Salish–Spokane–Kalispel language: Difference between revisions
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The '''Salish''' or '''Séliš''' language ({{pron-en|ˈseɪlɪʃ}}), here called '''Montana Salish''' to distinguish it from the language family to which it gave its name, is a [[Salishan languages|Salishan |
The '''Salish''' or '''Séliš''' language ({{pron-en|ˈseɪlɪʃ}}), here called '''Montana Salish''' to distinguish it from the language family to which it gave its name, is a [[Salishan languages|Salishan langauge]] spoken (as of 1996) by about 70 elders of the [[Flathead Nation]] in north-central Montana. It is mutually intelligible with [[Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille|Kalispel]] (Qalispé) and [[Spokane language|Spokane]] (Npoqínišcn); the language of which they are all dialects is simply referred to simply as Kalispel-Spokane-Flathead. |
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As with many other languages of northern North America, Salish is [[polysynthetic]]; like other languages of the [[Mosan languages|Mosan]] [[language area]], there is no clear distinction between noun and verb. Salish is famous for native translations that treat all lexical Salish words as verbs or clauses in English, for instance translating a two-word clause that what would appear to mean "I killed a deer" as ''I killed it. It was a deer.'' |
As with many other languages of northern North America, Salish is [[polysynthetic]]; like other languages of the [[Mosan languages|Mosan]] [[language area]], there is no clear distinction between noun and verb. Salish is famous for native translations that treat all lexical Salish words as verbs or clauses in English, for instance translating a two-word clause that what would appear to mean "I killed a deer" as ''I killed it. It was a deer.'' |
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Revision as of 02:34, 12 February 2010
| Salish | |
|---|---|
| Séliš | |
| Region | Montana |
Native speakers | < 70 |
Salishan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | fla |
The Salish or Séliš language (Template:Pron-en), here called Montana Salish to distinguish it from the language family to which it gave its name, is a Salishan langauge spoken (as of 1996) by about 70 elders of the Flathead Nation in north-central Montana. It is mutually intelligible with Kalispel (Qalispé) and Spokane (Npoqínišcn); the language of which they are all dialects is simply referred to simply as Kalispel-Spokane-Flathead.
As with many other languages of northern North America, Salish is polysynthetic; like other languages of the Mosan language area, there is no clear distinction between noun and verb. Salish is famous for native translations that treat all lexical Salish words as verbs or clauses in English, for instance translating a two-word clause that what would appear to mean "I killed a deer" as I killed it. It was a deer.
Phonology
Salish has five vowels, /a e i o u/, plus an epenthetic schwa [ə] which occurs between an obstruent and a sonorant consonant, or between two unlike sonorants. (Differences in glottalization do not cause epenthesis, and in long sequences not all pairs are separated, for example in /sqllú/ → [sqəllú] "tale", /ʔlˀlát͡s/ → [ʔəlˀlát͡s] "red raspberry", and /sˀnmˀné/ → [səʔnəmˀné] "toilet". No word may begin with a vowel.
Salish has pharyngeal consonants, which are rare worldwide and uncommon but not unusual in the Mosan Sprachbund to which Salish belongs. It is also unusual in lacking a simple lateral approximant and simple velar consonants (/k/ only occurs in loanwords), though again this is known elsewhere in the Mosan area.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar / Palatal |
Labio- velar |
Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | plain | labial | plain | labial | ||||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | ||||||||
| glottalized | ˀm | ˀn | |||||||||
| Plosive | plain | p | t | kʷ | q | qʷ | ʔ | ||||
| ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʷʼ | qʼ | qʷʼ | ||||||
| Affricate | plain | ts | tʃ | ||||||||
| ejective | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | ||||||||
| Fricative | s | tɬ | ʃ | xʷ | χ | χʷ | h | ||||
| Approximant | plain | dl ~ dɮ | j | w | ʕ | ʕʷ | |||||
| glottalized | ˀl | ˀj | ˀw | ˀʕ | ˀʕʷ | ||||||
Salish contrasts affricates with stop–fricative sequences. For example, [ʔiɬt͡ʃt͡ʃeˀn] "tender, sore" has a sequence of two affricates, whereas [stiʕít.ʃən] "killdeer" has a tee-esh sequence. All stop consonants are clearly released, even in clusters or word-finally. Though they are generally not aspirated, aspiration often occurs before obstruents and epenthetic schwas before sonorants. For example, the word /t͡ʃɬkʷkʷtˀnéˀws/ "a fat little belly" is pronounced [t͡ʃɬkʍkʍtʰəʔnéʔʍs]; likewise, /t͡ʃt͡ʃt͡sʼéˀlʃt͡ʃn/ "woodtick" is pronounced [t͡ʃt͡ʃt͡sʼéʔt͡ɬʃtʃən], and /ppíˀl/ is [pʰpíḭtɬə̥].
See also
References
- "Phonetic Structures of Montana Salish". Flemming, Ladefoged, & Thomason, 1994. In UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics 87: Fieldwork Studies of Targeted Languages II