Language
People
| Ts’msyan
|
---|
Language
| Sm'algyax
|
---|
Country
| La?xyuubm Ts’msyen
[5]
|
---|
Tsimshian,
known by its speakers as
Sm'algyax
,
[6]
is a dialect of the
Tsimshian language
spoken in northwestern
British Columbia
and southeastern
Alaska
.
Sm'algyax
means literally "real or true language."
The linguist
Tonya Stebbins
estimated the number of speakers of Tsimshian in 2001 as around 400 and in 2003 as 200 or fewer (see references below). Whichever figure is more accurate, she added in 2003 that most speakers are over 70 in age and very few are under 50. About 50 of an ethnic population of 1,300 Tsimshian in Alaska speak the language.
Phonology
[
edit
]
Vowels
[
edit
]
Next to transcriptions in the
IPA
are the conventional orthography in angle brackets.
The unrounded mid back vowel can either be the long
[
a
]
or the short and slightly raised
[
?
]
depending on context.
John Asher Dunn
assumes this vowel as the schwa
[
?
]
.
Underlining
/a/
is optional for indicating the back long vowel, and fluent speakers will usually omit it.
Dunn's representation of the high back vowel seems to be slightly more forward than the IPA equivalent, since he uses the phonetic symbols
[??]
or
[??]
.
Consonants
[
edit
]
First symbol is
IPA
, then the conventional orthography equivalent is given in brackets.
- ^
Both
John Asher Dunn
and
Franz Boas
(as reported by A.C. Graf von der Schulenberg
) find that the fricative
/s/
has two variants:
[
s
]
or
[
?
]
.
- ^
The velar glide
/
?
/
⟨?⟩
is a "w pronounced with lips unrounded".
The
glottalization
diacritic
⟨ ' ⟩
may be switched to the other side of a velar segment depending on whether it falls pre-, post- or intervocalically. In speech, glottalized segments before a vowel will result in simultaneous realization of both,
[
k?
]
. Glottalized segments that follow vowels produce the glottalization first, then the consonant closure,
[?k]
. Intervocalically, the glottalization depends on where the stress falls.
[?k]
is pronounced after a stressed syllable, and
[k?]
is pronounced before a stress.
Syllable structure
[
edit
]
Tsimshian utilizes (C)CV or (C)CVC(C)
syllable
structures in which the vowels can occur
long
or
short
.
Syllabic consonants
are common and can technically occur anywhere within the word. The only consonants that qualify as syllabic (indicated optionally by underlining) are the
sonorants
/m/
,
/n/
and
/l/
(and their
glottalized
counterparts). (Some writers will follow the
Gitksan
orthographic practice of writing the syllabic
sonorants
as
/im/
,
/in/
and
/il/
.
)
Examples:
- /hæj.mæː.dm/
"northeast wind"
- /n.læk/
"fireplace"
- /k’l.k’oːl/
plural of intransitive verb "dull"
Consonant clusters are common. Schulenberg reports finding
/pt,
pts,
ptl,
kts,
qp,
qtk,
qtsc,
qsk,
nts,
t?/
among many others, though only a smaller portion can occur in the
rime
.
Note that these clusters do not contain syllabic consonants, but are only either in the
onset
or the
coda
. Clusters at the ends of words often have an
epenthetic vowel
inserted, which is usually
/a/
[?]
but can also be either
/i/
[?]
or
/?/
[?]
.
Examples (with other phonological changes):
- /?elq/
→
[?ela?]
"outside"
- /æːlks/
→
[æːliks]
"servant"
- /???jæː?x/
→
[æːjæːw?x]
"Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights"
Vowel pitch
[
edit
]
The
long vowels
of Tsimshian must be pronounced in one of three distinct ways: with a sustained pitch
/eː/
→
[eː]
; a "falling pitch and offglide"
/eː/
→
[e?]
, or with the insertion of a glottal stop
/eː/
→
[e?e]
. In every day writing, the diacritical marks may be left out, so that the first two could be written
⟨ee⟩
, whereas it is common to represent
[e?e]
.
