T:transitive marker EST:established Miluk, also known as Lower Coquille from its location, is one of two Coosan languages.
Miluk was spoken around the lower Coquille River and the South Slough of Coos Bay.
The last fully fluent speaker of Miluk was Annie Miner Peterson, who died in 1939.
[2][3] Laura Hodgkiss Metcalf, who died in 1961, was the last functional speaker (her mother was Miluk), and was an informant to Morris Swadesh for his Penutian Vocabulary Survey.
The language reflects this old system in two instances: with a suffix that follows articles (-č) and in lexical items for male and female people throughout life.
[4] The suffix -č has been seen to be optional but occurs in three instances: The second place where Miluk holds on to an older gender system is when referring to males or females.
The order in which the morphemes appear are the pronominal clitics, followed by mood, tense and then aspect.
TsúCuNRwɛnwenthusilduwailltwasaytɬəʎəARTdítə-3SG.POShímɛhiimechildrentɬɛʎəART-x-xERGt’smíxwənc’miixwəntricksterTsú wɛn ilduwa tɬə dí hímɛ tɬɛ -x t’smíxwənCu wen illtwa ʎə tə- hiime ʎə -x c’miixwənNR thus say ART 3SG.POS children ART ERG trickster"Then this is what the trickster told his children"The morpheme tə marks an oblique or possessive, which occurs throughout the Salish language family.
Tsúcunowk’wɛnk’weennewswus-wus-REDUPú’swusgo.home-u-uNTR.PERFtɬəʎəARTdə-te-3SG.POS‘úmnatt’ɬumnaaʎgrandmother-ədja-əčaLOCTsú k’wɛn wus- ú’s -u tɬə də- ‘úmnatt’ɬ -ədjacu k’ween wus- wus -u ʎə te- umnaaʎ -əčanow news REDUP go.home NTR.PERF ART 3SG.POS grandmother LOC"He returned with news to his grandmother"tsúcunowmámaCONTgɛ’qeethereyáhwiyahwirubtɬəʎəARTdəte3SG.POSyɛisyeismouth-ədja-əčaLOCtsú má gɛ’ yáhwi tɬə də yɛis -ədjacu ma qee yahwi ʎə te yeis -əčanow CONT there rub ART 3SG.POS mouth LOC"And he kept rubbing it on her mouth"Arguments are often fronted in Miluk and uses presentational construction.
gwɛiskweisgirlguskuusallmínmintimedutuHABkwíkwiESTalamalammyrtle.nutyúgwayugwagathergwɛis gus mín du kwí alam yúgwakweis kuus min tu kwi alam yugwagirl all time HAB EST myrtle.nut gather"There was a girl who was always picking myrtle nuts"Tit’sɛwəsTic’eewəsYoung.girltsúcunowhahaREC.PERFdlúqwsʎuqwsget.up-əm-əmNTRTit’sɛwəs tsú ha dlúqws -əmTic’eewəs cu ha ʎuqws -əmYoung.girl now REC.PERF get.up NTR"A girl who had just passed her first menses had just now arisen.
[2] The last fluent speaker was Annie Miner Peterson, who knew both the Miluk and Hanis dialect.