Dogrib language

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Dogrib
Tłįchǫ Yatiì
Spoken in: Canada 
Region: Northwest Territories
Total speakers: 2,110
Language family: Dené-Yeniseian
 Na-Dené
  Athabaskan-Eyak
   Athabaskan
    Northern Athabaskan
     Dogrib 
Official status
Official language in: Northwest Territories
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: dgr
ISO 639-3: dgr
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Dogrib (also Tłįchǫ Yatiì) is a language spoken by the First Nations Tłįchǫ people of the Canadian territory Northwest Territories. According to Statistics Canada in 1999, there were approximately 2,085 people whose first language is Dogrib.

The Dogrib region covers the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, reaching almost up to Great Bear Lake. Rae-Edzo, now known by its Dogrib name, Behchokǫ, is the largest community in the Dogrib Region.

Contents

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Consonants

The consonants of Dogrib in the standard orthography are listed below (with IPA notation in brackets):

  Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
central lateral plain labialized
Nasal plain   m  /m/   n  /n/            
prenasalized   mb  /mb/   nd  /nd/            
Plosive voiced   b  /b/   d  /d/         g  /ɡ/   gw  /ɡʷ/  
voiceless     t  /t/         k  /k/   kw  /kʷ/   ’  /ʔ/
ejective     t’  /tʼ/         k’  /kʼ/   kw’  /kʷʼ/  
Affricate voiced     dz  /dz/   dl  /dɮ/   j  /dʒ/        
voiceless     ts  /ts/   tl  /tɬ/   ch  /tʃ/        
ejective     ts’  /tsʼ/   tl’  /tɬʼ/   ch’  /tʃʼ/        
Fricative voiced     z  /z/     zh  /ʒ/     gh  /ɣ/    
voiceless     s  /s/   ł  /ɬ/   sh  /ʃ/     x  /x/     h  /h/
Approximant voiced     r  /ɹ/   l  /l/     y  /j/     w  /w/  
voiceless               wh  /ʍ/  

[edit] Vowels

  • short
    • a /a/
    • e /e/
    • i /i/
    • o /o/
  • long
    • aa /aː/
    • ee /eː/
    • ǫǫ /õː/
  • nasal vowels are marked by an ogonek accent, e.g., ą
  • low tone is marked with a grave accent, e.g., à
  • high tone is never marked

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

  • Coleman, Phyllis Young. Dogrib Phonology. Ann Arbor, Michigan, [etc.]: University Microfilms International, 1979.
  • Feenstra, Jacob. Tłįįchǫ Yati Enįhtł'è = Dogrib Dictionary. Rae-Edzo, N.W.T.: Dogrib Divisional Board of Education, 1992.

[edit] External links

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