Twana language
| Twana | |
|---|---|
| Native to | United States |
| Region | East of Puget Sound, Washington state |
| Ethnicity | 350 Twana (1977)[1] |
| Extinct | 1980[1] |
Salishan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | twa |
| Glottolog | twan1247 |
The Twana language, also known as Skokomish from one of the tribes that spoke it, belongs to the Salishan family of Native American languages. It is believed by some elders within the Skokomish community (such as Bruce Subiyay Miller) that the language branched off from Lushootseed (dxwəlšucid) because of the region-wide tradition of not speaking the name of someone who died for a year after their death. Substitute words were found in their place and often became normalizing in the community, generating differences from one community to the next. Subiyay speculated that this process increased the drift rate between languages and separated Twana firmly from xwəlšucid (Lushootseed).
The last fluent speaker died in 1980.[1]
The name "Skokomish" comes from the Twana sqʷuqʷóʔbəš, also spelled sqWuqWu'b3sH, and meaning "river people" or "people of the river".[2][3][4]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Twana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 452. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ Wray, Jacilee (2003). "Skokomish: Twana Descendants". Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-8061-3552-6. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ The Skokomish Tribal Nation
External links
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