User:Yanqin Li/Atsugewi language

Atsugewi is a language spoken by the Palaihnihan branch of the Hokan family and another language in California. The number of speakers of the Atsugewi language may never exceed hundreds.

Professor Roland Dixon brought together Shasta, Achumawi, Atsugewi, Okwanuchu, Konomihu and New River Shasta several years ago, so Achumawi is one of the languages that make up the "Shastan family". Atsugewi (Hat Creek) can be said to be a dialect with its own language rules. There are many Atsugewi who can speak Achumawi, although there are certain differences between the two languages. Atsugewi is a language spoken by the Palaihnihan branch of the Hokan family and another language in California. The number of speakers of the Atsugewi language may never exceed hundreds.d

History
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber estimated the combined 1770 population of the Achumawi and Atsugewi as 3,000. A more detailed analysis by Fred B. Kniffen arrived at the same figure. T. R. Garth (1978:237) estimated the Atsugewi population at a maximum of 850.

Kroeber estimated the combined population of the Achumawi and Atsugewi in 1910 as 1,100. The population was given as about 500 in 1936.

Consonants
Atsugewi has 32 consonants. Most of these form pairs of plain and glottalized. Plosives and affricates also have a third, aspirated member of the series (except for the single glottal stop).

Vowels
Atsugewi language has basically only three vowels: /a/, /o/, and /i/; /e/ is the allophone of /i/ while /o/ is the allophone of /u/. However, it has been supported by Leonard Talmy (1972) that there are instances such as the word ce "the eye(s)" where e can be analyzed as a proper phoneme.