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Cowlitz language

{{Short description|Salishan language of Southwestern Washington}}

{{use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Cowlitz

| nativename = {{lang|cow|ƛʼpúlmixq}}

| states = United States

| region = Southwestern Washington

| familycolor = salishan

| fam1 = Salishan

| fam2 = Coast

| fam3 = Tsamosan

| fam4 = Inland

| iso3 = cow

| glotto = cowl1242

| glottorefname = Cowlitz

| extinct = 1960s

| revived = revival efforts underway

| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Cowlitz is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}{{cite report |title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |publisher=UNESCO |edition=3rd |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026 |date=2010 |page=11}}

| ethnicity = Lower Cowlitz people

}}

Cowlitz (Cowlitz: {{Lang|cow|ƛʼpúlmixq}}),{{Cite web |title=Cowlitz Coast Salish Dictionary |url=https://dictionary.cowlitzsalish.org/ |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=Cowlitz Salish Dictionary |publisher=Cowlitz Indian Tribe}} also known as Cowlitz Salish,{{Cite web |title=Cowlitz Salish Language Learning |url=https://cowlitzsalish.org/ |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=Cowlitz Salish |publisher=The Language Conservancy |language=en-US}} is a Tsamosan language of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages. It was spoken by the Lower Cowlitz people of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and is spoken today by both Lower and Upper Cowlitz people. Although it went dormant in the 1960s, it is being revitalized by the Cowlitz Tribe.

Dialects

Cowlitz had two dialects, with a dialectal opposition between {{IPAblink|k}} and {{IPAblink|x}} and {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}} and {{IPAblink|ʃ}}. However, these dialects were poorly documented, due to the extinction of the language.{{Cite journal |last=Kinkade |first=M. Dale |date=October 1973 |title=The Alveopalatal Shift in Cowlitz Salish |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/465270 |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=224–231 |doi=10.1086/465270 |issn=0020-7071|url-access=subscription }}

Cowlitz people

{{Main|Cowlitz people}}

The Cowlitz people were originally two distinct tribes: the Lower Cowlitz and the Upper Cowlitz, sometimes called the Taidnapam. Only the Lower Cowlitz originally spoke Cowlitz Salish. The Upper Cowlitz spoke a Sahaptin language.{{Cite web |title=Our Story |url=https://www.cowlitz.org/our-story |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=The Cowlitz Indian Tribe}}

Phonology

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+Consonants{{Cite book|last=Kinkade|first=Marvin Dale|title=Cowlitz dictionary and grammatical sketch|publisher=Missoula, MT: Linguistics Laboratory, University of Montana|year=2004|pages=219–224}}

rowspan="2" colspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | Bilabial

! colspan="3" | Alveolar

! rowspan="2" | Palatal

! colspan="2" | Velar

! colspan="2" | Uvular

! rowspan="2" | Glottal

central || sibilant || lateral

! plain || lab.

! plain || lab.

rowspan="2" | Plosive/
Affricate

! plain

| {{IPA link|p}}

| {{IPA link|t}}

| {{IPA link|ts}}

|

| {{IPA link|tʃ}}

| {{IPA link|k}}

| {{IPA link|kʷ}}

| {{IPA link|q}}

| {{IPA link|qʷ}}

| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʔ}}

ejective

| {{IPA link|pʼ}}

| {{IPA link|tʼ}}

| {{IPA link|tsʼ}}

| {{IPA link|tɬʼ}}

| {{IPA link|tʃʼ}}

| {{IPA link|kʼ}}

| {{IPA link|kʷʼ}}

| {{IPA link|qʼ}}

| {{IPA link|qʷʼ}}

colspan="2" | Fricative

|

|

| {{IPA link|s}}

| {{IPA link|ɬ}}

| {{IPA link|ʃ}}

| {{IPA link|x}}

| {{IPA link|xʷ}}

| {{IPA link|χ}}

| {{IPA link|χʷ}}

| {{IPA link|h}}

rowspan="2" | Sonorant

! plain

| {{IPA link|m}}

| {{IPA link|n}}

|

| {{IPA link|l}}

| {{IPA link|j}}

|

| {{IPA link|w}}

|

|

|

glottalized

| {{IPA link|mˀ}}

| {{IPA link|nˀ}}

|

| {{IPA link|lˀ}}

| {{IPA link|jˀ}}

|

| {{IPA link|wˀ}}

|

|

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+Vowels

! Front

! Central

! Back

Close

| {{IPA link|i}}

|

| {{IPA link|u}}

Mid

| {{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|eː}}

| {{IPA link|ə}}

| {{IPA link|oː}}

Open

|

| {{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|aː}}

|

Orthography

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+Cowlitz alphabet

|ʔ

|a

|b

|c

|cʼ

|č

|čʼ

|d

|e

|ə

|f

|g

|h

|i

|j

|k

|kʷ

|kʼ

|kʷʼ

|l

|lʼ

|ɬ

|ƛʼ

|m

|mʼ

|n

nʼ

|o

|o

|p

|pʼ

|q

|qʷ

|qʼ

|qʷʼ

|r

|s

|š

|t

|tʼ

|u

|v

|w

|wʼ

|x

|xʷ

|x̣

|x̣ʷ

|y

|yʼ

|z

Vocabulary

Cowlitz is most similar to Lower Chehalis, another Tsamosan language, although it contains some oddities, such as the word for one, utsus (in contrast to the Lower Chehalis paw).

class="wikitable"

! English

! Cowlitz

Lower Cowlitz people{{lang|cow|sƛʼpúlmx}}
one (number){{lang|cow|ʔúcʼs}}
two{{lang|cow|sáliʔ}}
three{{lang|cow|káʔɬiʔ}}
four{{lang|cow|mús}}
five{{lang|cow|čílačš}}
to sing{{lang|cow|sʔílnʼ}}
moon/sun{{lang|cow|ɬukʷáɬ}}
dog{{lang|cow|qáx̣aʔ}}
water{{lang|cow|qálʔ}}
man{{lang|cow|síɬmx}}
woman{{lang|cow|kə́wɬ}}

References

Further reading

  • {{cite web |url=http://www.native-languages.org/famsal_words.htm |website=Native-Languages.org |title= Vocabulary Words in the Salishan Language Family }}
  • {{cite book |last=Kinkade |first=Dale |author-link=Dale Kinkade |title=Cowlitz Dictionary and Grammatical Sketch |location=Missoula |publisher=University of Montana Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781879763180}}

See also

{{Salishan languages}}

{{Indigenous peoples in Washington}}

Category:Cowlitz

Category:Languages of the United States

Category:Coast Salish languages

Category:Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast

Category:Extinct languages of North America

Category:Indigenous languages of Washington (state)

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