Examples:
- (steady pitch)
[kpiːl]
"ten" (of abstract and round objects)
- (falling pitch)
[nos?]
"wolverine"
- (glottal interruption)
[χbæ?æl?]
"squall; storm from the south"
Stress
[
edit
]
The primary stress generally falls on the last syllable of a word. In the case of a suffix or connective being added, then the stress falls on the penultimate syllable.
Phonological processes
[
edit
]
There are a number of complex
phonological
processes that affect segments. The following is just a sample of some of the changes that may occur.
- Short vowels followed by
/l/
often become long vowels with
/l/
-deletion.
- /wælp/
→
/wæːp/
"house"
- Glottalized
/k/
and
/q/
between vowels are often shortened to just a glottal stop.
- /s?k’æ?/
→ [s??æ?] "divide, settle an estate"
- At the ends of words
/q/
may undergo
lenition
to
/χ/
.
- /iːmq/
→
/imχ/
"beard"
- A short vowel may be lengthened if the primary stress falls on it.
- /χæ/
→
/χæː/
"male slave"
- /l/
and
/n/
may alternate in
reduplication
.
- /c’in?æm/
→
/c’ilc’in?æm/
"give"
- Long vowels may become
diphthongs
.
[a]
- /?oːl/
→
/?o??l/
"push through the water"
Orthography
[
edit
]
In the practical orthography, uvulars are indicated by underlining the velar letters,
⟨? g?⟩
, and the position of the apostrophe before or after the consonant letter distinguishes
glottalization
.
The Tsimshian orthography in use today is based on that developed by Tsimshianicists since the 1960s. It originally stems from Bruce Rigsby's work on the
Gitksan language
and includes
John A. Dunn
's work on Tsimshian and
Marie-Lucie Tarpent
's work on
Nisga'a
and
Southern Tsimshian
. Dunn, Tarpent, and Susan Marsden substantially revised it for School District No. 52 (Prince Rupert) when preparing the
Suwilaay'msga Na Ga'niiyatgm, Teachings of Our Grandfathers
book series in the early 1990s, with the blessing of the Tsimshian hereditary chiefs. Since then, the orthography and the recording of the language have largely been conducted by the Tsimshian Sm'algyax Authority. The Living Legacy Talking Dictionary provides both written and spoken samples of the language.
[9]
Another orthography, used only in Alaska, is taught by a private organization called Dum Baal-dum.
[10]
Morphology
[
edit
]
Tsimshian can be classified as a
polysynthetic language
, although it is less so than other Native North American languages. Tense, for instance, is not marked with the verb, but always appears as a separate pre-verbal word. The verb stands out as the most important word in the sentence?much of the information can be expressed by
affixing
onto it. Nouns, however, do have a number of
clitics
that may be attached.
There are multiple connectors that are
suffixed
or
prefixed
onto adjacent words which can create long strings of lexical items.
Forming the plural
[
edit
]
Reduplication
[
edit
]
Tsimshian has an extensive system of
reduplication
, which is used in most cases to form the plural of both nouns and verbs. There is a complex set of phonological processes that affect both the vowel and the consonant in reduplication. Schulenberg records at least 12 different classes of reduplication but Dunn later condenses these to just five, depending on which part of the word is copied, and whether it is
prefixed
,
suffixed
or
infixed
. However, each class contains irregular forms.
|
Pattern
|
Example
|
Class I
|
/CVk-/
|
yex?
'
spit (verb)
'
→
yikyex?
'
spit (plural)
'
|
Class II
|
/CVx-/
|
da’ax?k
'
able
'
→
daxda’ax?k
'
able (plural)
'
|
Class III
|
/CVC-/
|
dal
'
fight
'
→
dildal
'
fights
'
|
Class IV
|
/CV-/
|
siipk
'
sick (verb)
'
→
sipsiipk
'
sick (plural)
'
|
Class V
|
/-V/ or /-VC/
(can be infixed or suffixed after primary syllable)
|
yuutsk
'
necklace
'
→
yu’itsk
'
necklaces
'
|
Distributives
[
edit
]
Besides reduplication, plurals can also be formed by adding lexical
clitics
. Prefixing or infixing
g?a
acts as a distributive. It is best translated as "each one his/her own". The words that take this prefix usually have a specific relation to an individual, such as body parts, clothing and kin.
- goot
'heart'→
g?agoot
'hearts'
- agwinubiip
'great uncle' →
agwig?anubiip
'great uncles'
Iteratives
[
edit
]
The word
gyik
'again' may be prefixed to form some plurals, especially those referring to time.
- suunt
"summer"→
gyiksuunt
"summers"
Intensives
[
edit
]
The word for 'very'
lu'kwil
can be shortened to
lu-
and pre- or infixed onto some words to form the plural. This process may result in extremely divergent forms, because of phonological processes.
- hadiks
'swim' →
la?heediks
'swim (plural)'
Finally, some plural forms are the same as the singular (
lak
"fire" →
lak
"fires") and some words have suppletive plurals, where there is no morphological relationship between the two: (
waa
"name" →
uust
"names").
Suffixes
[
edit
]
Derivational Suffixes
[
edit
]
There are ten
suffixes
that may be attached to words to
derive
words with meanings related in some way to the original morpheme . These suffixes can change either the grammatical relationship and/or the grammatical function. The names for the types listed below are shortened descriptions of those provided by Dunn.
- Consequential:
-x
(sometimes
-?
). The derived form is the consequence of or has been affected by the stem.
- ?'o'a?l
"forget" →
?'oolax
"dull; warm one's back by the fire"
- Instrumental:
-t
. The derived form is a person or thing that uses the stem in some way.
- gyemk
"sun, moon" →
gyemga?t
"astronomer"
- Purposive:
both
-l
and
-n
. These two suffixes indicate that the stem is the goal or intention of a person, thing or action.
- buu
"blow, sound (of a whale)" →
buul
"warn"
- Singularly Qualitative:
-k
. The derived form shares a single quality with the root.
- gwisgwaas
"bluejay" →
gwisgwaask
"blue"
- Plurally Qualitative:
-s, -sk, -ts
(sometimes
-k
). The derived form is in many respects similar to the root.
- yuutk
"carry around the neck" →
yuutsk
"necklace"
- Metaphorical:
-tk
. The derived form has a metaphorical relationship with the stem.
- ?oo
"drift, swim (fish)" →
?o'otk
"clouds"
Lexical Suffixes
[
edit
]
There are five lexically
derived
morphemes
that can be attached to words to alter the meaning. The affixed morphemes can be extremely altered from their original forms, sometimes according to phonological rules, sometimes arbitrarily. Usually the suffix root is shortened to one syllable before it is attached.
- aks
"water" →
ts’ala?ks
"whirlpool" (
ts’al
"eye")
- g?an
"tree; wood; stick" →
batsgn
"arrive in a boat" (
batsk
"arrive")
- gyet
"man" →
gyitwaalgyit
"raiders" (
gyitwaal
"attack")
- ban
"belly" →
waaybn
"pregnant (for dogs and disparagingly for women)" (
waay
"paddle")
- diilmx
"respond" This suffix is used to describe languages, so the language of the
Haida
would be
haydmx
Proclitics
[
edit
]
Below is a sample list of some of the many
proclitics
in Tsimshian. Attached to nouns and verbs, they may convey locative, aspectual, modal, case relational and lexical information. The following descriptions of the prefixes are intended to convey what sort of position the object or person is in. So
lax-
can be used to express the top of the foot, because it has the properties of being "above" and "parallel", and
t'm-
could be used for the backbone, because it has the properties of being "above" and "perpendicular". "Tangent" indicates that the object or action is taking place next to, or alongside of something. "Efferent" refers to going away from the action.
- Stative
- lax-
tangent, above, parallel
- t'm-
tangent, above, perpendicular
- lag?ax
tangent, not above, bilateral
- ?uu-, ?uuk?i-, ?uukw?i-
proximate, below
- na?k-
proximate, not below
- alo-, alu-
remote, below
- Motional
- ksi-, ksa-, ksu-, xsa-
internal source, efferent
- g?a?dik-
internal source, efferent, ascending
- txa-
internal source, efferent, descending
- bax-
tangent source, tangent goal, ascending, parageographic
- dzag?am-
geographic, upstream
- uks-
geographic, out to sea
- aspectual
- si-, su-, su-
beginning, inception
- adigul-
continual, enduring
- huk-
habitual
- gwuldm
beforehand
- wil-
subsequent
- Modal
- ap-, a?b-
certain
- kbi-, xbi-
not really, half
- liks-, luks-
different, strange
- sis-, sus-
play, pretend
- sm-
real genuine (as in
sm'algyax
"true language")
- Case
- ha-
instrumental
- ha'ali-
place or time for
- sa?-, si-, su-, s-
causative
- xs-
resemble
Lexical
[
edit
]
Like the lexical suffixes, these proclitics derive from existing morphemes and can alter the stem meaning in various ways. Proclitics are much more common than suffixes; only a small list is provided.
- aam
"good" →
amadaal?
"praise, worship" (
daalg?
"rebuke; scold")
- gwa?s
"blanket" →
gwisg?an
"cedar bark mat coat; raincoat" (
g?an
"tree")
- gye?k
"to stab" →
gyi?ts'ax
"nose-ring" (
ts'a??
"nose")
- ts'usk
"little" →
ts'ubaa
"lame (run a short distance)" (
baa
"run")
- 'wiileeks
"big" →
'wii?'ooli
"one with long hair" (
?'ooli
"scalp")
Syntax
[
edit
]
Tsimshian is an
ergative?absolutive
language. Although nominal and verbal marking allows syntax to be freer than English, word order is still an important aspect of the phrase. The basic word order for
transitive
and
intransitive
sentences is:
Intransitive
|
Transitive
|
yagwa baas Meli
TEMP run Mary
TEMP VERB ABS
"Mary is running."
[
citation needed
]
|
ha?'ag?a
key.
INS
IO
.
INS
/
BEN
/
LOC
?adm ?'ag?a 'yuuta liksoog?ada ha?'ag?a
TEMP open man door key.INS
TEMP VERB ERG ABS IO.INS/BEN/LOC
"A man is about to open a door with a key."
|
Inversions to this order are permitted. To place specific emphasis on the ergative noun (
topicalization
), it may be moved to the front of the phrase with the subsequent changes: temporal marker +
-t
and
in-
+ verb. However, this order is only permitted if the topicalized ergative is a pronoun (independent, demonstrative, interrogative or relative). Proper nouns are never placed first in the sentence, except in a
vocative
sense. Any absolutive noun may be topicalized as well with the following changes: temporal marker +
t
and verb +
da
. (Dunn has shown that the affixed particles on the temporal marker and the verb are falling out of use among the younger generation. It now is quite "formal" to use either in speech.
Verb phrase
[
edit
]
The basic
verb phrase
in Tsimshian is ordered: TEMPORAL MARKER, verb. However, many of the
noun phrases
in the sentence can be represented on both the verb and/or the temporal marker as pre-, in- or suffixes. There are five temporal markers which can combine to form various tenses or aspects.
- nah
: (perfective)
nah dzap
"already made"
- dm
: (future/progressive)
dm dzap
"will make", "is going to make", "is making"
- ?a
: (near to present)
?a dzap
"just beginning to make"
- wil
: (sequentially following)
wil dzap
"and then made"
- yagwa
: (present-only with action verbs)
yagwa dzap
"be making right now," "is now making"
Some combined temporal expressions:
- ?a-dm dzap
: "just about to start making"
- nah ?a-wil dzap
"and then just finished making"
- dm ?a-wil dzap
"and now just about to start making"
Noun phrase
[
edit
]
The basic noun phrase is ordered as: NUMERICAL MARKER, adjective, noun, determinater, possessive. A numerical marker and a
determiner
cannot appear in the same phrase together.
Numbers
[
edit
]
Similar to
classifiers
in other languages, there are seven different counting systems depending on what is being counted. Abstract entities, flat objects and animals, round objects and units of time, human beings, long objects, canoes and lastly, measurements, all must be counted differently.
