Sekani language

Sekani has 33 consonants:

{{notelist}}

Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low. For example, {{lang|sek|tsun}} means {{gloss|dirt}}, while {{lang|sek|tsùn}} means {{gloss|meat}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.uaf.edu/anla/record.php?identifier=CN990H2000 |title=Ft. Ware (Kwadacha) Sekani Dictionary |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |date=2000-04-21 |id=CN990H2000 |website=Alaska Native Language Archive |publisher=University of Alaska Fairbanks}}

Nasalization of vowels is phonemic. The root {{lang|sek|*ghèl}} means {{gloss|scrape}}, while the root {{lang|sek|*ghę̀l}} means {{gloss|roll}}. Nasal vowels also contrast with vowels followed by {{IPAslink|n}}.

The orthography of the Kwadcha Tsek'ene dictionary uses the following letters.{{cite web |url=https://www.firstvoices.com/kwadacha-tsekene/alphabet |website=FirstVoices |title=Kwadacha Tsek'ene alphabet |access-date=2024-01-13}}{{cite web |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |date=2016-09-26 |title=Sounds and writing systems of Deg Xinag, Tsek'ene and Witsuwit'en |url=https://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/DX_Wit_Tsek%27.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518121937/https://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/DX_Wit_Tsek%27.pdf |archive-date=2022-05-18}}

In addition, {{angbr|wu}} represents {{IPAslink|ʊ}}, {{angbr|iii}} represents {{IPAslink|iː}}, {{angbr|ee}} represents {{IPAslink|eː}}, and {{angbr|aa}} represents {{IPAslink|ɑː}}.

These words are from the FirstVoices dictionary for Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |year=1988 |title=The Lexical Phonology of Sekani |series=Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics |location=New York |publisher=Garland |isbn=0-8240-5187-4}}
• Original dissertation: {{cite thesis |last=Hargus |first=Sharon Louise |year=1985 |title=The Lexical Phonology of Sekani |location=Los Angeles |publisher=University of California |type=PhD dissertation |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/60c023f9e54b380683cb5b2b2e2f50f3}}
• {{cite book |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |author-link=Marianne Mithun |year=1999 |title=The Languages of Native North America |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521298759 |url=https://archive.org/details/languagesofnativ0000mith/ |url-access=registration}}

• {{cite conference |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |date=2010-06-26 |title=Effects on consonant duration in Fort Ware Tsek'ene |conference=Athabaskan/Dene Languages Conference |location=Eugene, OR |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Sek_IVC.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215905/http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Sek_IVC.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03}}
• {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225357/http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/sek_ivc_refs.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/sek_ivc_refs.pdf |title=References}}
• {{cite conference |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |year=2009 |title=Causatives and transitionals in Kwadacha Tsek'ene |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Causatives_and_transitionals.pdf |conference=Athabaskan Languages Conference |location=Berkeley, CA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053452/http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Causatives_and_transitionals.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04}}
• {{cite conference |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |date=2010-07-10 |title=Phonetic vs. phonological rounding in Athabaskan languages |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Rounding.pdf |conference=LabPhon 12 |location=Albuquerque, NM}}
• References: {{cite web |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Rounding_refs.pdf |title=References |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052143/http://faculty.washington.edu/sharon/Rounding_refs.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04}}
• Journal article: {{cite journal |last=Hargus |first=Sharon |year=2012 |title=Deg Xinag Rounding Assimilation: A case study in phonologization |journal=Journal of Laboratory Phonology |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=163–193 |doi=10.1515/lp-2012-0010 |doi-access=free}}

• [http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Kwadacha-Tsekene First Voices Kwadacha Tsek'ene Community Portal]
• [http://www.ydli.org/langs/sekani.htm Sekani entry on First Nations Languages of British Columbia site]
• [http://www.ydli.org/biblios/sekbib.htm Bibliography of Sekani Linguistics]
• [http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/images/map2.jpg Map of Northwest Coast First Nations] (including Sekani)
• [http://www.language-archives.org/language/sek OLAC resources in and about the Sekani language]

{{Athabaskan languages}}

{{Languages of Canada}}

Category:Northern Athabaskan languages

Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Subarctic

Category:First Nations languages in Canada

Category:Languages of the United States

Category:Northern Interior of British Columbia

Category:Endangered Athabaskan languages

Category:Sekani