Salinan language

Language

Salinan was the indigenous language of the Salinan people of the central coast of California. It has been extinct since the death of the last speaker in 1958. The language is attested to some extent in colonial sources such as Sitjar (1860), but the principal published documentation is Mason (1918). The main modern grammatical study, based on Mason's data and on the field notes of John Peabody Harrington and William H. Jacobsen, is Turner (1987), which also contains a complete bibliography of the primary sources and discussion of their orthography. Two dialects are recognized, Antoniaño and Migueleño, associated with the missions of San Antonio and San Miguel, respectively. Antoniaño is "sometimes also termed Sextapay, associated with the area of the Franciscan Mission of San Antonio de Padua in Monterey County." There may have been a third, Playano dialect, as suggested by mention of such a subdivision of the people, but nothing is known of them linguistically. Salinan may be a part of the Hokan family. Edward Sapir included it in a subfamily of Hokan, along with Chumash and Seri. This hypothetical classification (which has had many skeptics) found its way into several encyclopedias and presentations of language families before much supporting evidence for this subfamily had been presented, but is currently fairly well established.

Oak acorns were the staple food for Salinans. In Mason's The Ethnology of the Salinan Indians (see Bibliography), on pgs 118 119, the author makes an unsuccessful attempt to match Salinan names for oak species with their scientific names. He describes the following species: "(1) cxa'uwat`, a live oak with spined leaves; (2) t`io'i, a large white tree with a white acorn growing on the coast; (3) paxa'kiL, an oak with pointed leaves and a very large acorn which grows on the hills; (4) p`a'pix, an oak with serrated leaves, called by Henshaw "post oak"; (5) p`a`t, an oak with small serrated leaves and a large acorn, called by Henshaw "white oak"; (6) cmo', an oak with smooth, non spined leaves." He also writes, "While the statement is not definite, it seems that acorns from live oaks were preferred for mush, those of deciduous oaks for bread. Of the former three varieties were used, (1) cxau'wat', (2) t`io'i, and (3) paxa'kiL in the order of preference. Of the latter (4) p'a'pix and (5) p`a`t were used. Cmo' (6) was another oak sometimes used." In his later work, The Language of the Salinan Indians, he gives an additional Antoniaño word for an unspecified evergreen oak, (7) hasli't', and an Antoniaño word for oak saplings, ka'pitc'. The following species of oak are prevalent in the territory of the Salinans: valley oak (Quercus lobata), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), blue oak (Quercus douglasii), canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis), California scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia), interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni) and its close relative Shreve oak (Quercus parvula var. shrevei), Jolon oak (Quercus x jolonensis), which is a hybridization of lobata x douglasii common in the vicinity of the Nacimiento, San Antonio, and Arroyo Seco river valleys), and, although it is not a true oak, the tanoak (Notholithocarpus densifloris). To a lesser extent, there are also locations with coast scrub oak (Quercus dumosa), leather oak (Quercus durata), California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), oracle oak (Quercus x morehus), and perhaps others. There are more prevalent species listed here than Mason's list of three live oaks and three deciduous oaks. Local knowledge provides critical clues as to what species the Salinan names are referencing. The task is complicated by the diverse expressions of phenotypes and hybridizations in California oaks, as well as the lack of research in the topic and Mason's incomplete and erroneous information. Furthermore, it is possible that Salinan classification for oaks followed a different scheme than those of modern taxonomy.

Mason's description of evergreen oaks are more easily identified than the deciduous oaks. (1) Cxa'uwat` is likely the coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, which is an evergreen oak with spined leaves and has acorns that were a preferred food source among indigenous Californians. (2) T`io'i is possibly the tanoak, Notholithocarpus densifloris, which is an evergreen oak like species that only grows near the coast, prevalent near redwood groves in coastal canyons, where oaks tend to be less common. Tanoaks have large acorns. Most oaks are higher up on the steep Santa Lucia mountains, so having tanoaks available would make them a preferred food source during shoreline visits. As for the white coloration, this could be referring to how the leaves have whitish undersides, the young acorns have a whiter tint than many oaks, and the bark tends to be gray with white blotches. (3) Paxa'kiL is likely the canyon live oak, Quercus chrysolepis, which is an evergreen oak with pointed leaves, a very large acorn, and grows in the higher terrain of the Santa Lucia mountains. (7) Hasli't' is an Antoniaño term, not included in Mason's list of preferred culinary oaks. It may be a synonym for a Migueleño word; it may refer to a species uncommon or absent in Migueleño range but noticeably present in Antoniaño territory, such as the Shreve oak or coast scrub oak; or it may be an additional species like California scrub oak or a botanical concept, such as a term for the genus Quercus or sub genus "red oak," missing in Mason's study of Migueleño Salinan vocabulary.

Several problems arise regarding the first hypothesis. For one, there are a number of common local oak species thus far omitted, most notably the California scrub oak. Secondly, if Salinans classified blue oaks with ovate leaves separately from their lobate counterparts, then it is plausible they would also classify together the three species of deciduous, lobate leaved oaks valley oaks, blue oaks, and Jolon oaks under a single name. Even though there are noticeable morphological differences between these three species, their proclivity to hybridize and morphological similarities may have given Salinans a reason to lump them together under a single term, especially if they distinguished ovate leaved blue oaks as a separate type of oak. A second hypothesis is as follows:

(4) P`a'pix refers to the deciduous, lobate leaved valley oaks, blue oaks, and Jolon oaks. (5) P`a`t refers to the evergreen California scrub oak, which is characterized by its small, serrated leaves, and plentiful, large acorns, and it is a white oak. In this case, Mason would be incorrect to consider it a deciduous oak, but correct to describe its small, serrated leaves and plentiful, large acorns. (6) Cmo' refers to ovate leaved blue oaks and Jolon oaks.

Although Mason struggled to understand what oak species correspond to what Salinan terms, his work has provided valuable information. Tenable progress and hypotheses have been made. It appears that Mason's list is not comprehensive of all oak tree names, that it instead focuses on the species with the most valuable food resources. It is probably the case that: (1) cxa'uwat` is coast live oak, (2) t`io'i is tanoak, (3) paxa'kiL is canyon live oak, (4) p`a'pix is valley oak, (5) p`a`t is blue oak, (6) cmu' is interior live oak, and (7) hasli't' remains unspecified. Mason also gives multiple words for acorn; future research is needed.