At the start of the twenty-first century, Kiliwa is still spoken; a 2000 census reported 52 speakers.

The controversial technique of glottochronology suggests that the separation of Kiliwa from Core Yuman may have occurred about 2,000-3,000 years ago.

An epenthetic schwa sound [ə] can occur within root-initial consonant clusters.

Jcheet Steal Msig One Haa Yes Kujat Blood Msigl paayp Six Smak Leaf Mpaan Sister Jnhieel Lariat Gap Pain Kiis Large Mat No Sit Tay Big Msi' Star There are also 5 short and 5 long vowels: /a/, /aː/, /e/, /eː/, /i/, /iː/, /o/, /oː/ , /u/, and /uː/.

a /a/ Tay Big aa /aː/ Maaw Yaaywaa Grandma scorpion e /e/ Pel wat Miy pi jse To return Quill ee /eː/ Teey Juwee Night To give i /i/ Kaichmaa Kemelootí Money/metal/iron ii /iː/ Chiin Tiingkiil Laughter mockingbird o /o/ Jsilo Hole oo /oː/ Kekoo Woman u /u/ Ku'nip Poor uu /uː/ Piyauup Kuu To carry/load Grandpa (maternal) Other digraphs used in the Kiliwa language include: gu, hu, and ku.

gu /ɡʷ/ Hkuigu Hunt hu /hʷ/ Mphuh-mi This box/bag /hʷ/ Ju sawi Clean /kʷ/ Tukuipaai Animal The inclusion of / , / is used as a brief pause,[clarification needed] such as that in Spanish.

[7] Lastly, the thousands are formed by using the expression ‘chipam msig u’ kuetet’ before using the multiplier digits once again.

[5] Mi Mit 2.Kiliwa Kuwaa Kuwaat 2.Kiliwa Kiyee Kitiyee 2.Kiliwa Unyieey Unyieey chau 2.Kiliwa Ojoo Ojoo chau 2.Kiliwa Weey Uweey 2.Kiliwa Mlti’ Mlti’ si’waa 2.Kiliwa Yuu Yuum 2.Kiliwa There are also some instances in which the plural form changes the vowels, for example: Kill!

[5] Examples: Other adverbs include: Mgaai (better), Mak (here), Paak (there), Psap mi (today), Hhchoom (yesterday), Kiis i'bm (later), Mat pi’im kun (never) [5] Examples: -Tay: something of a big/great size for animals and objects or someone obtains a higher power/status due to profession.

[5] Examples: /and/ translates in Kiliwa to e. The conjugation allows us to tell what the action is doing and taking place in the verb [6] Source:[5] Source:[6] Source:[5] Nhaap tmaa seti' uma' In the Kiliwa language they are marked by the definite and indefinite [6] Kiliwa has 3 degrees of distance that appear in the third person pronoun [6] Examples: Kiliwa language is also measured in the independent third-person pronoun in the demonstrative Np [6] Examples: Mi-chau → ‘these;they’ → (near speaker) paa-chau → ‘those;they → (near hearer) nyaa-chau → “those;they → (far from both) mi-t cham ‘This/(s)he leaves (it)’ mi-chau-t caam-u → ‘These/they leave (it)’ m '-saau   ‘I see this one/him/her’ mi-chau=m=juak-m ʔ-cam → ‘I leave with these/them’ mi-chau-l '-saau   ‘I looked into these one/them’ When referring to a male human or animal one adds kumeei [5] When referring to a female human or animal one adds kökoo [5] Example: kumeei is male and kökoo is female Kiliwa is a verb-final language that usually follows the order subject-object-verb.

can alter the placement of certain aspects, the Object-Verb form remains true in most sentences.