Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xèTłı˛cho˛ Enîhtå’è Yatıì K’e Yats’ehtii Reading and Writing in • nîdi? hoehsô ha dehwhô • ayìi wek’è htii ts’e eya k’ å’è îht • n ©Copyright 2007 Contents may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the permission of the copyright holders. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Reading and Writing in Tłı˛cho˛ Yatıì ISBN 978-1-896790-36-7 Tłı˛cho˛ Community Services Agency Behchokò˛, Northwest Territories, Canada www.tlicho.ca T¯‡ch· Community Services Agency Design: Inkit Ltd. Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Yats’ehtii • Credits This guide to reading and writing has received support from many organizations and individuals. Here we list those who have provided their financial support, their intellectual and morale support, their work, wisdom and understanding, and their blessings. We are grateful. For the people and organizations we have mistakenly left out, our grateful thanks to you too. Elder Advisors Social Sciences and To them we are especially The late Humanities Research grateful for their advice and Elizabeth Mackenzie Council of Canada hard work Rose-Anna Mantla Illustrators Contributors Jimmy Martin Mason Mantla Kandace Apples Michel Louis Rabesca Lorris Wellin Therese Chinkon The late Adele Wedawin Editors Verna Crapeau Advisors Aliki Marinakis Terri Douglas Josie Bishop Mary K. Richardson Harriet Erasmus Georgina Chocolate Leslie Saxon Alphonse Eronchi Celine Eyakfwo Mary Siemens Joe Eyakfwo Lucy Lafferty Nora Lafferty Research Assistants Allice Legat Kandace Apples The late Joseph Sizè Rosa Mantla Mary Adele Mackenzie Mackenzie Therese Mantla Lianne Mantla The late Julie Mackenzie Jim Martin Therese Mantla Mary Adele Mackenzie The late Philip Rabesca Aliki Marinakis Lianne Mantla Mary Siemens Joseph Martel Marlyss Richardson Ernestine Steinwand Claudia Rabesca Mary K. Richardson Celine Whane Mary Louise Bouvier White Mary Louise Bouvier White Students of Dô K’ëë John B. Zoe and others Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Sonny Zoe Yats’ehtii Financial Supporters Dedication Dogrib Community Services This book is dedicated to all Board those who love Tåîchô Yatiì Tåîchô Community Services and all those who came Agency before us in teaching us. Dogrib Treaty 11 Council Tåîchô Government Whaèhdôö Nàowoò Kö Aurora College Aurora Research Institute University of Victoria Reading and Writing in Tåîchô Yatiì 1 Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Yats’ehtii • Table of Contents Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Yats’ehtii • Table of Contents K’akweåöö Introduction ...................................................................................7 Organization of this Book ...........................................................7 Chapter 1 Tåîchô K’ëë Dek’enèts’eetå’è The Letters of the Dogrib Alphabet .........................................9 Chapter 2 Tåîchô K’ëë Yats’ehti To Pray in Tåîchô Yatiì .............................................................19 SeNöhtsîî diidzêë k’e gok’ènedì ................................................20 Tåîchô Yatiì in the Communities ................................................21 Dialects and Choices in Language Use ....................................22 Summary ...................................................................................25 Chapter 3 Ehtsî, Ehtsèe gixè Nàhdè Living with Grandparents .......................................................27 Ehtsî, Ehtsèe gixè Nàhdè – Mary K. Richardson wegodiì ......28 Grammar of Tåîchô Yatiì ............................................................29 Wet’à Ts’iìzìi Yatiì eyits’ô Wet’à Dàgot’îî Yatiì/Nouns and Verbs ...........................................................29 Vowels and Consonants ...........................................................31 Summary ...................................................................................34 Chapter 4 Gòet’î Amìi Agît’e? Who Are Our Relatives? .........................................................35 Sèot’î Amìi Agît’e? – Marlyss Richardson ................................36 Words with Prefixes and Suffixes .............................................37 Noun Paradigms .......................................................................39 Pronouns ...................................................................................40 Nasal Vowels .............................................................................40 Summary ...................................................................................42 Reading and Writing in Tåîchô Yatiì 3 Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Yats’ehtii • Table of Contents Chapter 5 Asìi Åekôô Tasty Things ............................................................................43 