Barbareño is a Chumashan language that was spoken in the Santa Barbara area in California in the USA. It was traditionally spoken on the Pacific coast between Point Conception and Rincon Point, and later at Mission Santa Barbara.
The last native speaker of Barbareño, Mary Yee, died in 1965, however the Barbareno Chumash Council is working to revive the language. The Chumash Living Language Revitalization Project was set up in 1999, a school to teach the language was opened in Malibu in California in 2010, and a few people are learning and teaching the language in Wishtoyo Chumash Village.
Download an alphabet chart for Barbareño (Excel)
ʔimʼekikʼinʼu hilʼalaqwaywaš hiswaškum hikaskuy hišhow hikasapiʔaqmil. Hikasheqenus hihusitʼiminwaš kʼeshuʔuškʼal. Xaymi ʔimaliwaš kaʔaluxwalʼɨhyʼɨwaš hiliyʼa hilʼinʔinʼyuʔ kʼeʔalšipišwaš. ʔalčʼamʼinwaš hisʔalel hilʔispanyol kʼe čtaniw hillatin.
In spite of the lewlew being there, Jaime was able to reach over and take the pespibata and take a quick drink of it. And it took away his fear and made him strong. Jaime was the bravest of all Indians and he was educated. He knew how to read Spanish and a little Latin.
Source: Rhetorical Nominalization in Barbareño Chumash
Sample text and corrections provided by Michael Peter Füstumum
Information about Barbareño | Numbers
Information about Barbareño
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbareño_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_barbareño
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/boi
https://www.wishtoyo.org/muwi-chumash-language-school
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 05.08.26
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