St'at'imcets language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| St’at’imcets Ucwalmícwts |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Canada | |
| Region: | British Columbia | |
| Total speakers: | 200 (native) | |
| Language family: | Salishan Interior Salish Northern St’at’imcets |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | sal | |
| ISO/FDIS 639-3: | lil | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
St'at'imcets (also Lillooet, Lilloet, St’át’imcets) is an Interior Salishan language spoken in southern British Columbia, Canada around the middle Fraser and Lillooet rivers by the St'at'imc people.
St'at'imcets is an endangered language with as few as 200 native speakers practically all of whom are over 60 years of age (Gordon 2005).
Contents |
[edit] Regional varieties
St'at'imcets has two main dialects:
- Upper St’at’imcets (a.k.a. St’aá’imcets, Fountain)
- Lower St’at’imcets (a.k.a. Lil'wat7úlmec, Mount Currie)
Upper St'at'imcets is spoken around Fountain, Pavilion, Lillooet, and neighboring areas. Lower St'at'imcets is spoken around Mount Currie and neighboring areas. An additional subdialect called Skookumchuck is spoken within the Lower St'at'imcets dialect area, but there is no information available in van Eijk (1981, 1997) (which are the main references for this article).
[edit] Sounds
[edit] Consonants
St'at'imcets has 44 consonants:
| Bilabial | Dental | Post- alveolar |
Velar | Post- velar |
Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | plain | labial | plain | labial | |||||
| Stop | plain | p | t | k | kʷ | q | qʷ | |||
| glottalized | p’ | k’ | k’ʷ | q’ | q’ʷ | ʔ | ||||
| Affricate | plain | ʧ | ||||||||
| glottalized | ʦ’ | tɬ’ | ||||||||
| retracted | ʧˠ | |||||||||
| Fricative | plain | ɬ | ʃ | x | xʷ | χ | χʷ | |||
| retracted | ʃˠ | |||||||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | |||||||
| glottalized | m’ | n’ | ||||||||
| Approximant | plain | z | l | j | ɣ | ɣʷ | ʕ | ʕʷ | h | |
| glottalized | z’ | l’ | j’ | ɣ’ | ɣ’ʷ | ʕ’ | ʕ’ʷ | |||
| retracted | lˠ | |||||||||
| retracted, glottalized | l’ˠ | |||||||||
- Obstruents consist of the stops, affricates, and fricatives. There are 22 obstruents.
- Sonorants consist of the nasals and approximants. There are 22 resonants.
- Glottalized stops are pronounced as ejective consonants. Glottalized sonorants are pronounced with creaky voice: /n’/ = [n̰].
- St'at'imcets contrasts glottalized sonorants with sequences of sonorants and glottal stops and even sequences of glottalized sonorants and glottal stops, for example, [ɣʷ’] ≠ [ʔɣʷ] ≠ [ɣʷʔ] ≠ [ʔɣ’ʷ] ≠ [ɣ’ʷʔ]. The contrast also exists for glottalized obstruents: [q’] ≠ [ʔq] ≠ [qʔ] ≠ [ʔq’] ≠ [q’ʔ].
- The dental approximants /z, z’/ are pronounced alternatively as interdental fricatives [ð, ð̰] or as dental fricative s [z̪, z̪̰], depending on the dialect of St'at'imcets.
- Nonretracted /ʧ/ is laminal [ʧ̻] while retracted /ʧˠ/ is apical [ʧ̺ˠ].
- There are four pairs of retracted and nonretracted consonants (which alternate morphophonemically). Retraction on consonants is essentially velarization. (Note also that St'at'imcets has retracted-nonretracted vowel pairs.)
- /ʧ/ - /ʧˠ/
- /ʃ/ - /ʃˠ/
- /l/ - /lˠ/
- /l’/ - /l’ˠ/
- Among the post-velar consonants, the stops and fricatives [q, qʷ, q’, q’ʷ, χ, χʷ] are all uvular while the post-velar approximants [ʕ, ʕʷ, ʕ’, ʕ’ʷ] are all pharyngeal approximants.
- Post-velar /q’, q’ʷ/ are realized as affricates: [qχ’, qχ’ʷ].
[edit] Vowels
St'at'imcets has 6 vowels:
| Front | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| non- retracted |
retracted | non- retracted |
retracted | non- retracted |
retracted | |
| High | e [e] | ẹ [ɛ] | o [o] | ọ [ɔ] | ||
| Mid | ə [ə] | ə̣ [ʌ] | ||||
| Low | a [ɛ] | ạ [a] | ||||
- The phonetic realization of the phonemes are indicated in brackets to the right.
- All retracted vowels are indicated by a dot under the vowel. These retracted vowels alternate morphophemically. (Note that St'at'imcets also has retracted consonants.)
