Tsilhqotʼin language
| Chilcotin | |
|---|---|
| Tŝilhqotʼin | |
| Pronunciation | [ts̠ʕhəiɬqhotʼin] |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Chilcotin Country, Central Interior of British Columbia |
| Ethnicity | 4,350 Tsilhqotʼin (2014, FPCC)[1] |
Native speakers | 860 (2014, FPCC)[1] |
Dené–Yeniseian?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | clc |
| Glottolog | chil1280 |
| ELP | Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) |
| Chilcotin is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . | |
| This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. | |
| Tŝilhqóx / Nen "Ochre River"/"Land" | |
|---|---|
| People | Nenqayni[2] (Tŝilhqotʼin) |
| Language | Nenqayni Ch'ih (Tŝilhqotʼin Chʼih) |
| Country | Tŝilhqotʼin Nen |
Chilcotin or Tŝilhqotʼin is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in British Columbia by the Tsilhqotʼin people.
Name
[edit ]The name Chilcotin is the anglicized form of the Chilcotin name for themselves, Tŝilhqotʼin, literally "people of the red ochre river". It has many variations in pronunciation and in spelling : Tsilhqotʼin, Tsilhqútʼin, Tsinlhqut’in, Tŝinlhqut’in. The form Tŝilhqut’in was considered the correct spelling in the 1970s, the form Tŝilhqot’in is the most commonly used in 2021. The people also call themselves Nenqayni ("people of the Earth", "people of the world", meaning "Native") and also call the language Nenqayni Chʼih (lit. "the Native way").[2]
Phonology
[edit ]Consonants
[edit ]Chilcotin has 47 consonants,[3] likely the largest number within the Athabaskan family:[4]
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | sibilant | lateral | plain | labial | plain | labial | ||||||
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n̪ ⟨n⟩ | ||||||||||
| Occlusive | tenuis | p ⟨b⟩ | t̪ ⟨d⟩ | ts̪ ⟨dz⟩ | tɬ ⟨dl⟩ | ts̱ʕ ⟨dẑ⟩ | tʃ ⟨j⟩ | k ⟨g⟩ | kw ⟨gw⟩ | q ⟨gg⟩ | qw ⟨ggw⟩ | ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩ |
| aspirated | ph ⟨p⟩ | t̪h ⟨t⟩ | ts̪h ⟨ts⟩ | tɬh ⟨tl⟩ | ts̱ʕh ⟨tŝ⟩ | tʃh ⟨ch⟩ | kh ⟨k⟩ | kwh ⟨kw⟩ | qh ⟨q⟩ | qwh ⟨qw⟩ | ||
| ejective | t̪ʼ ⟨tʼ⟩ | ts̪ʼ ⟨tsʼ⟩ | tɬʼ ⟨tlʼ⟩ | ts̱ʕʼ ⟨tŝʼ⟩ | tʃʼ ⟨chʼ⟩ | kʼ ⟨kʼ⟩ | kwʼ ⟨kwʼ⟩ | qʼ ⟨qʼ⟩ | qwʼ ⟨qwʼ⟩ | |||
| Continuant | voiceless | s̪ ⟨s⟩ | ɬ ⟨lh⟩ | s̱ʕ ⟨ŝ⟩ | ç ⟨sh⟩ | xw ⟨wh⟩ | χ ⟨x⟩ | χw ⟨xw⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | |||
| voiced | z̪ ⟨z⟩ | l ⟨l⟩ | ẕʕ ⟨ẑ⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ | ʁ ⟨r⟩ | ʁw ⟨rw⟩ | |||||
- Like many other Athabaskan languages, Chilcotin does not have a contrast between fricatives and approximants.
- The alveolar series is pharyngealized.
- Dentals and alveolars:
- Both Krauss (1975) and Cook (1993) describe the dental and alveolar as being essentially identical in articulation, postdental, with the only differentiating factor being their different behaviours in the vowel flattening processes (described below).
- Gafos (1999, personal communication with Cook) describes the dental series as apico-laminal denti-alveolar and the alveolar series as lamino-postalveolar.
Vowels
[edit ]Chilcotin has 6 vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tense-long | lax-short | tense-long | lax-short | tense-long | lax-short |
| High | i ⟨i⟩ | ɪ ⟨ɨ⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ | ʊ ⟨o⟩ | |
| Low | æ ⟨a⟩ | ɛ ⟨e⟩ | |||
- Chilcotin has both tense and lax vowel phonemes. Additionally, tense vowels may become lax from vowel laxing.
