CALIFORNIA'S NATIVE PEOPLE

THE SOUTHERN COASTAL REGION

Languages

Two major language stocks (Hokan and Uto-Aztecan), 4 families, and at least 15 languages were represented in this region

Hokan

• Chumash - at least six Chumash languages: Ventureño, Barbareño, Ynezeño (the coastal Chumash shared a common culture), Purisimeño, Obispeño, and the Island language
• Tipai and its cognate Ipai - many subdialects with speakers at territorial extremes having great difficulty communicating with each other. Ipai is spoken from the Pacific through northern and central San Diego County; Ipai is spoken from central San Diego County south to about Ensenada, Mexico and eastward to the Salton Sea and the Imperial Valley

Uto-Aztecan

• Takic - perhaps 8 languages (Serrano, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Luiseño, Gabrielino, Juaneño, Fernandeño, Kitanemuk)

For examples of words in Chumash and Gabrielino CLICK HERE.

For additional information on the Southern Coastal Region,
please select a topic most applicable to your interests:

Subsistence | Settlement Patterns | Sociopolitical Organization | Religion

Northwest Coast | Northeast | Central Coast and Central Valley
East of the Sierra Divide | Interior Desert | Southern Coastal

Native Peoples of California - Topics

To comment on this page please send email to Chuck Smith at crsmith@cabrillo.cc.ca.us.

Page last updated: 23 August 1999.