Pujunan language

9.9

A language that the Maidu people speak in northern California

noun

: idioma Pujunan

Few speakers of the Pujunan language remain today, making its preservation critical.

Examples

Linguists have studied the Pujunan language to understand its place among Penutian languages.
The Pujunan language is an important part of the Maidu people's cultural heritage.
The Pujunan language is rich in cultural significance.
Many scholars study the Pujunan languages to understand their structure.
Few speakers of the Pujunan language remain today, making its preservation critical.
The Pujunan language is an important part of the Maidu people's cultural heritage.
Linguists have studied the Pujunan language to understand its place among Penutian languages.

Surface Forms

Pujunan language singular

Pujunan languages plural

Morphology

Pujunan + language

This noun phrase is fully compositional: 'Pujunan' is the name of a language and 'language' denotes a named spoken/written system, so the phrase simply refers to the language called Pujunan. The construction 'X language' is a common, cross-linguistic naming pattern and would be immediately understandable to learners who know both constituents.

Etymology

Pujunan language may come from the local word for the 'people' or the 'place' where they lived. That's why Pujunan language names the group of languages spoken by those Maidu communities today.