Every given Chilcotin vowel has a number of different phonetic realizations from complex phonological processes (such as nasalization, laxing, flattening). For instance, the vowel /i/ can be variously pronounced [i,ĩ,ɪ,e,əi,əĩ,əɪ].
Tone
[edit ]Chilcotin is a tonal language with two tones: high tone and low tone.
Phonological processes
[edit ]Chilcotin has vowel flattening and consonant harmony. Consonant harmony (sibilant harmony) is rather common in the Athabaskan language family. Vowel flattening is unique to Chilcotin but is similar to phonological processes in other unrelated Interior Salishan languages spoken in the same area, such as Shuswap, Stʼátʼimcets, and Thompson River Salish (and thus was probably borrowed into Chilcotin). That type of harmony is an areal feature common in this region of North America. The Chilcotin processes, however, are much more complicated.
Vowel nasalization and laxing
[edit ]Vowel nasalization is a phonological process by which the phoneme /n/ is nasalizes the preceding vowel. It occurs when the vowel + /n/ sequence is followed by a (tautosyllabic) continuant consonant (such as /ɬ,sʕ,zʕ,ç,j,χ/).
-
/pinɬ/ → [pĩɬ] 'trap'
Vowel laxing is a process by which tense vowels (/i,u,æ/) become lax when followed by a syllable-final /h/: the tense and lax distinction is neutralized.
-
/ʔɛstɬʼuh/ → [ʔɛstɬʼʊh] 'I'm knitting' (u → ʊ)/sɛjæh/ → [sɛjɛh] 'my throat' (æ → ɛ)
Vowel flattening
[edit ]Chilcotin has a type of retracted tongue root harmony. Generally, "flat" consonants lower vowels in both directions. Assimilation is both progressive and regressive.
Chilcotin consonants can be grouped into three categories: neutral, sharp, and flat.
| Neutral | Sharp | Flat | |
|---|---|---|---|
p, ph, m |
ts, tsh, tsʼ, s, z |
sʕ-series: | tsʕ, tshʕ, tsʼʕ, sʕ, zʕ |
| q-series: | q, qh, qʼ, χ, ʁ | ||
- Flat consonants trigger vowel flattening.
- Sharp consonants block vowel flattening.
- Neutral consonants do not affect vowel flattening in any way.
The flat consonants can be further divided into two types:
- a sʕ-series (i.e. /tsʕ,tshʕ,tsʼʕ/ˌ etc.), and
- a q-series (i.e. /q,qw,qh/ˌ etc.).
The sʕ-series is stronger than the q-series by affecting vowels farther away.
This table shows both unaffected vowels and flattened vowels:
| unaffected vowel |
flattened vowel |
|---|---|
| i | əi or e |
| ɪ | əɪ |
| u | o |
| ʊ | ɔ |
| ɛ | ə |
| æ | a |
The vowel /i/ surfaces as [əi] if after a flat consonant and as [e] before a flat consonant:
-
/sʕit/ → [sʕəit] 'kinɡfisher' (sʕ flattens i → əi)/nisʕtsʕun/ → [nesʕtsʕon] 'owl' (sʕ flattens i → e)
The progressive and regressive flattening processes are described below.
Progressive flattening
[edit ]In the progressive (left-to-right) flattening, the q-series consonants affect only the immediately following vowel:
-
/ʁithi/ → [ʁəithi] 'I slept' (ʁ flattens i → əi)/qhænɪç/ → [qhanɪç] 'spoon' (qh flattens æ → a)
Like the q-series, the stronger sʕ-series consonants affects the immediately following vowel. However, it affects the vowel in the following syllable as well if the first flattened vowel is a lax vowel. If the first flattened is tense, the vowel of the following syllable is not flattened.
-
/sʕɛɬ.thin/ → [sʕəɬ.thəin] 'he's comatose' (sʕ flattens both ɛ → ə, i → əi )/sʕi.thin/ → [sʕəi.thin] 'I'm sleeping' (sʕ flattens first i → əi, but not second i: *sʕəithəin)
Thus, the neutral consonants are transparent in the flattening process. In the first word /sʕɛɬ.thin/ 'he's comatose', /sʕ/ flattens the /ɛ/ of the first syllable to [ə] and the /i/ of the second syllable to [əi]. In the word /sʕi.thin/ 'I'm sleeping', /sʕ/ flattens /i/ to [əi]. Since, however, the vowel of the first syllable is /i/, which is a tense vowel, the /sʕ/ cannot flatten the /i/ of the second syllable.
