Lushootseed language

Lushootseed
Skagit-Nisqually
dxʷləšúcid
Native to Canada, United States
Region Southern British Columbia into Northern Washington
Ethnicity Duwamish, Snohomish, Suquamish, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Sahewamish, Skagit, Nisqually
Native speakers
 (100 Skagit cited 1977)[1]
210 Southern Puget (2010 census), 10 Lushootseed proper (2007), 10 Snohomish (1998)
Salishan
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
lut – Lushootseed
slh – Southern Puget Sound Salish
ska – Skagit (covered by [lut])
sno – Snohomish (covered by [lut])
Glottolog lush1251[2]

Lushootseed (also Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, Skagit-Nisqually) is the language or dialect continuum of several Salish Native American tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is a member of Coast Salish, one of two main divisions of the Salishan language family.

Related languages and current status

Lushootseed, like its neighbour Twana, is in the Southern Coast Salish subgroup of the Salishan family of languages. The language was spoken by many Puget Sound region peoples, including the Duwamish, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Squaxin Island Tribe, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Nisqually, and Puyallup in the south and the Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Swinomish in the north.

Bust of Chief Seattle with accompanying text in Lushootseed: ti šišəgʷł gʷəl al tiʔəʔəxʷ sgʷaʔčᵉł səxʷəsłałlilčəł siʔał dəgʷi gʷəl liiiiləxʷ dʔiišəd cəłul’ul’ cəł ʔəslax̌ədxʷ ti gʷaalapu

Ethnologue quotes a source published in 1990 (and therefore presumably reflecting the situation in the late 1980s), according to which there were 60 fluent speakers of Lushootseed, evenly divided between the northern and southern dialects.[3] On the other hand, the Ethnologue's list of United States languages also lists, alongside Lushootseed's 60 speakers, 100 speakers for Skagit, 107 for Southern Puget Sound Salish, and 10 for Snohomish (a dialect on the boundary between the northern and southern varieties).[4] Some sources given for these figures, however, go back to the 1970s when the language was less critically endangered. Linguist Marianne Mithun has collected more recent data on the number of speakers of various Native American languages, and could document that by the end of the 1990s there were only a handful of elders left who spoke Lushootseed fluently. The language was extensively documented and studied by linguists with the aid of tribal elder Vi Hilbert, d. 2008, who was the last speaker with a full native command of Lushootseed.[5] There are efforts at reviving the language, and instructional materials have been published.

Language revitalization

As of 2013, the Tulalip Tribes' Lushootseed Language Department teaches classes in Lushootseed,[6][7] and its website offers a Lushootseed "phrase of the week" with audio.[8] The Tulalip Montessori School teaches Lushootseed to young children.[9] As of 2013, an annual Lushootseed conference is held at Seattle University.[10] A course in Lushootseed language and literature has been offered at Evergreen State College.[11] Lushootseed has also been used as a part of environmental history courses at Pacific Lutheran University.[5] It has been spoken during the annual Tribal Canoe Journey (Tribal Journeys) that take place throughout the Salish Sea.

There are also efforts within the Puyallup Tribe. They have created their own language department which operates a website and Facebook page available to assist anyone wanting to learn. Their website and social media are updated often. www.puyalluptriballanguage.org. www.facebook.com/twulshootseedlanguage[12]

In the summer of 2016, the first ever adult immersion program in Lushootseed will be offered at the University of Washington's Tacoma campus. It will be taught by Assistant Professor Danica Miller, a member of the Puyallup Tribe, in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.[13]

Subdivisions

Lushootseed consists of two dialect groups which can be further divided into subdialects:

Alphabet

According to work published by Vi Hilbert and other Lushootseed language specialists, Lushootseed uses a morphophonemic writing system meaning that it is a phonemic alphabet with slight changes occurring periodically, such as when an affix is introduced. The chart below is based on the Lushootseed Dictionary. Typographic variations such as p' and p̓ do not indicate phonemic distinctions.

Letter Letter Name IPA Notes
ʔ Glottal stop /ʔ/
a /ɑ/
b /b/
bʼ Glottalized b /ɓ/ Rare sound, does not begin words
c /t͡s/
cʼ Glottalized c /t͡sʼ/
č c-wedge /c͡ç/
čʼ Glottalized c-wedge /t͡sʼ/
d /d/
dᶻ d-raised-z /d͡z/
ə Schwa /ə/
g /ɡ/
gʷ g-raised-w /ɡʷ/
h /h/
i /ɪ~i/
ǰ j-wedge /ɟ͡ʝ/
k /k/
kʼ Glottalized k /kʼ/
kʷ k-raised-w /kʷ/
kʼʷ Glottalized k-raised-w /kʼʷ/
l /l/
lʼ Strictured l /lʼ/
ɫ Barred-l /l/
ƛʼ Glottalized barred-lambda /t͜ɬʼ/ Alveolar lateral ejective affricate
m /m/
mʼ Strictured m /m̥ ̰ / Laryngealized bilabial nasal
n /n/
nʼ Strictured n /n̥ ̰/ Laryngealized alveolar nasal
p /p/
pʼ Glottalized p /pʼ/
q /q/
qʼ Glottalized q /qʼ/
qʷ q-raised-w /qʷ/
qʼʷ Glottalized q-raised-w /qʼʷ/
s /s/
š s-wedge /ç~ɕ/
t /t/
tʼ Glottalized t /tʼ/
u /ʉ/
w /w~ʋ/
wʼ Strictured w /w ̰/ Laryngealized high back rounded glide
xʷ x-w /xʷ/
x̌ x-wedge /χ/
x̌ʷ Rounded x-wedge /χʷ/
y /j/
yʼ Strictured y /j ̰/ Laryngealized high front unrounded glide

