Originally there were seven Miwok languages, most of which are spoken inland in California to the east of San Francisco. The Miwok languages, belonging to the Utian sub-branch of the Penutian family, are often considered dialects, but they are different enough to make intercommunication difficult. Therefore it is better to think of these as separate languages.

Of the seven Miwok languages, perhaps only five are still spoken today, each with fewer than 15 speakers. That said, there are some strong language revitalization movements in Miwok communities.

Note:  There are several Roman Orthography conventions on this site that may require further explanation.  On the charts below, there is lots of phonetic terminology that may not be familiar to everyone.

This page uses no characters outside the Unicode standard.

• Long and short vowels have the same vowel quality, the doubled vowels have a longer duration.
• Consonants may also be doubled.

Last Update: December 14, 2007