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Alsea Indian Language (Alcea, Alse, Yaquina)

Language: The two Yakonan dialects, Alsea and Yaquina, were once spoken on the coast of Oregon. Unfortunately neither dialect has been spoken for more than fifty years, and few recordings of the language remain, but Alsea-Yaquina appears to have been related to Siuslaw and Coos, and some linguists consider all these languages part of a broader Penutian language family. Alsea was a consonant-rich agglutinative language with complex verb morphology and verb-initial word order.

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Names: The name Alsea comes from the word for the tribe in the neighboring Coos language. Their name for themselves in their own language was Wusi or Wusitslum. Wusi and Yaquina were native placenames in the Alsea-Yaquina language, which were then used as names for the two bands and their languages. Spelling variants of these tribal names include Alsiiya, Alsíiya, Alseya, Alsiya, Alséya, Aleya, Alse, Älsé, Alsi, Alcea, Alsean; Yakwina, Yakona, Yacona, Yakon, Iakon, Yakonan, Yaquuna, Yuquuna; and Wusin.

Alsea Language

Alsea language samples and resources.

Alsea Culture and History

Information and links about the Alsea tribe past and present.

Yaquina Culture and History

Information and links about the Yaquina tribe past and present.

Alsea Legends

Introduction to Alsea mythology.

Alsea Language Resources

Our Online Alsea Materials

Alsea Words:
Our list of vocabulary words in the Alsea language, with comparison to words in other Penutian languages.

Alsea Pronunciation Guide:
How to pronounce Alsea words for English speakers.

Alsea Numbers:
Worksheet showing how to count in the Alsea language.

Alsea Dictionaries and Language Books for Sale
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Alsea Texts And Myths:
Collection of Alsea Indian stories and songs for sale online, including a short Alsea dictionary.

American Indian Dictionaries:
Alsea and other American Indian dictionaries and language materials for sale.

Alsea Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions

The Alsea Language of Oregon:
Article on Alsea by Gene Buckley, a linguist who has studied the language.

Alsea and Yaquina vocabulary and grammatical notes:
Handwritten linguistic records of the Alsea language from the 1800's.

Alsea:
Profile of the Alsea tribe with a language chart and map of the tribe's location.

Alsea Language Tree:
Theories about Alsea's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.

Alsea Language Structures:
Alsea linguistic profile and academic bibliography.

Stem modification in Alsea diminutives

The structure of the Alsea verb root:

The Alsea noun phrase:
Reconstructing the Sounds of Alsea:
Linguistics papers on the Alsea language.

Links, References, and Additional Information

  Wikipedia: Alsean Languages:
  Encyclopedia articles on the Alsea and Yaquina.
  Lengua Alsean-Yaquina

Lenguas Alseas:
  Information about the Alsea and Yaquina languages in Spanish.
  Alsea Indians:
  Alsea links.

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