- The retracted vowel /ẹ/ and the non-retracted vowel /a/ are both pronounced [ɛ] (thus there is a phonetic overlap).
[edit] Phonotactics of roots
[edit] Orthography
The following table shows the vowels and consonants and their respective orthographic symbols.
| Phoneme | Orthography | Phoneme | Orthography |
| Vowels | |||
| /e/ | i | /ẹ/ | ii |
| /o/ | u | /ọ/ | o |
| /ə/ | e | /ə̣/ | v |
| /a/ | a | /ạ/ | ao |
| Consonants | |||
| /p/ | p | /m/ | m |
| /p’/ | p̓ | /m’/ | m̓ |
| /t/ | t | /n/ | n |
| /tɬ’/ | t’ | /n’/ | n̓ |
| /ʧ/ | ts | /ɬ/ | lh |
| /ʧˠ/ | ts | /z/ | z |
| /ʦ’/ | ts̓ | /z’/ | z̓ |
| /k/ | k | /ɣ/ | r |
| /kʷ/ | kw | /ɣʷ/ | w |
| /k’/ | k̓ | /ɣ’/ | r̓ |
| /k’ʷ/ | k̓w | /ɣ’ʷ/ | w̓ |
| /q/ | q | /ʕ/ | g |
| /qʷ/ | qw | /ʕʷ/ | gw |
| /q’/ | q̓ | /ʕ’/ | g̓ |
| /q’ʷ/ | q̓w | /ʕ’ʷ/ | g̓w |
| /ʔ/ | 7 | /h/ | h |
| /ʃ/ | s | /j/ | y |
| /ʃˠ/ | s̱ | /j’/ | y̓ |
| /x/ | c | /l/ | l |
| /xʷ/ | cw | /lˠ/ | ḻ |
| /χ/ | x | /l’/ | l’ |
| /χʷ/ | xw | /l’ˠ/ | ḻ’ |
[edit] Phonological processes
- epenthetic /ə/.
Post-velar Harmony (retraction):
- Within roots, there is a restriction that all consonant and vowel retracted-nonretracted pairs must be of the same type. That is, a root may not contain both a retracted and a nonretracted vowel or consonant. This is a type of Retraced Tongue Root harmony (also called pharyngeal harmony) involving both vowels and consonants that is an areal feature of this region of North America, shared by other Interior Salishan and non-Salishan languages (for example see Chilcotin vowel flattening).
- In addition to the root harmony restriction, some suffixes harmonize with the root to which they are attached. For instance, the inchoative suffix /-ɣʷél’x/:
| ama good | /ʔáma/ | + /-ɣʷél’x/ | → | [ʔamaɣʷél’x] | amagwil’c to get better | ||
| qaoḻ bad | /qạ́lˠ/ | + /-ɣʷél’x/ | → | [qạlˠɣʷẹ́l’ˠx] | qaoḻgwiiḻ’c to get spoiled |
[edit] Grammar
St'at'imcets has two main types of words:
- full words
- variable words
- invariable words
- clitics
- proclitics
- enclitics
The variable word type may be affected by many morphological processes, such as prefixation, suffixation, infixation, reduplication, and glottalization.
- question of category of noun
[edit] Reduplication
St’át’imcets, as is typical of the Salishan family, has several types of reduplication (and triplication) that have a range of functions such as expressing plural, diminutive, aspect, etc.
| Initial reduplication: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kl’ácw | 'muskrat' | → | kl’ekl’ácw | 'muskrats' | Plural | |||
| stálhlec | 'standing up' | → | státalhlec | 'to keep standing up' | Continuative | (has s- prefix, stem: -tálhlec) | ||
| sráp | 'tree' | → | srepráp | 'trees' | Collective/Plural | (stem: -rap) | ||
| snúk’wa7 | 'friend' | → | snek’wnúk’wa7 | 'friends' | Collective/Plural | (stem: -núk’wa7) | ||
| Final reduplication/triplication: | ||||||||
| p’líxw | 'boil over' | → | p’líxwexw | 'boiling over' | Ongoing Action | |||
| p’líxw | 'boil over' | → | p’lixwixwíxw | 'to keep boiling over' | Continuative/Intensive | |||
| lhésp | 'rash' | → | lhéslhsep | 'rash all over' | Collective/Plural | (stem: lhes-) (the e before -p is epenthetic) | ||
A more complicated type of reduplication is the internal reduplication used to express the diminutive. In this case the consonant before a stressed vowel is reduplicated after the stressed vowel and usually the vowel then changes to e (IPA: [ə]). Examples are below:
| Internal reduplication: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| naxwít | 'snake' | → | naxwéxwt | 'worm' | (naxwé-xw-t) | |||
| sqáxa7 | 'dog' | → | sqéqxa7 | 'pup' | (sqé-q-xa7) | |||
| sqláw’ | 'beaver' | → | sqlélew’ | 'little beaver' | (sqlé-l-ew’) | (the extra e here is an epenthetic vowel) | ||
More than one reduplicative process can occur in a given word:
| Diminutive | Plural+Diminutive | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sqáxa7 | 'dog' | sqéqxa7 | 'pup' | sqexqéqxa7 | 'pups' | ||
| s-qéxa7 | s-qé-q-xa7 | s-qex-qé-q-xa7 | |||||
St’át’imcets has several other variants of the above types. Reduplication is further complicated by consonant glottalization (see van Eijk (1997) for details).
[edit] Text
The following is a portion of a story in van Eijk (1981:87) told by Rosie Joseph of Mount Currie.
St'at'imcets:
Nilh aylh lts7a sMáma ti húz̓a qweqwl’el’tmínan. N̓as ku7 ámlec áku7 tsípunsa. Nilh t’u7 st’áksas ti xláka7sa. Tsicw áku7, nilh t’u7 ses wa7, kwánas et7ú i sqáwtsa. Wa7 ku7 t’u7 áti7 xílem, t’ak ku7 knáti7 ti pú7y̓acwa. Nilh ku7 t’u7 skwánas, lip̓in̓ás ku7. Nilh ku7 t’u7 aylh stsuts: "Wa7 nalh aylh láti7 kapv́ta!" Nilh ku7 t’u7 aylh sklhaka7mínas ku7 láti7 ti sqáwtsa cwilhá k̓a, nao7q̓ spawts ti kwanensása...
English translation:
This time it is Máma I am going to talk about. She went that way to get some food from her roothouse. So she took along her bucket. She got there, and she stayed around, taking potatoes. She was doing that, and then a mouse ran by there. So she grabbed it, she squeezed it. So she said: "You get all squashed now!" So she opened her hand and she let go of what turned out to be a potato, it was a rotten potato that she had caught....
[edit] External links
- Audio sample of spoken Lower St'at'imcets and a few Lil'wat songs
- map of Northwest Coast First Nations (including St'at'imc)
- Bibliography of Materials on the Lillooet Language (YDLI)
- The Lillooet Language (YDLI)
- St'at'imcets - The Lillooet Language
- The St’at’imcets Language (Native Language, Font, & Keyboard)
- USLCES webpages (USLCES webpages)
- Ethnologue: Lillooet
[edit] Bibliography
- Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (Ed.). (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the world (15th ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X. (Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com).
- Lillooet Tribal Council. (1993). Introducing St'at'imcets (Fraser River Dialect): A primer. Lillooet, British Columbia: Lillooet Tribal Council.
- Poser, William J. (2003). The status of documentation for British Columbia native languages. Yinka Dene Language Institute Technical Report (No. 2). Vanderhoof, British Columbia: Yinka Dene Language Institute. (2003 updated version).
- van Eijk, Jan P. (1981). Cuystwí malh Ucwalmícwts: Teach yourself Lillooet: Ucwalmícwts curriculum for advanced learners. Mount Currie, B.C.: Ts’zil Publishing House. ISBN 0-920938-02-7.
- van Eijk, Jan P. (1985). The Lillooet language: Phonology, morphology, syntax. Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam.
- van Eijk, Jan P. (1988). Lillooet forms for 'pretending' and 'acting like'. International Journal of Linguistics, 54, 106-110.
- van Eijk, Jan P. (1990). Intransitivity, transitivity and control in Lillooet Salish. In H. Pinkster & I. Grenee (Eds.), Unity in diversity: Papers presented to Simon C. Dik on his 50th birthday (pp. 47-64). Dordrecht, Holland: Foris.
- van Eijk, Jan P. (1993). CVC reduplication and infixation in Lillooet. In A. Mattina & T. Montler (Eds.), American Indian linguistics and ethnography in honor of Laurence C. Thompson (pp. 317-326). University of Montana occasional papers in linguistics (No. 10). Missoula: University of Montana.
- van Eijk, Jan P. (1997). The Lillooet language: Phonology, morphology, syntax. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0625-7. (Revised version of van Eijk 1985).
- Joseph, Marie. (1979). Cuystwí malh Ucwalmícwts: Ucwalmícwts curriculum for beginners. Mount Currie, B.C.: Ts’zil Publishing House. ISBN 0-920938-00-0.
- Larochell, Martina; van Eijk, Jan P.; & Williams, Lorna. (1981). Cuystwí malh Ucwalmícwts: Lillooet legends and stories. Mount Currie, B.C.: Ts’zil Publishing House. ISBN 0-920938-03-5.
- Williams, Lorna; van Eijk, Jan P.; & Turner, Gordon. (1979). Cuystwí malh Ucwalmícwts: Ucwalmícwts curriculum for intermediates. Mount Currie, B.C.: Ts’zil Publishing House. ISBN 0-920938-01-9.
