The Cochimian Languages

The Cochimian language family of central Baja California has been linked to the languages of the Yuman family. This contribution surveys the four Cochimian languages -- Jesuit Cochimí, Gabb Cochimí, Robinia, and Nebé -- in order to assess the family's phonological and morphological correspondences. The sound patterns of these languages are remarkably similar, with phonological divergence in some Nebé roots. Prefixes and suffixes (both derivational and inflectional) clearly reconstruct for Proto-Coshimian. Cognate rates among the four languages range from 30% to 34%. Almost all Cochimian languages are ergative-absolutive in case marking, except Hervas Cochimí, a dialect of Jesuit Cochimí, which has nominative-accusative case marking like Yuman, and the Hervas case markers cognate with Yuman. Also, Hervas Cochimí has switch-reference, using the same markers as Yuman. Switch-reference is absent in other Cochimian languages for which we have data (non-Hervas Jesuit Cochimí, Nebé). The Nebé language is treated in a companion volume. Texts in the Cochimian languages are reproducted with complete analysis, with a comparative lexicon and index. Lastly, the Monqui language of the southern range of Cochimian is shown to be a varity of Nebé.