Lushootseed language

Lushootseed
Spoken in	Canada, United States
Region	Southern British Columbia into northern Washington
Native speakers	200  (date missing)
Language family	Salishan Coast Salish Lushootseed
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lut

Lushootseed (also xʷəlšucid, dxʷləšúcid, Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, Skagit-Nisqually) is the language or dialect continuum of several Salish Native American groups of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is a member of Coast Salish, one of the two main divisions of the Salishan language group.

Lushootseed, like its neighbour Twana, is in the Southern Coast Salish subgroup of the Salishan family of languages. The language was spoken by many Puget Sound region peoples, including the Duwamish, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Squaxin Island Tribe, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, and Puyallup in the south and the Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Swinomish in the north.

Ethnologue reports that there are only 60 fluent speakers of Lushootseed, evenly divided between the northern and southern dialects.[1] On the other hand, the Ethnologue's list of United States languages also lists, alongside Lushootseed's 60 speakers, 100 speakers for Skagit, 107 for Southern Puget Sound Salish, and 10 for Snohomish (a dialect on the boundary between the northern and southern varieties).[2]

Subdivisions

Lushootseed consists of two dialect groups which can be further divided into subdialects:

• Northern Lushootseed
  • Snohomish (at Tulalip)
  • Stillaguamish
  • Lower Skagit-Swinomish (on Skagit River and on Whidbey Island)
  • Upper Skagit
  • Sauk-Suiattle (on Sauk River and Suiattle River)
• Southern Lushootseed
  • Skykomish
  • Snoqualmie
  • Steilacoom
  • Suquamish
  • Duwamish
  • Whulshootseed (Muckleshoot people) (on Green and White rivers)
  • Puyallup
  • Nisqually
  • Sahewamish

The division into Northern and Southern groups is based on vocabulary and stress patterns. The dialects form a cline.

Alphabet

According to work published by Vi Hilbert and other Lushootseed language specialists, Lushootseed uses a morphophonemic writing system meaning that it is a phonemic alphabet with slight changes occurring periodically, such as when an affix is introduced. The chart below is based on the Lushootseed Dictionary. Typographic variations such as p' and p̓ do not indicate phonemic distinctions.

Letter	Letter Name	IPA	Notes
?	Glottal stop	/ʁˀ/
a		/ɑ/
b		/b/
b'	Glottalized b	/ɓ/	Rare sound, does not begin words
c		/t͡s/
c'	Glottalized c	/tsˀ/
č	c-wedge	/c͡ç/
č'	Glottalized c-wedge	/t͡sʼ/
d		/d/
dᶻ	d-raised-z	/dz/
ə	Schwa	/ə~əʲ/
g		/g/
gʷ	g-raised-w	/gʷ/
h		/hʼ/
i		/ɪ~i/
ǰ	j-wedge	/ɟ͡ʝ/
k		/k/
k'	Glottalized k	/kʼ/
kʷ	k-raised-w	/kʷ/
k'ʷ	Glottalized k-raised-w	/kʼʷ/
l		/l/
l'	Strictured l	/ɫ/
ɬ	Barred-l	/ɬ/
ƛ'	Glottalized barred-lambda	/ƛʼ/	Voiceless ejective lateral alveolar affricate
m		/m/
m'	Strictured m	/m̥ ̰ /	Laryngealized bilabial nasal
n		/n/
n'	Strictured n	/n̥ ̰/	Laryngealized alveolar nasal
p		/p/
p'	Glottalized p	/pʼ/
q		/q/
q'	Glottalized q	/qʼ/
qʷ	q-raised-w	/qʷ/
q'ʷ	Glottalized q-raised-w	/q'ʷ/
s		/s/
š	s-wedge	/ç~ɕ/
t		/t/
t'	Glottalized t	/tʼ/
u		/ʉ/
w		/w~ʋ/
w'	Strictured w	/w ̰/	Laryngealized high back rounded glide
xʷ	x-w	/xʷ/
x̌	x-wedge	/χ/
x̌ʷ	Rounded x-wedge	/χʷ/
y		/j/
y'	Strictured y	/j ̰/

Some vocabulary

Southern Lushootseed salmonid vocabulary

ačədádxʷ 

a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.

sác̓əb 

Chinook or King

x̌ʔəwádxʷ 

sockeye salmon

sq̓ə́čqs 

coho salmon

ƛ̕xʷáy 

chum salmon

hədúʔ 

the pink salmon

qíw̓x̌ 

steelhead

pədkʷəxʷic 

coho season

sc̓áyʼt 

gills

ɬičáʔa 

nets

ɬičaʔalikʷ 

net fishing

ʔálil tiʔíɬ ƛ̕usq̓íl 

spawning season

skʷəlúb 

body fat

sč̕ət̓šáds 

tailfin

t̓áltəd 

fillet knife

sq̓wəlús 

fish dried for storage

səlúsqid 

fish heads

qəlx̌ 

dried salmon eggs

ƛ̕ə́bƛ̕əbqʷ 

fresh eggs

sɬúʔb 

dried chum

sxʷúdᶻəʔdaliɬəd 

fish with a large amount of body fat

xʷšábús 

lightly smoked

Northern Lushootseed salmonid vocabulary

sʔuladxʷ 

a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.

yubəč 

Chinook or King

scəqiʔ 

sockeye salmon

ƛ̕xʷayʔ 

chum salmon

skʷəxʷic 

silver salmon

Northern Lushootseed aquatic vocabulary

qalʼqaləx̌ič 

Blackfish - Killer Whale

čəxʷəluʔ 

Grey Whale

sq̓aƛ̕ 

otter

sup̓qs

seal

sťəqxʷ 

beaver

sqibk̕ʷ 

octopus

ʔaləšək 

Western pond turtle

waq̓waq̓ 

frog

sk̕ʷic̕i 

sea urchin

təǰabac 

sea cucumber

q̓ʷəlačiʔ 

star fish

bəsqʷ 

crab

ťaɫiɡʷs 

Rock Cod

p̓uay̓ 

flounder

kəlapx̌ʷəlč 

jelly fish

sʔax̌ʷuʔ 

clam

tulqʷ 

mussel

ƛ̕ux̌ʷƛ̕ux̌ʷ 

oyster

c̕ubc̕ub 

barnacle

sx̌aʔaʔ 

little neck steam clams

xʷč́iɫqs 

large native oyster

ɡʷidəq 

geoduck

stxʷub 

butter clam

sx̌əpab 

cockle clam

haʔəc 

horse clam

č́ič́əlpyaqid or puʔps 

periwinkle

sč́awyʔ 

any seashell

ʔuk̕ʷs 

large chiton

x̌ald 

small chiton

References

Bates, D., Hess, T., & Hilbert, V. (1994). Lushootseed dictionary. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

External links

• The Tulalip Lushootseed Department's Website
• History professor helps keep local Native American language alive by Drew Brown for PLU Scene Magazine
• Lushootseed Peoples of Puget Sound Country
• Ethnologue report
• Lushootseed Research
• Puget Salish
• Dr. David Beck, Salishan Language specialist