Nooksack language
{{Short description|Revived Salish language of Washington state}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Nooksack
| nativename = {{lang|nok|Lhéchelesem}}
| region = Whatcom County, Washington
| ethnicity = Nooksack people
| extinct = 1988, with the death of Sindick Jimmy
| ref = e18
| revived = 1 fluent L2 speaker (2020)
| familycolor = salishan
| fam1 = Salish
| fam2 = Coast Salish
| fam3 = Central
| iso3 = nok
| glotto = nook1247
| glottorefname = Nooksack
| notice = IPA
| pronunciation = {{IPA|/'ɬə.t͡ʃə.lə.səm/}}
| map = Lang Status 01-EX.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Nooksack 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=9}}
}}
Nooksack ({{langx|nok|Lhéchelesem|links=no}}, {{IPA|/'ɬə.t͡ʃə.lə.səm/}}){{Cite web |date=2023-09-21 |title=About Us |url=https://nooksacktribe.org/about/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=Nooksack Indian Tribe |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=Allan |title=Nooksack Place Names: Geography, Culture, and Language |publisher=UBC Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780774820455 |location=Vancouver}} is a Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Nooksack is spoken by the Nooksack people, who reside primarily along the Nooksack River in Whatcom County, Washington.
Linguistically, Nooksack is most closely related to the Squamish, shíshálh and Halkomelem languages, which are all spoken in nearby parts of British Columbia, Canada. Some researchers have questioned whether the Nooksack language is simply a divergent dialect of Halkomelem, but research has proved that Nooksack is in fact a distinct language.{{cite journal|jstor=30027696|language=en|title=A Look at Nooksack Phonology|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=26|issue=1|pages=13–41|last1=Galloway|first1=Brent D.|year=1984}}
The Nooksack language has only one fluent speaker as of 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.2/indigenous-affairs-one-woman-took-a-stand-against-tribal-disenrollment-and-paid-for-it-nooksack|title=One woman took a stand against tribal disenrollment and paid for it|last=Hu|first=Jane C|date=2020-02-01|website=High Country News|language=en-us|access-date=2020-02-11}}
Usage and revitalization efforts
In the 1970s, the linguist Brent Galloway worked closely with the last remaining native speaker, Sindick Jimmy, to compile a dictionary of the Nooksack language. His book, Nooksack Place Names: Geography, Culture, and Language, was published in 2011. In 1988, Nooksack became extinct with the death of Sindick Jimmy.
Now, the Nooksack Indian Tribe has offered classes in the language.{{Cite journal
| title = Nooksack program revives a nearly extinct language
| journal = Canku Ota
| access-date = 2013-09-15
| date = 2002-02-23
| url = http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co02232002/CO_02232002_Nooksack.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141127034620/http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co02232002/CO_02232002_Nooksack.htm
| archive-date = 2014-11-27
| url-status = usurped
}} As of 2020, one fluent speaker remained, a Nooksack tribal member who has been part of the Lhéchelesem Teacher Training Language Immersion Project. In the project, students will spend mornings in language immersion, and afternoons working on special projects, focusing on the language use in one aspect of local native culture such as fishing or crafts. After two years, the students will obtain a certificate similar to an associate degree, and after four years they will be fully qualified language teachers, with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts. The aim is to revive the use of the Lhéchelesem language in all aspects of daily life. The program has an annual budget of $110,000, with 60 percent funded by the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) and 40 percent funded by the Nooksack Indian Tribe.{{Cite news
