Fray Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta’s Work on California’s Native Languages

Catherine Fountain
Appalachian State University
Summary

This article describes the linguistic work of Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta (1780–1840), a Franciscan missionary from Spain who lived and worked in the missions of Alta California for some 32 years. He was the most prolific chronicler of the indigenous languages of Alta California during the mission period, writing a vocabulary and grammar of the Costanoan/Ohlone language Mutsun, taking notes on a Yokuts language he called Nopthrinthres, and compiling shorter word lists and religious texts in numerous other languages. The present work seeks to bring together and analyze what information is available about Arroyo de la Cuesta’s life and writings and place these within the broader field of missionary linguistics.

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