Some vocabulary

Southern Lushootseed salmonoid vocabulary

sčədadxʷ 
a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.
sac̓əb 
Chinook or King
cʼuwad 
sockeye salmon
skʷǝxʷic 
coho salmon
ƛ̕xʷayʼ 
chum salmon
hədu 
the pink salmon
skʷawǝľ 
steelhead
pədkʷəxʷic 
coho season
sc̓ayʼayʼ 
gills
ɫičaʔa 
nets
ɫičaʔalikʷ 
net fishing
ʔalil tiʔiɫ ƛ̕usq̓íl 
spawning season
skʷǝɫt 
tailfin
t̓altəd 
fillet knife
sqʼʷəlus 
kippered dried salmon
səlusqid 
fish heads
qəlx̌ 
dried salmon eggs
ƛ̕ǝbƛ̕əbqʷ 
fresh eggs
sɫuʔb 
dried chum
sxʷudᶻəʔdaliɫəd 
fish with a large amount of body fat
xʷšabus 
lightly smoked

Northern Lushootseed salmonid vocabulary

sʔuladxʷ 
a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.
yubəč 
Chinook or King
scəqiʔ 
sockeye salmon
ƛ̕xʷayʔ 
chum salmon
skʷəxʷic 
silver salmon

Northern Lushootseed aquatic vocabulary

qalʼqaləx̌ič 
Blackfish - Killer Whale
čəxʷəluʔ 
Grey Whale
sq̓aƛ̕ 
otter
sup̓qs
seal
sťəqxʷ 
beaver
sqibk̕ʷ 
octopus
ʔaləšək 
Western pond turtle
waq̓waq̓ 
frog
sk̕ʷic̕i 
sea urchin
təǰabac 
sea cucumber
q̓ʷəlačiʔ 
star fish
bəsqʷ 
crab
ťaɫiɡʷs 
Rock Cod
p̓uay̓ 
flounder
kəlapx̌ʷəlč 
jelly fish
sʔax̌ʷuʔ 
clam
tulqʷ 
mussel
ƛ̕ux̌ʷƛ̕ux̌ʷ 
oyster
c̕ubc̕ub 
barnacle
sx̌aʔaʔ 
little neck steam clams
xʷč́iɫqs 
large native oyster
ɡʷidəq 
geoduck
stxʷub 
butter clam
sx̌əpab 
cockle clam
haʔəc 
horse clam
č́ič́əlpyaqid / puʔps 
periwinkle
sč́awyʔ 
any seashell
ʔuk̕ʷs 
large chiton
x̌ald 
small chiton

References

  1. ↑ Lushootseed at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Southern Puget Sound Salish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Skagit (covered by [lut)] at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Snohomish (covered by [lut)] at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Lushootseed–Puget". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Ethnologue, Lushootseed
  4. ↑ Ethnologue, US languages
  5. 1 2 Brown, Drew (2003). "History professor helps keep local Native American language alive". Scene - Life of the Mind, Pacific Lutheran University. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  6. ↑ "Tulalip Lushootseed". Tualip Tribes. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  7. ↑ Fiege, Gale (2013-03-31). "For students, Tulalip Tribes' native language a connection to the past". HeraldNet.com (Everett, WA). Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  8. ↑ "Lushootseed". Tulalip Tribes. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  9. ↑ Gauld, Ben (June 24, 2015). "Voices of Youth Keep Lushootseed Language Alive". 94.9 FM - Seattle News & Information. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
  10. ↑ "dxʷləšucid, Lushootseed Research". Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  11. ↑ Lushootseed_Syllabus_06.pdf (PDF), retrieved 2013-04-04
  12. ↑ Scigliano, Eric (2010-12-17). "The Language of the Land". Seattle Met. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  13. ↑ UWT to offer Lushootseed immersion program this summer, Puyallup Tribal News, April 7, 2016 (retrieved April 25, 2016)
  14. ↑ Van Eijk, Jan. The Lillooet Language: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, UBC Press, 1985, p.xxiv.

Language learning materials

External links

For a list of words relating to Lushootseed language, see the Lushootseed language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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