Phonology and Morphology of The Ahamakhav Language

Abstract

Linguists and anthropologists have given much attention to the Ahamakhav Language for over a century. Since the early 1900s, many books, audio recordings, and documents have been published on different aspects of the language, such as its phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Fluent speakers of Ahamakhav have collaborated with linguists and contributed their time to recording language, history, and cultural stories in their ancestral language. These recordings have been transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Chart and translated into English. One important early document created on the Ahamakhav language was a book introducing the phonetic description of the sounds used in Ahamakhav words, “Phonetic Elements of The Mohave Language,” by A.L. Kroeber 1911 with the help of two fluent speakers of Ahamakhav. This book was the foundation for developing an orthography system that would serve as a practical writing system of the Ahamakhav language and has been applied throughout articles and books by Linguists Judith Crawford, Pamela Munro, and Susan Penfield in their extensive work on the Ahamakhav language. This thesis will focus on the phonology and morphology of Ahamakhav, as documented by A.L. Kroeber, J. Crawford, P. Munro, and S. Penfield’s works. As a second-language learner and linguist of Ahamakhav, I will extensively analyze its phonology and morphology. To enhance the comprehensiveness of this extensive work, graphic design images will be added as information on the practical orthography system and the structure of Ahamakhav word examples documented by linguists using this writing system. This method will help provide an added perspective on the descriptions of specific topics and areas explained in the Ahamakhav language to Ahamakhav language learners in the communities.