Nuu-chah-nulth language

Nuu-chah-nulth
Nuučaan̓uł, T'aat'aaqsapa
Pronunciation [nuːt͡ʃaːnˀuɬ]
Spoken in Canada
Region West coast of Vancouver Island, from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound, British Columbia
Ethnicity Nuu-chah-nulth people
Native speakers 150–200  (date missing)
Language family
Wakashan
  • Southern Wakashan
    • Nuu-chah-nulth
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nuk
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Nuu-chah-nulth (also called Nootka, and T'aat'aaqsapa) is a Wakashan language spoken in the Pacific Northwest of North America, on the west coast of Vancouver Island from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound in British Columbia, by the Nuu-chah-nulth people. Nuu-chah-nulth is a Southern Wakashan language related to Nitinaht and Makah.

Kim (2003) estimates the number of Nuu-chah-nulth speakers at approximately 150–200, while the 2001 Canadian census puts the figure at about 505. Linguists find the language fascinating because of its morphological and phonological complexity.

It is the first language of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast to have documentary written materials describing it. In the 1780s Captains Vancouver, Quadra, and other European explorers and traders frequented Nootka Sound and the other Nuu-chah-nulth communities, making reports of their voyages. From 1803–1805 John R. Jewitt, an English blacksmith, was held captive by chief Maquinna at Nootka Sound. He made an effort to learn the language, and in 1815 published a memoir with a brief glossary of its terms.

Contents

Sounds

Consonants

The 35 consonants of Nuu-chah-nulth:

Consonants[1]
Bilabial Alveolar1 Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal		 Glottal
central lateral plain labial plain labial
Nasal plain m n
glottalized2 ˀm ˀn
Stop plain p t k kʷ q qʷ ʔ
ejective pʼ tʼ kʼ kʷʼ
Affricate plain t͡s t͡ɬ t͡ʃ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ɬʼ t͡ʃʼ
Fricative s ɬ ʃ x xʷ χ χʷ ħ h
Approximant plain j w ʕ3
glottalized2 ˀj ˀw
  1. Of the alveolar consonants, nasal and laterals are apico-alveolar while the rest are denti-alveolar.
  2. Glottalized resonants (nasals and approximants) are realized as resonants with pre-glottalization. They are arguably conceptually the same as ejective consonants.
  3. /ʕ/ is an approximant, not a fricative (The IPA does not have a unique symbol for this sound). This phoneme is more often epiglottal and functions phonologically as a pharyngeal stop.

The pharyngeal consonants developed from mergers of uvular sounds; /ħ/ derives from a merger of /χ/ and /χʷ/ (which are now comparatively rare) while /ʕ/ came about from a merger of /qʼ/ and /qʷʼ/ (which are now absent from the language).[2]

Vowels

Nuu-chah-nulth vowels are influenced by surrounding consonants with certain "back" consonants conditioning lower, more back vowel allophones

Vowels
Front Central Back
long short long short long short
Close iː i uː u
Mid1 (ɛː) (ə) (ɔː)
Open aː a
  1. The Mid vowels [ɛː] and [ɔː] appear in vocative forms and in ceremonial expressions. [ə] is a possible realization of /a/ after a glottalized sonorant.[3]

In the environment of glottalized resonants as well as ejective and pharyngeal consonants, vowels can be "laryngealized" which often means creaky voice.[3]

In general, syllable weight determines stress placement; short vowels followed by non-glottalized consonants and long vowels are heavy. In sequences where there are no heavy syllables or only heavy syllables, the first syllable is stressed.[3]

Nuu-chah-nulth has phonemic short and long vowels. Traditionally, a third class of vowels, known as "variable length" vowels, is recognized. These are vowels that are long when they are found within the first two syllables of a word, and short elsewhere.

Vocabulary

The Nuu-chah-nulth language contributed many words to the vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon and it is believed that oceanic commerce and exchanges between the Nuu-chah-nulth and other Southern Wakashan speakers with the Chinookan-speaking peoples of the lower Columbia River led to the foundations of the trade jargon that became known as Chinook in later years. Nootkan words in Chinook Jargon include hiyu - "many", from Nuu-chah-nulth for "ten", siah - "far", from the Nuu-chah-nulth for "sky".

A dictionary of the language, with some 7,500 entries, was created after 15 years of research. It is based on both work with current speakers and notes from linguist Edward Sapir, taken almost a century ago. The dictionary, however, is a subject of controversy, with a number of Nuu-chah-nulth elders questioning the accuracy of the terminology, and the author's right to represent their language.

Dialects

Nuu-chah-nulth has 12 different dialects:

Translations of tribal names

Translations of place names

Nuuchahnulth had a name for each place within their traditional territory. These are just a few still used to this day:

Source: Ha-shilth-sa newspaper, 2003. All translations were compiled with consulation from Nuuchahnulth elders. Ha-shilth-sa (meaning 'interesting news') is the official newspaper for the Nuu-chah-nulth nation.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Carlson et al. (2001:276)
  2. ^ Carlson et al. (2001:277)
  3. ^ a b c Carlson, et al. (2001:277)

References

External links