Klallam language

Klallam
nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əmúcən
Native to United States
Region Washington
Extinct 4 February 2014, with the death of Hazel Sampson[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 clm
Glottolog clal1241[2]

Klallam or Clallam (native name: nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əmúcən) was a Straits Salishan language that was traditionally spoken by the Klallam peoples at Becher Bay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.[3]

Klallam was closely related to North Straits Salish, but not mutually intelligible.

The last native speaker of Klallam was Hazel Sampson, who died on February 4, 2014, at age 103.[4] It continues to be spoken with varying degrees of fluency by many younger Klallam as a second language.[5]

Use and revitalization efforts

The first Klallam dictionary was published in 2012. Port Angeles High School, in Port Angeles, Washington, offers Klallam language classes to its students "to meet graduation and college entrance requirements."[6]

The last native speaker of Klallam as a first language was Hazel Sampson of Port Angeles, who died on February 4, 2014 at the age of 103.[7] Sampson had worked along with Bea Charles (d. 2009) and Adeline Smith (d. 2013), other native speakers of Klallam, and with linguists Jamie Valadez and Timothy Montler from 1990 to compile the Klallam dictionary.[7] In 1999, this effort led to the development of a lesson plan and guidebooks to teach students the basics of the language through storytelling.[7]

Sounds

Consonants

The 34 consonants of Klallam written in its orthography, with IPA in brackets when different:

  Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
central lateral plain labial plain labial
Nasal plain m n           ŋ /ɴ/    
glottalized mʼ nʼ           ŋ /ɴʼ/    
Plosive plain p t       (k) kʷ q qʷ  
glottalized pʼ tʼ         kʼʷ qʼ qʼʷ ʔ
Affricate plain   c /t͡s/   č /t͡ʃ/            
glottalized   cʼ /t͡sʼ/ ƛʼ /t͡ɬʼ/ čʼ /t͡ʃʼ/            
Fricative   s ɬ š /ʃ/     xʷ x̣ /χ/ x̣ʷ /χʷ/ h
Approximant plain     l   y /j/   w      
glottalized         yʼ /jʼ/   wʼ      
  1. with creaky voice: [m̰], [n̰], [ɴ̰], [j̰], [w̰],
  2. as decomposed glottal stop + sonorant: [ʔm], [ʔn], [ʔɴ], [ʔj], [ʔw], or
  3. as decomposed sonorant + glottal stop: [mʔ], [nʔ], [ɴʔ], [jʔ], [wʔ]

Vowels

The 5 vowels of Klallam:

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə
Close a
'bird'   /t͡sʼiʔt͡sʼəmʼ/ → [t͡sʼɛʔt͡sʼəmʼ ]
'deer'   /huʔpt/ → [ hoʔpt ]
'salmon backbone'   /sχəʔqʷəʔ/ → [ sχaʔqʷaʔ ]

References

  1. ↑ Klallam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Clallam". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ "Linguist keeping language, culture of Pacific Northwest tribes alive". News, University of North Texas. 2002-09-26. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  4. ↑ "Last native speaker of Klallam language dies in Washington state", Reuters, February 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ Rice, Arwyn (2014-02-06). "Eldest member among Klallam tribes, last native speaker of language dies in Port Angeles at 103". Peninsula Daily News. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  6. ↑ Arwyn Rice (2012-12-13). "First Klallam language dictionary revives ancient Native American tongue". Olympic Peninsula Daily NEWS. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  7. 1 2 3 Arwyn Rice, "Last Native Klallam Speaker Dies in Port Angeles," Peninsula Daily News, Feb. 5, 2014.

Bibliography

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