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Plateau Penutian

North American Language Families

Plateau Penutian, also called Shahapwailutan, Lepitan or simply Plateau, is a proposed family of languages spoken in northern California, reaching through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho, put forward as one branch of the broader hypothetical Penutian phylum. Its validity is disputed: linguist Lyle Campbell accepts the grouping, but the Glottolog classification disregards Plateau Penutian entirely, treating its member languages as unrelated to one another.

Facts
Region
Northern California through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho, United States 1
Proto-Language Status
No proto-language has been reconstructed for Plateau Penutian as a whole; only its Sahaptian branch has a reconstructed Proto-Sahaptian vocabulary, and the family’s own genealogical validity remains provisional, accepted by Lyle Campbell but disregarded entirely by Glottolog. 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Plateau Penutian Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Plateau Penutian (also Shahapwailutan, Lepitan, Plateau) is a family of languages spoken in northern California, reaching through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho.
  • History section
    The Glottolog classification, favored by many linguistic typologists but considered too conservative by some, disregards Plateau Penutian entirely.
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