Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of each of the seven Keres pueblos are mutually intelligible with its closest neighbors. There are significant differences between the Western and Eastern groups, which are sometimes counted as separate languages.
Family division
In 2007, there was an estimate total of 10,670 speakers.
Eastern Keres: total of 4,580 speakers (1990 census) Cochiti Pueblo Kotyit dialect: 600 speakers (2007) San Felipe Pueblo Katishtya dialect: 2,340 speakers (2007) Kewa Pueblo (formally Santo Domingo Pueblo) Kewa dialect: 2,850 speakers (2007) Zia Pueblo Ts'ia dialect: 500 speakers (2007) Santa Ana Pueblo Tamaiya dialect: 390 speakers (2007) Western Keres: total of 3,391 speakers (1990 census) Acoma Pueblo Áakʼu dialect: 1,930 speakers (2007) Laguna Pueblo Kawaika dialect: 2,060 speakers (2007)
Genetic relationships
Keres is now considered a language isolate. In the past, Edward Sapir grouped it together with a Hokan–Siouan stock. Morris Swadesh suggested a connection with Wichita. Joseph Greenberg grouped Keres with Siouan, Yuchi, Caddoan, and Iroquoian in a superstock called Keresiouan. None of these proposals has been validated by subsequent linguistic research.
Phonology
Keresan has between 42 and 45 consonant sounds, and around 40 vowel sounds, adding up to a total of about 85 phonemes, depending on the analysis and the language variety. Based on the classification in the World Atlas of Language Structures, Keres is a language with a large consonant inventory.
The great number of consonants relates to the three-way distinction between voiceless, aspirated and ejective consonants (e.g. /t tʰ tʼ/), and to the larger than average number of fricatives (i.e. /s sʼ ʂ ʂʼ ʃ ʃʼ h/) and affricates, the latter also showing the three-way distinction found in stops.
The large number of vowels derives from a distinction made between long and short vowels (e.g. /e eː/), as well as from the presence of tones and voicelessness. Thus, a single vowel quality may occur with seven distinct realizations: /é è e̥ éː èː êː ěː/, all of which are used to distinguish words in the language.
Consonants
The chart below contains the consonants of the proto-Keresan (or pre-Keresan) from Miller & Davis (1963) based on a comparison of Acoma, Santa Ana, and Santo Domingo, as well as other features of the dialects compiled from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987), and The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and the Grammar of Laguna Keres (2005).
{ | class="wikitable IPA" style="text-align: center;" |- style="line-height: 1.1em;" !colspan="2" | !Labial !Alveolar !Palatal !Retroflex !Velar !Glottal |- ! rowspan="2" |Nasal !voiced | | | | | | |- !glottalized | | | | | | |- ! rowspan="3" | Plosive !voiceless | || || || || || |- !aspirated | || || || || | |- !ejective | || || | || | |- ! rowspan="3" |Affricate !voiceless | | | | | | |- !aspirated | | | | | | |- !ejective | | | | | | |- !rowspan="2" | Fricative !voiceless | || || || || | |- !ejective | || || || || | |- !rowspan="2" | Approximant !voiced | || || || | | |- !glottalized | || || || | | |}
Vowels
Keresan vowels have a phonemic distinction in duration: all vowels can be long or short. Additionally, short vowels can also be voiceless. The vowel chart below contains the vowel phonemes and allophones from the information of the Keresan languages combined from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987).
Notes: Western Keres does not have phonemic /oː/ or /o/, though both vowels may occur phonetically. Eastern Keres words containing /o/ show /au/ in Western Keres. For instance, the first vowel in the word-sentence Sraúka̠cha̠ – “I see you”: Kotyit Keres: [ʂóːkʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥] Kʼawaika Keres: [ʂɑ̌ukʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥]
Voiceless vowels
All Keresan short vowels may be devoiced in certain positions. The phonemic status of these vowels is controversial. Maring (1967) considers them to be phonemes of Áákʼu Keres, whereas other authors disagree. There are phonetic grounds for vowel devoicing based on the environment they occur, for instance word-finally, but there are also exceptions. Vowels in final position are nearly always voiceless and medial vowels occurring between voiced consonants, after nasals and ejectives are nearly always voiced. Word-final devoicing: [pɑ̌ːkʊ̥] because Word-medial devoicing: [ʔìpʰi̥ʃɑ́] white paint