Åèt’èhtåòa – Nora Lafferty dàanì yeht’èe ...................................44 Dàanì Lìgawhì Ts’ehtsîî – Joe Eyakfwo, Harriet Erasmus, Sonny Zoe gîîtå’è ...................................................................44 Wet’à Dàgot’îî Yatiì/Verbs in Tåîchô Yatiì ..................................45 Verb Paradigms ........................................................................46 More Consonants: The å and s Families of Consonants ...........48 Summary ...................................................................................51 Chapter 6 Louise Diì Ts’ö Ts’eèæe Boat Trip to Louise Island ......................................................53 Louise Diì Ts’ö Ts’eèæe – Terri Douglas wegodiì ........................54 Another Part of Speech: Adverbs .............................................55 Adverbs and Meanings .............................................................56 Tone on Vowels .........................................................................57 More Consonants: The x and wh Consonant Families .............58 Another Consonant: weweèk’è .................................................61 Summary ...................................................................................61 Chapter 7 Eåets’ìhtsìi A Marriage Proposal ...............................................................63 Yamoòzha Ts’èko Eekè – Mary Richardson wegodiì .................64 Another Part of Speech: Postpositions ....................................66 Postpositions and Meanings ....................................................68 Adverbs Related to Postpositions ............................................71 Introduction to Long or “Dragged” Vowels ...............................71 A Loner Consonant ...................................................................72 Summary ...................................................................................73 Chapter 8 Dè Goîzì Placenames .............................................................................75 Dè Goîzì – Tåîchô Whaèhdôö Nàowoò ......................................76 Dè Goîzì/Placenames and Compound Words ..........................77 Yatilô Wheæôô for Places: -k’è ...................................................80 More Consonants: Nasal Consonants and Related Sounds ....82 Contractions with Nasal Consonants .......................................84 Tåîchô Yatiì Dictionaries ............................................................84 Spellings ...................................................................................86 Summary ...................................................................................87 4 Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Yats’ehtii Tåîchô K’ëë Ets’eetå’èe xè Enîhtå’è K’e Yats’ehtii • Table of Contents Chapter 9 Eåexè Kielà Ts’ehtsîî Working Together to Make a Birch Bark Canoe ..................89 K’ielà Ts’ehtsîî – Rosa Mantla, Joe Suzie Mackenzie nîî, Julie Mackenzie nîî si gidàîdi ................................................90 Syllables in Tåîchô Yatiì .............................................................91 Yatilô Wheæôô on Nouns: The Possessed Noun Suffix ............94 Bound or “Linked” Stems and the Possessed Noun Suffix .....95 Compound Words and the Possessed Noun Suffix .................96 Summary ...................................................................................98 Chapter 10 Ehtsî Ghôneèhtô Lessons from My Grandmother .............................................99 Ehtsî Wexè Chekoa Gigöhåî – Therese Chinkon wegodiì ........100 Wet’à Dàgot’îî Yatiì/Verbs and Wekwee Whelaa/Prefixes ......101 Two Sets of Wekwee Whelaa for Verbs ..................................101 Some Adverbial Prefixes .........................................................103 Some Inflection Prefixes and Combinations ...........................104 Wekwee Whelaa and Yatikwì/Stem Combinations .................106 Summary .................................................................................108 Chapter 11 Satsöök’öô Hòèlîî New Technology ....................................................................109 Satsöök’öô Hòèlîî – Alphonse Eronchi wegodiì ......................110 The Consonant r .....................................................................111 A Relationship between d and r and Long Vowels .................112 A Related Pattern in Compound Nouns .................................113 Imperfective Paradigms for Wet’à Dàgot’îî Yatiì .....................114 Imperfective Paradigms with only Subject Prefixes ...............114 Imperfective Paradigms with Adverbial and Subject Prefixes ..................................................................115 Imperfective Paradigms with Inflection and Subject Prefixes ..................................................................116 A Recap