The sharp consonants, however, block the progressive flattening caused by the sʕ-series:
-
/tizʕ.kʼɛn/ → [tezʕ.kʼɛn] 'it's burning' (flattening of ɛ is blocked by kʼ: *tezʕkʼən)/sʕɛ.kɛn/ → [sʕə.kɛn] 'it's dry' (flattening of ɛ is blocked by k: *sʕəkən)
Regressive flattening
[edit ]In regressive (right-to-left) harmony, the q-series flattens the preceding vowel.
-
/ʔælæχ/ → [ʔælaχ] 'I made it' (χ flattens æ → a)/junɛqhæt/ → [junəqhat] 'he's slappinɡ him' (qh flattens ɛ → ə)
The regressive (right-to-left) harmony of the sʕ-series, however, is much stronger than the progressive harmony. The consonants flatten all preceding vowels in a word:
-
/kunizʕ/ → [konezʕ] 'it is lonɡ' (zʕ flattens all vowels, both i → e, u → o)/kwɛtɛkuljúzʕ/ → [kwətəkoljózʕ] 'he is rich' (zʕ flattens all vowels, ɛ → ə, u → o)/nækwɛnitsʕɛ́sʕ/ → [nakwənetsʕə́sʕ] 'fire's gone out' (tsʕ, sʕ flatten all vowels, æ → a, ɛ → ə)
Both progressive and regressive flattening processes occur in Chilcotin words:
-
/niqhin/ → [neqhəin] 'we paddled'/ʔɛqhɛn/ → [ʔəqhən] 'husband'
References
[edit ]Bibliography
[edit ]- Andrews, Christina (1988). Lexical Phonology of Chilcotin (MA thesis). University of British Columbia.
- Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
- Clements, G. N. (1991). A Note on Chilcotin Flattening. (unpublished manuscript).
- Cook, Eung-Do (1976). A Phonological Study of Chilcotin and Carrier. A Report to the National Museums of Canada. (unpublished manuscript).
- Cook, Eung-Do (1983). "Chilcotin Flattening". Canadian Journal of Linguistics. 28 (2): 123–132. doi:10.1017/S0008413100024075. S2CID 247196222.
- Cook, Eung-Do (1986). "Ambisyllabicity and Nasalization in Chilcotin". Working Papers for the 21st International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages. Seattle: University of Washington. pp. 1–6.
- Cook, Eung-Do (1989). "Articulatory and Acoustic Correlates of Pharyngealization: Evidence from Athapaskan". In Gerdts, D.; Michelson, K. (eds.). Theoretical Perspectives on Native American Languages. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 133–145.
- Cook, Eung-Do (1989). "Chilcotin Tone and Verb Paradigms". In Cook, E.-D.; Rice, K. (eds.). Athapaskan Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter. pp. 145–198.
- Cook, Eung-Do (November 1993). "Chilcotin Flattening and Autosegmental Phonology". Lingua. 91 (2–3): 149–174. doi:10.1016/0024-3841(93)90011-K.
- Cook, Eung-Do (2013). A Tsilhqút’in Grammar. First Nations Languages. University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 9780774865708.
- Cook, Eung-Do; Rice, Keren, eds. (1989). Athapaskan Linguistics: Current Perspectives on a Language Family. Trends in Linguistics. Vol. 15. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter. ISBN 0-89925-282-6.
- Gafos, Adamantios (1999). The Articulatory Basis of Locality in Phonology. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-3286-6. (revised version of the author's Doctoral dissertation, Johns Hopkins University).
- Hansson, Gunnar O. (2000年06月10日). Chilcotin Vowel Flattening and Sibilant Harmony: Diachronic Cues to a Synchronic Puzzle. Athabaskan Language Conference. Moricetown, BC.
- Krauss, Michael E. (1975). Chilcotin Phonology, a Descriptive and Historical Report, with Recommendations for a Chilcotin Orthography. Alaskan Native Language Center. (unpublished manuscript).
- Krauss, Michael E.; Golla, Victor (1981). "Northern Athapaskan Languages". In Helm, June (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 6: Subarctic. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 67–85.
- Laita Pallarés, Paula (2021). Indigenous Language Revitalization in British Columbia: Yuneŝit'in strategies for Nenqayni ch'ih or the Tŝilhqot'in language (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU. Retrieved 29 Oct 2023.
- Latimer, R. M. (1978). A Study of Chilcotin Phonology (MA thesis). University of Calgary.
- Mithun, Marianne (4 November 1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7.