Native American language family
Wakashan
is a family of languages spoken in
British Columbia
around and on
Vancouver Island
, and in the northwestern corner of the
Olympic Peninsula
of
Washington
state, on the south side of the
Strait of Juan de Fuca
.
As is typical of the
Northwest Coast
, Wakashan languages have large consonant inventories?the consonants often occurring in complex
clusters
.
Classification
[
edit
]
Family division
[
edit
]
The Wakashan language family consists of seven languages:
[1]
- Wakashan
- Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) languages
- Haisla
(also known as Xa?islak'ala, X?ah?isl?ak?ala or Haisla-Henaksiala, with two dialects, spoken by the
Haisla
) ? about 200 speakers (2005)
- C?imo'c?a/C?imauc?a (Kitimaat/Kitamat) - X?a'islak?ala dialect (spoken by the Haisla/x?a?is?la)
- Gitlo'p (Kitlope) - X?enaksialak?ala dialect (spoken by the Henaaksiala/X?enaksiala)
- Kwak'wala
(also known as Kwakiutl and Lekwala /
Liq??ala
, with four dialects, spoken by and
Kwakwaka'wakw or Northern Kwakiutl
and the
Laich-kwil-tach or Southern Kwakiutl
) ? 235 speakers (2000)
- Northern Kwakiutl or Kwak'wala
- G?ut?sala / G?uc?ala / Quatsino Sound dialect (Bands of Quatsino Sound, today by the Gwa'sala people from Smiths Inlet and the 'Nakwaxda'xw people from Blunden Harbour)
- Kwak?wala / Kwa??wala dialect (Bands of Gilford Island, Knight Inlet, Kwakiutl, Nimpkish, Alert Bay, Kincome Inlet)
- 'Nak?wala / Bak?wa?mk?ala dialect (also known as Northern Kwak?wala dialect, spoken by the Northern Bands or 'Nak?waxda'x?w and Gwa'sa?la peoples)
- Gwa’cala subdialect
- ‘Na‘kwala subdialect
- T?łat?łasik?wala / Nahwitti dialect (Bands of today's T?łat?łasi??wala people on
Hope Island
)
- Southern Kwakiutl
- Lekwala / Liq??ala / Lekwiltok dialect (Bands of the
Laich-kwil-tach (Lekwiltok)
, they were oft called
Southern Kwakiutl
but identify as a separate people from the Kwakwaka'wakw and their dialect is sometimes considered a separate language)
- Heiltsuk-Oowekyala
(also known as Bella Bella) ? about 200 speakers (2005)
- Heiltsuk dialect
(also known as Bella Bella and Haihais, Hai?zaqvla, Hai?zaqv/Hi?zaqv?a, with two subdialects, spoken by the
Heiltsuk
people, once incorrectly known as the Northern Kwakiutl)
- Hai?zaqv/Hi?zaqv?a or Bella Bella (Wag?is?a) subdialect (spoken by the Heiltsuk (Hai?zaqv / Hi?zaqv) in Bella Bella)
- X?ix?ic?ala/Haihais or Klemtu (???du?ax?s?) subdialect (spoken by the X?ix?is (Xixis / Xai’xais / Haihais) in Klemtu)
- Oowekyala dialect
or ’Wuik?ala dialect (also known as 'Uik'ala, Ooweekeeno, Wuikala, Wuikenukv, Oweekeno, Wikeno, Owikeno, Oweekano, Awikenox, Oowek'yala, Oweek'ala) (spoken by the
Wuikinuxv
(Oowekeeno or Rivers Inlet) People, once incorrectly known as the Northern Kwakiutl)
- Southern Wakashan (Nootkan) languages
- Nuu-chah-nulth
(also known as Nuu?aan?uł, Nootka, Nutka, Aht, West Coast, T'aat'aaqsapa, spoken by the
Nuu-chah-nulth
, 12 different dialects) ? 510 speakers (2005)
[2]
- Nitinaht
or Ditidaqiic?aq Cicqi? (also known as Diidiitidq, Diitiid?aatx?, Nitinat, Ditidaht, Southern Nootkan, spoken by the
Ditidaht or Southern Nootka
,
Pacheedaht
, and
Ts'uubaa-asatx (Lake Cowichan)
, located in southwestern Vancouver Island
[3]
? 30 speakers (1991)
- Makah
(also known as Q?i·q?i·di??aq, Q'widishch'a:'tx, spoken by the
Makah
together with the now extinct Ozette people) ? extinct (Last fluent speaker, where it was their first language, died in 2002)
- Q?i·q?i·di??aq/Q'widishch'a:'tx or Makah dialect (spoken by the
Makah (Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx (Q?idi??a?a·tx?)
- "People who live by the rocks and seagulls")
- 'Osi:l-'a:'tx/?usee?ła?tx? or Ozette village dialect (once spoken by the Ozette people (Osi:l-'a:'tx/?usee?ła?tx? - "People of ?usee?ł, i.e.
Ozette Village
")
Possible relations to external language families
[
edit
]
As first proposed by
Edward Sapir
and
Leo J. Frachtenberg
, and later elaborated by
Morris Swadesh
, the Wakashan languages were grouped together with
Salishan
and
Chimakuan languages
in a
"Mosan"
macrofamily
.
[5]
This proposed macrofamily is now generally rejected as a genealogical grouping.
[6]
[7]
Structural similarities and shared vocabulary are best explained as the result of continuous intensive contact; the Mosan languages thus represent a
sprachbund
within the wider
Pacific Northwest typological area
.
[8]
In the 1960s, Swadesh also suggested a connection of the Wakashan languages with the
Eskimo?Aleut languages
. This was picked up and expanded by Holst (2005).
[9]
Sergei Nikolaev
has argued in two papers for a systematic relationship between the
Nivkh language
of Sakhalin island and the Amur river basin and the
Algic languages
, and a secondary relationship between these two together and the Wakashan languages.
[10]
[11]
Name and contact
[
edit
]
The name Wakesh or Waukash originates from the
Nuu-chah-nulth
word for 'good'. It was used by early explorers including Captain
James Cook
, who believed it to be the tribal appellation.
[12]
Juan de Fuca
was probably the first European to meet Wakashan-speaking peoples, and
Juan Perez
visited the
Nuu-chah-nulth people
in 1774. After 1786, English mariners frequently sailed to
Nootka Sound
; in 1803, the crew of the
American
ship
Boston
were almost all killed by the local natives.
In 1843 the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Victoria. European-Canadians had regular contact with the First Nations after that time. There were dramatic population losses in the early 20th century due to
smallpox
epidemics (because the First Nations had no acquired immunity to the new disease), social disruption, and alcoholism. In 1903 the Aboriginals numbered about 5200, of whom 2600 were in the West Coast Agency, 1300 in the Kwakewith Agency, 900 in the North West Coast Agency, and 410 at Neah Bay Company,
Cape Flattery
. In 1909 they numbered 4584, including 2070
Kwakiutl
and 2494
Nootka
.
Roman Catholic
missionaries were active in the region.
[13]
The name "Wakish Nation" is featured in Arrowsmith's
Oregon Dispute
-era map as the name for
Vancouver Island
.
[14]
[15]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"The Wakashan Languages"
, hosted by University of Washington
- ^
"Nuu?aan?uł ? Nuu-chah-nulth-Nootka language"
, Language Geek
- ^
"Diitiid?aatx? language"
, First Peoples Language Map of British Columbia
- ^
the Ts'uubaa-asatx - usually known as "Lake Cowichan" and called by the Ditidaht c?uuba?sa?tx? - are therefore often confused with the neighboring
Cowichan Tribes (Quw'utsun Mustimuhw / Quw'utsun Hwulmuhw)
- "People of the Warm Land", who speak a "Hul'qumi'num (Island)" dialect of
Halkomelem
(part of the
Coast Salish languages
), but regarding treaty negotiations with the government, the Ts'uubaa-asatx are still part of the "Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group". Currently, they are trying to revive their original culture and language with the support of the Nuu-chah-nulth and Ditidaht peoples.
- ^
Swadesh, Morris (1953). "Mosan I: A Problem of Remote Common Origin".
International Journal of American Linguistics
.
19
(1): 26?4.
doi
:
10.1086/464188
.
JSTOR
1262937
.
S2CID
145409017
.
- ^
Campbell, Lyle (1997).
American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America
. Oxford University Press.
- ^
Mithun, Marianne (1999).
The languages of Native North America
. Cambridge University Press.
- ^
Beck, David (2000). "Grammatical Convergence and the Genesis of Diversity in the Northwest Coast Sprachbund".
Anthropological Linguistics
.
42
(2): 147?213.
JSTOR
30028547
.
- ^
Jan Henrik Holst,
Einfuhrung in die eskimo-aleutischen Sprachen
. Buske Verlag
- ^
Николаев, Sergei L. Nikolaev / Сергей Львович.
"S.L. Nikolaev. 2015. Toward the reconstruction of Proto-Algonquian-Wakashan. Part 1: Proof of the Algonquian-Wakashan relationship"
. Retrieved
Mar 25,
2023
– via www.academia.edu.
- ^
Николаев, Sergei L. Nikolaev / Сергей Львович.
"S.L.Nikolaev. 2016. Toward the reconstruction of Proto-Algonquian-Wakashan. Part 2: Algonquian-Wakashan sound correspondences"
. Retrieved
Mar 25,
2023
– via www.academia.edu.
- ^
Boas and Powell, 205
- ^
"Wakash Indians"
,
Catholic Encyclopedia.
(retrieved 6 Feb 2010)
- ^
Auction No. 83
listings (Closed July 18, 1998), Old World Mail Auctions website
? has link to map.
- ^
Carl I. Wheat.
"Mapping the American West 1540?1857, A Preliminary Study"
(PDF)
.
Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Association
. p. 88.
References
[
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]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Liedtke, Stefan.
Wakashan, Salishan, Penutian and Wider Connections Cognate Sets
. Linguistic data on diskette series, no. 09. Munchen: Lincom Europa, 1995.
ISBN
3-929075-24-5
- William H. Jacobsen Jr. (1979): "Wakashan Comparative Studies" in
The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment
, Campbell, Lyle; &
Mithun, Marianne
(Eds.), Austin: University of Texas Press.
- Fortescue, Michael (2007).
Comparative Wakashan Dictionary
. Lincom Europa.
ISBN
3-89586-724-1
External links
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and isolates
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