community: EMAIL. Subscribe, share! Thank you! Pat Murkland, Editor. November 17, 2021.
Siva, Ernest H., “Something Borrowed, Something Lost,” Dorothy Ramon Learning Center Heritage Keepers newsletter, Summer 2007, Vol. 4, No. 3, p. 6. (Sharing again)
Martin, Sarah with Kenneth C. Hill, The Road to Maarrenga': Serrano Memories of a Long-Ago Ceremony at Mission Creek, ©2005 Ushkana Press, p. 9.