Tutchone language

Tutchone
Native to Canada
Region Yukon
Ethnicity 2,500 (1,100 Northern Tutchone, 1,400 Southern Tutchone; 2007)[1]
Native speakers
 350 (2011 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
tce – Southern
ttm – Northern
Glottolog tutc1236[2]

Tutchone is a threatened Athabaskan language spoken in the Yukon Territory in Canada. It has two varieties that are sometimes considered separate languages, Southern Tutchone and Northern Tutchone.

Southern Tutchone is spoken in the Yukon communities of Aishihik, Burwash Landing, Champagne, Haines Junction, Kloo Lake, Klukshu, Lake Laberge, and Whitehorse.

Northern Tutchone is spoken in the Yukon communities of Mayo, Pelly Crossing, Stewart Crossing, Carmacks, and Beaver Creek.

Phonology

The consonants and vowels of Tutchone (not specified for Northern vs. Southern) and their orthography are as follows:[3]

Consonants

Labial Inter-
dental		 Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Retroflex Velar Glottal
central lateral Plain Labialized
Nasal [m]m [n]n
Stop [t]
[tʰ]		d
t		 [k]
[kʰ]		g
k		 [kʷ]
[kʷʰ]		gw
kw		 [ʔ]
 		ʼ
 
[tʼ]t’ [kʼ]k’ kʷʼkw’
[ᵐb]mb [ⁿd]nd
Affricate [tθ]
[tθʰ]		ddh
tth		 [ts]
[tsʰ]		dz
ts		 [tɬ]
[tɬʰ]		dl
tl		 [tʃ]
[tʃʰ]		j
ch
[tθʼ]tth’ [tsʼ]ts’ [tɬʼ]tl’ [tʃʼ]ch’
[ⁿdʒ]nj
Fricative [θ]
[ð]		th
dh		 [s]
[z]		s
z		 [ɬ]
[ɮ]		ł
l		 [ʃ]
[ʒ]		sh
zh		 [x]
[ɣ]		kh
gh		 xʷ
ɣʷ		khw
ghw		 [h]h
Approximant [j]y [ɻ]r [w]w

Vowels

Front Central Back
High [i] i [u] u
Mid [e] e [ə] ä [o] o
Low [a] a

Vowels are differentiated for nasalization and high, mid, and low tone.

Nazalized: į, ų, ę, ą̈, ǫ, ą

High Tone: í, ú, é, ä́ , ó, á

Mid Tone: ī, ū, ē, ǟ, ō, ā

Low Tone: unmarked

Dialects

Southern (Dän kʼè)

Northern (Dän kʼí)

Vocabulary comparison

The comparison of some words in the two languages.[4]

Northern Southern meaning
łu ¹ ~ łyok ² łu fish
łígī łä̀chʼi one
łä́ki łä̀ki two
tadechʼi tayke three
łénínchʼi dùkʼwän four
hulákʼo kä̀jän five
èkúm ä́kų̀ my house
ninkúm nkų̀ your (sg.) house
ukúm ukų̀ his/her house
dàkúm dákų̀ our house
dàkúm dákų̀ your (pl.) house
huukúm kwäkų̀ / kukų̀ their house

¹ Big Salmon dialect ² Pelly Crossing dialect

Use and revitalization efforts

Jerry Alfred's "Etsi Shon" (Grandfather song), sung in Northern Tuchone, won a Juno Award in the Best Aboriginal Album category in 1996.[5][6]

Southern Tutchone language classes have been offered in Yukon schools since the early 1980ʼs and is now taught in 8 schools in Whitehorse, Haines Junction, and at Kluane Lake.

In 2009, kindergarten classes in Haines Junction began learning Southern Tuchone in a bi-cultural program.[7]

Since 2011 the Adäka Cultural Festival, an annual multi-disciplinary arts and culture festival, has been held in Whitehorse. Celebrating First Nations arts and culture, with a specific focus on Yukon First Nations, 'Adäka', in the Southern Tutchone language, means 'coming into the light'.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Southern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Northern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Tutchone". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ McClellan, Catharine (1978). "Tutchone". Handbook of North American Indians: Subarctic. Government Printing Office. p. 493. ISBN 9780160045783.
  4. ↑ http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Southern-Tutchone
  5. ↑ Lynn Van Matre (1966-08-01). "Jerry Alfred & the Medicine Beat Etsi Shon". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  6. ↑ "Juno Awards Database". junoawards.ca. Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 20 January 2012. External link in |work= (help)
  7. ↑ "Launch of Southern Tutchone Bi-cultural School Program" (PDF). Yukon Government News Release. 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  8. ↑ "Adäka Cultural Festival". Travel Yukon. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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