| last = Adkinson
| first = Brita
| title = Revitalization project hopes to revive Nooksack language
| work = Foothills Gazette
| access-date = 2013-09-15
| url = http://foothillsgazette.com/2010/02/14/nooksack-language-to-be-passed-on-through-revitalization-project/
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101217163152/http://foothillsgazette.com/2010/02/14/nooksack-language-to-be-passed-on-through-revitalization-project/
| archive-date = 2010-12-17
| url-status = dead
}}
Phonology
=Vowels=
=Consonants=
The following table includes all the consonant sounds found in the Nooksack language.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |
| rowspan="2" colspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | Labial ! colspan="3" | Alveolar ! rowspan="2" | Post- ! colspan="2" | Velar ! colspan="2" | Uvular ! rowspan="2" | Glottal |
|---|
| plain || sibilant || lateral
! plain || lab. ! plain || lab. |
| rowspan="2" | Stop
! plain | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|t͡s}} | | {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} | {{IPA link|k}} | {{IPA link|kʷ}} | {{IPA link|q}} | {{IPA link|qʷ}} | {{IPA link|ʔ}} |
| ejective
| {{IPA link|pʼ}} | {{IPA link|tʼ}} | {{IPA link|t͡sʼ}} | {{IPA link|t͡ɬʼ}} | {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}} | | {{IPA link|k'ʷ}} | {{IPA link|qʼ}} | {{IPA link|q'ʷ}} | |
| rowspan="2" | Fricative
! plain | | | {{IPA link|s}} | {{IPA link|ɬ}} | {{IPA link|ʃ}} | {{IPA link|x}} | {{IPA link|xʷ}} | {{IPA link|χ}} | {{IPA link|χʷ}} | {{IPA link|h}} |
| ejective
| | | | {{IPA link|ɬʼ}} | | | | | | |
| rowspan="2" | Sonorant
! plain | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | {{IPA link|l}} | {{IPA link|j}} | | {{IPA link|w}} | | | |
| glottalized
| | | | | {{IPA link|jʼ}} | | | | | |
Orthography
| class="wikitable" align="center" |
| align="center"|Letter
! align="center"|IPA |
|---|
| a
| {{IPA|/æ/}} |
| ch
| /{{IPA|tʃ}}/ |
| ch'
| {{IPA|/tʃʼ/}} |
| e
| {{IPA|/ə/}}/ |
| h
| {{IPA|/h/}} |
| i
| {{IPA|/i/}} |
| k
| {{IPA|/k/}} |
| k'
|k̓ |
| kw
| {{IPA|/kʷ/}} |
| kw'
| {{IPA|/k'ʷ/}} |
| l
| {{IPA|/l/}} |
| lh
| {{IPA|/ɬ/}} |
| m
| {{IPA|/m/}} |
| n
| {{IPA|/n/}} |
| o
| {{IPA|/o/}} |
| o̱ |
| p
| {{IPA|/p/}} |
| p'
| {{IPA|/pʼ/}} |
| q
| {{IPA|/q/}} |
| q'
| {{IPA|/qʼ/}} |
| qw
|{{IPA|/qʷ/}} |
| qw'
|{{IPA|/qʷʼ/}} |
| s
|{{IPA|/s/}} |
| sh
|{{IPA|/ʃ/}} |
| t
|{{IPA|/t/}} |
| t'
|{{IPA|/tʼ/}} |
| th |
| th' |
| tl'
|{{IPA|/t͡ɬʼ/}} |
| ts
|{{IPA|/t͡s/}} |
| ts'
|{{IPA|/t͡sʼ/}} |
| u |
| w
|{{IPA|/w/}} |
| x |
| xw
|{{IPA|/xʷ/}} |
| x̱
|{{IPA|/χ/}} |
| x̱w
|{{IPA|/χʷ/}} |
| y
|{{IPA|/j/}} |
| 7
|{{IPA|/ʔ/}} |
In addition, the diacritic "ː" indicates that the preceding sound is long (e.g. {{IPA|oː}}, {{IPA|aː}}). An acute accent (´) is placed on the accented syllable.
References
{{reflist}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140714155941/http://www.nooksacktribe.org/ Nooksack Tribe page]
- {{Cite book |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=9780774820455 |last=Richardson |first=Allan |title=Nooksack Place Names: Geography, Culture, and Language |last2=Brent |first2=Galloway |location=Vancouver |date=2011}}
External links
- [http://www.native-languages.org/nooksack_words.htm Vocabulary Words in Native American Languages: Nooksack]
- [http://www.language-archives.org/language/nok OLAC resources in and about the Nooksack language]
{{Salishan languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nooksack Language}}
Category:Coast Salish languages
Category:Endangered languages of North America
Category:Languages of the United States
Category:Native American language revitalization
Category:Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast