Sechelt language

The Sechelt language, Sháshíshálh or Shashishalhem (IPA: [ʃáʃíʃáɬəm]), is a Coast Salish language spoken by the Shishalh (Sechelt) people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. It is spoken in the area now called southwestern British Columbia, Canada, centred on their reserve communities in the Sechelt Peninsula area of the Sunshine Coast.

Sechelt
Sháshíshálh
Pronunciation[ʃáʃíʃáɬ]
Native toCanada
RegionBritish Columbia
Ethnicity1,200 Sechelt people (2014, FPCC)[1]
Native speakers
4 (2014, FPCC)[1]
Salishan
Language codes
ISO 639-3sec
Glottologsech1246
ELPShe shashishalhem (Sechelt)[2]

In 1999, the language was spoken by fewer than 40 elderly people.[3] A grammar of the language by linguist Ron Beaumont was published in 1985.[4]

They now only have 7 elderly/fluent speakers, but have many teachers that teach children from preschool all the way through till high school. UBC, Vancouver and Okanagan offers language courses, that give students the opportunity to learn various languages, Shashishalhem being one of the few[5]

In 2014, the Coastal Corridor Consortium, "an entity made up of board members from First Nations and educational partners to improve aboriginal access to and performance in postsecondary education and training", created a Sechelt Nation language certificate.[6]

Sechelt is most closely related to Squamish, Halkomelem, and the Nooksack.

Although endangered, the Sechelt people, with help from others, have reclaimed 603 phrases and 5659 words in total.[5]

Phonology

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
central lateral plain rounded plain rounded
Stop voiceless ptkkʷq qʷʔ
ejective pʼtʼkʼkʷʼ qʼ qʷʼ
Affricate voiceless tstʃ
ejective tsʼ tɬʼ tʃʼ
Nasal mn
Fricative s ɬʃ xxʷ χ χʷ h
Approximant ljw

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ə
Open a

The four vowel sounds may also have the allophones [æ, ɪ~ʊ~ʌ, e, o].[7]

See also

References
  1. Sechelt at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for She shashishalhem (Sechelt).
  3. Mithun, Marianne (2001). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 487. ISBN 978-0-521-29875-9.
  4. Beaumont, Ron (1985). She Shashishalhem, The Sechelt Language: Language, Stories, and Sayings of the Sechelt Indian people of British Columbia. Penticton, B. C.: Theytus Books.
  5. null, null. "she shashishalhem Community Portal". www.firstvoices.com. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  6. Wood, Stephanie (2014-01-22). "Despite limited resources, indigenous-language programs persevere in B.C." Georgia Straight, Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  7. Beaumont, Ronald C. (2011). Sechelt Dictionary.


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