Hanis language facts for kids

This page is about the language. For the Akkadian god, see Hani (god).

Quick facts for kids Hanis
Coos
Pronunciation	há·nis
Native to	United States
Region	Coos Bay, Oregon
Ethnicity	Hanis people
Extinct	1972 with the death of Martha Harney Johnson
Language family	Coosan Hanis

Hanis, or Coos, was one of two Coosan languages of Oregon, and the better documented. It was spoken north of the Miluk around the Coos River and Coos Bay. The há·nis was the Hanis name for themselves. The last speaker of Hanis was Martha Harney Johnson, who died in 1972. Another speaker was Annie Miner Peterson, who worked with linguist Melville Jacobs to document the language.

As of 2007, classes in Hanis were offered by the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. A book and CD, Hanis for Beginners, were published in 2011, and a companion website is available for tribal members at hanis.org.

Phonology

Vowels /i e a u/ may be long or short; there is also a short /ə/.

Consonants
		Bilabial	Alveolar			Alveolo- palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		Bilabial	plain	sibilant	lateral	Alveolo- palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	p	t	ts	tɬ	tʃ	k	q	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tsʰ	tɬʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	tsʼ	tɬʼ	tʃʼ	kʼ	qʼ
Fricative	voiceless			s	ɬ	ʃ	x	χ	h
Fricative	voiced						ɣ
Sonorant		m	n		l	j	w

The /p t ts tɬ tʃ k q/ series are optionally voiced. /l m n/ may be syllabic. Stress is phonemic.

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Hanis language Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.