Gitxsan language

Gitxsan language is primarily separated into Geenix or Eastern and Gyeets or Western Gitxsan, although each village has its own dialect. The Geenix or Eastern villages include Kispiox (Ansbayaxw), Glen Vowell (Sigit'ox), and Hazelton (Git-an'maaxs). The Gyeets or Western villages include Kitwanga (Gjtwjngax), Gitanyow (Git-antaaw) and Kitseguecla (Gijigyukwhla). The main differences between dialects include a lexical shift in vowels and stop lenition use present only in the Eastern dialects. The largest differences in language and culture exist between Eastern and Western Gitxsan, rather than between each village.{{Cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Jason |last2=Davis |first2=Henry |last3=Schwan |first3=Michael |last4=Sennott |first4=Barbara |date=2016 |title=Gitksan |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |language=en |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=367–378 |doi=10.1017/S0025100315000432|doi-access=free }}

The University of Northern British Columbia and Siiwiixo'osxwim Wilnataahl Gitksan Society (Gitksan Language Society) set up a Developmental Standard Term Certificate program offered through Northwest Community College, with all courses offered in Hazelton, BC. The program is designed to help revitalize Gitxsan language by allowing those who complete it to teach language and culture courses at the elementary and secondary school level in the community.{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2005 |title=Gitksan Students Complete Coursework |url=https://www.unbc.ca/releases/2005/08-10gitksan |access-date=December 14, 2019 |website=University of Northern British Columbia |language=en}}

In the spring of 2018, an online dictionary app was released in collaboration with members of Gitksan Nation and researchers at the University of British Columbia. The app includes various dialects of Gitxsan, and includes audio from different villages. Flashcards, stories, and histories are also included in addition to functioning as a dictionary. This app is based on a print dictionary produced in 1973 by Lonnie Hindle and Bruce Rigsby. With its launch, the app briefly held a top spot in Google Play's education category and accumulated around 500 downloads in its first week.{{Cite news |last=Muir |first=Cassidy |date=May 22, 2019 |title=Gitksan Dictionary Goes Mobile |work=The Interior News |url=https://www.interior-news.com/news/gitksan-dictionary-goes-mobile/ |access-date=November 12, 2019}}

The Gitxsan inventory is as follows:{{Cite journal |last1=Rigsby |first1=Bruce |last2=Ingram |first2=John |date=1990 |title=Obstruent Voicing and Glottalic Obstruents in Gitksan |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |language=en |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=251–263 |doi=10.1086/466152 |jstor=1265131|s2cid=143894491 }}

The mid and high vowels are nearly in complementary distribution, suggesting that Gitxsan once had a three-vowel system. Short mid vowels are emerging. Schwa only occurs in unstressed syllables. /eː/ and /oː/ have short allophones [e] and [o] in certain positions.

Voiceless stops have voiced allophones {{IPA|[b d d͡z ɡʲ ɡʷ ɢ]}}. The pre-velar obstruents become velar before {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}.

The lax glottalized stops "display a creaky voice quality at the margin of the vowel in pretonic (and syllable-final) environments."

The glottalized consonants may be ejective in word-initial position, but otherwise "are characterized by glottal closure preceding the oral closure." The ejective allophones are lenis, and are therefore sometimes perceived as voiced. Lenis ejectives are unusual for the area, but are also found in neighboring Witsuwitʼen. The glottalized sonorants are preglottalized even in word-initial position. Glottalization ranges from a full glottal stop {{IPA|[ʔC]}} to creaky voice {{IPA|[C̰]}}.

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Bicevskis |first1=Katie |last2=Davis |first2=Henry |last3=Matthewson |first3=Lisa |title=Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language: Volume II |date=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-44328-7 |editor-last=Paperno |editor-first=Denis |series=Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy |volume=II |pages=281–382 |chapter=Quantification in Gitksan |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-44330-0_6 |editor-last2=Keenan |editor-first2=Edward L.}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Jason |last2=Davis |first2=Henry |last3=Schwan |first3=Michael |last4=Sennott |first4=Barbara |date=2016 |title=Gitksan |department=Illustrations of the IPA |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |language=en |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=367–378 |doi=10.1017/S0025100315000432 |doi-access=free}}
• Halpin, Marjorie, and Margaret Seguin (1990) "Tsimshian Peoples: Southern Tsimshian, Coast Tsimshian, Nishga, and Gitksan." In Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast, ed. by Wayne Suttles, pp. 267–284. Washington: Smithsonian Institution).
• Hindle, Lonnie and Bruce Rigsby (1973) A Short Practical Dictionary of the Gitksan language, Northwest Anthropological Research Notes 1:1-60.
• {{Cite journal |last=Matthewson |first=Lisa |date=2013 |title=Gitksan Modals |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |language=en |volume=79 |issue=3 |pages=349–394 |doi=10.1086/670751 |s2cid=224806943}}

• [http://www.gitxsan.com Official website of the Gitxsan People]
• [https://archive.today/20130116081110/http://www.firstvoices.ca/scripts/WebObjects.exe/FirstVoices.woa/wa/enterLanguageArchive?archive=02d830a123efe761 First Voices Gitsenimx̱ community language portal]
• [http://www.ydli.org/langs/gitksan.htm First Nations Languages of British Columbia Gitksan page, with link to bibliography]
• [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Canada/gitxsan.htm A Selection of Prayers Translated from the Book of Common Prayer in the Giatikshan Language for Use at the Public Services] 1881 translation by Anglican missionary William Ridley
• [http://www.language-archives.org/language/git OLAC resources in and about the Gitxsan language]
• ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0237 Gitskan]

{{Penutian languages}}

*L01

Category:Tsimshianic languages

Category:Endangered Tsimshianic languages

Category:Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast

Category:First Nations languages in Canada