Foods and drinks
Here you can learn Nisenan names for some foods, drinks, and sweet things that you can find on the Let's Eat! poster.
The poster focuses on a small set of foods and drinks that you might have at home or at gatherings on the Rancheria. Some of these items are traditional foods, such as may (salmon), mank’á (strawberries), and yoc’ím (manzanita drink). Others are introduced foods that were brought to Central California by non-Native cultures within the last few centuries, like maayís (corn), pehól (beans), and koopí (coffee).
Nisenan speakers often borrowed the Spanish or English names for introduced foods like corn and coffee, turning them into Nisenan words by modifying them to fit the sounds of the language. For example, there is no "f" sound in the Nisenan language, so Nisenan speakers replaced the "f" sound in the English word coffee with a "p" sound, creating the Nisenan word koopí.
Payél (Foods)
Here, you can listen to the words for payél (foods) that we included on the poster (organized alphabetically by their English translations):
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word pehól comes from the Spanish word frijól (bean). There are no "f" or "r" sounds in Nisenan, nor can you have two consonants together at the beginning of a word in Nisenan, so speakers adapted the "fr" as "p".
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The word for "bread" that we share on the poster, p’ɨllá, comes from Southern Hill Nisenan speaker Ida Hill Starkey. You may also hear other speakers use paan, which comes from the Spanish word pan (bread):
Both p’ɨllá and paan refer to leavened, wheat-based bread. You use a totally different name to talk about acorn bread in Nisenan.
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word maayís comes from the Spanish word maíz (corn).
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word koc’ís (fresh greens) is also a color word that refers to "green" and "blue" colors.
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) We do not have a traditional Nisenan name for this dish, so the Language Department borrowed the English word pasta using the loanword adaptation strategies that Nisenan speakers have used for other English borrowings.
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) We do not have a traditional Nisenan name for this dish, so the Language Department borrowed the English word pizza using the loanword adaptation strategies that Nisenan speakers have used for other English borrowings.
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word kalwaasá comes from the Spanish word calabaza (pumpkin).
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) We do not have a traditional Nisenan name for this dish, so the Language Department borrowed the English word samwíc’ using the loanword adaptation strategies that Nisenan speakers have used for other English borrowings.
Stew
(soup with chunks of meat)
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) Ida Hill Starkey shared this term, which is derived from the words kɨyɨsɨ́ (meat) and mom (water).
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) We do not have a traditional Nisenan name for this dish, so the Language Department borrowed the English word taco using the loanword adaptation strategies that Nisenan speakers have used for other English borrowings.
Mo (Drinks)
Here, you can listen to the words for various mo (drinks) that we included on the poster (organized alphabetically by their English translations):
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) This name comes from the words aapél (apple) and mo (drink), describing it as an "apple drink".
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word koopí comes from the English word coffee, adapted to sound like a Nisenan word.
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word leec’í comes from the Spanish word leche (milk) and refers to the milk that comes from animals (e.g. cow). You would not use it for the milk that comes from humans, i.e. breastmilk, which is called min in Nisenan:
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) This name comes from the words hiisá (mint) and mo (drink), describing mint tea as a "mint drink".
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) We do not have a traditional Nisenan name for this drink, so the Language Department borrowed the English word soda using the loanword adaptation strategies that Nisenan speakers have used for other English borrowings.
Sudak’ám osé (Sweet things)
Here, you can listen to the words for sudak’ám osé (sweet things) that we included on the poster, including several fruits and other desserts:
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word aapél comes from the English word apple. You may also hear some speakers use the word mansaaná, which comes from the Spanish word manzana (apple) and means the same thing:
We gave aapelím mo (apple juice), which comes from the word aapél. If we want to use this instead, it would be mansaanám mo:
Candy, Sweets, Syrup, Honey
(anything sweet)
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) Some Nisenan speakers use muté for grapes, while others use piimén. They mean the same thing:
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) We do not have a traditional Nisenan name for ice cream. Rather, the Language Department coined this name by combining the words sudák’ (sweet) and bic’iipá (ice cold food), describing ice cream as a sweet frozen treat.
Esak’ábe mi? (Do you know?) The Nisenan word santiiyá is borrowed from the Spanish word sandía (watermelon).