The numeral gets an
-a
connective if it ends in a stop, affricate or fricative.
- gu'pl uwalp
"two houses"
- t'apxaada guks?uusk
"two shirts"
- t'apxaaduul hana'nax
"two women"
- guladaada hana'nax
"two women aboard (some conveyance)"
- g?abeeltk g?axsoo
"two canoes"
Like numerals, adjectives appear before the noun they modify. They take an
-m
connective as well as match the noun in number (singular or plural). If both a numeral and an adjective appear together, the numeral always precedes the adjective.
- siipgm haasa
"a sick dog"
- txalpxdool al'alg?m smgyigyet
"four angry chiefs"
Determiners
follow the noun they modify and the noun gets a connective
-a
suffix. There are six determinative words:
- gwa'a
"here, close to speaker"
- gwasga
"over there, that way"
- doni
"over there"
- awaan
"over there" (close to hearer)
- gwi
definite ("the")
- ta'a
for deceased kin only
Possessives
[
edit
]
Possession is shown by placing the possessing noun after the object being possessed, which gets an
-a
connective. If the object being possessed is not considered to be closely connected to the owner in some way (body parts, clothing, kin) then the object also gets a
na-
prefix.
- gyigyeda huwaap
"The color of the houses"
- nahoon 'yuuta
"the man's fish"
If the verb is transitive then the agent of the verb is treated as an ergative and the object as an absolutive. In these cases, the temporal marker receives the suffix
-t
, the verb receives
-da
and the ergative noun itself has an
-a
suffix. (Proper nouns require variant suffixes.)
ts'uu'tsa
ts'uu'ts-a
bird
Yagwat niisda ts'uu'tsa laalt
yagwa-t niits-da ts'uu'ts-a laalt
TEMP see bird worm
"The bird sees the worm."
Transitive sentences in which the verb is closely related to the absolutive can actually allow the noun to be attached onto the verb, a process called incorporation. A verbal connector
-m-
is then used to suffix the noun onto the verb.
aadmhoonu
aat-m-hoon-u
seine(verb)
?awil aadmhoonu
?awil aat-m-hoon-u
TEMP seine(verb) CONN fish(noun) I
"And then I was just now seining for fish (fish-seining)."
Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 2 word(s) in line 1, 2 word(s) in line 2, 5 word(s) in line 3 (
help
);
When an intransitive verb is used, the agent of the verb is treated as an absolutive. If the absolutive directly follows the verb then the verb receives an
-a
suffix. (Proper nouns again require different suffixes.)
Nah siipga hana'a
nah siipk-a hana'a
TEMP sick woman
"the woman was sick"
Pronominals
[
edit
]
Much of the information appearing in a
noun phrase
can be expressed on the verb phrase as a
pronominal
.
Ergative
and
absolutive
phrases affix onto the verb phrase and take a different form depending on person and number. Below are the most common forms of absolutive suffixes, although depending on the tense, different suffixes are applicable.
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
1st Person
|
-u
|
-m
|
2nd Person
|
-n
|
-sm
|
3rd Person
|
-t
|
-t
|
If there is an (unmarked) ergative noun in the sentence along with the absolutive pronoun, the temporal marker also gets a suffixed
-t
.
?awilt niidzu ol
TEMP see.me bear
"And just now the bear has seen me."
[
citation needed
]
Dunn has found that some temporal markers take a suffix and others do not. It seems to be "a matter of local and personal style".
Ergative pronominals appear before the verb on the temporal marker as infixes or suffixes. Some tense markers call for different affixes. With the perfective tense
nah
, for instance, the ergative suffixes are identical to the absolutive suffixes. Below is the most common form of ergative affix.
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
1st person
|
-n-
|
-dip-
|
2nd person
|
-m-
|
-m-sm-
|
3rd person
|
-t-
|
-t-
|
?adipwil lu'niidza ol awaan
TEMP we TEMP see(PL) bear there.by.you
"And just now we have seen those bears by you."
[
citation needed
]
Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 4 word(s) in line 1, 6 word(s) in line 2 (
help
);
Both pronominals can occur in one sentence:
?an dzagwat
TEMP I kill(SG) it/him/her/they
"I am about to kill it/him/her/them."
