OhloneCostanoan

The Ohlone-Costanoan language family consists of a group of closely related Indigenous languages historically spoken by the Ohlone-Costanoan peoples of the San Francisco Bay Area and adjacent coastal regions of California. These languages are part of the larger Penutian language family, which also includes languages spoken in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Basin.

The Ohlone-Costanoan languages were traditionally divided into two primary branches: the Ohlone languages, spoken by groups along the San Francisco Bay and central coast, and the Costanoan languages, spoken by groups in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Monterey Peninsula. Some of the most well-documented languages include **Ohlone (Mutsun)**, **Ramaytush (Bay Area Ohlone)**, **Costanoan (Oshágu**), and **Esselen**, though many others existed and have since become extinct.

The Ohlone-Costanoan peoples were among the first Indigenous groups encountered by European explorers and settlers in California. Spanish missionaries, beginning in the late 18th century, introduced Christianity and established missions, which had a devastating impact on the languages and cultures of these communities. Disease, displacement, and cultural suppression led to the rapid decline of Ohlone-Costanoan languages, with most speakers having died out by the early 20th century.

Efforts to preserve and revive these languages have gained momentum in recent decades. Linguists and community members have documented fragments of Ohlone-Costanoan languages, and some revitalization projects, such as the **Mutsun Language Project**, aim to reconstruct and teach these languages to modern speakers. Despite their near-extinction, the Ohlone-Costanoan languages remain an important part of California’s Indigenous heritage, reflecting the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of the region.