Genetic Relations
Washo was originally believed to be a language isolate. That is, it shared no link and is was not related to any other language. Some Washo still believe their language is a language isolate due to their belief that they were the first to inhabit the area. This would make them and their language older than that of the neighboring tribes, who according to the Washo, moved in around them from elsewhere, thus making their languages related in no way. Though Washo is indeed not in the same language family as any of its three direct neighboring languages, Northern Paiute is a Numic language (Uto-Aztecan), Maidu is Maiduan, and Miwok is Utian, it is now classified as a distinct branch of the Hokan language group.
The primary grammar used to describe the Washo language is A Grammar of the Washo Language as written by William Horton Jacobsen, Jr. for dissertation purposes at the University of California, Berkeley. The dissertation was written in 1964 and covers the entire language of Washo, as there are no known dialects.
Read more about this topic: Washo Language
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