[
citation needed
]
Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 2 word(s) in line 1, 4 word(s) in line 2 (
help
);
Linguists and other scholars who have worked on the Tsimshian language
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The existence of diphthongs is questionable. Schulenberg claims that Franz Boas "always heard the individual vowels pronounced separately."
Dunn, however, seems to believe that younger speakers will realize a diphthong.
There may have been a change in the pronunciation since Schulenberg's research in 1894 and Dunn's subsequent work starting in the 1968. In any event, diphthongs are rare.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census - Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census ? 100% Data"
.
www12.statcan.gc.ca
. Government of Canada, Statistics. 2 August 2017
. Retrieved
2017-11-23
.
- ^
"Tsimshian"
.
Ethnologue
. Retrieved
2018-03-30
.
- ^
"2020 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature"
(PDF)
. Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council.
- ^
Chappell, Bill (21 April 2014).
"Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official"
.
NPR
.
- ^
Armstrong, Chelsey Geralda; Lyons, Natasha; McAlvay, Alex C.; Ritchie, Patrick Morgan; Lepfsky, Dana; Blake, Michael (2023).
"Historical ecology of forest garden management in Laxyuubm Ts'msyen and beyond"
.
Ecosystems and People
.
19
(1).
Bibcode
:
2023EcoPe..1960823A
.
doi
:
10.1080/26395916.2022.2160823
.
- ^
"Sm'algyax: The Tsimshian Language"
. 13 April 2012. Archived from
the original
on 11 November 2012
. Retrieved
10 August
2012
.
- ^
"Sm'algyax Living Legacy Talking Dictionary"
.
University of Northern British Columbia
.
- ^
"Orthography"
.
Dum Baal-dum
. Archived from
the original
on May 9, 2012.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Graf von der Schulenberg, A. C. (1992).
Schulenberg's Tsimshian Grammar
. Translated by Flaherty, Virginia Carroll. University of Colorado. Archived from
the original
on Jul 11, 2020.
- Graf von der Schulenberg, A. C. (1894).
Die Sprache der Zimshran-Indianer in Nordwest-America
[
The Language of the Tsimshian Indians in Northwest America
] (in German). Braunschweig.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Boas, Franz
(1911). "Tsimshian".
Handbook of American Indian Languages, Part 1
(PDF)
. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin. Vol. 40. Washington. pp. 283?422. Archived from
the original
on Oct 31, 2021.
{{
cite book
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link
)
- Dunn, John Asher
(1978).
A Practical Dictionary of the Tsimshian Language
. National Museum of Man, Mercury Series, Ethnology Service Paper. Vol. 42. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
JSTOR
j.ctv16sc9
.
- Dunn, John Asher
(1979).
A Reference Grammar for the Tsimshian Language
(PDF)
. National Museum of Man, Mercury Series, Ethnology Service Paper. Vol. 55. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on April 16, 2024.
- Dunn, John Asher
(1995).
Sm'algyax: A Reference Dictionary and Grammar for the Tsimshian Language
. University of Washington Press & Sealaska Heritage Foundation.
ISBN
9780295974194
– via
Internet Archive
.
- Mulder, Jean Gail
(1988).
Ergativity in Tsimshian (Sm'algyax)
(PDF)
(PhD thesis). Berkeley: University of California Press. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on Mar 3, 2022.
- Stebbins, Tonya (2001). "Emergent Spelling Patterns in Sm'algyax (Tsimshian, British Columbia)".
Written Language and Literacy
.
4
(2): 163?193.
doi
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10.1075/wll.4.2.03ste
.
- Stebbins, Tonya (2020).
Fighting Language Endangerment: Community Directed Research on Sm'algyax (Tsimshian)
(2nd ed.). Melbourne: La Trobe University.
doi
:
10.26826/1011
.
ISBN
978-0-6484681-3-4
.
External links
[
edit
]
TEMP:temporal marker
VERB:verb
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Official languages
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Indigenous languages
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Pidgins, creoles and mixed
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Minority languages
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Sign languages
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