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Research at the Archive

A black and white photograph of the entire from of Old Mission Santa Barbara from 1870 with several people standing on the stairs.

California Native American Languages

 

The languages known from the central California Missions (Carmel, San Juan Bautista, Soledad, San Antonio de Padua, San Miguel, and San Luis Obispo) include:

Rumsen (Costanoan/Ohlonean, Carmel)

Esselen (Carmel and Soledad, and the territory inbetween) 

Mutsun(Costanoan/Ohlonean, San Juan Bautista) 

Chalon (Costanoan/Ohlonean, Soledad)

Salinan (San Antonio, San Miguel) 

ObispeÔo Chumash (Chumashan family).

 

Esselen and Salinan are language isolates, which means they are each a language family of one. Three of the languages (Rumsen, Mutsun, Chalon) belong the the Costanoan (or Ohlonean) subfamily of the Utian language family (the other subfamily includes the Miwok langauges). ObispeÔo is the most divergent member of the Chumashan family.

 

Future additions will include the following projects:

· “Mutsun Texts:’

· “Mutsun Glossary”;

· “Salinan Grammar”;

· “Salinan Texts”;

· “Salinan Glossary”

 

It is hoped that the Santa Barbara Mission Archive and Libary’s mission will be fulfilled in a new dimension by having this essential information about the central missions available free of charge to interested parties as searchable downloads.

 

Indigenous Languages of California (links coming soon!)

Esselen
Esselen Texts and Glossary 
The Huelel 
Esselen Noun Thematic Suffixes 

 

Chalon
Chalon Texts 

 

California Linguistic Prehistory
Rumsen Grammatical 
Esselen Utain Onomastics 
Esselen Linguistic Prehistory 

 

Hours
By appointment only on most Wednesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays 
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Closed on federal holidays and other occasions.

Location
​Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library
2201 Laguna Street 
Santa Barbara, CA 93105

Sister Organizations: 

Connect with Us
(805) 682-4713, ext. 131 
research@sbmal.org

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We would like to acknowledge that SBMAL is located on the traditional ancestral territory of the

Barbareño Chumash people, and where Franciscan friars have sought to proclaim the Gospel since 1786.

© 2016 by the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library. Federal Tax ID# 95-6220730.

The Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the John and Beverly Stauffer Foundation,

and many others, whose contributions have enabled us to remain open.

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