Linguistics 181: SENĆOŦEN Fall 2010 Leonard and Werle 3 Handout 2
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Linguistics 181: SENĆOŦEN Fall 2010 Leonard and Werle Handout 2: Language families of British Columbia Terminology ‣ language : a natural system of human communication that includes sounds, words, and rules for combining these to express a variety of meanings. ‣ native language , first language : a language that one speaks from a very young age. ‣ indigenous , aboriginal : these terms refer to people or languages that live in or are associated with a particular place, are the first or among the first to be associated with that place, and have historical and cultural roots from that place. ‣ dialect : a regional or social variety of a language. Everyone speaks a dialect! ‣ idiolect : the speech variety of a particular person. One’s individual dialect. ‣ jargon : vocabulary associated with a particular activity (example: carvers’ jargon). ‣ pidgin : a simplified language used by speakers of different languages to communicate (example: Chinook Jargon). No one’s native language. ‣ creole : a pidgin that has developed into a full language (example: Hawaiian Creole). ‣ language family : a group of languages whose similarities indicate that they come from a common parent language. Such languages are said to be genetically related (whether or not the speakers of these languages are related by blood). ‣ language area ( Sprachbund ): a group of languages whose similarities result from geographical contact. Such languages may or may not be genetically related. Notes The aboriginal languages of British Columbia form about seven language families (see map). SENĆOŦEN, or Saanich, is a member of the Salish family. language family examples ‣ Algonquian Cree, Ojibway ‣ Haida X̱aad Kil, X̱aaydaa Kil ‣ Kutenai Ktunaxa ‣ Na-Dene Nicola, Tsilhqot’in, Dakelh, Łingít ‣ Salishan SENĆOŦEN, Halq’eméylem, Secwepemctsin, Nuxalk ‣ Tsimshianic S’m̓algya̱x, Nisg ̱a’a ‣ Wakashan Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwak wala,̓ Haisla Salish is one of the largest indigenous language families of North America, in terms of number of languages. It is believed to include about 23 languages. The Straits Salish languages can be considered one language or several (see map). According to Montler 1999, the various Klallam dialects are one language, Southern Straits , while the Northern Straits dialects—T’sou-ke (Sooke), Lekwungen (Songish), 3 Linguistics 181: SENĆOŦEN Fall 2010 Leonard and Werle SEN ĆOŦEN ( Saanich), Lummi, and Samish—are another language. The fact that these are artificially divided by an international boundary complicates the matter further. SENĆOŦEN (Northern Straits Salish) Klallam (Southern Straits Salish) ‣ QENNOṈE SEN. ‣ kʷ(ə)nnúŋə̓ cn. kʷən̓ –n –aŋə sən kʷ(ə)n̓ –n –úŋə cn see –TR –you I see –TR –you I I see you. (Montler 1999:475) I see you. (Montler 1999:475) Compare these data from several Salish languages: SENĆOŦEN Klallam Cowichan Lushootseed gloss ḴELEṈ qə́ləŋ qə́yəŋ qə́ləm qəlúb ‘eye’ ŦOṈEN θáŋən q̓əwəkʷáyəs θámən cúbəd ‘eyebrow’ SELES séləs cáys céləš čáləs ‘hand’ ĆENES čə́nəs čə́ns yə́nəs ǰədís ‘tooth’ SȾEMOŦEN st ᶿəmaθən̓ sc̓əm̓ucən c̓əmša̓yθən šaw̓ayucid ‘jaw’ Unrelated languages in the same language area: SENĆOŦEN (Salish) Ditidaht (Wakashan) ‣ NEȻIM TŦE XIW̱E. ‣ ƛix̣k̓ʷa ̓ šačkaapx̣aq. nəkʷim tθə x̣ixʷə ƛix̣̓ uk =ʔa šačkaapx̣ =ʔaq red the sea urchin red =is sea urchin =the The sea urchin is red. ( FirstVoices ) The sea urchin is red. ‣ SÁN ŦEN TÁN? ‣ ʔačaqkʷik ʔabʔeeqs? sen θ –ən̓ ten ʔačaq =kʷ =(q)ik ʔabʔeeqs who the –your mother who =POSS =you mother Who is your mother? ( FirstVoices ) Who is your mother? Exercises Hess and Heaman workbook, page 250 References Hess, Thom and Isabel Heaman. 1998. Exercises for Introducing the Study of Language . University of Victoria ms. Montler, Timothy. 1999. Language and Dialect Variation in Straits Salishan . Anthropological Linguistics 41:4. 462-502. 4 .